And it goes on, and on, and on

I’ve decided all internet access points hate me. I can’t connect to the internet at the airport for god forbidden reason. It won’t log on to the free public network. This is just getting ridiculous. So with over an hour left, I’m writing this stupid blog update now. Yes, I’ve been gone for a week. It isn’t my fault when I don’t have internet!

Okay. Starting over.

You know what I’ve learned about Germany? One thing. The castles are never finished here. Apparently the kings don’t have a good money management or something. No one will ever know. But beside the point, the castles I did go to were beautiful and covered in gold rooms and chandeliers and amazing art. Until you reach the unfinished rooms that is just plain old boring brick. Aww, lovely, just magnificent!

The other thing I’ve learned is the difference between Jordan and Germany, and then the US. We all know what the US is like, so I’ll just do you a favor and explain the difference between Germany and Jordan. I’m so kind, you should be thanking me.

So. Jordan. Germany. Both have a very nice ring to it. I’ll start out with something simple. Like traffic. In Germany, there is barely any unless in a major city. There is no pounding on the horn like in Jordan. But I cannot get anywhere in Germany unless I have a car. From where I was at I couldn’t get to the train station and the bus system really wasn’t that great. In Jordan I could anywhere I pleased. Just walked out of my apartment, down a block, and BOOM! Taxis, busses, cars, everything, along with the blazing heat and honking of horns and people yelling.

I think next is thing is culture. This splits into a million categories. Obviously there are churches vs mosques. Wow. Big difference. But it goes to people. In Jordan everyone knows I’m a tourist. I went from a country with dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin to one with blonde, brown, black, red, rainbow hair everywhere with brown, blue, green, and hazel eyes. Woah. Okay big difference. It went from all the guys in Jordan about the same physique to a hundred different looking guys in Germany. All the guys in Germany have legs that go on for miles. It’s ridiculous. And then don’t get started about women. Dangg.

Women in Germany have short skirts, low tops. Welcome to Europe! Helloooo ladies! And then I was sad to say goodbye to the friendly people of Jordan, with their women dressed conservatively and covered up all cute like. The good life was gone.

Also I had a nice welcome to Europe when I was abruptly brought back to the lovel\y life of couples. Ahh, sweet European love! Ha! Not. It’s like everyone is sexually frustrated here or something. I mean come on, do you really have to be grabbing, stroking, and macking on each other in public? Like hello, you have a house. Go get that stuff there! I WANT JORDAN BACK! Couples didn’t even hold hands and I loved it. Thanks Europe. It’s even worse than in the states.

But sadly, as I sit in the airport, I know I’m going to miss Germany, because it is such a beautiful green place. I’ll miss Lisa and her family who were so good to me while I stayed there. I got to see so many wonderful and beautiful places as I trooped around the nice Deutschland before heading off to the airport.

And I took a train here. I would have died if it weren’t for nice German people who can see a confused foreigner. Unlike in Jordan where my blonde hair and blue eyes easily read doesn’t-speak-arabic in Germany it did not read as doesn’t-speak-deutsch. I asked one person on the train if I was in the right spot and thankfully he said yes and even got off at that stop too. Then he came back and found me lost at the stairs and pointed me to the right train. Thank you kind sir, you seriously saved my life there!

And then as I changed for the last time, I was even more confused. I was helped by somebody who did not speak as good of English as the last guy. He told me some things I thought I had understood. When I tried to get on the wrong tram thing he came running over, telling me not this one, to wait for number 8. It made no sense to me, but I finally figured out that the trams had numbers on the outside. And again, thank you sir for not just letting me get onto the wrong train, because I totally would have.

And here I am! I survived. At least for now. I still have to catch my flight. But since I’m at the airport, I think that is pretty hard to mess up. Especially with like two hours left. I got my snacks, ate my lunch, and now I’m writing this. I’ll have to make a potty stop before heading to my gate and then I’ll be golden, peachy keen lima bean.

So my adventure slowly comes to an end as I prepare myself for my eleven hour flight. Boo. I’m not excited at all. But I know this blog thing hasn’t gone exactly the way I planned and there really isn’t much more to tell about Germany. I’m glad I came here after Jordan, and as much as I’ll miss it in both Germany and Jordan, there is no place like home. And Washington, baby, here I come!

Oh and hey thanks for everyone who stuck with my blog and read it. I feel pretty honored that you guys don’t have an exciting life like I do so that you are forced to read something like this poorly made blog that I didn’t have enough time to but wrote anyway.

