Syria

Melanie and I just returned from an awesome week in Syria. We were showered with generous hospitality from Derar’s friends Luay and Lubna in Damascus and from his family in Aleppo. They made us feel very welcome and showed us a bunch of cool sights. We had heard that it could take up to eight hours to get a visa at the Syrian border, but it only took us three, alhamdulilah (thank God).

We paired up with two American girls who we met at the border and began searching for a ride to Damascus. I flagged down a taxi and he said he could take me to Damascus for $60 and I politely told him to take a hike. We saw a bus that was stopped at the border, but were told that it was not going to leave for another hour – ugh. Then a taxi pulled over and the passenger got out and to our surprise, spoke great English. He negotiated with the driver and persuaded him to give us a ride to Damascus for only $4 each. So the four of us crammed into the back seat of the taxi and headed for Damascus.

We arrived at our hotel, just steps away from the Old City and called Luay. He and his wife picked us up about twenty minutes later and gave us a great tour of Damascus. First we walked into Souk Al-Hamidiyah, which is a covered market that stretches for 600 meters. It contains all sorts of cool shops, selling everything from clothes to antiques to spices. After you exit the souk you immediately see the stunning Umayyad Mosque. It was originally a Roman temple, which was then turned into a church dedicated to John the Baptist. Eventually it was expanded upon and turned into a mosque between 706 and 715AD. Inside the mosque is a large shrine said to contain the head of John the Baptist. As a student of history, I thoroughly enjoyed walking through it, looking around, and taking it all in. After that we walked around the rest of the Old City and then ate a delicious dinner. I discovered another great dish consisting of cooked, green wheat and lamb chunks. It’s called frekeh – yummy. After that we walked around some more and then drove to the top of one of the mountains just outside of the city. We pulled over just in front of a vendor selling hot drinks on the side of the road and enjoyed a beautiful view of Damascus at night while we enjoyed coffee and tea.

The next morning Luay and Lubna picked us up and drove us through the Syrian countryside on our way to see some Christian sights outside of Damascus. We saw a couple of churches high in the mountains of Saydnayya and a couple of other religious sights in Maalula, including the places where Cain killed Able and then buried him. Seeing the sights was very cool, but I enjoyed driving through the lush, rural, mountain terrain even more. We even had to stop and ask a shepherd for directions at one point to give you an idea of how rural it was. After that we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the top of a mountain overlooking Damascus and then dessert and great conversation with our hosts at a French café.

On our third day in Damascus, Melanie and I walked around the Old City and bought her a scarf and an inlaid jewelry box. That evening we enjoyed a delicious meal inside the court yard of an Ottoman era home that had been converted into the dining room of a restaurant. We had a great time in Damascus and enjoyed spending time with our new friends, but now it was off to Aleppo.

We woke up early the next morning and took a cab to the station to catch our 7AM train to Aleppo. We paid a mere $5 each for first class tickets and enjoyed the scenic, five hour trip. We were both surprised at how green Syria was as Jordan is quite arid and we expected neighboring Syria to have similar terrain. We were met at the Aleppo train station by Yaman, Derar’s brother and taken to the family home where we were greeted with warm hospitality by his parents, sister, and fiancée. We were showered with sweets, tea, and coffee and spoke in a mix of English and Arabic as we got to know the family of our great friend. They made us feel very welcome and comfortable and after chatting for a couple of hours we sat down to a delicious, home cooked meal. It was easily the best meal we had eaten during our time in Syria. I tried not to eat too much, but after finishing my first plate was urged to eat more so I happily obliged. During the meal Zaid and Layla, the adorable children of Hala arrived. It took a little time for them to warm up to us, but it wasn’t long before we were holding and hugging them. Yes, we have baby fever, but we’ll have to wait a little while before we start our own family, insha allah (God willing). Sorry, but you can’t talk about the future here without saying that or you’ll be corrected so it has become habit.

