The Home Stretch

Six weeks and counting now until my triumphal return home. Looking forward to catching up with friends and family. That being said, the month of June was quite exciting, and I'm definitely looking forward to some good times over my last month and a half here in Jordan.

Following my Level 2 final exam, my sister Caroline flew to Amman for a week long stay here in Jordan. Over that week, we travelled through the south of Jordan, hitting Wadi Rum and Petra, as well as the Dead Sea, Mt. Nebo, and Madaba. Along the way, we certainly got our fair share of excercise, hiking through the Siq in Petra on the way to the Treasury (made famous by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), and then up to the Monastery which entailed a 45 minute hike up a monstrous rock formation. The following day, we ventured over to Wadi Rum (made famous as this was the desert where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, and more recently, where scenes from Transformers II were filmed). Here we went on a three hour Jeep tour through the desert, led by a Bedouin (a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group) guide who filled us in on the history of the rock formations were toured. That evening Caroline and I stayed overnight at a Bedouin campsite in the middle of the desert. Along with five or six other tourists, we were treated to tea, a traditional Bedouin meal, and an Oud performance (the Oud is essentially an Arab version of a guitar). The following morning we were treated to breakfast, then driven back to the visitor's center where we departed Wadi Rum for the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea was a welcome respite from the Wadi Rum and Petra experiences. Here we stayed at the kushy Movenpick Resort, complete with a full day of relaxing on the beach and drinking overpriced, yet surprisingly stiff, cocktails. The following day we headed back to Amman where we were treated to lunch and an afternoon of poolside relaxation by my Mom's dear friend, Muna. That following morning Caroline was off to Queen Alia airport for her flight back. Sad to see her go, we had an awesome time travelling, lots of great sibling bonding (and being on each other's last nerves, ha :)) We got some great pictures, and videos from her visit. Caroline will be e-mailing out the link to the site where you can see these. I'll be posting the link to my facebook profile soon, so be on the look out. Still so many great stories to tell from her visit. Can't wait to re-count then when I get back home!

Since Caroline's visit, I've started my last term here at Qasid. I've now advanced onto the Level 3 program for the summer term. In the last few weeks, there's been a massive influx of American college students into Amman (so many in fact, that Qasid's student enrollment has more than tripled in size for this term!) I now have 4 hours of class per day, as opposed to 3 a day during the winter and spring terms, as the summer term is three weeks shorter than the others. On the whole, I'm stoked that my Arabic has come such a long way. I can remember back to early January when I was still learning the alphabet and basic phrases. Fast forward six months to last week when I wrote an essay on my views of the Iraq War, and I can say without any doubt that I've benefitted immensely from the program. That being said however, it does seem that the more Arabic you learn, the more you realize you don't know...it's always an uphill battle :)

Three weeks back I moved apartments yet again. I've now relocated to my buddy Cody's apartment, located near downtown in a little neighborhood called Jebel Webideh. The area has a quaint, little small town feel to it and happens to be where a number of my friends live.

In the next couple weeks, myself and several friends are headed down to Wadi Rum and Aqaba for a two day concert called Distant Heat, headlined by some famous international DJs. More on this later.

Still much more to discuss. I'll be in touch.

~G