2) Yesterday was the firstday of school
3) I still don't know what calsses I am taking.
Enough said.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Lone Peak
I haven’t been blogging since my return because life is now much more boring, but I had an eventful Saturday that I thought I would share. Last Saturday Tyson somehow convinced me to hike
We were supposed to start hiking at 6, but people slept in (not me), and it took a while to find the trail. We didn’t start until about
Basically we just hiked forever and ever (with a lot of rests) until we came to a little cabin. After the cabin the trail disappears and you kind of just climb. We were high enough that there was snow on the ground. Tyson slipped on some wet rock and hurt his knee pretty bad so he decided not to climb to the summit with us. Once you are at the top it is literally just slabs of rock that you have to wiggle around. It was a little scary being so high. I guess it is a “class
Us at the top
My feet at the summit point. 11,251 feet!
The beautiful view from the top. Higher than an airplane.
Once we got to the trail it was better. The way down kind of became a “get me off of this mountain as soon as possible” minus stopping for the gimp or water. We were going down the mountain (two of the five left us because we were to slow) and I was in the back when I heard “Stop!” I froze. Tyson and Steve let me know that there was a rattle snake and I should stay back until it left. Tyson had almost stepped on it. We watched it slither away. It was probably
Steve, his gun, the headless rattle snake that almost got me, and Tyson.
The rest of the trip down was uneventful and took forever. We finally made it back to our car at
This picture is gross, but you can witness my dirt "tan lines." Please ignore my messy room.
Monday, June 15, 2009
I'm Back!
Here is a picture from Seattle, not the best, but Karl asked for it:
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Last One
Wednesday 3rd:
So I’ve stopped blogging every night because not much is going on anymore. This is the week we were supposed to be in Jerusalem, but that fell through so now we are digging for things to do. Friday after church we left with the BYU Arabic students to go on a little 2 day adventure. First we went to Shaback castle, which was pretty much just another castle, but it had a really long tunnel underground that we got to go in that led to a little spring. Then we drove to Wadi Dana and the Dana Village. Dana village is the oldest city in the Middle East. We stayed there in a 400 year old hotel that just got electricity a year and a half ago. Obviously it wasn’t going to be the nicest of accommodations, but it wasn’t bad. The village was pretty cool, old ruins everywhere. The locals aren’t allowed to build on top of the old stuff so it is like a little ruin town that people live in. That is the best way I can describe it. That night we danced with Bedouins around the fire again.
In the morning we went to the Wadi Dana nature reserve and went hiking. We took a pretty cool trail through caves. It was fun because we had to rock climb a little bit to get where we were going. Nothing with ropes or anything so it wasn’t too dangerous. After our hike our bus broke down on the way to Karak. It was hot and miserable but they fixed it pretty quickly. In Karak we are mensaf, the national dish. I wasn’t too excited to try it after the whole fermented goat’s milk experience, but they add fat and cheese too it so it wasn’t as disgusting. I still didn’t really like the sauce, I just ate the meat and rice plain. Then we were supposed to head to Wadi Mujib, but they were worried the bus wouldn’t make it so we headed home. I was ready to head home so I was thankful.
On Sunday we relaxed and took it pretty easy. I did laundry so I would have something to wear for the next 5 days because I had no clean clothes. Then we went to the BYU Arabic students’ apartments so that we could use the internet. Monday we did about the same until 4 when we went over to Elaine’s and learned to cook curry from Veegee, an Indian sister from the ward. Tuesday was really fun. We went to Wadi Mujib with some of the BYU Arabic students and hiked up a river to a waterfall. The water was so warm and was over our heads in some parts. There were some strong currents in places so we had to hold on the ropes and pull ourselves upstream. Other times the boys had to be used as step ladders because we couldn’t get up, and there were parts where we could jump off of cliffs or slide down the rock slides. I really enjoyed it and turned into a total daredevil or the other girls are just wimpy. I kept climbing up (with the boys and one other girl) so that I could jump off again while everyone else just waited at the bottom, but it was worth it. I have a few bruises from the day, but they are cool battle wounds, and totally worth it.
Today we slept in and then walked around and took pictures at some of the local places we go to a lot. Then we headed downtown with the BYU Arabic students (yes, they have come in quite handy and they like hanging out with non-Arabic students while they can). We looked around the citadel and old Roman ruins and then we went shopping. I didn’t really have anything to buy, I didn’t have any money and I was hungry, so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t very much fun. After downtown we took Elaine out to dinner at Reem Albawadi, her favorite restaurant that is so nice. Now it is just 2 more days until I come home, which means you probably won’t read this until I get home. Exciting!
So I’ve stopped blogging every night because not much is going on anymore. This is the week we were supposed to be in Jerusalem, but that fell through so now we are digging for things to do. Friday after church we left with the BYU Arabic students to go on a little 2 day adventure. First we went to Shaback castle, which was pretty much just another castle, but it had a really long tunnel underground that we got to go in that led to a little spring. Then we drove to Wadi Dana and the Dana Village. Dana village is the oldest city in the Middle East. We stayed there in a 400 year old hotel that just got electricity a year and a half ago. Obviously it wasn’t going to be the nicest of accommodations, but it wasn’t bad. The village was pretty cool, old ruins everywhere. The locals aren’t allowed to build on top of the old stuff so it is like a little ruin town that people live in. That is the best way I can describe it. That night we danced with Bedouins around the fire again.
In the morning we went to the Wadi Dana nature reserve and went hiking. We took a pretty cool trail through caves. It was fun because we had to rock climb a little bit to get where we were going. Nothing with ropes or anything so it wasn’t too dangerous. After our hike our bus broke down on the way to Karak. It was hot and miserable but they fixed it pretty quickly. In Karak we are mensaf, the national dish. I wasn’t too excited to try it after the whole fermented goat’s milk experience, but they add fat and cheese too it so it wasn’t as disgusting. I still didn’t really like the sauce, I just ate the meat and rice plain. Then we were supposed to head to Wadi Mujib, but they were worried the bus wouldn’t make it so we headed home. I was ready to head home so I was thankful.
On Sunday we relaxed and took it pretty easy. I did laundry so I would have something to wear for the next 5 days because I had no clean clothes. Then we went to the BYU Arabic students’ apartments so that we could use the internet. Monday we did about the same until 4 when we went over to Elaine’s and learned to cook curry from Veegee, an Indian sister from the ward. Tuesday was really fun. We went to Wadi Mujib with some of the BYU Arabic students and hiked up a river to a waterfall. The water was so warm and was over our heads in some parts. There were some strong currents in places so we had to hold on the ropes and pull ourselves upstream. Other times the boys had to be used as step ladders because we couldn’t get up, and there were parts where we could jump off of cliffs or slide down the rock slides. I really enjoyed it and turned into a total daredevil or the other girls are just wimpy. I kept climbing up (with the boys and one other girl) so that I could jump off again while everyone else just waited at the bottom, but it was worth it. I have a few bruises from the day, but they are cool battle wounds, and totally worth it.
Today we slept in and then walked around and took pictures at some of the local places we go to a lot. Then we headed downtown with the BYU Arabic students (yes, they have come in quite handy and they like hanging out with non-Arabic students while they can). We looked around the citadel and old Roman ruins and then we went shopping. I didn’t really have anything to buy, I didn’t have any money and I was hungry, so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t very much fun. After downtown we took Elaine out to dinner at Reem Albawadi, her favorite restaurant that is so nice. Now it is just 2 more days until I come home, which means you probably won’t read this until I get home. Exciting!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Finally
So here is what I have. The pictures took too long this time, so you just get writing.
Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th:
Saturday is our travel day so that is what we did. We left our apartment promptly at 7:30am and headed to the Jordan River. On the way we stopped at the sea level point and took pictures. Then we continued on to the river. It was a good thing we went there first because even at 8 or 9am it was really hot and very humid. We got there and climbed into one of the tourist shuttles, it’s more of an open safari vehicle than a shuttle though. We stopped at Elijah’s hill, where they think Elijah was translated. Then we kept going on to a point and looked at the Jordan River. Then we went to the site that is suspected to be Jesus’ baptism site. Then we went to another part of the river where we could actually touch the water, which was kind of gross, but another one of those once in a lifetimes. At that part, Israel/Palestine, depending on where you are, was right on the other side. It was really weird. Both sides had their own flags flying and guards standing at the edges. There are some old churches surrounding the area (one of the reasons why they think they know where it is), but I was more interested in the history of the area then the cathedral ruins. From the bank we could also see Jericho. It is now looking like we may not be able to go to Jerusalem, so that might have been as close as I will ever get. Then we headed to Mt. Nebo where Moses looked out over the Promised Land and later was translated. It would have been a lot neater if it hadn’t been so hazy, but on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see the Dead Sea, Jericho, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other cities. There were also ancient church remains there too.
After that we headed to a souvenir/mosaic shop. Elaine says that it is the best there is, but after spending as much money as I did and then seeing prices here in Amman I have a feeling EVERYTHING was GROSSLY overpriced. Let’s just say you all better love your gifts … a lot. After the shop we went and got shwermas and freshly squeezed juice at a little place. We headed to Mukawir. It is in the middle of a desert, well everything was, but that is where Herod built his castle. It is the place where Salome danced and then requested John the Baptist’s head. It was probably a 20-30 min walk along a stony path up the mountain to get there. It was pretty much ruins, but they had reconstructed some pillars where Salome would have danced. After that we headed to the Church of the Map. It is a really old mosaic map of the Middle East that is pretty accurate. We got ice cream and headed home. Then we went for a little walk up to a candy store and then the bread store. A pretty full day. A lot of the stuff was kind of get out of the car, take a look, and then leave, but I still wanted to see all of it.
