Hello Again,
Yesterday I had the privledge of going to the University of Jordan. We had to do a scavenger hunt in Arabic. This entailed walking around this massive campus asking for directions, talking with professors and generally talking in Arabic with people. I was excited for the activity...until we were put into groups. I was put with two boys in my class who are rowdy and goofy. I was afraid we would not get anything accomplished. A few classmates said they were sorry about my placement which made me feel like my day was going to be awful. I thought this project would fall all on me.
Actually, the boys were great and really wanted to do the activity. Their Arabic is great so it was a fun group to be in. We tour many different buildings. I will list the stand out things below.
1) The University of Jordan teaches every language known to man essentially. They teach Russian, German, English, Swedish and many other languages that I would not be able to recall enough or know enough of to remember. I was very impressed. How many students on this campus were studying these far out languages?
2) There is one women's dorm on campus. No men are allowed, so I went in alone to talk to the Director and other female employees of the building. The women's dorm is a tightly run operation. The doors to the building close at 8pm at night. Around 8pm, there are room checks to make sure that everyone is back in their room. The doors open again at 7am in the morning for the women to go to class. If you are spending the night elsewhere or visiting family for the weekend, you must sign out in the book in order for the college to know where you are. I found all the rules interesting. The Jordanian University does not want to have its ladies misbehaving. That was clear. The building had 3 grown women running it. I am sure they are tough.
Mostly, I just enjoyed walking around and talking to different professors. It is so hard to find an Arabic professor! They always seem to be out! I have tried on two seporate days now. I find this funny.
While at the University, I visited the bookstore. I wanted to find some Arabic Books. While I was there, I found a textbook written by my Arabic teacher, Mahmoud Shafi. I decided to get it for a couple of reasons.
1) I can find out his teaching philosophy
2) figure out why we don't use the book he wrote at SIT
3) Use the glossary for Arabic words that I don't know and that aren't in my textbook.
Max, one of the boys on my team, ran up to Mahmoud and told him I bought his book. Honestly, I was kinda pissed by this. Mahmoud does not really like me. I don't want him to like me because I bought his book. I do not want to be a brown noser. I would rather earn his respect by writing well or having a great test. Now Mahmoud likes me and always wants to be next to me in the class picture. He also wants to meet with me about my thoughts on his book. Honestly, not what I wanted. I just wanted to read the book in peace with no pressure. I'm kinda upset, honestly.
I also bought a great Jordanian Arabic coloquial book. I really like that text book. IT IS AMAZING!
After the university, we went to a cafe as a class for some tea and hookah (argeela). When we walked in the cafe, we noticed everyone in the cafe was a man. I immediately knew that this was a boy's only joint. The men in the cafe told us "boys only" and seemed a bit upset that men and women were walking in their cafe. However, our female teachers led us in and talked with the owner. Since we are America, we got in.
Turns out, the scavenger hunt was a contest. The boys and I won for completing the most tasks and gathering the most information. Honestly, it was not fair that we won. They put everyone together based on level. My group was all level 4. I can understand why they did this. They did not want one level 4 in a group because then they would do all the work. I won a beautiful orange pashmina and orange nail polish. The guys got a bracelet. I think the teacher got me something nicer cause she likes me. This was good.
I decided to get hookah. At the time, noone else wanted any so I got my own. Bad idea... Eventually Allan and I had a hookah contest in which I was slaughtered.
The day was lovely and afterward we went to walk around a little bit. Eventually my group ended up at a Yemeni restaurant "Baba Yemen". Honestly, I was not excited for the restaurant. I had never heard of anyone being like "yum Yemeni food!". IT WAS AMAZING! Below are our dishes.
Til next time,
Yesterday I had the privledge of going to the University of Jordan. We had to do a scavenger hunt in Arabic. This entailed walking around this massive campus asking for directions, talking with professors and generally talking in Arabic with people. I was excited for the activity...until we were put into groups. I was put with two boys in my class who are rowdy and goofy. I was afraid we would not get anything accomplished. A few classmates said they were sorry about my placement which made me feel like my day was going to be awful. I thought this project would fall all on me.
