"You're the blonde one"

Today was my first full day with my host family and it was crazy. I mean, it was awesome, but there was a lot going on. Friday is the family day in the Middle East, so Brooke and I woke up around 10:30 (after going to bed at around 9:30) and went and had breakfast in our pj's. Jordanians (and I'm assuming most of the Middle East) is all about food, so for breakfast we had pita, homemade apricot jam, cheese, eggs, and tea. A few comments about breakfast. One, they have pita just stacked in the freezer. Pita for Jordanians is like rice in China (I assume.) Also, had my first instance of being served food without utensils. Have you ever had to eat an omelette with no fork? Well I now know how to. Brooke and I both sat there sort of staring at it before we finally gave in and just started pulling it apart with pita and our fingers. Also, tea/coffee is served in little glasses, many without handles, so you have to be careful not to burn yourself.

After breakfast we sat around and watched tv for a while. Jordanians watch A LOT of tv. Fu Fu loves music videos ("muzzika! muzzika!" - he knows the names of his favorite tv channels; another favorite is "arbiya! arbiya!") so we watched quite a bit of music videos, switching back and forth with the news, which covers only one thing at this point - Egypt. Egypt in Jordan is like 9/11 was in the US - the networks show absolutely nothing but Egypt coverage, 24/7, and I know that's all they cover because the tv was on all day. Eventually, however, Momma (the mom's mom) and her "sons", also CIEE students, came over and hung out. Momma's son cooked lunch, and all of us were handed a filled plate. Mine had: 1 chicken wing/breast - I think it was literally half a chicken -1 chicken leg, there may have been more chicken I'm not sure, two lamb kebab things (it's like sausage), a roasted tomato, half an onion, and 2 pieces of pita. And no silverware. It was a process of pullng the chicken off the bone, rolling it in pita, dipping it in hummos or another sauce, and being told over and over "eat! eat! you chew shwai shwai!" (shwai = slow) and slowly getting so full it hurt to eat more. It's an arduous process eating in Jordan - you want to eat this delicious food, it's polite and almost necessary to clear your plate, but if you finish they give you more. It's difficult to get them to stop feeding you, and it's even more difficult trying not to offend them doing so. Also, they don't serve anything to drink when they eat. Jordanians don't drink water. Almost ever. The water shortage means showers 2x a week, and getting water almost any way other than directly drinking it. For instance, they eat a lot of lettuce. My host mom has a bowl of lettuce just chilling on the counter, ready for whomever wants it.

After lunch (thank goodness we didn't have dinner!) we had turkish coffee and played yad (hand, in English.) it's almost exactly like gin rummy, but with a few different words. We played with Momma's son and the aunt, and everytime someone did something good she said "kish! kish!" and it made me laugh. They truly are a fantastic family. Also, my host mom promised to show Brooke and I how to make turkish coffee, which I'm really excited for, considering I had one cup and I felt like I drank a whole coffee pot. That stuff is LOADED. Again, served in the small glasses, which are so much fun to use.

After Brooke and I lost at yad, we went and sat with our host brothers/cousins, Momma's sons, and had a nice long chat in English. It is one of the most amazing feelings ever to talk in English after being surrounded by Arabic for so long. Both of them were here last semester and promised to show us around if we wanted to. They were both really chill, so it was nice to know that these were the people we'd have to spend a lot of time with (Jordan is all about family, so we'll be seeing them at least once a week.) At one point, Momma was talking to Brooke and I, about half and half in Arabic - she's really good at gesticulating - and told us, first in Arabic and then in English, "the tan one and the blonde one." I was confused, but then Brooke (who looks very Jordanian although not) turned to me and said, "I'm the tan one - you're the blonde one." It was pretty amusing. I also got my hair stroked by my host aunt, which reminded me of some of my friends. There is no such thing as privacy or a personal bubble in Jordan, and luckily I'm fairly okay with that (Olivia, I'd like to see you last one DAY here.)

Overall, it was a very interesting day. Eventful, in that I was introduced to so many different customs, people, and words, but uneventful in that we basically did nothing but sit, watch tv, and eat all day. I'm excited to start classes, explore the city, and get a routine down. Tomorrow Brooke and I plan on going to the store to get things like shampoo and water, and hopefully to find someplace to get change. Jordanians hate being given anything but exact change, which is really frustrating when the ATMs spit out nothing but 50s. I think I'm also going to get some toilet paper, because the UJ bathrooms are notoriously bad, and if I ever to use one, I'll probably need to have a roll with me. A note: no one flushes toilet paper. It clogs up the septic tanks, so it all gets thrown in the trash.

And on that happy note, I think I'll end this blog. Pictures will be going up soon, I promise :)

Bosa bosa (kiss kiss - Fu Fu taught me that one),

Beth