That night we went to enjoy tea and coffee in front of the gigantic citadel. The next morning we returned and toured the huge fortress which was built by Salah al-Deen to defend the territory from the Crusaders during the 12th century. It was huge, easily 8 times the size of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine and built atop a man made hill, which was surrounded by a moat that was 60 feet deep and 90 feet wide. Pretty darn, awe inspiring! After that we walked through Souk Al Madina where we bought Melanie another scarf. During our stay in Aleppo, Yaman and Nour showed us around the city and took us to Azizea, one of the modern shopping districts that was decorated with Christmas lights and huge, 30 foot Christmas trees in some of the city squares. Seeing the Christmas decorations was a welcome sight for Mel and I, as it has been difficult being away from home this time of year. Thanks Nour and Yaman and thank goodness for Skype!

There were some cool sights to see in Aleppo to be sure, but what I enjoyed most was spending time with Yaman and his family and Nour. I can’t say enough about their hospitality and the cooking and kindness of his mother. I can’t wait to make a return trip to Syria in the summer, insha allah.

Pencils Down

I took my final exam yesterday and it went very well. I feel that I've learned a great deal of Arabic this term, but my brain has been reduced to mush and I am very happy to be at the beginning of a three week break. We just moved into a new apartment yesterday and we are slowly unpacking and settling into our new home. The last place was great. The apartment itself was very nice and the handyman was very friendly and helpful. I really can't say enough about how great he was. The main issue was noise. Waking up from a dead sleep to loud, unexplicable banging sounds was not a regular occurrence, but happened frequently enough to be quite annoying.

The area we have moved to is called Jebel Al-Webdeh. Amman was originally built on seven hills and Jebel Al-Webdeh is one of them. The surrounding hills are a bit higher and shelter us from some of the cold winds, making it a few degrees warmer than our last place. Our new neighborhood is older and quieter, which is nice for someone who enjoys studying and sleeping. It is only a twenty minute walk to downtown. Downtown or the Balad as it's known here is super busy, but a great place to buy just about anything and is also home to a number of good restaurants, cafes, and the post office. It's also a great place to people watch!

We are planning to take a week long trip to Syria beginning Thursday morning. Our great friend Derar has put us in touch with one of his friends who will be helping us while we are in Damascus and his family will be able to help us out while we are in Aleppo. We feel very lucky to have such a great friend who can help us out like this. I am very excited and curious to see what Syria is like and looking forward to meeting and speaking with new people. Hopefully they will be as kind and patient as the people here in Jordan.

We plan to come back in time to spend Christmas here and explore our new neighborhood. We look forward to speaking with loved ones via Skype on Christmas.

There's a Man in My Room!

One of the clear signs that you are no longer in the United States and are in a Muslim country is the call to prayer. There are speakers pointing in multiple directions from the minarettes of the mosques that broadcast the call to prayer five times a day, summoning the Muslim faithful to prayer. It is hard to describe it, but it is almost like a song that last about three minutes. Naturally they pick a guy with a nice voice to do it so it's a pleasant sound even if it is waking you from a dead sleep. Oh, I forgot to mention that the first call to prayer is at dawn, which was about 5:30AM when we first arrived and is now 4:30AM due to daylight savings time. Depending on how far away you live from the nearest mosque, it can be a distant sound or quite loud and bear in mind that there are no competing sounds at dawn.

One of our friends from class thought there was a man in her room everytime she awoke to the dawn call to prayer during her first couple of weeks here. I cracked up when I heard her say that, but I could totally believe it. I sleep through it sometimes and sometimes it wakes me up. When it wakes me up, I just try to remember that I have just been blessed with another day of life and then I roll over and go back to sleep for another two hours.

Do you remember the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer said he could tell time without a watch, by using the sun? The funny thing is that I kind of do that now. I still wear a watch, but I know that the first call to prayer will be at dawn, which means I have a couple of hours before I have to wake up. The next one is approximately noon so I know it's time for lunch and then a nap. The third is mid afternoon, usually 2:30ish, time for my second lunch. The fourth call to prayer is at sunset, around 4:40 and the last one is between 5:30 and 6, dinner time. All kidding aside, the call to prayer is one of those unique things about living here that I know I will miss when I leave. Luckily, I still have another nine months to enjoy it.

