Orientation

Orientation went well on Saturday morning. The placement exam and interview that followed were used to gauge students’ existing Arabic skills. It looks like I’ll be placed in the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) level one class, as was expected. Classes will be held from 8am-11 Tuesday-Thursday, as well as Saturday and Sunday. Since the program has apparently decided to change the students’ off days to Friday and Monday, I won’t be afforded a proper weekend unfortunately. It looks like Qasid has planned a number of day trips over the next few months, not sure however how I’m going to swing other trips outside Jordan.

There are a number of other Americans attending Qasid for the winter session. John, a recent graduate from Princeton, is also looking to move to another apartment over the next couple weeks. This afternoon John and I will be looking at a place that is a bit closer to school. One of the Qasid professors has introduced us to a British guy, named Hani, who works at Islamica Magazine, which is headquartered out of the same building as Qasid. Hani lives in a compound with his British family, and is looking to rent out a few rooms to Qasid students. John and I are scheduled to meet with him this afternoon, then take a tour of his apartment. It looks like this will be a much cheaper alternative to living in the hotel where I’m currently staying.

Yesterday I took a day trip to a small city northwest of Amman called Ajlun, home to the famous Ajlun Castle (al-Qar’at ar-Rabad) which was built in the 12th century on the orders of Saladin. Tomorrow I'll post some cool photos I took, as well as a brief historical overview of the castle and its significance.