On Sunday three girls went with some students to a labor and delivery clinical. When they got there they said everyone loved them. One doctor or nurse said “You deliver babies?” and they were like “Oh, no, we’ve just watched before.” And the man said “No. You deliver babies.” So they all actually got to catch babies. They said that their students just sat around and studied, but they got to do everything. I kind of wish I had been able to go, but we are going to try to see if we can go visit sometime soon. I don’t know if it is a possibility but it’s worth a try.
Instead the rest of us went shopping. We left at 10, which is late, but nothing was open until noon. We putted around and then went out to lunch at a disappointing restaurant. Then we went to Ali-Afgani. The best souvenir shop ever, well the best I’ve been to yet. This is the little store that let us know how much we overspent at the other place. We were probably in there for like 2 hours choosing different items. The salesman was really nice, pulled everything out of the bags so we could see, and gave us deals on everything. When we were finally ready to check out we told him we were really sorry for using so much of his time and that we would be coming back later and with more people. He said no problem, gave us his card, and free pens. I got almost everything I wanted/needed so we were all really happy. We met up with our other half and went out for ice cream at a little shop near our house. I guess we do that a lot. Did you know there is an ice cream flavor called “Arab?” Every time we ask what it is they just say “Arab.” I can tell there is pistachio in it, but we don’t know what else. Clinical tomorrow, that’s it.
Random: So here are some things I’ve noticed and some things people have asked me.
- In the hospital we work with a UJ student and follow them around. We are supposed to help them learn proper nursing care and assessments. Like I’ve said before they can recite the book word for word, but some have never even used a stethoscope.
- It is hot now
- I’m having a lot of fun
- Almost every minute of every day is planned. Relaxation is rare
- I now go to bed early and wake up early. It has never been like this before. I crash around 10:30 and wake up refreshed at 6:30. Too bad it will all be ruined when I go back to a time zone 10 hours behind me
- My English is suffering. We all talk like we are uneducated now
- Jordanians are very straightforward and rude according to our standards
- Jordanians are also VERY competitive
- They do not exercise let alone understand why anyone would, but to be fair the women can’t in front of people.
- The elevators take forever. I took the stairs to the 6th floor, which is really like the 8th or 9th, and beat the students
- Apparently this is how the floors of the hospital work: -2, -1, Ground, 0, T.G. (we don’t know what that one stands for, it is the mystery floor), OR, Private rooms/OB, 2, 3, 4 …8?
- Curbs are at least a foot high
- The sidewalks are not for walking but to prevent cars from driving on them
- There are no traffic laws
- There are some traffic laws, but no one follows them
- Nobody wears seatbelts
- Car seats do not exist
- Lines in the road either mean it is the edge of a lane or it’s the place you should line up the middle of your car
- Sometimes it’s a 2 lane road, sometimes it’s a 3 lane road, sometimes it’s a 4 lane road
- Honking is everyone’s medium of communicating
- It is perfectly ok to light a cigarette inside, or outside, or in a car, or where ever you like
- Women smoke too, just not in public, and if in public it’s in the bathroom
- Taxi drivers don’t always know where you live
- Everything is mostly pretty cheap
- Their opinions of Americans are what they see on TV
- Our opinions of them are also wrong
- Prayer happens 5 times a day
- There is a gas truck that circles constantly playing the weirdest music. At first we thought it was the ice cream truck, sadly it is not.
- You can get away with almost anything anywhere being a young, blond haired, blue eyed American
- The fruit here is really good
- Arabic is hard
- They drive pretty nice cars
- There are cats EVERYWHERE. Not cute cats, gross, dirty, mangy, cats that only have one eye.
- I miss clothes that fit me and I blame Katie Cullen because she forced me to get things that practically drown me and no one else abided by the “buy it a size bigger than normal” rule
- I don’t think I ever want mensaf now that I know what it is
- Everybody wants to feed you
- Everybody wants you to go visit them
- Everybody is willing to help you
- Jordanians love Americans and will do almost anything for you
- The things I hear the most are “mishmushkelah” (no problem),“As you like,” and “How do you find the Jordan?”
- I only have two weeks left.
- There are times when I feel that I’ve actually made a difference.
Monday 18th:
Today was a really good day. We went to clinical for the morning and then in the afternoon we were invited to attend the Jordanian Nursing Council. I’m not really sure why we were invited or how we got invited, but it was a pretty big deal, with pretty important people. First because we came straight from the hospital we were in our scrubs and everyone else was dressed up. Then it was all in Arabic so it was a little hard for all of us to stay awake. After they were done with all the speeches we were able to go into the back room and meet Princess Muna Al Hussein … in our scrubs … and sneakers … while chewing gum. She is the current King’s mother, but they call her princess for some reason. Again, I really don’t know how we got this privilege. I think we were all a little star struck, but she was really nice and spent probably 10 minutes talking to us and taking pictures with us. I was surprised at how much of her time they let us use up, but it was really cool. First the Pope, then the Princess, and on Friday we are meeting with the US Ambassador. I don’t think people realize how insignificant we really are, but I will let them continue treating me like this.
Anyway after Princess Muna we went and ate lunch at a shwerma place again. Then Sonja (our clinical instructor) had a presentation. Then walk home in the heat. Then the highlight to the evening, we went to Elaine’s favorite restaurant, Rema Al Bawadi. It was REALLY cool. It is a pretty snazzy joint. They have normal tables inside, but most are outside under a huge Bedouin looking tent, everything is pretty low to the ground, and it is family style and they serve you on these huge gold dishes in the middle of your plate. There was also hookah everywhere, which is gross, but added to the atmosphere. Aunt Jenny made me realize how much my entries focus on food, but you will have to bear with me once again. We had mint lemonade. It sounds weird, but it was amazing. We also ate fried cheese, little pastry things, babaganoush, hummus, and the mixed grill (chicken, lamb, and beef). It was nice to go to a nice restaurant. They don’t have many come in, sit and eat situations here. I think that is it for today. Hope you are enjoying the novels I write!
Tuesday 19th:
So I don’t really feel like writing tonight, but I have to keep you informed right? Today we went to clinical and we had the opportunity to go to a pediatric floor at a different hospital. Well once we got there, they realized that it was a military hospital so we needed permission before we could work there. When we walked in the head pediatric person/supervisor said “Oh, you were at the conference with Princess Muna yesterday?” We said yes and then she responded “I saw you on the news this morning that is how I knew.” So I think that means I’m famous. They tried to get us permission, but we ended up sitting in the lobby for 2 hours until they finally said we had to leave. We went back to our clinical for one hour and then we met with Dr. Ahmad. He has given us a few “seminars” (not lectures as he puts it), but today was just on culture. He let us ask him anything we wanted. Religion here really isn’t a taboo subject. We actually got pretty deep and were asking a lot about Islam. He said he wanted to meet with us again tomorrow to ask us questions about our beliefs.
For our evening we contacted the BYU Arabic students and went to downtown Amman. There are about 40 BYU students here who are studying Arabic for 3 months and they offered to take us downtown because we can’t go alone and we can’t go without males. It was really nice to have people here who can speak the language, and are willing to translate everything for you. Downtown Amman was a little scary, but what else would you expect? We shopped around for a few hours and then ate pita, hummus, etc at a little restaurant. I also had some of the best lemonade I think I’ve ever had, better than Pretzel Time. We headed home and that was our day … in the summed up non-detailed way.
Wednesday 20th:
Clinical is beginning to drain us. We aren’t going to bed early enough any more and it’s beginning to get hard to wake up in the mornings. We have so much planned that it is almost stressful to think about everything we have to do. We had clinical this morning until our 10am break. We said our goodbyes to those we probably won’t ever see again and took a lot of pictures. Then we were supposed to have a 2 hour lecture on EKGs, not exactly what we wanted to be doing, but the doctor was really late so we ended up going back to clinical. Whitney and I went to the surgical ICU and got a little tour. Then we checked out emails. Then we met with Dr. Ahmad again. He had looked at mormon.org to get some information on our church and had some deep questions in return. It is reinforced over and over again that we are not to proselyte at all on our study abroads so it is hard to know where and when to draw the line, especially in a culture that is so open to hearing about others’ beliefs and when someone is asking you specific questions. He found it really interesting and was surprised how many similarities we share. I think we may have overloaded him with information, but it was still really cool and he thanked us for sharing so much with him.
After our missionary moment we went to Al-Afgani with all of the other girls so they could see what they have to offer. Now it is off to Enrichment where we will be getting some authentic food recipes from Jordanians … at least that was the idea.