Eid Al-Adha

The Holiday of Sacrafice begins Thursday night. What this means for me is a 10 day break from class before we come back and finish the last week of the semester and take our final exams. According to Islamic tradition, Abraham was commanded by God to sacrafice his son Ishmael, but at the last moment God had Abraham sacrafice a lamb that was caught in a nearby bush. So, in short a lot of unlucky lambs will be sacraficed in the coming week to commemorate this event and most everything in the country will be closed for four days while people visit with family and eat delicious lamb.

Luckily for us Americans who are living here, the supermarkets have turkeys, Butterball turkeys no less! The sign above the frozen turkeys reads, "imported just for you." How cool is that? So, Mel is going to cook her second Thanksgiving dinner in a couple of days and we are planning to have a couple of girls from class over. We've also seen plenty of Christmas stuff here so we plan to get a small artificial tree in the coming week or two.

We plan to do a lot of relaxing and take a trip to Petra and possibly some other quick trips within Jordan. Classes are going well, but I must admit that I am burnt out at the moment and need a break. Luckily, it will begin in less than 24 hours.

Beef Stew

People told me it would get cold here. I knew it would, but was surprised to wake up a few days ago to 46 degree temperatures and rain. I decided to go back to bed and did not leave the apartment for the entire day. I slept in, studied, hung out with Melanie, and ate the delicious beef stew that she made. It has since warmed up a bit with highs in the high 70's and lows in the 50's and it has stopped raining. Hopefully, that will last as I do not like cold, gloomy weather unless I can stay inside and eat chilli or stew.

Classes have accelerated and we are slated to complete the last five and a half chapters of Al Kitaab 3 in the remaining four weeks of class, which should be interesting. That's fine with me. I love learning all of the new vocabulary and grammar. I may be a nerd, but I love reading an article or watching the news and coming across a recently learned word or grammatical construction. Yesterday, I bought a book that my teacher recommended. It's an autobiography of Taha Hussein called, "The Days". Taha Hussein was an Egyptian writer and intellectual who earned a PhD at the Sorbonne in France despite being blind.

We had to go downtown to find the book, which was quite an adventure in itself. My teacher had given me general directions, saying that the bookstore was down an alleyway near the King Hussein Mosque. From there, I had to ask directions, which was fun and good language practice. We didn't find the bookstore my teacher had mentioned, but found another small bookstand. I asked the owner if he had the book. He didn't have it, but asked me to wait a few minutes. He darted down the street and came back with the book, which I bought for 2 JD's or about $2.80. We also bought Melanie a pashmina and chatted up the owner there who was very nice. Melanie also saw someone get tapped by a car as they tried crossing the street. She has more about that on her blog. Suffice to say that the lack of crosswalks makes running across the street a daily necesity for pedestrians here. Luckily this guy was "tapped" by a car going only a few miles per hour and was unhurt.

I read the first chapter of about 8 pages last night and this morning. It took about an hour and a half as I had to use the dictionary quite a bit. I've learned many of the high frequency words used in newspaper articles, but the word usage in this book was a mix of a lot of words I already know and more nuanced vocabulary as the author describes being picked up and carried by his older sister as if he were as light as a blade of grass or laying in bed, being careful to cover himself completely with his bedsheet so that the imaginary monsters can't get him. In any case, I'm hoping to reinforce the vocabulary I already know and learn some knew words along the way by reading the book. It may take two or three reads to fully appreciate what the author is saying.

We have a week long break around Thanksgiving and it will be nice to sleep in and relax a little. All in all, we're still having a great time here. I'm just anxious to keep learning until I can read books and newspapers easily and understand the news and television shows easily. Luckily I'm in the right place to make those things a reality.

Mid Terms

When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. - Job


Well, it is hard to believe that we have been here for six weeks and that I have completed four weeks of class. Mid terms are a week from tomorrow. The classes are quite intense and I feel that I have learned a lot. We have covered the first two and a half chapters of Al-Kitaab 3 and each chapter has about 100 new vocabularly words, grammar points, and a couple of three page texts that contain even more new vocabulary words. Needless to say, it has been challenging, but I am loving it. The teachers and staff at Qasid have been very helpful and professional, which has made the experience that much better.

