A Typical Day in Amman

So far I've only been posting the exciting parts of my time here - the trips! Day to day life here has become fairly routine with classes, homework, and such. But I still manage to have adventures here and there! Here's a typical day for me:

7:00am - Wake up! After the first few days, I no longer woke up to the 5 a.m. call to prayer from the nearby mosque.

7:30am - Breakfast! Every morning is pretty much the same. Pita bread and a bunch of different things to dip it into. My personal favorite is yogurt with olive oil and leftover hummus. Sometimes we have falafel, eggs, or pastries. There are always freshly cut tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. And of course, tea with mint! (I bought myself a box to take back to the U.S.)

8:00am - Catch a taxi! Our street isn't very busy in the mornings so sometimes we have to a walk a few minutes before we find one. We're getting to be pros at giving directions though. We can direct the driver to the language academy using only Arabic now!

8:30am - Conversation class! This is by far the hardest class I have ever taken. I now have a small taste of what it's like to try to keep up with a class in a language you don't know very well. I have major respect for all my international student friends now. My class has only two students, counting me, so lately we've been practicing conversations you might have at a store or at a restaurant. Today, I was able to carry on a conversation without looking at my notes. Progress!

11:00am - Art & Architecture class! I've always loved art so I've been thoroughly enjoying this class. It integrates Islamic history with the artistic trends from the Prophet Muhammad's time until modern day. The class is taught in English but we often read Arabic texts about architecture.

1:00pm - Head home! After being in class since 8:30am, I'm usually exhausted by lunchtime. Before Ramadan, we would sometimes stop by a shwarma place near the school but that's closed during the day now. Our host family usually has a delicious lunch waiting for us when we get home. Today we had mansef, a traditional Jordanian dish made out of rice, lamb, and a yogurt-based sauce.

2:30pm - Study! Boring. At least I like what I'm studying, so that helps a little. Depending on the day, I'll work until bedtime only stopping for dinner and the occasional tea with mint break. It doesn't help that the internet only works intermittently here since a lot of my homework is online.

? - Depending on the day (and if there's a quiz in the morning), we'll go out sometimes to explore Amman at night. So far, we've gone to a couple cafes to watch World Cup games. There's so much energy in the cafes where people watch the matches! It's been great to be here for that.

9:00pm - Dinner! Our family eats dinner late so we're usually pretty hungry by this time. We usually have pita bread again and sometimes chicken and rice.

12:00am - Bedtime! Jordanian guys like to drag race around the circle in front of our house, so that's the sound we fall asleep to every night. Screeching brakes, spinning wheels, and the occasional loud smash. I'm used to it now so I usually fall asleep right away.

I can't believe I only have four more days of classes here! It's gone by way too fast. Next time, I'm definitely staying longer. 

Catherine A.