Thursday 21st:
I”M DONE WITH CLINICAL. Yes, it is true, today was our last day working at the university hospital, and it was bitter sweet. It was really hard today. I felt like I was just going through the motions (yes, like Buffy), and there was so much to do. We took vitals this morning, then break, then we had a culture class/discussion on Islam from a professor of religion, then we had gotten treats delivered for us to take to the different floors of the hospital. The man was like 45 minutes late and we had walked to and from the hospital like 5 times, it was hot, everybody is kind of sick right now, and we were worried about getting other things done in time. We delivered the treats, finally, and then we met most of our students in the lobby. We invited almost everyone over for American cookies and some Jordanian treats that we bought. I think maybe 12 girls ended up coming. We walked home with them and then just had a party. We made them eat the cookie dough and ½ of them spit it into their napkins. Some LOVED the cookies and others just stuck to the Jordanian treats. They danced and thought it was hilarious that we had bought belly dancing skirt. They tested them and out. After a while, and a bunch of pictures they finally left. I felt sorta bad because during the party I was quieter than usual and after they left I crashed in bed instead of helping clean up. Like I said, today everyone has been feeling sick, in different ways, but still everyone. It is a little suspicious. I woke up from my short nap and no matter what I did I was freezing, which is weird seeing that our room is probably 80 degrees, I had on all my sweats, and I had on all my blankets (I usually just sleep with a sheet). So I think I had a fever, but it is hard to tell because I haven’t had one in a while, we don’t have a thermometer, and my head didn’t feel hot, at least not to me. So I took some Ibuprofen and slept it off. Now I feel pretty good. Hopefully it was just a weird hypothermia thing. I was a little disappointed because there was a seminar at the Sheriton we were invited to attend and the speaker was the Doctor who started bone marrow transplants in Jordan, but I think I made the right choice.
Tomorrow we have church. Then we are going to a party at the US Ambassador’s residence. There are definitely some perks to being here. Saturday we are traveling with the student council from the university and we leave for the south on Sunday.
Friday 22nd:
So, no wireless at church today. It just wasn’t working. I think I am use to this whole, as the Arabic students call it, Frabath. It was a pretty normal church day. After church some of the boys who had helped us downtown came over for left over cookies. Again, it was nice to be able to have real conversations with people instead of trying to get someone who barely understands English to get what you are saying. Then at 6 we went to the US Embassy for a party at the Ambassador’s. He is a member of the church, but isn’t allowed to attend church because he is too much of a target. Anyway his family and he invited basically the whole ward and any influential people to us over. Some of the college of nursing people were able to go and they were so thankful that we invited them. The embassy was really nice. There was also some really good little snacks. It was beautiful outside and the perfect temperature. We took some pictures with the Ambassador and chatted and then headed home. Tomorrow we are going to Umm Qais with the student council. Then (hopefully) we will go some place with internet.
Saturday 23rd:
Today was … interesting. We started with getting to the college at 8:15am to go with the student council to Umm Qais. The student council really wanted to take us around, so we let them. It is about a 2-2 ½ hour drive so we read and slept and such on the way up there.
We finally got there and I thought it was really cool. I have a pretty good tour guide book so I read before and then when we get there I know everything about it and can basically be the tour guide for whoever wants to know what they are looking at. Umm Qais is another one of the Decapolis cities, but almost everything is built with basalt so it is black instead of white. It is also where some believe Jesus cast the evil spirits into the swine. After we were done there we were going to get some falafel sandwiches and head home … or so we thought. First they tried to take us to Ajloun, but we told them that we had already been there and that we needed to get home and have a meeting with Elaine. They said “Ok, we will have you home by 5, no lets make it 6.” It was way later than we wanted, but doable. After driving around for like 2 hours trying to find falafel we told them we didn’t care what we ate, we just wanted to eat. We went to a little restaurant in Jerash and had mixed grill, hummus, etc. Before lunch we literally had some mental breakdowns. We were tired, hungry, and things were not going according to our plans. It also didn’t help that whenever we were on the bus they were playing Arabic music as loudly as possible and clapping and dancing. It was fun for the first 20 minutes, but after that you started to worry how much damage you were doing to your eardrums. Yeah so after 7 hours it started to take a toll. There were literally tears, not from me, and frankly I was a little surprised at how some reacted when things didn’t go their way, but food helped. Food always helps. So we get back on the bus after lunch and we are so happy to finally be going home and it is 5:30. Then they pull over to a random little stream and start getting out. They wanted to walk around the bank and eat watermelon. We reinforced the fact that we had to get to Elaine (because we are going on a week long trip tomorrow and we sorta needed details). They understood and then said “Well, what if we get out and take a group picture?” We could agree to that. We get out and the next thing you know the watermelon is sliced and being passed out, they lit the hookah, and the bus driver is taking off on a horse. I guess they didn’t understand. The river was pretty gross and there was trash everywhere, but they still yelled at one of the girls for throwing her watermelon rind in the stream. I guess she didn’t understand that you are supposed to keep it on the bank like they do. At 6:15 we reloaded the bus and finally headed home. Our “afternoon trip” turned into an 11 hour hostage situation where we had to pretend like we were having fun. So yes I am a little bitter about today, because we didn’t get home in time to get ready for tomorrow and it is now 1am and we are leaving in 6 hours, but I am grateful that we were able to go see Umm Qais and that the student council was so excited to show us around. We really are lucky.
Thursday 28th:
So I didn’t write everything down last week because we were traveling and I didn’t take my computer. I don’t really want to go into great detail about everything we did, so I’m just going over the highlights. We left Sunday and drove down to Petra. On the way we stopped at Wadi Mujib, which is like the Grand Canyon, Moses’ Spring, and Karak, an old crusader castle that is really well preserved. I think that was all we did. It was really nice to stay in a hotel with clean sheets and fluffy pillows. The next day we walked around Petra and bought things from Bedouins. We stayed there one more night and in the morning we drove to the Wadi Rum desert. It is beautiful. We took a little desert tour and watched the sunset. Then we returned to our Bedouin camp for an authentic meal and dancing around the fire. After a night in a Bedouin tent we woke up early and rode camels out to see the sunrise. Camels were fun and scary and smelly and a lot of things that I will tell you about later. After a ride back to camp we ate breakfast and headed down to Aqaba on the Red Sea. We toured another castle, the one Lawrence of Arabia stormed, and took a little tour in a glass bottom boat. Somehow, through some force of nature, something convinced us to all go for a dip… fully dressed. So, I’ve been swimming in the Red Sea. After that we headed to the Dead Sea. We stayed in a 5 star hotel, the Movenpick. It was SO nice. We got there late that night so we just ate dinner, one of the best dinners yet. It was a huge buffet that had food we actually recognized. We went to bed, ate a buffet breakfast in the morning, and then swam in the dead sea. It was SO fun. You just float, and there is nothing you can do about it. We also covered ourselves in the infamous mud head to toe. Then we washed off and spent the day at the pool. A little too long by the pool, we all got sunburned, but not too bad. Now we are back home.
Tomorrow right after church we are leaving to go on a 2 day trip with the BYU Arabic students. We are going to Shabuck castle, Wadi Dana, and Kara … again. I think we are going other places as well but seeing as we just got back, we don’t know yet. I don’t think I will be taking my computer on that little trip either, so it may be like this again.
Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th:
Saturday is our travel day so that is what we did. We left our apartment promptly at 7:30am and headed to the Jordan River. On the way we stopped at the sea level point and took pictures. Then we continued on to the river. It was a good thing we went there first because even at 8 or 9am it was really hot and very humid. We got there and climbed into one of the tourist shuttles, it’s more of an open safari vehicle than a shuttle though. We stopped at Elijah’s hill, where they think Elijah was translated. Then we kept going on to a point and looked at the Jordan River. Then we went to the site that is suspected to be Jesus’ baptism site. Then we went to another part of the river where we could actually touch the water, which was kind of gross, but another one of those once in a lifetimes. At that part, Israel/Palestine, depending on where you are, was right on the other side. It was really weird. Both sides had their own flags flying and guards standing at the edges. There are some old churches surrounding the area (one of the reasons why they think they know where it is), but I was more interested in the history of the area then the cathedral ruins. From the bank we could also see Jericho. It is now looking like we may not be able to go to Jerusalem, so that might have been as close as I will ever get. Then we headed to Mt. Nebo where Moses looked out over the Promised Land and later was translated. It would have been a lot neater if it hadn’t been so hazy, but on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see the Dead Sea, Jericho, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other cities. There were also ancient church remains there too.
After that we headed to a souvenir/mosaic shop. Elaine says that it is the best there is, but after spending as much money as I did and then seeing prices here in Amman I have a feeling EVERYTHING was GROSSLY overpriced. Let’s just say you all better love your gifts … a lot. After the shop we went and got shwermas and freshly squeezed juice at a little place. We headed to Mukawir. It is in the middle of a desert, well everything was, but that is where Herod built his castle. It is the place where Salome danced and then requested John the Baptist’s head. It was probably a 20-30 min walk along a stony path up the mountain to get there. It was pretty much ruins, but they had reconstructed some pillars where Salome would have danced. After that we headed to the Church of the Map. It is a really old mosaic map of the Middle East that is pretty accurate. We got ice cream and headed home. Then we went for a little walk up to a candy store and then the bread store. A pretty full day. A lot of the stuff was kind of get out of the car, take a look, and then leave, but I still wanted to see all of it.
On Sunday three girls went with some students to a labor and delivery clinical. When they got there they said everyone loved them. One doctor or nurse said “You deliver babies?” and they were like “Oh, no, we’ve just watched before.” And the man said “No. You deliver babies.” So they all actually got to catch babies. They said that their students just sat around and studied, but they got to do everything. I kind of wish I had been able to go, but we are going to try to see if we can go visit sometime soon. I don’t know if it is a possibility but it’s worth a try.