Mel and I have been working out at our new gym, which has been a great release. Speaking of stress releases, I just found out that Dubai One shows Curb Your Enthusiam on Tuesday nights (satellite tv is awesome). I am looking forward to checking that out this week. I just finished reading "The Winter of Our Discontent" by Steinbeck and it was good. Yesterday I bought "The Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut. It's already made me laugh out loud a few times and provided me the quote from the book of Job so it looks like it's going to be good.

Well, got to get back to the books.

Yalla Sweileh! Yalla Sweileh!

I am having a blast here. My classes are challenging and keeping me very busy, but I am loving it. Melanie and I have met some very interesting people since we've been here and that has been cool. We participated in a pub crawl last weekend (yes, they have bars here) and went to a party last night. I feel like my Arabic skills are getting better and that I am learning a lot, but I don't think I'll feel satisfied until I am proficient. I guess that's the point of why I'm here.

I am not a fan of big cities, but I am enjoying Amman. The way people drive here is pretty wild. A taxi driver told me today that there is no system or organization to the way people drive here and I heartily agreed. I prefer to ride the minibuses when possible. They are cheaper and entertaining. You stand at the bus stop and wait for a minibus to pull up. The driver stays in the bus, but another guy jumps out onto the sidewalk and begins yelling, "Yalla, Sweileh. Yalla, Sweileh." Yalla just means let's go and Sweileh is the final destination of this particular bus. He herds people onto the bus, but we can't leave until the bus is full so we sit on the bus listening to music or Quranic recitation, which can be relaxing after a long day. Each time someone passes by the bus the guy asks, "Sweileh, Sweileh?" Finally the bus is full and we set off. He then begins collecting bus fare from the passengers. It's only 50 qirsh for Melanie and I, which is about 70 cents. This is a flat rate regardless of which stop you get off on between the starting point and final destination. After collecting the fares, he begins yelling out the stops that are coming up, "Dustour, Ra'ie, Shabab." Once someone nods or raises their hand to signal they need to get off at the stop he mentioned, he tells the driver. The driver typically swerves over two lanes at the last minute to pull over to the stop and we get off and walk the rest of the way home laughing.

Things are different here in a way that I find interesting, if not entertaining. The other day we were taking a taxi home and the driver was becoming impatient with the slow car in front of him. Usually when this happens, the driver beeps his horn or flashes his lights, but this guy had a police siren. He put it on for a few seconds and the car moved out of the way. He repeated this a few more times. I was trying not to laugh and asked him if he was a police officer, which he obviously was not. He laughed and said no, but that the siren worked better than the horn. This is just a small sample of the things that make me laugh or smile each day here.

Above all the people are very nice. Melanie mentioned in her blog about our adventure to the post office that we got very lost, which is probably an understatment. Just when things seemed hopeless (we had walked for an hour and had ended up in a random residential area), we found a small cafe and asked the owner if he knew how to get to the post office. He rambled off a log series of rights and lefts that left me dizzy. He saw a friend of his walking by and called out to him and told him to walk us the rest of the way to the post office. We chatted in Arabic while he walked us left and right and left again and down a hill for about 10 or 15 minutes until we reached our destination. To say the least we were very grateful.

Blending in, sort of.

"You are Italian?" No. "Are you Egyptian?" No, I'm American. "Really? But you look Arab." These are excerpts from a few conversations I've had with folks here about my nationality during the last few weeks. Walking around in the blazing sun has given me quite the tan and I haven't exactly been shaving every day either. I know people know I'm not from here when I'm sporting the backpack, but it feels good not to totally stick out. By the way, people here are very friendly. I think being able to eat during the day again is making a big difference. I know it is with me!

