ahlan wa sahlan

We’ve moved in with our Jordanian families! Most of us have found that our host families speak some English so basic communication isn’t much of an issue. Also, the families are really supportive of our learning Arabic and my host mom and dad are always repeating phrases so patiently that I feel guilty for forgetting most of what I’ve learned. My family seems to be experienced with hosting foreigners, and they’ve also studied English as a foreign language, so they have a perfect understanding of how to foster language learning.

My roommate and I live with Mama, who knows some English words, and Baba, who knows more. We also have a brother who’s 28 and talks to us in both English and Arabic. Every time we see him he's smoking a cigarette. When we arrived at our apartment, the grandchildren (our nieces and nephews?) were there: a fourteen year old girl and a five year old boy. They are actually here visiting from Sweden with their mother. They speak Swedish and I honestly can’t tell the difference between it and Arabic yet.

Mama and Baba keep saying to me, “as you like as you like” insisting that this apartment is like my house. I hear "ahlan wa sahlan" (hello, and welcome) all the time. The food is delicious and they are always offering more Turkish coffee, more juice, more Bebsi, and of course, more food. It’s impossible not to gain weight while here in Jordan!

We had finished dinner at about 9pm our first night and I was about to go to bed when Mama answered her phone and then passed it to me. On the other end was another classmate inviting us to play soccer at the city sports center. So, at 9:30 at night, Mama, my roommate, and I were hanging out with a couple classmates and their host mom, who wants to take us to a new mall in Amman every week and wants me to teach her piano!

Because of the language barrier, I talk with my hands a lot, but I need to be careful. The ‘perfect’ or ‘ok’ hand gesture, with the thumb and index finger making a circle, means ‘I’m going to beat you up later’ in Jordan. Here’s another language thing: after I took a shower, my host brother said, “in Arabic, after shower means ‘na’eeman.'" I smiled and nodded and then looked it up, a little afraid of what I’d find. It turns out it’s a common Arabic phrase with no English translation—it’s like blessing and congratulating someone on getting fresher, and it can be said after a shower, a shave, or a haircut. After my roommate showered, one of the 7 year old children said the same thing to her.

Yesterday was Qasid orientation and an Arabic placement test and today we started class! My host family is a lot of fun but I have to do school work too, so Turkish coffee has been my best friend.

Turkish coffee is served in such small servings probably so you don't have a heart attack.

I have class in the morning but Jordanians, especially after Ramadan and during the summer, sleep into the day and stay up at night visiting and drinking coffee (so much caffeine!!!). Although Turkish coffee is interesting, I do miss American coffee. It’s totally available here, but I feel like I’m wimping out if I take something that’s ‘American.’ I shouldn’t let that bother me. Today’s lunch was Coca Cola, a burger, and cheese whiz drizzled over French fries in a cup.

The only other Western item I miss so far is the availability of toilet paper. Sure, we can buy it in stores, and our host families provide it for us, but it’s not guaranteed in public places and we most certainly cannot flush it down the toilet. Nothing is more terrifying than entering a stall and finding a hose in lieu of toilet paper. I want to learn to live like a local, but I’m not there yet.