Instead the rest of us went shopping. We left at 10, which is late, but nothing was open until noon. We putted around and then went out to lunch at a disappointing restaurant. Then we went to Ali-Afgani. The best souvenir shop ever, well the best I’ve been to yet. This is the little store that let us know how much we overspent at the other place. We were probably in there for like 2 hours choosing different items. The salesman was really nice, pulled everything out of the bags so we could see, and gave us deals on everything. When we were finally ready to check out we told him we were really sorry for using so much of his time and that we would be coming back later and with more people. He said no problem, gave us his card, and free pens. I got almost everything I wanted/needed so we were all really happy. We met up with our other half and went out for ice cream at a little shop near our house. I guess we do that a lot. Did you know there is an ice cream flavor called “Arab?” Every time we ask what it is they just say “Arab.” I can tell there is pistachio in it, but we don’t know what else. Clinical tomorrow, that’s it.
Random: So here are some things I’ve noticed and some things people have asked me.
- In the hospital we work with a UJ student and follow them around. We are supposed to help them learn proper nursing care and assessments. Like I’ve said before they can recite the book word for word, but some have never even used a stethoscope.
- It is hot now
- I’m having a lot of fun
- Almost every minute of every day is planned. Relaxation is rare
- I now go to bed early and wake up early. It has never been like this before. I crash around 10:30 and wake up refreshed at 6:30. Too bad it will all be ruined when I go back to a time zone 10 hours behind me
- My English is suffering. We all talk like we are uneducated now
- Jordanians are very straightforward and rude according to our standards
- Jordanians are also VERY competitive
- They do not exercise let alone understand why anyone would, but to be fair the women can’t in front of people.
- The elevators take forever. I took the stairs to the 6th floor, which is really like the 8th or 9th, and beat the students
- Apparently this is how the floors of the hospital work: -2, -1, Ground, 0, T.G. (we don’t know what that one stands for, it is the mystery floor), OR, Private rooms/OB, 2, 3, 4 …8?
- Curbs are at least a foot high
- The sidewalks are not for walking but to prevent cars from driving on them
- There are no traffic laws
- There are some traffic laws, but no one follows them
- Nobody wears seatbelts
- Car seats do not exist
- Lines in the road either mean it is the edge of a lane or it’s the place you should line up the middle of your car
- Sometimes it’s a 2 lane road, sometimes it’s a 3 lane road, sometimes it’s a 4 lane road
- Honking is everyone’s medium of communicating
- It is perfectly ok to light a cigarette inside, or outside, or in a car, or where ever you like
- Women smoke too, just not in public, and if in public it’s in the bathroom
- Taxi drivers don’t always know where you live
- Everything is mostly pretty cheap
- Their opinions of Americans are what they see on TV
- Our opinions of them are also wrong
- Prayer happens 5 times a day
- There is a gas truck that circles constantly playing the weirdest music. At first we thought it was the ice cream truck, sadly it is not.
- You can get away with almost anything anywhere being a young, blond haired, blue eyed American
- The fruit here is really good
- Arabic is hard
- They drive pretty nice cars
- There are cats EVERYWHERE. Not cute cats, gross, dirty, mangy, cats that only have one eye.
- I miss clothes that fit me and I blame Katie Cullen because she forced me to get things that practically drown me and no one else abided by the “buy it a size bigger than normal” rule
- I don’t think I ever want mensaf now that I know what it is
- Everybody wants to feed you
- Everybody wants you to go visit them
- Everybody is willing to help you
- Jordanians love Americans and will do almost anything for you
- The things I hear the most are “mishmushkelah” (no problem),“As you like,” and “How do you find the Jordan?”
- I only have two weeks left.
- There are times when I feel that I’ve actually made a difference.
Monday 18th:
Today was a really good day. We went to clinical for the morning and then in the afternoon we were invited to attend the Jordanian Nursing Council. I’m not really sure why we were invited or how we got invited, but it was a pretty big deal, with pretty important people. First because we came straight from the hospital we were in our scrubs and everyone else was dressed up. Then it was all in Arabic so it was a little hard for all of us to stay awake. After they were done with all the speeches we were able to go into the back room and meet Princess Muna Al Hussein … in our scrubs … and sneakers … while chewing gum. She is the current King’s mother, but they call her princess for some reason. Again, I really don’t know how we got this privilege. I think we were all a little star struck, but she was really nice and spent probably 10 minutes talking to us and taking pictures with us. I was surprised at how much of her time they let us use up, but it was really cool. First the Pope, then the Princess, and on Friday we are meeting with the US Ambassador. I don’t think people realize how insignificant we really are, but I will let them continue treating me like this.
Anyway after Princess Muna we went and ate lunch at a shwerma place again. Then Sonja (our clinical instructor) had a presentation. Then walk home in the heat. Then the highlight to the evening, we went to Elaine’s favorite restaurant, Rema Al Bawadi. It was REALLY cool. It is a pretty snazzy joint. They have normal tables inside, but most are outside under a huge Bedouin looking tent, everything is pretty low to the ground, and it is family style and they serve you on these huge gold dishes in the middle of your plate. There was also hookah everywhere, which is gross, but added to the atmosphere. Aunt Jenny made me realize how much my entries focus on food, but you will have to bear with me once again. We had mint lemonade. It sounds weird, but it was amazing. We also ate fried cheese, little pastry things, babaganoush, hummus, and the mixed grill (chicken, lamb, and beef). It was nice to go to a nice restaurant. They don’t have many come in, sit and eat situations here. I think that is it for today. Hope you are enjoying the novels I write!
Tuesday 19th:
So I don’t really feel like writing tonight, but I have to keep you informed right? Today we went to clinical and we had the opportunity to go to a pediatric floor at a different hospital. Well once we got there, they realized that it was a military hospital so we needed permission before we could work there. When we walked in the head pediatric person/supervisor said “Oh, you were at the conference with Princess Muna yesterday?” We said yes and then she responded “I saw you on the news this morning that is how I knew.” So I think that means I’m famous. They tried to get us permission, but we ended up sitting in the lobby for 2 hours until they finally said we had to leave. We went back to our clinical for one hour and then we met with Dr. Ahmad. He has given us a few “seminars” (not lectures as he puts it), but today was just on culture. He let us ask him anything we wanted. Religion here really isn’t a taboo subject. We actually got pretty deep and were asking a lot about Islam. He said he wanted to meet with us again tomorrow to ask us questions about our beliefs.
For our evening we contacted the BYU Arabic students and went to downtown Amman. There are about 40 BYU students here who are studying Arabic for 3 months and they offered to take us downtown because we can’t go alone and we can’t go without males. It was really nice to have people here who can speak the language, and are willing to translate everything for you. Downtown Amman was a little scary, but what else would you expect? We shopped around for a few hours and then ate pita, hummus, etc at a little restaurant. I also had some of the best lemonade I think I’ve ever had, better than Pretzel Time. We headed home and that was our day … in the summed up non-detailed way.
Wednesday 20th:
Clinical is beginning to drain us. We aren’t going to bed early enough any more and it’s beginning to get hard to wake up in the mornings. We have so much planned that it is almost stressful to think about everything we have to do. We had clinical this morning until our 10am break. We said our goodbyes to those we probably won’t ever see again and took a lot of pictures. Then we were supposed to have a 2 hour lecture on EKGs, not exactly what we wanted to be doing, but the doctor was really late so we ended up going back to clinical. Whitney and I went to the surgical ICU and got a little tour. Then we checked out emails. Then we met with Dr. Ahmad again. He had looked at mormon.org to get some information on our church and had some deep questions in return. It is reinforced over and over again that we are not to proselyte at all on our study abroads so it is hard to know where and when to draw the line, especially in a culture that is so open to hearing about others’ beliefs and when someone is asking you specific questions. He found it really interesting and was surprised how many similarities we share. I think we may have overloaded him with information, but it was still really cool and he thanked us for sharing so much with him.
After our missionary moment we went to Al-Afgani with all of the other girls so they could see what they have to offer. Now it is off to Enrichment where we will be getting some authentic food recipes from Jordanians … at least that was the idea.
Thursday 21st:
I”M DONE WITH CLINICAL. Yes, it is true, today was our last day working at the university hospital, and it was bitter sweet. It was really hard today. I felt like I was just going through the motions (yes, like Buffy), and there was so much to do. We took vitals this morning, then break, then we had a culture class/discussion on Islam from a professor of religion, then we had gotten treats delivered for us to take to the different floors of the hospital. The man was like 45 minutes late and we had walked to and from the hospital like 5 times, it was hot, everybody is kind of sick right now, and we were worried about getting other things done in time. We delivered the treats, finally, and then we met most of our students in the lobby. We invited almost everyone over for American cookies and some Jordanian treats that we bought. I think maybe 12 girls ended up coming. We walked home with them and then just had a party. We made them eat the cookie dough and ½ of them spit it into their napkins. Some LOVED the cookies and others just stuck to the Jordanian treats. They danced and thought it was hilarious that we had bought belly dancing skirt. They tested them and out. After a while, and a bunch of pictures they finally left. I felt sorta bad because during the party I was quieter than usual and after they left I crashed in bed instead of helping clean up. Like I said, today everyone has been feeling sick, in different ways, but still everyone. It is a little suspicious. I woke up from my short nap and no matter what I did I was freezing, which is weird seeing that our room is probably 80 degrees, I had on all my sweats, and I had on all my blankets (I usually just sleep with a sheet). So I think I had a fever, but it is hard to tell because I haven’t had one in a while, we don’t have a thermometer, and my head didn’t feel hot, at least not to me. So I took some Ibuprofen and slept it off. Now I feel pretty good. Hopefully it was just a weird hypothermia thing. I was a little disappointed because there was a seminar at the Sheriton we were invited to attend and the speaker was the Doctor who started bone marrow transplants in Jordan, but I think I made the right choice.