Eid Al-Fitr - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ramadan is over and Eid Al-Fitr is here, which means we can eat during the day time. We could and did eat during the day time during Ramadan, but only indoors with the curtains drawn. Eid Al-Fitr is akin to Christmas time and the run up to New Years Eve from what I can tell. Most everyone is on vacation from work and school. One manifestation of this is tons of kids and teens running rampant in the malls. Others include seeing everyone dressed in their nicest clothes and driving to dinner with family and friends. Restaurants are open, but some shop keepers close their shops for the week so things won’t be completely back to normal until Sunday, which is the beginning of the work/school week here.
It’s kind of weird to have a week off after only one week of class, but I’m using the time to study and review and also to relax and see more of the city with Melanie. We scouted out one of the bus stations yesterday and found out about the bus schedules. Tomorrow we’re planning to return and catch a minibus to Jerash, which I heard is the largest, preserved Roman city outside of Italy. I went there the last time I was here and it’s pretty cool. It’s also only half a dinar bus fare and a little over an hour away so it should make for a good day trip.
Living here forces you to interact with people in their language, which is one of the obvious reasons we’re here. The tough thing is that I’ve spent most of my time studying formal Arabic and most people speak what I will call street Arabic, which is very different. I tried speaking with a guy in formal Arabic our first week here and he told me he didn’t speak English. Hmm, ok. Well, the good news is that I have taken a class or two that covered the basics of street Arabic so I’ve been reviewing those books and picking up words and phrases from where else? – the street.
The last few days I’ve become brave and have been striking up conversations with our taxi drivers during some of the longer rides we’ve taken. They’ve been able to understand me and I’ve been able to understand most of what they’re saying to me. They’ve even complemented me on how good my Arabic is. Now granted, these are small talk conversations about where I’m from, how long I’ve been studying Arabic, etc. However, I was able to drop a “thanks be to God for our safety”, in Arabic after the driver had to break hard to avoid hitting the car in front of him after a random tire rolled into the street a few cars ahead of us. He laughed and slapped my knee, responding with, “may God keep you safe”. I wanted to ask if he could please help God out with that during the remainder of our ride, but I couldn’t think of the words quickly enough.

First Week of Class

I have completed the first week of classes and they went well. There are about eight students in my class. The class is split into two sections – grammar and skills (vocabulary and conversation). Ustath Fadi teaches grammar and Ustath Muhammad teaches skills. They are both from Zarqa and very nice. The classes are taught exclusively in Arabic, which is great for improving our listening skills. So far, I’ve been able to follow along and understand everything they’re saying and it seems like I maybe one of the strongest students in the class in terms of listening and speaking. I have to thank my great friend Derar for that.

Sunday through Thursday Melanie and I wake up at 6AM and leave the apartment by 7:15 and walk 30 minutes to Qasid. The weather is pretty cool in the mornings – around 65 degrees, so it’s great walking weather. Classes begin at 8AM and each class is 75 minutes with a 15 minute break in between. Melanie hangs out in the ladies lounge and surfs the web or reads a book while I’m in class. The Mukhtar Mall is next door to Qasid and contains a grocery store and a houseware store so we often stop in there to buy food or items for the apartment before taking a $1.10 cab ride home.
The homework hasn’t been too bad – maybe two or three hours a night. I study for another two hours just to review and try to memorize the new vocabulary and grammar concepts. Melanie and I are enjoying the English language movie channels we get here, but I try to watch at least an hour of Al Jazeera every day to practice my listening skills.

This was also a big week because we finally got Internet for our apartment. The Internet signal is wireless so all you buy is a wireless router, plug the power cord into the wall and connect the router to the computer using an Ethernet cord. The router is not plugged into a phone or cable line. No Comcast man to install or set anything up.

We bought the router and the service at Mecca Mall, which is easily the largest indoor mall I’ve ever been in. We met a really nice guy about 27 years old who spoke perfect English. He said he and his wife had just moved to Amman that day. I asked where he was from and was surprised to hear he was from Ramadi, Iraq. They had lived in Lebanon the past year and decided to move to Jordan. We chatted for a bit and then Melanie and I went to Miles, an upscale grocery store in the Mecca Mall that reminded me of Fresh Market back in the States.

We returned to Mecca Mall today and bought Melanie a cell phone and some more groceries. I’ve been eating well thanks to Melanie’s great cooking. We are looking forward to the end of Ramadan so that we can check out some of the local restaurants. Today is Thursday, which is the end of the work/school week here and we have next week off for Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan and a return to eating, drinking, and life as normal during daylight hours. We are looking forward to eating, relaxing, and exploring the city more.

