"I want to live in Amman"
Hello again!
I can't believe I have almost been here two weeks already. I am almost done with my second week of Arabic classes, and am loving it! My mind can't contain everything that I'm learning. Seriously, I feel like I need to incubate in Arabic for like a month (like how they hibernate on the ships in the alien movies haha) to try to soak everything in. But I have been really encouraged by my improvement and increasing ability to communicate! It's still very, very basic but I love talking, so anything is great!! Here are some phrases that I've been using:
Q: Kiifik? A: Ilhamdullila. (How are you? Praise to God)
Q: Biddaysh? (How much?)
Waahid falafel, min fadlak. (One falafel, please! haha)
Q: Wayn...? (Where is.. yeah I get lost a lot so I ask this a lot)
Q: Kiif Bitquul .... bila3rabi? (How do you say ... in Arabic?)
Here is what a normal weekday for me looks like:
7:00 am - wake up, eat breakfast
7:45 am - ride to school with my family, drop off kids at school
8:30 am - class starts. we start every day singing a few Arabic worship songs and a prayer. We'll go over the homework, get quizzed on the vocabulary we had to memorize, go through the next chapter
9:45 am - 15 min break, eat a snack and drink nescafe :)
11:00 am - class ends. Then, I'll usually go to a nearby cafe to study, or go downtown and explore
3:00-4:00 pm - Go home, eat the main meal with the family
Evening - hang out with the kids, maybe help babysit, study, catch up with Mark and Jen
I was able to spend some time with new friends this past weekend. On Sunday, my friend Naheda's aunt and uncle took me to church with them and we went to lunch. They are very generous people and I loved meeting them and spending time with them. They are taking me to church again on Sunday, and to his well-known restaurant nearby! On Monday, I went over to the Fabrycky's home near the US embassy. David and Laura both graduated from Wheaton not too long ago, and I met them at a church service. Laura was kind enough to show me around the US embassy a bit and we hung out and chatted about their life here. It's always fun to talk about Wheaton stuff and our mutual fun memories from college (I sound like I've already graduated, haha).
I'm hoping to do some sight-seeing this weekend... Possibly the Citadel and the Roman Theater (both close by in Amman), Jarash (an ancient city not far from Amman), maybe Mt. Nebo (where Moses saw the Holy Land). We'll see. Now that I've learned how to say "right, left, straight, no wait I don't know where I'm going" in Arabic, public transportation is easier haha.
Here are some pictures:
Til next time.
Hello again!
I can't believe I have almost been here two weeks already. I am almost done with my second week of Arabic classes, and am loving it! My mind can't contain everything that I'm learning. Seriously, I feel like I need to incubate in Arabic for like a month (like how they hibernate on the ships in the alien movies haha) to try to soak everything in. But I have been really encouraged by my improvement and increasing ability to communicate! It's still very, very basic but I love talking, so anything is great!! Here are some phrases that I've been using:
Q: Kiifik? A: Ilhamdullila. (How are you? Praise to God)
Q: Biddaysh? (How much?)
Waahid falafel, min fadlak. (One falafel, please! haha)
Q: Wayn...? (Where is.. yeah I get lost a lot so I ask this a lot)
Q: Kiif Bitquul .... bila3rabi? (How do you say ... in Arabic?)
Here is what a normal weekday for me looks like:
7:00 am - wake up, eat breakfast
7:45 am - ride to school with my family, drop off kids at school
8:30 am - class starts. we start every day singing a few Arabic worship songs and a prayer. We'll go over the homework, get quizzed on the vocabulary we had to memorize, go through the next chapter
9:45 am - 15 min break, eat a snack and drink nescafe :)
11:00 am - class ends. Then, I'll usually go to a nearby cafe to study, or go downtown and explore
3:00-4:00 pm - Go home, eat the main meal with the family
Evening - hang out with the kids, maybe help babysit, study, catch up with Mark and Jen
I was able to spend some time with new friends this past weekend. On Sunday, my friend Naheda's aunt and uncle took me to church with them and we went to lunch. They are very generous people and I loved meeting them and spending time with them. They are taking me to church again on Sunday, and to his well-known restaurant nearby! On Monday, I went over to the Fabrycky's home near the US embassy. David and Laura both graduated from Wheaton not too long ago, and I met them at a church service. Laura was kind enough to show me around the US embassy a bit and we hung out and chatted about their life here. It's always fun to talk about Wheaton stuff and our mutual fun memories from college (I sound like I've already graduated, haha).
I'm hoping to do some sight-seeing this weekend... Possibly the Citadel and the Roman Theater (both close by in Amman), Jarash (an ancient city not far from Amman), maybe Mt. Nebo (where Moses saw the Holy Land). We'll see. Now that I've learned how to say "right, left, straight, no wait I don't know where I'm going" in Arabic, public transportation is easier haha.
Here are some pictures:
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| King Hussein mosque downtown |
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| Women demonstrating in downtown |
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| The Abu-Jubers in front of the church they attend |
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| An annual gathering of many Jordanian evangelicals |
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| Laura Fabrycky and I. |
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| My host family |
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