Tomorrow we have church. Then we are going to a party at the US Ambassador’s residence. There are definitely some perks to being here. Saturday we are traveling with the student council from the university and we leave for the south on Sunday.
Friday 22nd:
So, no wireless at church today. It just wasn’t working. I think I am use to this whole, as the Arabic students call it, Frabath. It was a pretty normal church day. After church some of the boys who had helped us downtown came over for left over cookies. Again, it was nice to be able to have real conversations with people instead of trying to get someone who barely understands English to get what you are saying. Then at 6 we went to the US Embassy for a party at the Ambassador’s. He is a member of the church, but isn’t allowed to attend church because he is too much of a target. Anyway his family and he invited basically the whole ward and any influential people to us over. Some of the college of nursing people were able to go and they were so thankful that we invited them. The embassy was really nice. There was also some really good little snacks. It was beautiful outside and the perfect temperature. We took some pictures with the Ambassador and chatted and then headed home. Tomorrow we are going to Umm Qais with the student council. Then (hopefully) we will go some place with internet.
Saturday 23rd:
Today was … interesting. We started with getting to the college at 8:15am to go with the student council to Umm Qais. The student council really wanted to take us around, so we let them. It is about a 2-2 ½ hour drive so we read and slept and such on the way up there.
We finally got there and I thought it was really cool. I have a pretty good tour guide book so I read before and then when we get there I know everything about it and can basically be the tour guide for whoever wants to know what they are looking at. Umm Qais is another one of the Decapolis cities, but almost everything is built with basalt so it is black instead of white. It is also where some believe Jesus cast the evil spirits into the swine. After we were done there we were going to get some falafel sandwiches and head home … or so we thought. First they tried to take us to Ajloun, but we told them that we had already been there and that we needed to get home and have a meeting with Elaine. They said “Ok, we will have you home by 5, no lets make it 6.” It was way later than we wanted, but doable. After driving around for like 2 hours trying to find falafel we told them we didn’t care what we ate, we just wanted to eat. We went to a little restaurant in Jerash and had mixed grill, hummus, etc. Before lunch we literally had some mental breakdowns. We were tired, hungry, and things were not going according to our plans. It also didn’t help that whenever we were on the bus they were playing Arabic music as loudly as possible and clapping and dancing. It was fun for the first 20 minutes, but after that you started to worry how much damage you were doing to your eardrums. Yeah so after 7 hours it started to take a toll. There were literally tears, not from me, and frankly I was a little surprised at how some reacted when things didn’t go their way, but food helped. Food always helps. So we get back on the bus after lunch and we are so happy to finally be going home and it is 5:30. Then they pull over to a random little stream and start getting out. They wanted to walk around the bank and eat watermelon. We reinforced the fact that we had to get to Elaine (because we are going on a week long trip tomorrow and we sorta needed details). They understood and then said “Well, what if we get out and take a group picture?” We could agree to that. We get out and the next thing you know the watermelon is sliced and being passed out, they lit the hookah, and the bus driver is taking off on a horse. I guess they didn’t understand. The river was pretty gross and there was trash everywhere, but they still yelled at one of the girls for throwing her watermelon rind in the stream. I guess she didn’t understand that you are supposed to keep it on the bank like they do. At 6:15 we reloaded the bus and finally headed home. Our “afternoon trip” turned into an 11 hour hostage situation where we had to pretend like we were having fun. So yes I am a little bitter about today, because we didn’t get home in time to get ready for tomorrow and it is now 1am and we are leaving in 6 hours, but I am grateful that we were able to go see Umm Qais and that the student council was so excited to show us around. We really are lucky.
Thursday 28th:
So I didn’t write everything down last week because we were traveling and I didn’t take my computer. I don’t really want to go into great detail about everything we did, so I’m just going over the highlights. We left Sunday and drove down to Petra. On the way we stopped at Wadi Mujib, which is like the Grand Canyon, Moses’ Spring, and Karak, an old crusader castle that is really well preserved. I think that was all we did. It was really nice to stay in a hotel with clean sheets and fluffy pillows. The next day we walked around Petra and bought things from Bedouins. We stayed there one more night and in the morning we drove to the Wadi Rum desert. It is beautiful. We took a little desert tour and watched the sunset. Then we returned to our Bedouin camp for an authentic meal and dancing around the fire. After a night in a Bedouin tent we woke up early and rode camels out to see the sunrise. Camels were fun and scary and smelly and a lot of things that I will tell you about later. After a ride back to camp we ate breakfast and headed down to Aqaba on the Red Sea. We toured another castle, the one Lawrence of Arabia stormed, and took a little tour in a glass bottom boat. Somehow, through some force of nature, something convinced us to all go for a dip… fully dressed. So, I’ve been swimming in the Red Sea. After that we headed to the Dead Sea. We stayed in a 5 star hotel, the Movenpick. It was SO nice. We got there late that night so we just ate dinner, one of the best dinners yet. It was a huge buffet that had food we actually recognized. We went to bed, ate a buffet breakfast in the morning, and then swam in the dead sea. It was SO fun. You just float, and there is nothing you can do about it. We also covered ourselves in the infamous mud head to toe. Then we washed off and spent the day at the pool. A little too long by the pool, we all got sunburned, but not too bad. Now we are back home.
Tomorrow right after church we are leaving to go on a 2 day trip with the BYU Arabic students. We are going to Shabuck castle, Wadi Dana, and Kara … again. I think we are going other places as well but seeing as we just got back, we don’t know yet. I don’t think I will be taking my computer on that little trip either, so it may be like this again.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Touring, Mariah, Dancing, Marbles, and Ishars
So here is the last week. Sorry it is a novel, read it in chunks, BUT you have to read it BEFORE you can look at the pictures!
Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th Recap:
This weekend was really fun. On Saturday we went to Jerash and Ajloun, Jerash is an old Roman city. It was on of the Decapolis and it is really well preserved. I tried to read a lot about it the night before too. It really began being popular when the Emporer, Hadrian, decided to start living there in the winters. They built him a huge arch to welcome him and that is the first thing you see when you pull up. Then you walk through that to the Hippodrome. There they use to have chariot races and stuff. It held about 15,000 people. They actually put on a little show with chariot races, roman soldiers, peasants, etc. It was really fun and we got to see and learn a little bit about how the Roman army use to work. Jerash also has two big theaters. The acoustics are really cool. If you stand in the middle, in the right spot, and talk normally, everything echoes back to you really loud. It is hard to explain, but if you ever get the chance try it and then you will understand. Jerash also had an old fountain, a temple for Zeus and Artemis, an oval plaza, another arch, a cathedral, a mosque, a little museum, and just a lot of really old neat looking stuff. Ask me about the spoon and the pillars when I come home and I will tell you about that.
Then we headed to Ajloun, a castle built on top of a monestary by Arabs. I got a little confused, but I think if was build during the time of the Crusades and was always controlled by Arabic people. It is one of the highest points in Jordan (I think) and we could see the Sea of Galilee way far in the distance. It was fun to walk around and see all the different styles of arches in one building. Everywhere we go people want to take pictures with us. It is really weird. At least in the city people just stare, but when we go touring we are mobbed by people who say “You are beautiful. Can I take picture?” Like everywhere. I just don’t understand who would be like “I am at a thousand year old monument and I think I would like to have my picture here with some random American girls. Yes, that will be the picture I want to remember my trip by, one full of people I don’t know.” It is beyond me, but whatever pleases them. I do like having some of the pictures of the random people who want my picture so I guess it is kind of the same.
Sunday is really Monday here so no church, but it was a holiday because the Pope was here. Somehow we were able to get tickets to go. Elaine told us we had to wear skirts or dresses because it is the Pope, but we were the only ones there all dressed up and we looked ridiculous. Also she said we had to get there really early, originally she wanted us to leave at 4am, but luckily we didn’t leave until 6am. We were still some of the first people there. I’m pretty sure we could have left at like 8 and been fine. We made friends with the Jordanian Catholics in front of us. They were obsessed with my hair and my eyes. Then they told me I looked like Mariah Carey. I said “Umm…No, she is half black.” Anyway we sat forever, in the sun (so result = sunburned), until the pope came. When he was driving around the track in his little Popemobile it was like a party, well it was a party … the whole time. People were waving flags from different countries, clapping and cheering, and singing the song that they wrote for the event which goes “Benidicto (clap clap clap _ clapclap) Benvenuto (repeat claps) Benidicto (claps) Benvenuto (claps) in Jordania.” I will sing it for you when I come home if I can remember it. I have officially had catholic mass with the pope. Not many people can say that. It was kind of cool because he talked about the importance of families, the role of women, and the “covenant of marriage.” He also blessed the middle east to have peace.
After Papa we went out to eat at a little breakfast restaurant called Abu Jabara. The menu picture is from there. It is really good and we just stuff our faces with all the hummus, falafel, tomato, and bread that we can. Then we went over to Elaine’s house and made cookies for her and Sonja and Samiha for mothers’ day. I tried to call home and I was really confused because no one answered. Now I remember that everyone is in Arizona.
