Well, this is it. I have two days left in the great country of Jordan and then we head to Palestine/Israel. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown as I guess I have written many times before. This past week was a myriad of tests, shopping, eating, cleaning, packing, and trying to get everything set to go. I have decided I will take another two or three tests over packing, I HATE packing like none other. It is absolutely the worst part of any trip or semester. That and saying goodbye to people. Both of those things are terrible. And I don’t want to do either, but I must.
Anyway, here is quick on the rundown on the tests that I have been taking this week. About a week and a half ago, the madness started with the OPI that I wrote about last week. Sunday, we took a listening test where we had to listen to three different recordings and answer questions about them. It actually wasn’t too bad and I understood the vast majority of what was going on. The next day was a test on the colloquial aspect of the language. We had two listening sections and one voweling/put the stress on the right syllable section. Not as easy as the first test, but not bad either. The next day brought what we have prepared for all semester. He pulled 10 random paragraphs from 10 of the articles that we read earlier this semester. We had to translate them word-for-word and achieve perfection. I think that was the easiest test we had of all. After that, we took a two-part test with one section for reading comprehension with four new articles and one with four new articles to translate. Then there was a reading and listening test on the computer to rate where our level is at. Then there was another OPI, this one face-to-face with one of the Qasid teachers. We finally finished up on Thursday.
Other than taking tests and studying for tests, I have been getting all my last minute food eating in. I have had kofta twice this week. It is kind of like Jordanian meatloaf swimming in a delicious tahini sauce. I got it from two different restaurants, one was with a guy named Hashem that I got to know this week. He is really awesome. So good. I also had kunafa again a few times, hot and fresh and delicious. Today, I went with some friends to someone’s house up in Al-Hosn after church there and had mansaf, which I also had earlier in the week from Mat’am Al-Quds. So much good food and still more to get in the next two day. I also need to see some last minute sights that I haven’t gotten to yet with the limited time remaining like the big mosque, maybe the children’s museum, the Citadel. And finish making all my gifts to give to friends and finish everything else.
I also went to karaoke this week and that was a blast as well as hit up Mockingjay at the cinema with some friends. I don’t think it has quite settled in yet that I only have a couple days left here and then I have no idea when I will see these people again. I am in still in some sort of denial stage. It might not hit me until we are being questioned at the border so that we can get across. Speaking of which, I have to decide how to pack everything so that all my Arab stuff stays behind – the books, clothes, study guides, notebooks, etc. We aren’t allowed to take any of them because they make the Israeli border guards very suspicious.
Ok, so I ran out of the time, patience, whatever to finish this blogpost when I started it. So I will try to do so now keeping the perspective before I left Jordan for Israel. Bear with me though, I honestly hate writing about goodbyes and the sadness of packing.
As for packing, I did it and it sucked as always. There you go. I hope I can manage to get my suitcases to weigh under the limit and to do so I might be getting rid of most of my clothes. Since they all reek of cigarette smoke or the argeela smoke I don’t think I will miss them all that terribly. Plus none of them was real in fashion or my favorite clothes anyway. Throwing things away is the easy part of packing, I can now say that for absolute certain. On the other hand, wrapping all the fragiles in paper and tape and securing them within soft materials for protection is tedious and boring. However, for the sake of the amount of money that I have spent, I did it anyway and hopefully everything makes it through without a scratch. Enough of that dumb topic.
Saying the goodbyes was the single worst experience I can think of from the past few years of my life. I can honestly say I do not believe that I will see some of these people ever again and I have gotten to be really good friends with some of them. I have laughed with them, joked with them, had deep conversations with them and now leaving kind of just rips all that apart. I have to say that I am thankful for the blessing of social media that we can maintain some kind of connection with each other. Still, that will not ever be quite the same and saying goodbye cemented that fact into my brain. I am going to miss Lucy, Deen, my teachers, Haneen, my presentation and writing teachers, and so many others. I could list quite a few. Also, attending the Al-Husn Branch. Going back to a regular church in a couple weeks will be a tremendous shock to my system (and not only because it happens on Sunday and not Friday). I hope to one day return to this great country. That day might even be soon, but I just do not know. Alright, I can’t write anymore about this depressing stuff; I have to move on.
I did get to visit the Citadel and various restaurants and places the last couple days of my stay. The Citadel was a much larger complex than I expected. It was huge and amazing and green because of the rains. Don’t get me wrong, the desert has its beauty, but the greenery certainly adds a nice flair to everything. Like all ruins, the Citadel is made of a conglomerate of materials and civilizations from throughout history. One people would build on the ruins of the people previous and repurpose some of the old architecture to suit their needs and so one throughout the centuries. It sure makes it intriguing to see upside down Roman statues or columns used in Byzantine churches or Umayyad palaces. You can also see lots of Amman from the top of the hill. You can gain a nice understanding of the city and the placement of the important sites within it by going to all the different side of the hill and reading the posted map and diagram that accompanies each one. It was a great end to my Amman experience to look at the different parts of town and think of what I had done there as well as who I had met there.
I also visited the olive wood shop in the industry section of Amman in order to buy Nativities. Lucky for me, they had a sale going on lots of the Nativities that I was looking at that saved me a tremendous amount of money. I don’t want to give it away, but I think some people will greatly enjoy their Christmas presents back home.
Sorry guys that is about all I can write on this week. It was not my favorite week in Amman because of saying goodbyes and the testing. I am excited to visit Palestine/Israel the next two weeks and visit all the Holy Sites before Christmas!
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