Level 4 Arabic

Whoa! I just found out that I tested into level 4 Arabic classes at Qasid Institute. That's a level higher than I expected so I guess I may know more than I think. Anyways, I am very excited, happy, and looking forward to starting class tomorrow. Things are going well here. Each day is a new adventure, walking to this place or that place to buy things for the apartment or discovering a new restaurant within walking distance of our apartment. We probably walk at least an hour each day to Qasid, which is a 30 minute walk or to some other random location in search of food or supplies. I feel like my street Arabic is improving each day as I try to speak with random shop keepers. It doesn't always go flawlessly by any means, but I manage to get my point across and I feel more comfortable speaking with locals each day.

I think Ramadan is great in the lesson it seeks to teach people, which is to identify with people who are poor and have to do without food each day. However, I am looking forward to being able to each and drink during the day in public. Most shops stay closed until about 5PM, when people being buying supplies to break the fast at approximately 7PM. Then, people stay up until about 3 or 4AM. We found this out a few days ago when my friend Amin said he was coming to visit me at 9PM. I thought that was a bit late for a visit and Melanie was in her pajamas already. When he arrived, he said we were going out so Melanie and I got dressed and Amin and his cousin, Hammad drove us all around Amman until about 3:20AM. He showed us some cool places, including the Safeway, which has about any American food item or product you might want. They also introduced us to a good sandwich restaurant that is within walking distance of our place. When I was here last time, I only ate chicken kabobs or ground lamb kabobs. These guys at the restaurant have made sandwiches out of my favorite meals, which I think is great! Well, we are at an Internet cafe, although we hope to have our own Internet soon. Sorry I haven't spoken much about our apartment. Check the link to Melanie's blog for information on that kind of stuff. Good night.

We're Here!

Melanie and I arrived safely in Amman yesterday afternoon. Once we cleared customs, a driver from Qasid met us and took us to our new apartment. The place is nice and has satellite TV so we do get a few English channels including CNN International and BBC Worldwide. We just met with the student relations manager at Qasid and he made us feel very welcome. Melanie will be able to come with me on the school sponsored excursions, including one on Thursday so I am happy about that. The apartment does need a few small repairs, which should be done within the next couple of days and we do need to buy some bath towels and a few other items to help us get settled in.

Yesterday we were both feeling a bit homesick and overwhelmed, but we're doing much better today. It's a bit harder to think and speak Arabic in country on the fly, but I've done ok so far. I've been able to buy food and tell our taxi driver where to take us and was able to help him find the school even when he seemed to be getting lost. I know it will get easier with time and practice. I think I'm still getting used to the fact that we are now here. The weird thing is all of the memories coming back from my last trip and how familiar the terrain, people, and even smells are. Hard to explain. This will certainly be an adventure for us. Melanie is hanging tough and I'm trying to make sure this is going to be a great experience for her too. She will be able to use the school's internet lounge while I am in class. The student relations director also gave us copy of a brochure to a nearby gym that we'll have to check out so Melanie can begin her training for the Dead Sea marathon. That's it for now. We're definitely not in Jacksonville anymore, but I feel like we're doing well and going to be fine.

My Wife Is The Greatest!

Who am I? Why am I here?

Jacksonville … Darn! I’m still only in Jacksonville. I’ve been here a week now, having a good time staying with my Dad, visiting friends. We haven’t worked in a month and I’ve been busy packing and moving and haven’t had much time to study Arabic during the last several weeks so I feel a little rusty. To be honest, Melanie did most of the packing while I pouted and mentally replayed the many good moments we had in our little house in Tallahassee. What can I say, I’m nostalgic and I grew up surrounded mostly by women, so I have my moments.

It’s hard to believe that in less than two weeks we will be in Amman. I guess it will really hit me when we’re sitting on the plane about to take off. I’m looking forward to being challenged at Qasid and forced to use Arabic for several hours every day. I’m at a point where I can read the majority of most front page articles on Aljazeera and other Arabic news websites and I can’t wait to be able to read all of them and even a novel.

Feels like there’s still much to do and prepare for before we leave. I’ve sent a flurry of emails, medical reports, and forms to our insurance agent in the last week in an attempt to provide the necessary information to secure international health insurance. I’m hoping we’ll get news in the coming days from Qasid about where we’ll live. I was informed that the neighborhood where we’ll most likely be housed is a 25 minute walk from Qasid so I’ll try to find a new pair of Ecco walking shoes this week.