Monday the 11th:
Today we were back in the hospital again. The students have a really big exam this and next week. They get a patient and then one at a time have to go into a room with two clinical instructors and tell them everything about the patient, history, physical findings, diagnosis, pathology, physiology, signs and symptoms, medications, side effects, etc. So our instructor was doing that and most of the students were either studying or slacking off. The boys are really nice to us and we get along with them really well, but the girls either don’t speak English well enough or they constantly want to test us (at least in this clinical group, Tuesday/Thursday is a different story). It gets really annoying. Anyway, today I was corrected on how to properly wash my hands, to which I said “It doesn’t really matter if you do in the order that the textbook says (general, wrists, palms, thumbs, fingers, general, etc), as long as you are washing your hands … which you aren’t.” I didn’t really say that, but I wanted to.
Tonight we went to a open house for the couple missionaries, the Cooks, at the church. It was about as fun as church functions are in the US, but the food was really good and we left early, so not much different then how I do things at home. The great achievement of the whole evening was being able to take a taxi to the church and being able to take a taxi home and actually arrive at our destinations and on time. I am feeling quite proud of myself that I didn’t get lost, but that might all change when we have to do the whole thing over again on Friday.
Tomorrow we are going to the hospital and then we are going to Sammie’s (my roommates) student’s house for dinner. Her name is Duaa, but she goes by DooDoo. We are really excited to be exposed to some real Jordanian home cooking. It will definitely be interesting. Wednesday we have to fend for ourselves and Thursday we are going to Mysam’s house for dinner. Mansef, the national dish. That is just how it is here. Everyone invites you over for dinner, including the stranger lady on the street who gave us directions and then talked to us for 5 minutes.
Tuesday 12th:
Today we were at the hospital again and it was rough. All the students were stressed out about their exams so they just sat in the room studying and there wasn’t much for us to do, but after our break I pulled up my bootstraps and got to work and made it a little better. After clinical we went to Duaa’s and it was so nice. Duaa is my awesome roommate Sammi’s student (Sammi told me she hoped one day her name could grace the wall of my blog and I said mishmooshkela or no problem). We had something that I think is called oozie. It was marinated chicken served on top of rice that had vegetables, beef, tomatoes, and spices. It was SO GOOD. Then you also put “salad” (or tomatoes and cucumbers), yogurt, and this other sauce that was white and had cucumbers in it. You kind of mixed it all together into a beautiful masterpiece and ate it. It was the best meal we’ve had in Jordan. They also gave us “dawali,” which I thought was an Indian costume party, but I guess it is rice and stuff rolled up in grape leaves. For dessert we had watermelon. Then we sat and talked and then they made us dance with them. First DooDoo’s little sister (18) showed us how. We were all amazed she could move her hips like Shakira. Then they were like “Now we all dance!” We tried to protest, but it didn’t work. They taught us how to loosen up our hips and shoulders, but mostly laughed at our feeble attempts. Before we could dance they had to close all the windows and shut the door so that no one would see, and because we were in their home they could take off their “ishars” or head coverings. They are all so beautiful. We had a really good time and a loft of fun.
Tomorrow we get to go to the King Hussein Cancer Center. It is supposed to be really advanced, so that will be different than the hospital we work in here. It should be really cool. I am excited.
Wednesday 13th:
We spent the morning at the hospital. Mornings aren’t too bad because we stay busy with bed making and vitals. There were some patients there who remembered us from Monday and they really like us. One lady gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then she proceeded to ask me if I was married, no, so she told me that I should find a husband in Jordan. She wants us to go visit her when we go to the dead sea and later I was standing in the hallway when she came up behind me and gave me a pinch on my cheek, like a grandmother would. Another patient offered us chocolate when we changed her sheets. That is kind of common though.
After our morning we went to the King Hussein Cancer Center. It was a really nice hospital. It is the 6th best cancer hospital in the world, but it is kind of subjective because they are very picky with who they treat so their statistics are a little skewed, but it was still a whole new world compared to where we are working. It was completely westernized. People were in scrubs, they had monitors, electronic beds, everything that we have in the states. Not only did they have toilettes instead of “squatters,” but they actually had toilette paper which is unheard of AND toilette paper dispensers which is pretty much unfathomable. It was really good for us to see that not all hospitals in Jordan are archaic like the one we are in, but that is why Elaine wanted us there. What’s the point of going to Jordan if we are working in a hospital just like the ones at home?
Then we had quite the adventure. So our washing machine is broken, aka I’m pretty sure WE broke it, aka the door wont shut and if we try to use it our kitchen floods. So we were off to find a laundry (I was informed it is not a Laundromat because they wash the clothes for you). There is supposed to be one close to our house so I packed up all my dirty clothes and four of us set off in the hot sun. We found a dry cleaner/laundry but they said it was 1JD per item and 300 fils for socks. That may not mean much to you but I will tell you that it would probably cost at least 40JD to do my laundry or $60. We decided to wash our clothes by hand in the bath tub. That will be fun.
We went over to Elaine’s for dinner and on the way back stopped at the bread store that we go to all the time. The people there speak very little English and every time we come in we know a little more Arabic and they get really excited to hear all of the new things we can say. As we were wandering around, mind you the bread store is probably about as big as my bedroom at home, a worker kept handing me different treats to try. First it was a thick breadstickish thing with sesame seeds. Before I could finish it he came and took it away from me and handed me a skinny breadstick that had a lot of spices baked into it. Then he took that out of my hand and replaced it a cookie (I finished that one). And finally he gave me some bread ring thing with spices, I can’t describe it. It was especially funny because he only gave everyone else the first thick breadstick and I was the only one who got to try multiple treats. After that we walked the rest of the way home and the 14 year old boys who were in the street outside of our house threw marbles at us. It is the first time that has happened but it was an interesting end to a pretty good day.
Also it is no longer perfect weather. It has started to be a little too warm. Probably a good temperature for laying out in the sun, but too hot to be trekking around with heavy bags of laundry in long pants and ¾ length shirts, and walking uphill both ways everywhere you go. I finally understand the meaning of that saying and I was surprised to find out that it can be true.
Tomorrow is hospital, soccer game, Mysam’s house, MENSAF!!!!!!!!!! I am very very excited.
Thursday 14th:
Well, no Mensaf, but that is ok, we will get it another time. So morning at the hospital, regular as normal. I’m usually on the 6th floor but today we were moved to the 4th. That is pretty much as exciting as it gets.
Then the adventure started. First we started the trek with a bus ride, well two bus rides and a “van” taxi. We The bus rides were okay, pretty jammed, but we got off of the second one and were just standing on the corner. Mind you the girls pretty much told us it was a bad part of town and it looked like a little New York alley or something. Mysam told us she called a special taxi that was a van so it would fit all of us (us being 7 BYU nursing students, Mysam, and 3 other UJ nursing students). So this big van pulls up and we were heading over there. Then we open the door and there was only one back seat for three people and then this big humpish fake seat behind the driver. There were 8 of us crammed in the back and 3 got in the front seat. Halfway to Mysam’s those of us on the humpish seat started to notice that it was getting pretty warm. We soon put it together that seeing that the front of the van was completely flat we were definitely sitting on the engine. Also we weighed the van down so much that the mud flaps were dragging, it had fur interior, all the handles were broken, and we couldn’t move. We were laughing pretty hard.
We finally got there and went into her beautiful home. It is pretty far away from the city so there were open fields of olive trees and the houses weren’t all next to each other. After awhile we sat down to the table. Her mother brought out this huge dish of dawali, pickle looking things, chicken, more yogurt cucumber, and bread. I don’t remember what anything was called. During the meal Sammie picked up a mysterious looking piece of chicken. She put it on her plate and Sima said “That is chicken neck.” We were all laughing inside because it was obvious she didn’t want to eat it. Then at the end of the meal I looked down at the bones on my plate and moved one and it was totally a vertebrae! I was pretty grossed out, but if I didn’t notice it when I was eating it then it must have been fine. After the meal they asked “can you have goats milk?” We said sure we will try it. It looked completely normal. Little did we know it was anything but. I took a little taste. It was completely fermented goat’s milk and probably one of the grossest things I have ever tried. The idea of it still makes me cringe. Other than that dinner was still really good, but I think I liked Duaa’s better. We ate way too much. Then Mysam’s dad came home and another girl had taken her ishar off so she needed to put it back on. We asked if we could watch how she did it and she said sure no problem. Then Mysam came down with a whole armful of ishars and we ended up all putting them on. It was pretty hilarious and the moms were taking tons of pictures. We headed out into her back yard and took some pictures next to the olive trees and with the kittens she had. It turned out to be a lot of fun and we headed back to the university in a van taxi that was a little bigger than the one we had come in (luckily).
See you next week!
Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th Recap:
This weekend was really fun. On Saturday we went to Jerash and Ajloun, Jerash is an old Roman city. It was on of the Decapolis and it is really well preserved. I tried to read a lot about it the night before too. It really began being popular when the Emporer, Hadrian, decided to start living there in the winters. They built him a huge arch to welcome him and that is the first thing you see when you pull up. Then you walk through that to the Hippodrome. There they use to have chariot races and stuff. It held about 15,000 people. They actually put on a little show with chariot races, roman soldiers, peasants, etc. It was really fun and we got to see and learn a little bit about how the Roman army use to work. Jerash also has two big theaters. The acoustics are really cool. If you stand in the middle, in the right spot, and talk normally, everything echoes back to you really loud. It is hard to explain, but if you ever get the chance try it and then you will understand. Jerash also had an old fountain, a temple for Zeus and Artemis, an oval plaza, another arch, a cathedral, a mosque, a little museum, and just a lot of really old neat looking stuff. Ask me about the spoon and the pillars when I come home and I will tell you about that.