Kidding of course, I really do care that you guys read this until the end. I feel so loved!

I also feel happy to be typing on a normal keyboard.

And that is all. Goodbye blog world, until we meet again.

Ma’salam, Chuse, and Goodbye.

With lots of love; yours truly,

Melea

(PS. When you read this I’ll probably be home. Or in [Ohhhhh] Canada[aaaa], if I can get internet there. Just so you know. Like just pretend it was like twenty hours ago or something that I posted this.)

Guten Tag Germany!

First warning, the keyboard is really different and letters are switched around. So there will be a ton of errors.
But I was sad to leave Jordanbut my flight to Germany was very easy and I was here before I even knew it. Lisa was here to pick me up and we headed to her house, which is absolutely beautiful. I was exhausted from the time of my flight but made it awake for the day. And my today I'm feeling a lot better and not super tired. We went to a town a little less than an hour away yesterday and saw what they do in the old days for a wedding. Then we climbed up to a castle and looked around. The view was amazing! But oh course, knowing me, my camera decided it was going to die and run out of batterys half way through the whole thing.  So did I get tons of beautiful pictures? Ha! No.
Of course not.
And I'm having a hard time typing at all and this is taking forever. I'm calling it quits.
OH! And I canät connect to wifi here so I won't be logging on as much as I did in Jorda. Just whenever I have time.
Chuse!

Ma'Salam Jordan

Well. This is it. I leave tonight. 

It is time to say Ma'Salam to Jordan and Guten Tag to Germany! 

This is seriously the most bitter sweet moment I've ever had. I love it here in Jordan and I do not want to leave. I have packed nothing which is very bad and i need to start. We are also going to one of the street fair things which is going to be close to the last time they do it. So I really won't have time to pack after that. 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a hot mess at the end of this tonight. I might cry even. I cannot believe it has been five weeks. Honestly, my mind is blown at how quickly this trip went. It feels like just yesterday i was just getting here, unpacking, and having issues with water. Alas, it will be nice to not have issues with water and plumbing. Fingers crossed at least. 

It will also be nice to go to Germany and enjoy my time there. It shouldn't be as hectic as it is in Jordan and i can probably relax more. 

But i'll leave it at that, and say that Jordan was a wonderful experience and I'm glad I came here. And since i have to pack, yuck, I've got to get started on that.

Halaas.

It's over. I took my Arabic final and I'm forever done with Arabic 201. 

After realizing that I have indeed, learned a lot, even though the others are ahead of me, I still feel pretty accomplished. I mean, that is if I end up passing the class. Happy thoughts guys! 

I think I'll be fine. 

My teacher is absolutely adorable. She got us all these necklaces that have our names written on a grain of rice that floats in this blue stuff. It is so cute. I love her, she is precious. I took my oral test today too and did a lot better at that than I did at the written test. She told all of us after our tests she would miss us and we took pictures with her as a class. 

Man, I'm really sad guys. Like I might cry. I absolutely love here, which I'm so thankful for because otherwise this trip would suck. And everyone here has been supportive and such great friends. I can't believe I'm leaving this beautiful, kind country in just three days. Wow. Time has really flown by. 

So tomorrow I've got my last final and we are all going out to dinner Thursday as one group. The ten of us troopers throughout this trip. 

I couldn't have imagined this to go any better than it has. I'm so grateful I've been able to have this experience. There is no way I could have done this without the support of my family. So thank you guys for helping me get where I am today. This has been one of the most eye opening things that has ever happened to me. 

On another note, as sad as I am to be leaving, I'm going to Germany for a week after this to see my exchange student and her family. I'm excited to see Lisa after over a year! Plus, Germany, come on, it's beautiful. So it'll be not as bad to leave Jordan to go on another adventure to another gorgeous country. Look me go guys, explorer Melea. Has a nice ring to it. 

It'll be so crazy to be home after that. I'm a little surprised by it all. What am I going to do to have my boring, old normal life back? 

I guess I'll see when I get home! 

Ancient Wonders of the World

I am thoroughly amazed. 

After about three hours to Petra and not feeling good about walking a few miles to see one of the ancient wonders of the world in extremely hot weather I was definitely caught by surprise. After going to Greece and seeing such amazing things I didn't think it would be possible to see anything better than what I saw in my favorite place in the world. 

