The Great Adjustments

Week one, Thursday: Well, my host family is very nice. The only thing nicer is the weather. Hello blue skies, every day! My host sister (I have a host "sister" and "brother" instead of a "mom" and "dad") is pregnant, and due in April. How exciting?! They already have a 2 (Julia) and a 5 year old (Mohammad). We had our Arabic proficiency exams yesterday. What. The. Heck. Haha! I feel for anyone who has ever had to take a proficiency exam. It was three hours for writing and listening, and only three of us managed to finish. I really think the only reason I finished was because of my awesome skill of skipping questions when I know I have no answer! Right out of that, we did our individual oral interviews. My brain doesn't switch like that! Many of us are pretty sure we failed the speaking part though, so it's not just me. We get our scores on Sunday (fingers crossed). This morning, I saw a guy in a donkey making deliveries (in the city...) and I was proposed to by the taxi driver. "Enti...enti...you...want...zowj.... Bedou?" Proposal #1! Who wants to help me keep count? On the way home, I was trying to tell the driver how to get back to my house. We got to the important traffic circle (basically all directions in Amman are given by traffic circle. "Go to this circle", and then direct the rest from there) and I told him to turn right. He said "no, I think you mean left...", and I wasn't too confident so I said okay (none of the taxi drivers know where I live, and I still am not too positive... But I think I am after today!). As soon as we went left, I knew he was wrong so called my brother. He fixed it! Anyways... The point is, I was right! Week two, Thursday: I was going to do an opinion post, but figured you all would be a little bit more interested in another life-post while I'm still bumbling around. So, here it goes. Last Friday, a few students and I went down to the "sooq", or the Friday market in Abdali. Kinda crazy (not in a bad way), but definitely glad we had guys with us. It's basically tents made out of tarps, that fills the area of at least one (maybe two) old-town Detroit city blocks. They sell everything from gummy bears to basketballs, from soccer shoes to abayas. For cheap. And you can barter. It's basically a giant Salvation Army, some shops are new, some are used, and some seem to be old collegiate hoodies from the United States. I met Khadijah and Angie on Saturday to go downtown, and they were showing me all the spots to waste my money. If I go over budget this trip, it will be their faults. Just sayin'! I did pretty well though, these two are Americans and haven't quite mastered the Jordanian peer pressure yet. The first week of classes: I was given my Arabic placement, and I landed two whole levels above what I expected (Intermediate 2 instead of Beginner 2). Needless to say, I've stressed myself out to the end of the earth and back a few times over this. In the end, after talking to the director of Arabic and my professor, I've decided to stay in this level (not that they gave me much of a choice. Jordanians are excellent at peer pressure). In any case, the next few weekends are going to be spent learning 12 chapters of fusha vocabulary and grammar structures. At least the colloquial class is easy (don't tell my Saudi boys that they helped me at all, they might feel too important!) Dealing with taxi drivers continues to be a trip, and I don't suspect it will get any better. I had one the other day who didn't look a day over 15, and the one I had today looked like the most annoyed person on earth. Yesterday I thought the taxi was going to fall apart, to the point I was debating getting out and hailing another taxi! More than once, the drivers think I've said Dwar Al-Awwl instead of Dwar Al-Waha. I can't quite figure it out, other than maybe they assume I'm a stupid American and saying Dwar Al-Wahed! I woke up yesterday morning with a migraine, so when it didn't go away by this morning... I had an adventure to the pharmacy. Thank God most of the pharmacists here speak at least a little English, because "headache" is one of those words I can never remember. Oh well, when I went to my professor's office hours and mentioned I wasn't feeling well, I was offered ZamZam and dates. God is good, even if it just is healing by happiness!