Happy New Year!

It's 5:15 in the morning, Mosque prayers have nearly finished, and I feel incredibly blessed.

Chinese food

tastes better in Jordan.

My stomach seems to be getting back to some semblance of normality and I enjoyed a really fabulous Chinese dinner out with Fadi and Munia. We went out around 10, and when we returned home at 11:30 or so, we made a sweet dish for tomorrow's New Year's festivities. It involved pineapple, pistachios, and and fresh cream. I'm in!

I practiced tonight. Hallelujah!

Life is so different for me than it was just one year ago. I think about how I was spending my days during this week last year... it's bizarre. Today, I've been amazed with the continuous stream of "Wow. I'm really appreciating my time in Jordan" that I've been feeling.

Happy New Year!

December 29th

9 PM.

Today was lazy (not much of a change, I know), but really enjoyable. I woke up around 9:30, got ready, and went with Fadi, Munia, and Munia's mom to take Munia's sister Seja to a school exam. After dropping her off, we drove to Fadi's hometown of Fahaz to visit his mother. I was so tired for some reason, and the conversation was entirely in Arabic. Normally this is fine, but it's been happening with such frequency lately (Arabic conversation) that I just start to zone out and think about something totally unrelated to the current situation rather than listening for words that I'm familiar with. Today I was thinking how the house in which Fadi grew up reminded me of my Aunt Charlene's house in Owego, NY. A strange connection considering I found myself today in the middle of small-town Jordan. During our visit, a vegetable truck drove by (yalla bandora! yalla khyar! yalla batata!) and we bought tomatoes and cucumbers. Welcome to my life. :)

After returning home (yes I really feel like I've moved in here), Fadi and I played with Munia's sister Jude while Munia prepared lunch: scrambled eggs, olives, lunch meat, several kinds of cheese, this garlic/pickled eggplant dish, apricot jam, and tuna with lemon - all eaten with this delicious pita bread.

I'm playing a gig for the Swiss ambassador on January 2nd with Fadi, Taraq, Laith, and Osstaz Mohammed, and we rehearsed for about an hour tonight. It was the first time I played since I became ill on the 17th. Yuck. I feel like I've been smoking a pack a day for the past month - really I couldn't breathe. I'm hoping this improves sometime in the next few days :)

It's in the 50's outside and it feels like winter. Really winter. What a change from Ithaca.

I've been terrible about updating this thing

So Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

I could back-track, but I think it might be best for me to go from this point forward and just give you the bullet points of the past month or so:

- American-style Thanksgiving with 2 turkeys, green bean casserole (with home-made french-fried onions!), stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn bread, blueberry muffins, deviled eggs, dressing... the list goes on. Plus some really delicious wine and fantastic dessert. Maryellen made us all write down things that we were thankful for about another person in the room. We topped off the evening with American-style coffee. It was really lovely to share this with my Jordanian friends.

My plate:

- Trip to Cairo two days later. Totally insane and so much fun. Where Maryellen and I earned our "joined-at-the-hip" status. Highlights included eating stuffed pigeon, going on a Nile River cruise, seeing the Pyramids of Giza on horseback, going to the National Museum (and seeing mummies and all of the King Tut exhibition), shopping in downtown Cairo, visiting the Al-Hussein Mosque, eating, eating, and more eating, a day trip to Alexandria and seeing the fantastic library (a building that I swear is straight out of The Fountainhead - I think the most aesthetically pleasing and functional piece of architecture I've ever witnessed), a delicious fish lunch and putting my feet in the Mediterranean, traveling back to Cairo and watching terrible Egyptian films, going to a Cairo Symphony rehearsal, and finally flying back to Amman. My landing in Amman was the strangest sensation - sitting between Ostaz Mohammad and Zainab and feeling totally comfortable and like I was really coming home. This feeling was so different from the anxiety, the fear, and the uncertainty I felt the first time I landed in Amman only three months earlier. Amman is my home.

On horseback with pyramid:

- The Nutcracker and my ameba friend. Several rehearsals and many, many stomach-aches later.... The Amman production of the Nutcracker reminded me of the movie Best in Show. A mock-u-mentary of the Nutcracker. The dancers were pretty terrible. And the music was not much better. And ohh my stomach. Sometime while in Egypt I contracted an ameba friend. But no one here could figure out that it was an ameba friend... fifteen pounds, three and a half weeks later, two trips to the hospital (with really fantastic care) and finally a third visit (that included the most pain I've ever experienced) (and a partridge in a pear tree?), I was finally diagnosed with a bacterial infection. With Maryellen in Israel and Art and Allyss in Lebanon, Fadi and Munia agreed to take care of me during this time. I am so thankful because I really don't think I could have taken care of myself. Now, two days after Christmas, I'm eating and finally feeling like a human being again.

- Christmas in Amman. Mostly spent sleeping and healing. But one really wild experience was on Christmas morning here at Fadi and Munia's home in Jabal-Al-Wehbde, church bells were wildly ringing as Mass let out while simultaneously, Friday morning prayers began over the mosque's loud-speaker. What a confusing audio anomaly! This night Mohannad decided that he was just going to let me eat and see what happened. It was so painful but SO delicious! My first real meal in over a week!

-post-Christmas in Amman - a very lazy time indeed. I'm so grateful for this break from teaching so that I can actually sleep and feel better. Much-needed and well-deserved resting time.