Actually, the boys were great and really wanted to do the activity. Their Arabic is great so it was a fun group to be in. We tour many different buildings. I will list the stand out things below.
1) The University of Jordan teaches every language known to man essentially. They teach Russian, German, English, Swedish and many other languages that I would not be able to recall enough or know enough of to remember. I was very impressed. How many students on this campus were studying these far out languages?
2) There is one women's dorm on campus. No men are allowed, so I went in alone to talk to the Director and other female employees of the building. The women's dorm is a tightly run operation. The doors to the building close at 8pm at night. Around 8pm, there are room checks to make sure that everyone is back in their room. The doors open again at 7am in the morning for the women to go to class. If you are spending the night elsewhere or visiting family for the weekend, you must sign out in the book in order for the college to know where you are. I found all the rules interesting. The Jordanian University does not want to have its ladies misbehaving. That was clear. The building had 3 grown women running it. I am sure they are tough.
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| Library |
 |
| Shelves of Books in Arabic! I wish I new what type of books these were! |
Mostly, I just enjoyed walking around and talking to different professors. It is so hard to find an Arabic professor! They always seem to be out! I have tried on two seporate days now. I find this funny.
While at the University, I visited the bookstore. I wanted to find some Arabic Books. While I was there, I found a textbook written by my Arabic teacher, Mahmoud Shafi. I decided to get it for a couple of reasons.
1) I can find out his teaching philosophy
2) figure out why we don't use the book he wrote at SIT
3) Use the glossary for Arabic words that I don't know and that aren't in my textbook.
Max, one of the boys on my team, ran up to Mahmoud and told him I bought his book. Honestly, I was kinda pissed by this. Mahmoud does not really like me. I don't want him to like me because I bought his book. I do not want to be a brown noser. I would rather earn his respect by writing well or having a great test. Now Mahmoud likes me and always wants to be next to me in the class picture. He also wants to meet with me about my thoughts on his book. Honestly, not what I wanted. I just wanted to read the book in peace with no pressure. I'm kinda upset, honestly.
I also bought a great Jordanian Arabic coloquial book. I really like that text book. IT IS AMAZING!
After the university, we went to a cafe as a class for some tea and hookah (argeela). When we walked in the cafe, we noticed everyone in the cafe was a man. I immediately knew that this was a boy's only joint. The men in the cafe told us "boys only" and seemed a bit upset that men and women were walking in their cafe. However, our female teachers led us in and talked with the owner. Since we are America, we got in.
Turns out, the scavenger hunt was a contest. The boys and I won for completing the most tasks and gathering the most information. Honestly, it was not fair that we won. They put everyone together based on level. My group was all level 4. I can understand why they did this. They did not want one level 4 in a group because then they would do all the work. I won a beautiful orange pashmina and orange nail polish. The guys got a bracelet. I think the teacher got me something nicer cause she likes me. This was good.
 |
| Class photo. The owner wanted a picture of all the Americans in his cafe. Odd... |
I decided to get hookah. At the time, noone else wanted any so I got my own. Bad idea... Eventually Allan and I had a hookah contest in which I was slaughtered.
 |
| Look at that technique! Like a dragon! |
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| All I can muster is a ball of smoke |
The day was lovely and afterward we went to walk around a little bit. Eventually my group ended up at a Yemeni restaurant "Baba Yemen". Honestly, I was not excited for the restaurant. I had never heard of anyone being like "yum Yemeni food!". IT WAS AMAZING! Below are our dishes.
 |
| It was like a pastry with banana and egg. IT WAS AMAZING! |
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| Pastry with vegetables...good but not amazing |
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| This bread was very flat and crispy on the edges. IT WAS AWESOME! |
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| A totmato dish. The waiter told us to put beef in it. IT WAS AMAZING WITHOUT BEEF but just good with beef. When you have a great thing...don't mess with it! |
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| Victory! |
Til next time,
Natalie
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