I’m not entirely sure what our new place we’ll be like, but I’m anxious to get there, get to work, and establish a routine. In addition to pursuing my goal of language and cultural proficiency, I am eager to escape reality television, the latest gossip about Jon and Kate, advertisements for male performance enhancements or the latest horror film, and other banalities of popular culture. Perhaps most of all, I am looking forward to showing Melanie all of the cool things I saw when I was there the last time and having a year of adventure, just the two of us.

Arrival in Jacksonville

Ah God, what an ugly city Jacksonville is. – me

Ah God, what an ugly city every city is. – Bokonon


Well, we arrived in Jacksonville yesterday. Crazy drivers and endless stretches of strip malls. My Dad, his girlfriend, her son, Melanie’s friend and her fiancée met us at the storage place and helped us get everything moved in. I’m thankful for their help as I cannot imagine unloading that 26 foot U-haul without it. I am happy to be done with the packing and moving that consumed most of the last two weeks and looking forward to hanging out with friends and family before we leave. We’re staying at my Dad’s and have enjoyed his cooking on the grill the last two nights.

We should find out pretty soon (I hope) about where we’ll be living in Amman. Two weeks ago we submitted our housing application, in which we requested a two bedroom, furnished apartment with internet, a pool table, and a Jacuzzi - just kidding about the last two items. Hopefully we’ll get an email soon telling us they found us a suitable place and include pictures so we can decide whether to go with that or try to find something once we get there.

Leaving Tallahassee

We left Tallahassee yesterday and moved our stuff into storage in Jacksonville, where we will live for the next three weeks until we fly to Jordan. It’s a relief to be done with the move, but I was sad to leave Tallahassee. I thoroughly enjoyed and will miss the plethora of oak trees, canopy roads, rolling hills, deer, and other wildlife in the rural part of town we lived in. The people were friendly and the traffic sparse. I will miss going to the games and the Friday night block parties in downtown during football season. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I love Tallahassee. All in all, we had a great year there. Now it’s time for the next step.

Last Day of Work and Next Steps

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don't you?
- Rumi

Yesterday was my last day at Merrill Lynch. It was a great nine years and there are many people there I will miss working with. I am thankful for the people I met during my career, who supported and encouraged me. I'm on cloud nine now, but there were difficult times when I was ready to give up on my dreams. Their encouragement and support kept me going and I will never forget.

Now it is time to pack, buy supplies, and visit with family and friends before Melanie and I set off. I am so excited and thankful to be in a position to do this and that I have the support of my lovely wife!

Getting Ready for Our Trip

I am finally returning to Jordan, a country I enjoyed living in while I studied Arabic for two months during the summer of 2005. The Qasid Institute, where I will be studying this time around, is where the State Department sends recipients of its Critical Language Scholarship so I feel confident I will receive excellent language instruction. I have been working towards this for a while and I am thrilled about spending an entire year in Jordan, where I can focus exclusively on studying Arabic.

I purchased the tickets for our one-way flight to Amman, Jordan a few weeks ago and now that we are less than 100 days from embarking on our year abroad, it is starting to feel very real. I feel a bit overwhelmed at the logistics of moving overseas for a year, but I have made a long to-do list and am tackling one item at a time. Luckily, Melanie is extremely organized so I think we’ll manage it fine.

Now that I’m married, we (read Melanie) have accumulated a ton of stuff. Task number one for me will be to dispose of the stuff that serves no functional use so that we can minimize our storage expense. Others things to consider include finding health insurance and finding a place to live in Amman. I have requested information about a few travelers’ insurance plans, which I am currently reviewing. Qasid offers to find you housing for an initial three-month lease to minimize the hassle one would face upon arrival. However, my friend Amin, who works in Amman, has offered to look for an apartment for Melanie and I, and part of me would rather see my future residence in person before signing a lease agreement.

Well, I will keep my first post short, especially since we’re still here in the U.S. getting prepared. I’ll post updates as we continue our preparations and hope to see everyone before we leave on September 5.