We walked forever, in hot weather, through rocks that could get pretty narrow we rounded a corner and what I saw was so indescribable. My pictures will do no good for this beautiful sight of Petra. The first thing i ran across was the Treasury. The top half is actually Roman style, but the top is not. A slier showed through the rocks and then you could see the whole thing. It was huge and beautiful. As I said, it'll be hard for me to even describe. But it was so amazing. 

We continued further and then we were at a tomb and a Colosseum. Obviously those weren't as exciting. And since we added the Wadi Rum trip in we didn't have as much time in Petra as we normally would. That meant I wasn't going to try to do a 40 minute hike up stairs and get back down in an hour. That would take you to the Monastery, which I would have done, but with it being hot and after already wandering around for a few hours I wasn't up for it. Half the group went and I hung out with one other guy and our ISA director and we walked back to the Treasury and sat there and watched it. I was so exhausted by the time we left and was too hot to be happy. But I made it another hour and a half to Wadi Rum. Thank God. Inshalla. 

Although because we left late because people climbed up to the Monastery we didn't get to ride camels into the sunset. My romantic dream of bonding with a camel as the sun set low in the sky was shattered. Alas, Ill hamdi lila the camels were awaiting for me in the morning, thanks to our lovely ISA director who has his connections. 

Sadly, I had a grumpy camel and didn't bond too much with it, since it kept trying to bite the guys leg on the camel in front of me. I mean, yeah, that was hilarious because he was afraid of my camel. Also, I wanted a picture with my camel just us after I got off, but he (or she, no idea) wasn't having it. But I did bond with the camel behind me that someone else was on. He kept putting his head up by my camel and I pet him. It was great. There was also a baby camel there. Did you hear that!? A BABY! 2. months. old. WhhhaaattT??? It was awesome! It was even tied to the other camels, it just wandered around by its mom and stuff making the cutest noises ever. It was for sure the best weekend here. 

Because the night before we hung out at the camp at a fire and looked at stars and just talked with the group. We all laughed and it was just a really chill, casual time. I wouldn't have wanted it to go any other way. 

Plus, dinner was delicious! They cooked it in this thing under the sand and covered it up with sand. So we watched them take it out and it was super cool. And out of all the food, I could eat everything there except one thing. It was heaven, especially for a vegetarian who has only been living off two foods. 

And after the camel ride we had breakfast and then we got in the back of trucks and drove around the desert. We stopped and all but three people climbed up this HUGE sand hill. I refused, it looked too treacherous for the hot weather. (Just a reminder, for people who forget, I hate hot weather and don't feel good in it. That's why I missed out on some of the stuff, but I'm honestly okay with it). So while they did that we drank some tea at this little place and looked around at the shop. I got an incredible deal on this one item there. I bought two of them because they're SO cool! I can' tell you, because I bought one for my roommate because it totally looked her style. So yeah, you're welcome Marina. You are seriously going to love it, and we'll be continuous matching roommates. And like, I'm sad now because I haven't seen you in what feels like years. Waaa.

And then we went to a few other places where there were tribal things for hunting on some rocks. And the last stop was somewhere that Lawrence of Arabia had been. That was kind of cool, but we didn't stay long. And then we went back to the camp and packed up. But yeah, it was really the best weekend here ever. Hot and busy, but so cool. I was in love. And I'm so sad that I only have like five days left. I hate it, I do not want to leave. Like at all. Not joking. I'd live here. 

And sorry for late posts, I have finals in a day. So yeah, I should probably be doing that instead. Great huh? 

So I'm checking out. 

Ma'salam

First sight of the Treasury

The tomb 

Sunset on the rock we climbed up onto

 Dinner

Cute little camel(:

I'M ON A CAMEL!

Hipping it up in Amman

I know, cheesy title. 

But we headed to the artsy part of Amman where the kind of hipsters hangout and there is are everywhere. We walked around and I finally bought something for myself! Two shirts. So exciting, I know, you guys will have to contain yourselves over that. 

There also was a looking delicious crepe place and chocolate place, but we didn't have time to stop. We went to this coffee shop called Graffiti very briefly and we get a discount for being students and then we get to write on the wall before we leave. I thought that was pretty exciting so I'll definitely have to go back. I thought it was a really cool idea. 

We eventually ended up in an art gallery area and there were some pretty sweet paintings. While we walked  to the location there were painting on the ground or the walls of building saying "We Claim the Sea" which apparently was an art place that was showing you the way to other art places along with their own. It was really exciting to see that kind of promotion. And while we walked around we ended up seeing all these houses who were portraying art and things like that. It was just a really exciting part of Amman. We stopped at this house that was turned into this huge art place. It was huge and there were ruins in the backyard with a church (cave like thing) and we wandered around for a while. There was a cafe there and everything. It was really fancy and cool. It was a shame we couldn't stay long since we had a time crunch and had to leave. 

