Ok everyone, welcome to my first blog ever!!!!!! We’ll see
how long this lasts as I actually have so many records of my life simultaneously
going on (reports for work, journals for the double majors, my own written
journal, etc.) Anyway, I want to start up a blog for my current stay in Jordan.
Also, let me quickly explain the title of my entire blog, "A Red and White Kufiyya." Kufiyya is one of the Arabic words for "scarf" and if it is Red and White with a certain pattern then it represents Jordan.
I am here on an internship through BYU working for the Ministry of Social
Development and am specifically working in the Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO) department. I have been to Jordan
before (last year from August to December for an intensive language study
abroad program through BYU). Therefore,
I am getting more comfortable (little by little) with Jordanian Arabic and
FusHa (the formal, fancy one that almost all Arabs understand).
I will write each entry to explain one or more of the
following: (1) culture in the Jordan (2) a neat/interesting story from the past
week (3) just a few pictures to illustrate my experiences or story and (4)
whatever other category comes into my mind and becomes prevalent.
Culture Section
Ok so we have not started work yet unfortunately. I believe
there are ten of us here (7 girls and 3 guys) as part of the BYU International
Development Internship. We were supposed
to start last Sunday but (go figure, it is the Middle East after all) we are
not starting on time and things come up and we just all need to be flexible. However,
I have noticed that Arabs can be pretty punctual even on the informal social
levels like meeting up with a friend at a coffee house or wherever. I guess it depends on the people too. Hmmm I’m not sure what to say here because
there are some thing I’ve already become accustomed to (or at least to seeing). So please if you have any QUESTIONS about the
culture here ask me and I’d love to explain what my experience is!
Story Section
We went to Jerash (a town about an hour away from Amman by
bus) the other day to see some Roman ruins. This was my second time going
through them and this time it was a lot quicker, it rained, and I saw some
things that I had not seen before.
The entrance of the old Jerash
Behold! The Muses of Jerash!
(L-R: Me, Shanelle, Paul, Leigh, Ashley, Stefanie)
Please if you have any questions comment below and I’ll try
to provide a substantive and prompt response. Love you all!
