Hello,
Yesterday was Mother's Day in Jordan. I woke up and went to wish my host mother a happy Mother's Day. She seemed so surprised and happy that I remembered. She said thank you and was really happy.
So I went to school, We did not have classes in the morning (how is this program accredited? lol) so I went to Taj Mall and looked for some summer clothes as well as a back pack and a new jacket. Honestly, since I have gotten back from Turkey, the sexual harassment has gotten a lot worse. After talking to some other female students, I found out that they felt the same way. As a result, I decided to no longer wear my hot pink jacket and hot pink backpack in Amman. I would like to try and blend in a bit more, but I know I'll never truly blend in. The jacket I got is actually a really think beige sweater (going from hot pink to beige....) and the backpack is a nice black color. I had to stop myself from picking up the lime green one by reminding myself of my mission. I also went to look for some summerish springish clothes. Oddly the easiest place to find appropriate clothing is American Eagle. The sales people were nice and helped me pick out some shirts. In the last week, I have received three different marriage proposals from Taxi drivers. I think they like how I can speak Arabic and they love the hair and skin color. My host mom just told me to cover as much skin as I can because people really like the pale skin. This means long sleeves. I figured this out because I went around in a short sleeve shirt and things got a little weirder then normal.
I was walking with one of the guys around the school after my shopping trip. We walked past a bus full of Embassy Guards who just kept staring at me and trying to talk to me. This boy was more upset than I was. He just yelled "I'm f****** tired of this" at them. Apparently the attention that he sees the female students get really upsets him. It was interesting to see how much this guy cared. Personally, I did not even notice the guys. I just looked at the street and walked past because I did not want to stir them up. I would not have really noticed if it wasn't for him. He told me that often in Taxi's he gets asked off questions about sexual things which make him uncomfortable. Also, the young man is gay so he can not be open about his sexuality at all. This must be hard for him.
Back to Mother's Day
In Arabic class, we learned a traditional Jordanian Mother's Day song. It goes as follows:
ست الحبايب يا حبيبة
يا أغلى من روحي و دمي
يا حنينة و كلك صليبة
يا ربي يخليك يا امي
يا ربي يخليك يا أمي
يا ست الحبايب يا حبيبة
Here goes my rough translation:
Wonderful woman, o dear one (insert term of endearment)
O one more treasured than my soul and blood (life)
O sweet one, o Mom
O God protect you, my Mom
O God protect you, my mom
YAY! I kinda did it!
Below is a link to the song:
Jordanian Mother's Day Song
Next, the teachers made us call our host moms in front of the class and wish them a happy Mother's Day. This was kinda odd. I felt it would have been better for each of us to do it face to face. What resulted was my host mom and I playing phone tag for 15 minutes which then resulted in her calling SIT. She was worried something was wrong because I was calling in the middle of the day. I just talked to her and wished her a happy Mother's Day again. The whole thing was kinda dramatic and I felt bad that my host mom was worrying. It was supposed to be a worry free, nice gesture.
Ahmed, the security man, said that he is upset there is not a Father's Day in Jordan. The same male student I was walking with earlier said that in Jordan, every day is Father's Day since it is a patriarchal society. All the students laughed hard and he even got a chuckle out of Ahmed. Since we gave the female teachers flowers for Mother's Day, we will most likely have a "Father's Day" celebration soon to keep it equal.
On Monday I will be leaving to do a Southern Excursion with the SIT group. Ahmed planned the trip. I am totally excited except for one small detail, I will be re-visting al-Rajiff, the town I stayed at during the Badia homestay experience. We will be visiting the special needs school that my host mother runs, which means I will see her again. I am left with a delema. We were told to contact our host parents if we would ever be in the Badia again. I wrote this off as a "Oh yea...when pigs fly!" sort of chance. However, I will be bumping into her. Ahmed is my Badia host mother's nephew so I know that is why we are going back. At least I will be with a group this time and only for a small period of time. One of the male students who also lived in Al-Rajif when I did made the comment, why are we going there? The school is a five-teen minute tour at best. I think SIT and Ahmed are trying to support local institutions as well as family members. It'll be okay, but I'm not too excited. Damn... At least I don't think I will be forced to turn down an invitation to dinner as I will not be invited to dinner. Maybe Ariel, the other student who lived at my house, will though lol.
However, I will get to see Wadi Rum, Petra, Aqaba as well as other famous and beautiful tourist places. I will get to camp in the dessert in Bedouin tents as well as ride a camel. YES I WILL GET TO RIDE A CAMEL! My life is complete now at the age of 21. I am also excited to use my new camera. It gets great pictures.