But I am definitely looking to head back. We'll just have to find out because I have no time. And everyone wish my luck on Wednesday (or mid/late Tuesday for you guys) because my Arabic midterm is that day. Which is why this is so short since I have to go study. 

This is the outfits from the Salt since I just got around to it

Happy Father's Day

Just wanted to say a shout out of  Happy Father's day to all the wonderful dads out there. I hope you all are having a fantastic day, including my own dad. I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful day wherever you are with family and friends, or whatever is going on. 

So here is to a celebration of fathers. 

So happy father's day Dad and my Opa!

Oh hey, it's Spain!

Well this week has been interesting. Our internet has been ka-pootzy for the past week. It would turn off and on all the time and wouldn't work. until Thursday night we lost it for good. We seriously just got it back today, Saturday in the afternoon. On another note, our bathroom has been flooding and we couldn't use the toilet and then another one of our bathrooms the maintenance people took the toilet seat to fix it. So... We only had one bathroom. And since our toilet wasn't working and leaking when we flushed we just decided not to use it but use the shower. But alas, the shower has been leaking when we get in it. So fingers grossed its all good now since they came and fixed it today. 

On a completely unrelated topic, I went to a Salsa Club at the Regency Hotel and it was pretty cool. It was in their restaurant and there was live band. There were dances like Salsa, Meringue, Cha-Cha, and Barchada? It's new to me. It's like a slow salsa. We went there Thursday and Friday night. It was definitely packed on Thursday but not Friday so we danced a lot more on Thursday. But Friday was fun because three of us went and just hung out. But we are definitely planning on going another day. It is going to be awesome. 

I am officially out of money now. All that is left in my wallet is all I have left. And I still have to pay for Wadi Rum which is stupid that we have to pay for it out of pocket but oh well. It's casual. So tomorrow at school I'll go to the ATM and figure out what to withdraw. It's a little unnerving to know I only have like 40 dinar in my wallet, but I'll make do. 

I missed the Souk yesterday but we went to a city called Salt where we learned about traditional Arab wedding. We got to dress up in what they'd wear and learn to do some of the dance. It was really fun and two Arab guys there rapped for us. It sounded really awesome even though I didn't know what they were saying. They were the ones that taught us to dance. We were supposed to go to this museum but I guess since Friday is the Holy day for them they wouldn't open it up. So that sucks, but we got to eat really delicious food there. Overall it was really fun and I almost skipped on it because I was feeling really lazy this weekend. But overall, this weekend was great. I wouldn't trade this trip and this experience for anything. People ask me if I miss home, but I really don't... I love it here so much. The culture, the people, the food, everything around us. I love Greece too, and I'd say I like Greece more, because I just really am into that kind of building and things like that too. Plus I also was allowed not to die of heat stroke and wear shorts. But I'd have to say, I am really said that I only have two weeks left. I wish I could have done 8 weeks here, but that's okay. 

And I'll leave it at that. 

Everybody have a wonderful day

xoxox

Palestine

So this might get a little sentimental here, but it's happening either way. 

Yesterday we went to a Palestinian Refugee camp for my Arab-Israeli Politics class. I didn't think I'd like that class but I really enjoy it. I'm learning so much and I find it so fascinating. I'm going to go into the whole details, and you can be mad for saying this, but I'm Pro-Palestinian. It's whatever, again, not going into the details. 

The Palestinians must hate America. All America does is support Israel and all Israel does is like kill people and take more land from the Palestinian people. So the guy we went to told us a story of his grandfather. The Israeli military came in and there was a massacre and everyone left because they were so scared. And now they live in Jordan and his family have been living in a refugee camp ever since. They make enough money to have a fairly nice house (for a refugee camp mind you) but a lot of people don't. In some places ambulances can't get there if there is an emergency. Kids run around and they're so sweet. A boy shook my hand then got so excited because I had blonde hair and I'm the only girl in our group with blonde hair. It was so cute and precious. Girls waved to us and then when we'd turn a corner the kids would follow us. I wish I could have stayed longer and talked to other people. It would have been so cool. But at Ali's house they served us juice, coffee, and a dessert. 

