Deir Abu-Sayed
And so training continues...
All 31 of us have been split up into six or seven villages around Amman and Irbid for the next two months of training. We all meet once a week for two days for group training, but I am in a village about 10km from the West Bank with four other PC girls. We have 6 hours of Arabic training everyday and live with host families. My host family is amazing! I have 5 host brothers and 2 sisters. My father is an English teacher, and the rest of the family speaks only a little English. They aren't very conservative at all--in fact, the men and women socialize in the house together, and I am allowed to hang out with the uncles and grandfathers all the time, as well as the brothers and male cousins.
The food has gotten better, if you can believe it. Everything here is so fresh--they have grapes growing outside the house, a cow across the street that give them fresh milk, with which they make fresh cheese, my mom makes hummus, and olive oil from the olive orchard they own (about 1km from the house). Their extended family lives with a 5 block radius--all the cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are so close, and everyone gets together everyday to eat and chat. "Alone time" doesn't seem to exist, unless the kids have to study for an exam, or the parents are praying.
The weather doesn't change...hot and dry all day (usually around 100 degrees), and cool and windy at night (around 65 degrees). On Thursday night my sister and mom took me to a henna party--a bride gets henna put all over her hands, arms, and feet the day before she gets married. It's a big affair. The women take off their veils and scarves and sing and dance and celebrate.. Everywhere I go, I feel like a celebrity. "Ah American!! Hello!!" It's getting old. Hopefully they'll get bored with me soon so I can have some peace and quiet. It's incredibly tiring having to converse with people for hours and hours everyday.
Today at the school where we have Arabic lessons, there was a group of schoolgirls studying for their national exam (like the SATs), and happened to be putting henna on eachother for fun. They invited us down to their class room and put henna on all of our hands...very cool. The girls all ask if I'm married, if I like Britney Spears, and if I like Michael Jackson. Apparently they didn't get the news that Michael is a child molester!! Everyone still loves him here.
Tomorrow we're going back to Irbid for two days, then back to our village. The girls and I have to get back to Arabic class soon--maasalama. (goodbye)
All 31 of us have been split up into six or seven villages around Amman and Irbid for the next two months of training. We all meet once a week for two days for group training, but I am in a village about 10km from the West Bank with four other PC girls. We have 6 hours of Arabic training everyday and live with host families. My host family is amazing! I have 5 host brothers and 2 sisters. My father is an English teacher, and the rest of the family speaks only a little English. They aren't very conservative at all--in fact, the men and women socialize in the house together, and I am allowed to hang out with the uncles and grandfathers all the time, as well as the brothers and male cousins.
The food has gotten better, if you can believe it. Everything here is so fresh--they have grapes growing outside the house, a cow across the street that give them fresh milk, with which they make fresh cheese, my mom makes hummus, and olive oil from the olive orchard they own (about 1km from the house). Their extended family lives with a 5 block radius--all the cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are so close, and everyone gets together everyday to eat and chat. "Alone time" doesn't seem to exist, unless the kids have to study for an exam, or the parents are praying.
The weather doesn't change...hot and dry all day (usually around 100 degrees), and cool and windy at night (around 65 degrees). On Thursday night my sister and mom took me to a henna party--a bride gets henna put all over her hands, arms, and feet the day before she gets married. It's a big affair. The women take off their veils and scarves and sing and dance and celebrate.. Everywhere I go, I feel like a celebrity. "Ah American!! Hello!!" It's getting old. Hopefully they'll get bored with me soon so I can have some peace and quiet. It's incredibly tiring having to converse with people for hours and hours everyday.
Today at the school where we have Arabic lessons, there was a group of schoolgirls studying for their national exam (like the SATs), and happened to be putting henna on eachother for fun. They invited us down to their class room and put henna on all of our hands...very cool. The girls all ask if I'm married, if I like Britney Spears, and if I like Michael Jackson. Apparently they didn't get the news that Michael is a child molester!! Everyone still loves him here.
Tomorrow we're going back to Irbid for two days, then back to our village. The girls and I have to get back to Arabic class soon--maasalama. (goodbye)
posted by Hilary at 2:09 PM
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