I'm here!

Hey kids, I am in Jordan and have been for several days. However, one of the many things that I am already learning is that Jordan is not well equipped with the internet. Our hotel has wireless, but my computer refuses to connect and it doesn't work at all if more than 5 or 6 people try to get on at a time-which is difficult to work around since there are near to one hundred of us.

Getting to Jordan was quite an ordeal. France was basically on strike the day that I was leaving and I kind of forgot. Thus, I left my hostel with about 3 hours to get there, plenty of time, no? So, I went to the Metro, took a few trains to get to Gare Du Nord to take the train to CDG. I stood there for about half an hour, worried because they are supposed to come often, but not so worried because there were a bunch of other people waiting as well. Turns out, they were all the other non-French speaking people who couldn't understand the announcements over the loud speaker that the trains to the airport were not running. Thus, I had to run, take another 2 metro rides to another station to take a train, but I missed one by about 3 minutes. At this point, I had a little over an hour left before my flight was leaving. And I almost had a panic attack. I decided to take a cab, but had planned so that I was out of Euros, and had to change most of my remaining US money over, called a cab and got to the airport with under 30 minutes to get through security and customs and board...

My plane was an hour late.

Turkish airlines was very cool. I may never travel in the US again. There was even an evil eye hanging when you walked on the plane. Plus the food was delicious and the wine was free, which was necessary to calm my nerves.

So, my plane arrived an hour late and I had another tight connection-30 minutes to get through the Turkish airport and passport checks. I went to a desk and they told me that I needed to get a visa, even though I told them I wasn't entering the country, yet they insisted, so I spent my last $20, went back and then I was asked why the hell I had done that, I was at the wrong desk and didn't need a visa.

By the time I got to my gate, it was closed. Luckily they let me on, but I was not in a happy place. But, fate decided to look kindly upon me, when my seatmate noticed that I was studying Arabic, he struck up a conversation with me. He was, without a doubt, one of the nicest people I had ever met. He was Jordanian, coming back from studying in Italy for his sister's wedding, he offered to introduce me to his family, gave me contact info for one of his friends and another sister, his phone number in case I had any questions.....And how he described Jordan just turned me right back around. I was ready to be enamoured with the country again.

I got in around 1:30am, barely containing my excitement when I got off the plane, seeing all the signs in Arabic (even though they were in English too), that I almost forgot the issue that I didn't have ANY money to buy my visa into Jordan. Ack.

I had to go out of the the terminal and give up my passport, in order to get to an atm to get some dinars, but luckily that only took a few minutes and I got my visa with little problem. And after a 45 minute wait at baggage and then having my bags come out at a different carousel than everyone else and thinking they were lost, I was met by two other CIEE students and a program coordinator. Success!

Headed in a van to the Funduq Manar (Hotel Manar), my home for the next week of orientation.

Well, this is being written on another person's computer, whose is actually working, who is asking for it back. I'll continue with a description of orientation that I'll write on Word and publish when my computer decides to cooperate or when I have time to get to an internet cafe. but don't expect frequent updates since I won't have internet at my homestay either!

But I'll leave you with a few interesting realizations:
1) One of the most difficult things is that, as a woman, when you walk around, you can't smile or make eye contact at people that you don't know unless you want negative attention. This is an issue since I do that whenever I feel uncomfortable or unsure of my footing-which is often here!
2) The secret police are your friends-and they are everywhere. Seriously.
3) There are Roman ruins everywhere, Switzerland, France, and now here!
4) You can't take pictures of the American Embassy. Intense.
5) If you don't speak Arabic, people in restaurants, though seeming nice, will find a way to overcharge you.

Despite all this, I really love it here. The people running the program are awesome, the university looks huge and beautiful, the classes are going to be exciting, I'm loving the food-the cucumbers are freakishly tasty, most of the people are cool-though many are also here for the wrong reasons, and overall, I have very, very high hopes for the semester