There isn't too much to say, but like it was just an eye-opening experience. And I have to say I'm so blessed to be able to be in Jordan. I'm also so blessed to be able to go to school where I go and live the life I have. I've worked hard to be where I am but I was the one who got put in the family I have and where I live. Of course, I've been thinking about things, and with this class and many other things, I've grown to believe that I might want to move somewhere else to work. Maybe Canada? Or Europe? Heck, Jordan even. I absolutely love it here and I'm so sad its already half way over. 

So that's it for now, I just thought that I would share. 

Aqaba

So we've moved from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. We drove 4 1/2 hours to Aqaba and it was SO hot there. It was awful. But grand at the same time. We had lunch and then went to this dive shop before heading to the beach. To scuba dive. So. Cool.

So we went in two groups. I was in the second group so had to wait a little bit. Scuba diving is not easy. Well it is once you get the hang of it. And of course, as I am, I had a panic attack in the water and couldn't breath and had to hang out at the surface forever. I thought about swimming back and not doing it. But then I decided I needed to suck it up because I was going to do this. One of the two guys helping us had to come help me, obviously. The problem was that I was taking too short of breaths, making it feel like i wasn't getting enough oxygen. And its really weird to be breathing under water. It's so unnatural and you have to think about breathing which is odd too. I finally figured it out and the guy held my hand for half the time under water. 

So first off, the tanks are REALLY heavy and mine was like crooked so I was swimming slanted the whole time. But that was fine. And my goggles kept filling up with water and that sucked so I had to keep clearing them. The pressure on my ears wasn't fun, but it was only really bad one time. And I survived the fish. I didn't even freak out being so close to them which is really awesome. The coral was really cool too. It was just so weird to be under water like that, but also one of the best things I have ever done. It was a great experience. We saw lion fish, Nemo (clown fish), angel fish, Dory (the blue whatever they're called), puffer fish, and a bunch of small fish everywhere. It was only about thirty minutes in the water and I'd totally go again, now that I understand how breathing under the water works. 

After that we went home and showered and then we all went out to dinner. Our director took us to this great seafood place and i was ecstatic. I'm glad to not be living off hummus and filaffel. I got a fish (yes and in Middle East, like Greece, it has the head and everything) and my roommate god shrimp and we split it. It was so tasty, the fish was awesome! It was tender and so delicious. not as good as the fish I had in Greece, but it's probably second best. 

When we went back to our room we hung out for a little longer. 

The next day (day 2 in Aqaba) we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then once again got in our suits and went to the beach. We got on a glass bottom boat and got to see the coral reefs again. There were eel everywhere on the bottom sticking up from the ground. It was weird, but cool. We jumped off the boat and snorkeled for a bit. I don't know why, but the fish freaked me out more when I was snorkeling than when I was scuba diving. Who would have thought? Ridiculous. And then after twenty minutes of that we got into the boat again. We drove over a sunken ship. It was a huge ship. And when I say huge, I mean tremendously large and really sketchy looking. And we snorkeled over it. We got in the water and SNORKELED OVER THE SUNKEN SHIP! It was so freaky. Not even funny, I couldn't handle it. I just hung out by the boat and swam around in the water. I looked at the boat for a while but it was still really freaking. It was probably only like 20 feet below us too. Ahhh.
ALSO where we were at in the water we could see four different countries. It was so wonderful. So obviously, we could see Jordan. Duh. But we could also see Israel/Palestine, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. It was so amazing. I mean obviously I couldn't just be like oh that's Egypt but they showed us and I thought that was really interesting. So I feel like a part of me has been in each of those places since the Red Sea touches them and I was in it so. I mean its my cool way of looking at it.

And then we went back to our room and showered and then like had lunch and came home. Sorry this isn't super detailed, but I'm pooped. It was so tiring. 

So I'll leave it at that. 

xoxoxo

On the way to Aqaba

THE BEACH

 Getting ready to go before the panic attack

 How gross I look after snorkeling. I was a hot mess

Glass bottom boat

 THE SHIP

 Super Sketchy ship down below

What's Jordan?

Okay, seriously, so many people I've been talking to have been really stupid. No offense. But every time I explain that I'm in Jordan (which I've been doing forever) they go, "Where's Jordan?" 

What? Seriously? That is not real life. I can't even believe that! And sometimes I'll just say, "Uh Amman, Jordan?" They STILL don't know! 

And then I have to explain it's in the Middle East. Like by Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Turkey. Although I doubt they know where that is either if they asked me in the first place. 