Then we headed to Ajloun, a castle built on top of a monestary by Arabs. I got a little confused, but I think if was build during the time of the Crusades and was always controlled by Arabic people. It is one of the highest points in Jordan (I think) and we could see the Sea of Galilee way far in the distance. It was fun to walk around and see all the different styles of arches in one building. Everywhere we go people want to take pictures with us. It is really weird. At least in the city people just stare, but when we go touring we are mobbed by people who say “You are beautiful. Can I take picture?” Like everywhere. I just don’t understand who would be like “I am at a thousand year old monument and I think I would like to have my picture here with some random American girls. Yes, that will be the picture I want to remember my trip by, one full of people I don’t know.” It is beyond me, but whatever pleases them. I do like having some of the pictures of the random people who want my picture so I guess it is kind of the same.
Sunday is really Monday here so no church, but it was a holiday because the Pope was here. Somehow we were able to get tickets to go. Elaine told us we had to wear skirts or dresses because it is the Pope, but we were the only ones there all dressed up and we looked ridiculous. Also she said we had to get there really early, originally she wanted us to leave at 4am, but luckily we didn’t leave until 6am. We were still some of the first people there. I’m pretty sure we could have left at like 8 and been fine. We made friends with the Jordanian Catholics in front of us. They were obsessed with my hair and my eyes. Then they told me I looked like Mariah Carey. I said “Umm…No, she is half black.” Anyway we sat forever, in the sun (so result = sunburned), until the pope came. When he was driving around the track in his little Popemobile it was like a party, well it was a party … the whole time. People were waving flags from different countries, clapping and cheering, and singing the song that they wrote for the event which goes “Benidicto (clap clap clap _ clapclap) Benvenuto (repeat claps) Benidicto (claps) Benvenuto (claps) in Jordania.” I will sing it for you when I come home if I can remember it. I have officially had catholic mass with the pope. Not many people can say that. It was kind of cool because he talked about the importance of families, the role of women, and the “covenant of marriage.” He also blessed the middle east to have peace.
After Papa we went out to eat at a little breakfast restaurant called Abu Jabara. The menu picture is from there. It is really good and we just stuff our faces with all the hummus, falafel, tomato, and bread that we can. Then we went over to Elaine’s house and made cookies for her and Sonja and Samiha for mothers’ day. I tried to call home and I was really confused because no one answered. Now I remember that everyone is in Arizona.
Monday the 11th:
Today we were back in the hospital again. The students have a really big exam this and next week. They get a patient and then one at a time have to go into a room with two clinical instructors and tell them everything about the patient, history, physical findings, diagnosis, pathology, physiology, signs and symptoms, medications, side effects, etc. So our instructor was doing that and most of the students were either studying or slacking off. The boys are really nice to us and we get along with them really well, but the girls either don’t speak English well enough or they constantly want to test us (at least in this clinical group, Tuesday/Thursday is a different story). It gets really annoying. Anyway, today I was corrected on how to properly wash my hands, to which I said “It doesn’t really matter if you do in the order that the textbook says (general, wrists, palms, thumbs, fingers, general, etc), as long as you are washing your hands … which you aren’t.” I didn’t really say that, but I wanted to.
Tonight we went to a open house for the couple missionaries, the Cooks, at the church. It was about as fun as church functions are in the US, but the food was really good and we left early, so not much different then how I do things at home. The great achievement of the whole evening was being able to take a taxi to the church and being able to take a taxi home and actually arrive at our destinations and on time. I am feeling quite proud of myself that I didn’t get lost, but that might all change when we have to do the whole thing over again on Friday.
Tomorrow we are going to the hospital and then we are going to Sammie’s (my roommates) student’s house for dinner. Her name is Duaa, but she goes by DooDoo. We are really excited to be exposed to some real Jordanian home cooking. It will definitely be interesting. Wednesday we have to fend for ourselves and Thursday we are going to Mysam’s house for dinner. Mansef, the national dish. That is just how it is here. Everyone invites you over for dinner, including the stranger lady on the street who gave us directions and then talked to us for 5 minutes.
Tuesday 12th:
Today we were at the hospital again and it was rough. All the students were stressed out about their exams so they just sat in the room studying and there wasn’t much for us to do, but after our break I pulled up my bootstraps and got to work and made it a little better. After clinical we went to Duaa’s and it was so nice. Duaa is my awesome roommate Sammi’s student (Sammi told me she hoped one day her name could grace the wall of my blog and I said mishmooshkela or no problem). We had something that I think is called oozie. It was marinated chicken served on top of rice that had vegetables, beef, tomatoes, and spices. It was SO GOOD. Then you also put “salad” (or tomatoes and cucumbers), yogurt, and this other sauce that was white and had cucumbers in it. You kind of mixed it all together into a beautiful masterpiece and ate it. It was the best meal we’ve had in Jordan. They also gave us “dawali,” which I thought was an Indian costume party, but I guess it is rice and stuff rolled up in grape leaves. For dessert we had watermelon. Then we sat and talked and then they made us dance with them. First DooDoo’s little sister (18) showed us how. We were all amazed she could move her hips like Shakira. Then they were like “Now we all dance!” We tried to protest, but it didn’t work. They taught us how to loosen up our hips and shoulders, but mostly laughed at our feeble attempts. Before we could dance they had to close all the windows and shut the door so that no one would see, and because we were in their home they could take off their “ishars” or head coverings. They are all so beautiful. We had a really good time and a loft of fun.
Tomorrow we get to go to the King Hussein Cancer Center. It is supposed to be really advanced, so that will be different than the hospital we work in here. It should be really cool. I am excited.
Wednesday 13th:
We spent the morning at the hospital. Mornings aren’t too bad because we stay busy with bed making and vitals. There were some patients there who remembered us from Monday and they really like us. One lady gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then she proceeded to ask me if I was married, no, so she told me that I should find a husband in Jordan. She wants us to go visit her when we go to the dead sea and later I was standing in the hallway when she came up behind me and gave me a pinch on my cheek, like a grandmother would. Another patient offered us chocolate when we changed her sheets. That is kind of common though.
After our morning we went to the King Hussein Cancer Center. It was a really nice hospital. It is the 6th best cancer hospital in the world, but it is kind of subjective because they are very picky with who they treat so their statistics are a little skewed, but it was still a whole new world compared to where we are working. It was completely westernized. People were in scrubs, they had monitors, electronic beds, everything that we have in the states. Not only did they have toilettes instead of “squatters,” but they actually had toilette paper which is unheard of AND toilette paper dispensers which is pretty much unfathomable. It was really good for us to see that not all hospitals in Jordan are archaic like the one we are in, but that is why Elaine wanted us there. What’s the point of going to Jordan if we are working in a hospital just like the ones at home?
Then we had quite the adventure. So our washing machine is broken, aka I’m pretty sure WE broke it, aka the door wont shut and if we try to use it our kitchen floods. So we were off to find a laundry (I was informed it is not a Laundromat because they wash the clothes for you). There is supposed to be one close to our house so I packed up all my dirty clothes and four of us set off in the hot sun. We found a dry cleaner/laundry but they said it was 1JD per item and 300 fils for socks. That may not mean much to you but I will tell you that it would probably cost at least 40JD to do my laundry or $60. We decided to wash our clothes by hand in the bath tub. That will be fun.
We went over to Elaine’s for dinner and on the way back stopped at the bread store that we go to all the time. The people there speak very little English and every time we come in we know a little more Arabic and they get really excited to hear all of the new things we can say. As we were wandering around, mind you the bread store is probably about as big as my bedroom at home, a worker kept handing me different treats to try. First it was a thick breadstickish thing with sesame seeds. Before I could finish it he came and took it away from me and handed me a skinny breadstick that had a lot of spices baked into it. Then he took that out of my hand and replaced it a cookie (I finished that one). And finally he gave me some bread ring thing with spices, I can’t describe it. It was especially funny because he only gave everyone else the first thick breadstick and I was the only one who got to try multiple treats. After that we walked the rest of the way home and the 14 year old boys who were in the street outside of our house threw marbles at us. It is the first time that has happened but it was an interesting end to a pretty good day.
Also it is no longer perfect weather. It has started to be a little too warm. Probably a good temperature for laying out in the sun, but too hot to be trekking around with heavy bags of laundry in long pants and ¾ length shirts, and walking uphill both ways everywhere you go. I finally understand the meaning of that saying and I was surprised to find out that it can be true.
Tomorrow is hospital, soccer game, Mysam’s house, MENSAF!!!!!!!!!! I am very very excited.
Thursday 14th:
Well, no Mensaf, but that is ok, we will get it another time. So morning at the hospital, regular as normal. I’m usually on the 6th floor but today we were moved to the 4th. That is pretty much as exciting as it gets.
Then the adventure started. First we started the trek with a bus ride, well two bus rides and a “van” taxi. We The bus rides were okay, pretty jammed, but we got off of the second one and were just standing on the corner. Mind you the girls pretty much told us it was a bad part of town and it looked like a little New York alley or something. Mysam told us she called a special taxi that was a van so it would fit all of us (us being 7 BYU nursing students, Mysam, and 3 other UJ nursing students). So this big van pulls up and we were heading over there. Then we open the door and there was only one back seat for three people and then this big humpish fake seat behind the driver. There were 8 of us crammed in the back and 3 got in the front seat. Halfway to Mysam’s those of us on the humpish seat started to notice that it was getting pretty warm. We soon put it together that seeing that the front of the van was completely flat we were definitely sitting on the engine. Also we weighed the van down so much that the mud flaps were dragging, it had fur interior, all the handles were broken, and we couldn’t move. We were laughing pretty hard.
