salaamtik!

I've finished my first week of classes! The teachers are very kind. I always have their voices stuck in my head, "Tayyib ya shibab" "Ok guys." One difficulty of learning Arabic as a foreign language is that there is Modern Standard Arabic and then plenty of dialects. We have two separate vocabulary lists running through our minds. Our homework must be done in MSA, because that is the language of education in the Arab world, but as soon as class ends our brains must switch to the shaamii dialect so we can communicate with our host families. Our class activities often include saying a word in MSA and then passing the ball to someone who will say that word in shaamii.

I've also survived my first bout of food poisoning. I ended up going to the hospital (Jordan is famous for its medical tourism!) and they told me it was from eating uncooked or unwashed vegetables and gave me a ton of antibiotics. People kept saying, "salaamtik" (get well soon), to which the proper response is "allah yesalaamik"

Because of my being sick, I missed out on going out with my host family, which I was really bummed about. Today I finally felt better, though, and I went on our class excursion to the Jordanian Museum, the citadel, the Roman amphitheater, and shopping downtown. I have pictures on my camera, and I'll upload them at school. My host dad says we have enough wifi to run a bank but I don't know if he's ready for my gluttonous internet usage-it's best to save my heavy-duty uploading and downloading for school.

From the balcony of my apartment.