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.