This post is much longer than I expected. My apologies.. even I don't like to read very long things.
Random
Some news
Culture
Feelings
Pictures
I am currently sitting on my windowsill. I feel kind of scandalous sitting on my windowsill.. like maybe women shouldn't do it, especially at night in case a man might see them or something. I always imagine myself as an Arab girl, and I don't think an Arab girl would ever sit on her windowsill at night.
To give you an idea of my surroundings, I have just recently changed the channel from Arabic cartoons to an Arabic comedy. The weather was hot today, but at night it's perfect and there's always a nice breeze. (Last week was ridiculous.. it reached for 100 for most of the week.)
My classes end this Tuesday.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my building gives us a curfew - 11:00 PM. They lock the doors then. It's an all-ladies building so men aren't allowed in the building. If you want to stay out later, you have to tell them beforehand or call them, and even still they might not say it's okay. It's better than the 9:00 PM curfew that the university gives.
I also forgot to mention in my last blog that I switched my ring from my left hand to my right hand. If it's on the right hand, it means I'm engaged. If it's on the left hand, that means I'm married. Being married indicates that I live with a man. I switched it to the right hand because I don't live with a man.
And speaking of the ring, ever since I've worn it, I haven't been bothered. Sometimes I get stares but not like I used to.
I took it off for one day. I was sitting at a restaurant waiting for a friend (I'll talk about that in a minute too) and there was a group of guys sitting at a table who could see me through the window. The one guy nudged the other one and they all stared. Let me try to find a picture of how people stare here, because you seriously have no idea until you see it. It's NOT like in the US. I hate it.. a lot. I actually get it from Arab girls as well.
That's the best I could find. Just imagine these eyes EVERYWHERE around you, ON you.
Anyways, I was really uncomfortable so I motioned to him to stop it. He didn't understand, so I made the gesture again and mouthed "Khalas" which means "That's enough." The guy got up and walked somewhere, but the rest of the table kept glaring :(
So yes, my friend from Saudi Arabia visited me! He always helped me with my Arabic :) It was so nice to see a friend, and we really enjoyed each other's company.
Let's talk a little more about some cultural things.
The bottom of your shoe is the dirtiest. To expose the bottom of your shoe to someone is the worst insult ever. When you sit, make sure your sole is NOT showing. Never put your feet up anywhere. People will be genuinely offended and think that you think they are beneath your feet. You can imagine how insulting it is to throw your shoe at someone.
Revenge is also a big part of the mindset here, and I don't want to generalize because there are people who aren't this way. But let's say if someone is offended or has had something done to them, many must get them back somehow. They can't let it go until they feel that they're even.
Age and wisdom are respected here, not so much youth and beauty.
I've also noticed that people don't do the fake friendly promises, like "I'll call you sometime" or "Maybe we can get together." If someone wants to invite you over, they do it right then or don't bring it up at all. It's perfect.
A lot of signs have Arabic writing but are English words.. for example, sometimes I read signs that say "Soobr Markt" (Supermarket) or "Faarmasi" (Pharmacy). Those are not Arabic words.
I mean this one has to be the same word, but I just gave a picture to demonstrate.
The meals go: Breakfast (in the morning, obviously), lunch (the biggest meal of the day, around 3ish with several different dishes at once), then a later meal (usually late late evening or nighttime). Oh yeah, and everything is eaten with pita bread. Everything.
All the house numbers are the same size and color, like this.
I'm feeling a bunch of things right now.
1. I never thought I would say this after adjusting, but I'm ready to come home. I miss a lot of things about it.
- I miss touching people.. like I miss hugs and touching people's shoulders when I have something exciting to say. Even a handshake!
- I miss being able to laugh loudly.
- I miss rain.
- I miss sarcasm.
- I miss my friends and my family.
- I miss being able to walk outside and not have people wonder why I'm alone.
- I miss being able to walk outside when it's dark and not be seen as a prostitute.
- I miss the pedestrians having the right of way and friendly customer service.
- I miss being able to text 500 times a week and not paying for each text.
- I miss being able to show my forearms and neck and not offend anyone.
- I miss not always analyzing every move I make to see if I'm doing something offensive.
I'm also pretty disappointed in myself because I haven't been speaking Arabic a lot or getting enough of the culture. I haven't learned as much as I could have. I live by myself, and I almost never see Tamara's family. My friends at school speak English (even the non-American ones), so that's how we communicate. I need to push myself to find people who are willing to speak just Arabic and be patient with me for not understanding.
I fear Ramadan. I fear it. (If you're unsure of what it is, it's when Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset, in a nutshell.) At first, I really wanted to experience it and try it to see what it's like. But if everything's closed during the day and open during the night, that gives me a few predicaments:
- I would sleep all day and stay up all night, but if I go outside to eat in the night, it looks bad, right? Most of my friends will have left at this point, so I can't just grab someone to come with me to eat.
- But if I choose to not sleep during the day, there's still a problem. Taxis probably won't be running throughout the day, so I can't go see anyone unless it's at night... but my curfew is 11. I don't want to be alone all day, but if everyone's sleeping, what do I do?
Though I miss home, I'm also afraid to leave because there are so many things I enjoy here.
- I like the fact that there are hardly any advertisements here.. like billboards on every corner or posters everywhere.
- I like that I have a windowsill to sit on.
- I like the fact that clothes are cheap.. my jeans were about $15 USD. To tailor something costs about $1.50 - $2.00 USD.
- I will miss all the fruit juices everywhere! Especially mango juice and lemon-with-mint juice.
- I will miss everyone's outgoingness. I don't think that's a word.
- I will miss hearing Arabic music everywhere.. on phones, on commercials, in supermarkets, in cars, etc.
- I like how people celebrate. For graduations, weddings, and the big end-of-senior-year test called "Tawjihi," people honk down the streets and have fireworks and genuine celebrations.
- I will miss hearing people speak Arabic and using Arabic and being understood when I speak it.
- I will miss the traditional clothing. I LOVE shemaghs. This is a shemagh:
I LOVE it. I just noticed they're holding hands.
Here's some pictures for fun.
I tried to creep some pictures of fashion. This is a "line."
It's rude to take pictures of girls because most like to keep a low profile. I took pictures anyway :/
Some of my friends have offended people by taking their picture or asking to take their picture.
Cool shopping cart
Notice the Arabic keyboard :D
This is weird.. I'm drawing pictures with English words for my language partner and I drew a bracelet. Later I get on facebook and see an ad for the same bracelet I drew, ha.
I suppose it's pretty common-looking
The dancing in that video is SO COOL.
This is the prayer call I believe. I filmed this in Jerusalem.. without skill.
This is the traditional Jordanian dancing.. I put a picture of this in another blog.
Arabic cartoons!! :)
That's all for now :)