But yeah, I find it so hilarious that no one knows where it is. I mean, I might not even be on this planet guys! 

So I thought I'd just share that and hopefully somebody will find it amusing too.

As It Gets Hotter

Ah, now that Carsen has told me to update my blog, I shall do it. It must be done! And quickly! So since the Dead Sea nothing exciting has really been happening. We went out a few nights, but nothing special. School has been, well you know, school. The really long over two hour classes really suck. And I thought I would hate the Arab-Israeli Conflicts class but I actually really like it. Did I mention my teacher is from Canada? (Marina you better be reading this! CANADA!) So every time I get into class and he says a word and I hear his accent I just want to start singing "Ohhhh Caannnaaadddaaa, oh Caanndadddaaaa!" But then I realize that is really not the best idea... But yeah, it's pretty sweet. 

And since I have nothing better to mention, let me tell you guys something that I think is just adorable. So for the frist day there was this like 'ice cream truck' music playing in the streets and moving away and then closer to us. We didn't know what the heck was going on but we finally spotted the truck! Guess what is inside the truck? Propane. That's right, gas. It's WONDERFUL! I seriously LOVE it! Not even joking. I think it is so precious. It cracks me up so much. Like I just want to see the children running out to buy propane, but I mean that's not happening. 

So last night when a few of us were still out we get this call. And one of the guys is like we have to go home. And I was like oh okay, why? Apparently there were some 'sketchy things' going on around our apartments (mother, please don't worry. I know you really won't, but Dad if you're reading this cool your jets, because everything here is really safe. I've NEVER felt threatened or unsafe). Anyway, we get in a taxi to come back and we were like okay whatever. So two of the guys walk us home because first, they're gentlemen and second, they wouldn't let anything happen to any of us. I love that about our group. We all get along so well and take care of one another and have each others back. So there was nothing weird going on and we got in our apartments and the guys go off on their way to get back to their apartment. We get inside and the girls tell us apparently some guy was cat calling them and being all gross when they were hanging laundry on he balcony. And before that when they were walking back they passed some guys and when they turned around the guys had turned and started to walk after them. Nothing happened at all, but its still a little weird. Of course it was pretty late and nothing like that ever happens in the daylight. But now that we reported it we know what to do if it happens again. I doubt it will and they guys probably wouldn't have done anything, but better safe than sorry. Obviously I felt fine, I wasn't there when it was happening. 

But anyway, guess what is happening this weekend? What? What is that I hear? AQABA! I'm so excited! Apparently we are going to go scuba diving. I'm PUMPED! And its a weekend trip so we stay there. It's like a dream come true! Beyond excited. Like I'm dying. And I mean, yes, I will probably have to get over my irrational fear of fish bigger than like a Beta (hey Giraffe, hows it going? Hope you're still alive) but it'll be fun even if I don't. But oh well. 

So pretty much that's it. I've just been doing homework and walking around the city for the most part. Oh and tonight one of the girls rooming with us made us this dinner with chicken and rice. Don't worry, I was all good. I just had rice potatoes and carrots. Like some of my favorite three things! It was so tasty. It has this weird 7 spices in it, I don't really know, nor do I care. Because it was delicious. 

So yeah, life in Jordan is awesome and I love it. 