We finally got there and went into her beautiful home. It is pretty far away from the city so there were open fields of olive trees and the houses weren’t all next to each other. After awhile we sat down to the table. Her mother brought out this huge dish of dawali, pickle looking things, chicken, more yogurt cucumber, and bread. I don’t remember what anything was called. During the meal Sammie picked up a mysterious looking piece of chicken. She put it on her plate and Sima said “That is chicken neck.” We were all laughing inside because it was obvious she didn’t want to eat it. Then at the end of the meal I looked down at the bones on my plate and moved one and it was totally a vertebrae! I was pretty grossed out, but if I didn’t notice it when I was eating it then it must have been fine. After the meal they asked “can you have goats milk?” We said sure we will try it. It looked completely normal. Little did we know it was anything but. I took a little taste. It was completely fermented goat’s milk and probably one of the grossest things I have ever tried. The idea of it still makes me cringe. Other than that dinner was still really good, but I think I liked Duaa’s better. We ate way too much. Then Mysam’s dad came home and another girl had taken her ishar off so she needed to put it back on. We asked if we could watch how she did it and she said sure no problem. Then Mysam came down with a whole armful of ishars and we ended up all putting them on. It was pretty hilarious and the moms were taking tons of pictures. We headed out into her back yard and took some pictures next to the olive trees and with the kittens she had. It turned out to be a lot of fun and we headed back to the university in a van taxi that was a little bigger than the one we had come in (luckily).
See you next week!
Last Week in Pictures
The Whole Group in Jerash on the Nymphaeum
Chariot Race
Me, a Roman Gaurd, his sword, and the redheaded lady that decided she wanted to be in my picture.
On the top of the world in Ajloun
People who wanted their picture with us
Papa! (Don't worry he waved toward us later)
Dinner at Duaa's
One half of us in the back seat on the way to Mysam's
Who's leg is who's? We couldn't tell after awhile
We've converted to Islam
Kittens!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Catch Up
So here is what I wrote while we were in the airport(s), other than that I think the emails have caught everyone up.
So I have decided it might be easiest for me to write my blog entries as I go, wherever I am, and then post them when I can. So here is the start of my trip:
I am currently in the JFK airport after our first flight. The tickets said the flight would be 5 hours but it was really 3 hours and 45 minutes. Not too bad, but still long. I napped, ate and watched almost all of the first season of The Office. I’m not sure why but apparently Delta no longer supplies free movies for entertainment. My hopes were up after being told that Confessions of a Shopaholic was available, but they were soon crushed when I learned it was $6. I hope that is not the case for our 11 hour flight to Amman. It is officially my first time in New York. I don’t know if it really counts, seeing that I am stuck in the airport, but I did see the skyline as we landed so I am counting it. Our layover is 5 hours. I have survived about 45 minutes and I am already bored. Everyone had stressed me out about when we landed here and trying to find our next gate, getting to the international terminal, re-going through security, swine flu precautions, etc. Let’s just say we got off the plane and literally walked 30 feet to our next gate. That was it. Well I think we are going to Chili’s for food later, a very eventful day.
We ate. We are back at our gate and I’m charging my computer, but I don’t really have anything to do on it so I’m entering stuff again. Right now there are people praying in the airport on their mats, kneeling and putting their heads on the ground. I’m not exactly sure what I’ve gotten myself into.
I am currently in the JFK airport after our first flight. The tickets said the flight would be 5 hours but it was really 3 hours and 45 minutes. Not too bad, but still long. I napped, ate and watched almost all of the first season of The Office. I’m not sure why but apparently Delta no longer supplies free movies for entertainment. My hopes were up after being told that Confessions of a Shopaholic was available, but they were soon crushed when I learned it was $6. I hope that is not the case for our 11 hour flight to Amman. It is officially my first time in New York. I don’t know if it really counts, seeing that I am stuck in the airport, but I did see the skyline as we landed so I am counting it. Our layover is 5 hours. I have survived about 45 minutes and I am already bored. Everyone had stressed me out about when we landed here and trying to find our next gate, getting to the international terminal, re-going through security, swine flu precautions, etc. Let’s just say we got off the plane and literally walked 30 feet to our next gate. That was it. Well I think we are going to Chili’s for food later, a very eventful day.
We ate. We are back at our gate and I’m charging my computer, but I don’t really have anything to do on it so I’m entering stuff again. Right now there are people praying in the airport on their mats, kneeling and putting their heads on the ground. I’m not exactly sure what I’ve gotten myself into.
And now ... pictures! (McDonads, a common fruit stand, our front room, our bath/shower room, the culture thing we saw, our menu at breakfast, and what Amman looks like) Sorry they are disorganized and not the best, but they are something.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
So Close
We are down to hours people ... hours. I actually think that I am pretty close to being ready. I need to finish packing a few items, but most of it is comfortably sitting in my suitcase. So I survived finals and moved out of my apartment. That's pretty much all that has happened since last time. Yesterday and today we had our "Immersion Days." Everyone who is in NURS400 was required to sit through class from 8:30-3:30 and learn about culture, global health, swine flu (we'll get to that later), humanitarian nursing, etc. Although some of the info was interesting, it just didn't seem like a good way to be spending my time when there are other things I could be doing. I'll put it this way. Today I woke up late, surprising I know, and I got to class an hour and a half late. No one really noticed, they hadn't turned in the homework yet (which is how they were taking roll), and I'm pretty sure I'll suffer no consequences. So that is how important Immersion Days were, but I'm still glad to be done with them.
Other than that the only concern now is the dreaded swine flu.
They have been keeping a really close eye on everything seeing that they are sending a lot of students to various regions (Australia, Ecuador, England, and Jordan). They have given us plenty of opportunities to change our minds if we don't feel that it is safe to travel, I'm going, a handout on the flu including symptoms, rates, areas, dangers, etc, I'm still going, and we talked about the cause, epidemiology, travel risks, and what could happen. Yes, I'm still going. In fact I say get me out the sooner the better. It's just if they are going to let me out. We are now at level 5 people. Don't get to excited, that's out of 20. Not really, it's out of 6, but I couldn't resist. They have told us to keep our phones on us in case there are any changes, but that we will probably be fine and we shouldn't be at too much risk, just stay healthy and make sure to get a lot of vitamin C. So I went to the store and bought "EmergenC" if you have heard of it. It says to dissolve one packet in water 2-4 times a day. I thought "I'll just drink two packets at the same time. What's the difference?" They made me nauseous ... but healthy? Hopefully the posts will be more entertaining in the future, and include real pictures not just clip art and maps. Next time I write it will be from Jordan!
Other than that the only concern now is the dreaded swine flu.
They have been keeping a really close eye on everything seeing that they are sending a lot of students to various regions (Australia, Ecuador, England, and Jordan). They have given us plenty of opportunities to change our minds if we don't feel that it is safe to travel, I'm going, a handout on the flu including symptoms, rates, areas, dangers, etc, I'm still going, and we talked about the cause, epidemiology, travel risks, and what could happen. Yes, I'm still going. In fact I say get me out the sooner the better. It's just if they are going to let me out. We are now at level 5 people. Don't get to excited, that's out of 20. Not really, it's out of 6, but I couldn't resist. They have told us to keep our phones on us in case there are any changes, but that we will probably be fine and we shouldn't be at too much risk, just stay healthy and make sure to get a lot of vitamin C. So I went to the store and bought "EmergenC" if you have heard of it. It says to dissolve one packet in water 2-4 times a day. I thought "I'll just drink two packets at the same time. What's the difference?" They made me nauseous ... but healthy? Hopefully the posts will be more entertaining in the future, and include real pictures not just clip art and maps. Next time I write it will be from Jordan!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
15 Days To Go
So in case you hadn't heard I am going to Amman, Jordan with the BYU College of Nursing for our "Global Health and Human Diversity" class.
There are 7 students going, one graduate student who will be our clinical instructor, and then our director who currently lives over there.
We will be working in the University hospital along side students in their nursing program. We've have had the assignment to email our students (each of us have 2) and I finally got a response today. Let's just say I don't think their English is as fluent as we were led to believe, but she "wellcom in jordan" to me and "hopes helping [me] as much as [she] can" so that is promising. I can't really complain though because I'm sure their English is going to be much better than my Arabic. On the weekends (which I am confused about exactly when that is because Fridays are Sundays and Sundays are Mondays, or something like that) we will be taking trips to different sites. I know that we are going to Petra, the Red and Dead Seas, the Wadi Rum desert, some crusaders castles, Jesus' baptismal site in the Jordan river, a lot of other places, and hopefully we will be able to make a trip over to Israel and see some of the sites there. She has warned us that we probably won't get much sleep because we will be so busy, which I think is a good thing.
We take off April 30th and I'm not quite ready yet. Our director told us that we have to be very modest while we are over there which you would think would be easy seeing as we are already considered pretty modest compared to other people, but apparently not. We have to have at least 3/4 sleeves at all times, shirts that cover your chest (none of this shade tank stuff, it's got to be all the way covered, like t-shirt covered), skirts to at least 6in below the knee, and she suggested that our clothes should be a size larger that our regular size. Mind you it is also going to be like 90 degrees (I think). Needless to say I have some shopping to do.
Well I will try to keep you updated on my prep work for the trip before I leave (probably after finals are over), and stay tuned for future adventures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
