Shock

I have been in Irbid, Jordan for two full days now, and it has definitely been a roller coaster of emotions.  While I have mostly been enjoying getting to meet the rest of the students that are also participating in my program, there have been a several moments where I have experienced some major culture shock.

The first moment was the night I arrived in Jordan and heard my first call to prayer.  In Islamic societies such as Jordan, mosques will sound a call to prayer to signal the time for Muslims to pray. This done five times throughout the day, and the first one is at five or six in the morning. I got into Irbid at two in the morning and didnt go to bed until about five or six, so I was lucky enough to hear the first one of the day.  While it may seem annoying to hear this five times a day, it is actually soothing in a way.  When I heard this, it really made me realize that I have arrived in the Middle East.

My next moment of culture shock was just walking around the city around the Yarmouk University campus.  The program warned us about the streets being filled with trash and litter, and they were not exaggerating.  There are piles of trash just laying in random spots on the sidewalks.  Also, the amount of staring and catcalling from the men here is much worse than what I experienced in Italy.  In Italy, it was common for the men to stare and call out "Ciao bella! Come over here let me talk to you!" But the men here, do not hide their staring and ogling in the least bit. I once looked over at a bus filled with men and they were fighting to look out the window at us group of American students.  If you look at them too long, they call out to you or whisper something like 'beautiful' to you as you pass by.  They will also beep at you as they pass by in their cars. It is just a lot to take in at times. You just have to learn to keep looking forward and have a, well, 'bitchy' look on your face... as bad as that sounds.

The last, and perhaps, most 'shocking' cultural difference I have encountered so far is that the toilet plumbing system cannot tolerate toilet paper. So yeah... no toilet paper.  We are able to buy toilet paper... we just cant flush it. Instead, bidets are used here. I have encountered bidets in Italy and Europe before, but I have never been required to use them...

While I have encountered several cultural differences, the people here are very friendly and eager to help.  I went with a couple of other students to the ATM on the first day, and we met a lady who was waiting in the line in front of us.  Most of the conversation was in Arabic, so it was nice to start getting used to Arabic. When we got to the ATM, she helped us when we had trouble extracting money.  She went into the bank to talk to the lady and fixed the problem.  After all of this, she even gave us her phone number in case we should need anything else.  Even going into the cafes and restaurants, the waiters have been very friendly.  Besides the waiters at this one restaurant who were taking pictures of us as we were walking out of the restaurant...

My day today, though, had a very relaxing ending. We all went as a group (even our Resident Assistant) to a hookah bar.  Tomorrow we start orientation, and after we sign the language pledge on Sunday, I will no longer be able to speak English until the program ends in May.  We can Skype and talk with our family and friend in English, however, so we're not totally deprived of speaking English. So do not fear! You will be able to hear about more of my Jordanian adventures! ;)


To end, here are some pictures I took today of the area around the university:

Taken from a cafe near the university.

Taken from a cafe near the university.

This is at the Arabela Mall. It was a about a 15 minute walk from the university.

There will be more pictures to come. I promise!