xoxoxo

Welcome to the Lowest Part of the World

Today we went to the Dead Sea, which is the lowest part in the world (obviously not under water, but on the surface. So... that's cool. Before that we stopped at a Greek Orthodox church and got yelled at like three times for doing everyday normal things like talking or crossing our legs on a bench. I don't know, Arabs, man, Arabs. That's all I have to say for that. It wasn't really that exciting until we went to the other room and they started talking about other areas and the movement of them. Then we stopped at another place which the ruins were closed and couldn't get in because they were restoring them. But the view was really pretty so that was good. We also stopped at this Mosaic place that got mentally disabled people and like women and give them jobs by teaching them to make the Mosaic art pieces. Everything was so pretty I wanted to buy one but it was so expensive. While driving to the dead sea we stopped on this little hill and our van driver turned off the car as we were going up the hill and instead of rolling backwards we were slowing going forward. Like voodoo magic, I don't even know what was happening but it was really impressive. And at last, we got to the DEAD SEA! I was beyond excited. Of course, I got really motion sick in the van we were on, as Arab drivers are insane, but I made it there alive, so that is always a plus. We all got ready and ran down there and got in the water. All you can do is float and it was a REALLY weird feeling. So weird. Like I didn't even know what to do. And then we like practically rolled around in mud. IT WAS AWESOME! Like you totally take it from this place and rub it all over you and it exfoliates your skin and then you go wash it off in the really salty water and its supposed to be really great for you. The only problem was that the water is so salty that nothing can live in that ocean and that everything floats. But if you go under then you can't come back up. Which is totally freaky. That means if you have any open wounds or little cuts it'll sting like crazy. And guess what? I got some water in my hair and it ran down my face and some got in my left eye and I was dying. DYING. It was awful and so painful. I like booked it out of the water to rinse my eye out and some random guy just started spraying me with a hose. It was weird too but helped, so what can I do? But overall it was a really cool experience and we spent like an hour and a half down in the sea. Then we headed over to the pools, because we were at a Holiday Inn and played around for a while. We decided to eat dinner there and a group of 4 of us went up and ordered and got us a table big enough for us all. Everyone got their food for the most part except me. I was like ok, whatever. But then another 4 came and ordered and all but 1 of them got their food. Again, before me. So then I was a little ticked off. That was when all hell broke lose and nobody was getting anything they ordered, and it took years upon years, and there were 3 of us waiting for food. Eventually one of them got their food and after our ISA director went and yelled at the staff 5 times and still me and this other guy didn't have our food (me waiting for mine over an hour. It was now 8:30) she flat out told them that if we didn't get our food within the next five minutes we would all get up and leave without paying. Guess what? They brought our food out. Greaaaat. And they made me pay for it all and everything. So we complained to the front desk but they seriously did nothing. One girl told them I needed my money (she's so sweet and protective its adorable) and the guy was totally like no but we'll give you more food. I told him no that I didn't want their service anymore but besides that, they did nothing. So after a really awesome day hanging out at the Dead Sea and pools it turned into a mess. But its whatever, not that big of a deal. The only problem now is that I hadn't eaten for like 8 hours since lunch because my dinner took forever, therefor I have a splitting headache. It's seriously so bad. Ugh. 

But MOM, I totally stole some sand from the beach. You better love me now. 

And, my first day of classes were fine, but I'm so behind in Arabic and its really embarrassing. Like one guy told me that I really shouldn't be in that level. He wan't mean or rude about it and I didn't take it personally, but I agree. I know literally nothing. I mean, yes, I know more than the level 1 class, but I should be in the level 2 class not the 3rd. But again, whatever. I'll make it work and figure things out. So we'll see where it takes me. 

xoxoxox

(I didn't actually take any of these pictures, they came from somebody else in our group because I refused to take my camera down by the water)

Gee, Why Don't You Just 'Notice the Teeth'