Yesterday was Mother's Day in Jordan. I woke up and went to wish my host mother a happy Mother's Day. She seemed so surprised and happy that I remembered. She said thank you and was really happy.
So I went to school, We did not have classes in the morning (how is this program accredited? lol) so I went to Taj Mall and looked for some summer clothes as well as a back pack and a new jacket. Honestly, since I have gotten back from Turkey, the sexual harassment has gotten a lot worse. After talking to some other female students, I found out that they felt the same way. As a result, I decided to no longer wear my hot pink jacket and hot pink backpack in Amman. I would like to try and blend in a bit more, but I know I'll never truly blend in. The jacket I got is actually a really think beige sweater (going from hot pink to beige....) and the backpack is a nice black color. I had to stop myself from picking up the lime green one by reminding myself of my mission. I also went to look for some summerish springish clothes. Oddly the easiest place to find appropriate clothing is American Eagle. The sales people were nice and helped me pick out some shirts. In the last week, I have received three different marriage proposals from Taxi drivers. I think they like how I can speak Arabic and they love the hair and skin color. My host mom just told me to cover as much skin as I can because people really like the pale skin. This means long sleeves. I figured this out because I went around in a short sleeve shirt and things got a little weirder then normal.
I was walking with one of the guys around the school after my shopping trip. We walked past a bus full of Embassy Guards who just kept staring at me and trying to talk to me. This boy was more upset than I was. He just yelled "I'm f****** tired of this" at them. Apparently the attention that he sees the female students get really upsets him. It was interesting to see how much this guy cared. Personally, I did not even notice the guys. I just looked at the street and walked past because I did not want to stir them up. I would not have really noticed if it wasn't for him. He told me that often in Taxi's he gets asked off questions about sexual things which make him uncomfortable. Also, the young man is gay so he can not be open about his sexuality at all. This must be hard for him.
Back to Mother's Day
In Arabic class, we learned a traditional Jordanian Mother's Day song. It goes as follows:
ست الحبايب يا حبيبة
يا أغلى من روحي و دمي
يا حنينة و كلك صليبة
يا ربي يخليك يا امي
يا ربي يخليك يا أمي
يا ست الحبايب يا حبيبة
Here goes my rough translation:
Wonderful woman, o dear one (insert term of endearment)
O one more treasured than my soul and blood (life)
O sweet one, o Mom
O God protect you, my Mom
O God protect you, my mom
YAY! I kinda did it!
Below is a link to the song:
Jordanian Mother's Day Song
Next, the teachers made us call our host moms in front of the class and wish them a happy Mother's Day. This was kinda odd. I felt it would have been better for each of us to do it face to face. What resulted was my host mom and I playing phone tag for 15 minutes which then resulted in her calling SIT. She was worried something was wrong because I was calling in the middle of the day. I just talked to her and wished her a happy Mother's Day again. The whole thing was kinda dramatic and I felt bad that my host mom was worrying. It was supposed to be a worry free, nice gesture.
Ahmed, the security man, said that he is upset there is not a Father's Day in Jordan. The same male student I was walking with earlier said that in Jordan, every day is Father's Day since it is a patriarchal society. All the students laughed hard and he even got a chuckle out of Ahmed. Since we gave the female teachers flowers for Mother's Day, we will most likely have a "Father's Day" celebration soon to keep it equal.
On Monday I will be leaving to do a Southern Excursion with the SIT group. Ahmed planned the trip. I am totally excited except for one small detail, I will be re-visting al-Rajiff, the town I stayed at during the Badia homestay experience. We will be visiting the special needs school that my host mother runs, which means I will see her again. I am left with a delema. We were told to contact our host parents if we would ever be in the Badia again. I wrote this off as a "Oh yea...when pigs fly!" sort of chance. However, I will be bumping into her. Ahmed is my Badia host mother's nephew so I know that is why we are going back. At least I will be with a group this time and only for a small period of time. One of the male students who also lived in Al-Rajif when I did made the comment, why are we going there? The school is a five-teen minute tour at best. I think SIT and Ahmed are trying to support local institutions as well as family members. It'll be okay, but I'm not too excited. Damn... At least I don't think I will be forced to turn down an invitation to dinner as I will not be invited to dinner. Maybe Ariel, the other student who lived at my house, will though lol.
However, I will get to see Wadi Rum, Petra, Aqaba as well as other famous and beautiful tourist places. I will get to camp in the dessert in Bedouin tents as well as ride a camel. YES I WILL GET TO RIDE A CAMEL! My life is complete now at the age of 21. I am also excited to use my new camera. It gets great pictures.
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