We had to be out of our apartments and in a taxi by 9:30. And for some slightly jet lagged students, it wasn't awful, but definitely not ideal. We started our adventure alone having to tell the drivers where to go. Today, our taxi driving was wonderful. We heard us speaking English and spoke to us in Arabic, which the other girl in my cab didn't know any. So it was a difficult task. He spoke very, very, very broken English so was able to talk a little bit. Otherwise we just kind of nodded along. Sometimes we get really cranky taxi drivers and its not very fun. But for the most part, they really like to engage in conversations, whether in English or Arabic (which the Arabic comes from the other students who know a lot more). Its really cool to talk to the people here. Most of them are really friendly. Like our taxi driver today wanted us to stop to get "Ashai wa nana" (how you would pronounce it, not Arabic writing) which is tea with mint but we told no its was okay. It was really sweet and funny at the same time. We drove to some ancient ruins which was pretty fascinating. We saw the Temple of Hercules (but I mean, nothing compares to seeing the things in Greece, but I still appreciate it here) and there was also a first century church and Umayyad Mosque that I can't remember for the life of me how old it was. Pretty old though. Fairly sure its the 8th Century when it was built. The top, of course, has been rebuilt. I wish I could record everything they say because its so hard to remember the names and details, especially with the Arabic names. Our tour guide person kept getting these calls and he kept apologizing and he told us, no joke, that it was because he had two wives. Yeah, yeah, of course you have two wives that call you all the time and interrupt the tours. Man, like I want two wives. But these Arabs, seriously they answer the phone like no matter what. After that we went into a very small tiny museum which was just alright. Like i said, its hard to beat Greece and their huge museums filled to the brim. It was smoldering out today, at least for me. And I know everyone says "oh its fine, its a dry heat" but that is a lie. I mean, yes its dry, but that does not make it any better. Not. At. All. I was probably a little dehydrated though but after that we walked down to a restaurant where I had some delicious hummus and pita and drank tons of water. That took up all morning and we had to go straight to the apartments to catch a taxi to our University. So we got there and they showed us around. The university is built on a hill so it really sucks walking up and down it to get from one place to another. And the times we have classes changes, so its really weird. Like our Arabic class is weird. We all have Israeli Conflicts at the same time every day Sunday-Thursday, but my Arabic class, the intermediate 201 class has it Sunday-Tuesday from 1:25-4 (SO LONG!) and then Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30-11:05. I don't get it at all, but its whatever. And then from 11:15-1:20 every day we have our other class. So weird. I wish that ours was more in the morning so we got out and get to see more things later in the day, since its harder to plan things with a time crunch in the morning along with sleeping in. But oh well. It is what it is. After that we had to find our way back home after getting off the bus, but it wasn't awful. Then we went to this coffee/hookah place and hung out together playing cards. They didn't have food though and by the time we finished I was starving. Oh, and by the way, I still haven't smoked hookah nor do I plan to. Just a friendly reminder since that totally isn't my thing. Everyone else does it except one other girl in my group, so I guess we're kind of like the loners for it. Maybe we're weird for it, but hey, I'm just not feeling it. But then I wandered around to get food and then got a Falafel sandwich again and then had some Baklava (or Block of lava thing going on if Marina is reading this) and then I got Kilafel or something similar that word, not entirely sure, which is like baked cheese on the bottom and like phyla (not sure if that is how you spell it) dough on top that is like crunchy. It sounds weird but its actually made with sugar so its really sweet and so delicious. Kind of a weird texture. Then I ran back to the room and ate and now I'm writing this and getting ready for bed since my first day of school is tomorrow. WHAT? On the third day we like have run around and I don't even know whats going on. So wonderful. And its so hot. I'm dying. 

ANDDDD I didn't realize my memory card on my camera is so samll or the pictures take up tons of room or whatever, I don't care, so I have to upload to my computer and since I'm paranoid that if I delete them from my camera and they are only on my computer my computer will crash and I will lose them. Therefore, after that confusing sentence, I uploaded them to facebook, and now the element of surprise will be gone. Oh well. 

So that's cool. And I mean, I guess that's all that I have for today. 

So maa'salam

xoxox

Hercules Temple (for Mom and Bryan, its not very exciting as the things in Greece...)

 The Old Mosque

 The ceiling of the mosque was made out of pine trees which is really cool. Its very beautiful inside and is very interesting since I've already seen cool things in Greece this is a big difference, so much more exciting for me than Hercules temple.

This is Hercules hand and in the top right is part of his elbow

This cracked us all up. In the museum at the temple they had something about the teeth. The whole big paragraph was about the fossils of teeth and there were two different signs since there was one with horse teeth and another with like rhinos or something. Then literally right next to the other signs was this one that says "Notice the teeth". Huh, really? I never really would have gotten that out of that whole speil about fossilizing teeth and the evidence of it. Who would have guessed?

My First Full Day

Well today was pretty good. It wasn't very exciting during the morning since I was the first one up and nobody really got up until a lot later. But its casual. So at 4pm we got on a taxi and went to a mosque. It was really interesting to be in in one and I got to wear the robe from Jordan, since its required. I already love it here and its my first full day. I loved to be able to experience the culture that way. The whole city is so amazing. The Mosque was very small compared to what I thought it would be, but over all a great experience. I was so excited to be able to see it. After that we were there we got on a taxi and went into town. Well, more like city. We live by a bunch of markets, but it definitely isn't like the heart of the city. We went to so many different places that I can't even tell you the names. One was a women's environmentally safe place that was really cool and all the money goes to the women. I had the most delicious hummus sandwich with falafel in it. So. Tasty. We left like this Jordanian tourist place thing with a restaurant and a coffee place. Our site manager took us to this weird rooftop thing and all that was on the top were two guys just hanging out and the cutest cat ever. And we get to the top are a ton of pigeons just chilling and I'm like what the heck? So they put a pigeon on my head. ON MY HEAD! What?? It was so weird and random. But hey, I was sold. 

Then we went and had something to drink, I had lemon with mint and it was like blended. It was so good too! I'm dying, everything is so freaking tasty. 

But I'm so tired and have to get up early tomorrow so I'm heading to bed now. 

Maa'Salam.