And now I will attempt to update this blog on a more regular basis.

Analysis

I'm writing this while giving an exam in my form class. How amusing. It's weird to be a teacher. Really. I can talk intelligently about music with just about anyone, but then to give an exam on the material? How strange.

We're listening to Pur ti miro, pur ti godo from L'incoronazione di Poppea. I forgot how absolutely stunning the music from this opera really is. Truly. It's like I moved to Jordan to fall in love with opera again. For instance, yesterday in my ear training class, we listened to the Prelude to Tristan und Isolde to discuss extended tertians in Romantic music. And to watch my students who had never heard music such as this just be totally enveloped by the beautiful colors of Wagner was so inspiring.

Sectionals last night were equally fun and frustrating. We need time to work out the music on our own before meeting in a group; however, I really enjoy spending time with Maryellen and Ala'a.

Tomorrow we are having an American Thanksgiving dinner in Amman. And I'll probably eat turkey. Weird! Saturday we are leaving to Egypt for a few days. I'm really looking forward to this short vacation.

This week has been totally insane

but let me try to explain it.

Last Thursday we left for Aqaba around 10 AM. We arrived sometime in the late afternoon after a long bus ride of really amusing conversation and a short Arabic lesson. The rest-stops along the way were sort of what I expected to find in a weird way - places where you could buy quirky little souvenirs and food and drinks that cost entirely too much money.

Aqaba is so beautiful. We played for the grand opening of a new hotel, and were given three really amazing buffet-style meals that included fresh sushi and all kinds of delicious Arabic food. Our concert went reasonably well, and Joe is on his way to becoming a famous crooner of old Frank Sinatra tunes in the Middle East. After the concert we drove back to our hotel where we stayed awake until nearly 4 AM just drinking and smoking arghelia and enjoying each other's company. Sometime around 2 AM, we decided to walk down to the beach where I put my feet in the Red Sea for the first time. It was incredible. After Maryellen and I returned to our room (with the most amazing shower I think I've ever experienced), I started to realize that I was able to have so much fun because I'm actually feeling like myself. This and the company of good people made for an enjoyable trip.

The next day we woke up later than anticipated (but not before breakfast was finished), ate an amazing meal, and spent the next several hours swimming in the Red Sea and lounging the beach. The water was surprisingly warm and very salty. Coral lines the shoreline, so in order to get into the sea you have to walk out on a long floating dock. It was entertaining to watch colleagues swimming and goofing around. As I'm sure it was for them, too.

We arrived back in Amman around 9:00 that evening after another surprisingly enjoyable bus ride. Andrew and I talked about Arabic for a while and then had some practical-application time.

Our symphony concert this Wednesday went fairly well. The second movement of the Beethoven Triple Concerto is the best I think I've heard this group sound yet. It's really encouraging to know that we're definitely improving. I was pleased with my own personal performance, too, which is something that doesn't happen with much frequency. I'm working on it.

Yesterday was an overall bizarre experience. After teaching my morning lessons, Haifa took me to her hair dresser who wanted to take pictures of a blonde girl for brochures for her salon. She had to leave after a half an hour and left me in the company of several women, none of whom speak English. I realized yesterday just how limited my Arabic skills are by how little I spoke the entire day. One of the women painted my nails and washed my hair, and the other dried it, put it in curlers, and then proceeded to paint my face with the most makeup I've ever worn - including during plays in high school. In fact, when Haifa and I arrived back at my apartment, we stopped in to see Tim and Christina, neither of whom recognized me until I spoke. After the salon experience, we took a taxi to a photo studio where I had another equally bizarre experience with the photographer. The whole while everyone kept asking me if I am married - and I kept saying no - and they continually responded by saying, "today you are!" I don't think the vale pinned in my hair allowed me any room to argue. The pictures are beautiful, and I'll definitely post them if I happen to get a copy.

All of that said, it was suggested that I leave the makeup on for the rest of the evening, which included attending a beautiful Arabic music concert. Several of my students performed a little more than an hour of music with their group "Sharq". It's been a long time since I've attended a concert with the liberty of just sitting back and enjoying the music. After the concert we had a going-away party for Lisa, who is returning to America on Saturday. I would like to believe everyone had a nice time. I know that I really enjoyed myself.

Today is Friday and I'm choosing to spend it doing absolutely nothing. It's a really nice feeling. I've never been much for being unproductive on days off, but this has been a totally exhausting week.

For those of you who've been asking where you can send a letter...

Try this address:

King Hussein Foundation

National Conservatory of Music Foundation

PO Box 926687

Amman 11110

Jordan

ATT: Aimee Shorten

We're going to the Red Sea tomorrow to play a concert in Aqaba!! More to come on this later :)

Army Orchestra

This morning the Sinfonietta played a concert for the Jordanian Army Orchestra (who happen to be training at the NMC), and Jordanian Army Orchestra played a concert for us. They went first. Their program included a stunning version of "Ode to Joy" and another piece that required timpani hits on 2 and 4. It kind of blew my mind that they're getting paid for this. That this is their job - to learn to play an instrument for the first time at the age of 18 - and be employed by the Jordanian government. It was a really strange experience having come from America where good military music gigs are difficult to win. If this sounds like I'm complaining, it's not the tone I'm intending at all. It's just bizarre. Welcome to Jordan.

Post-concert, I attended a quintet rehearsal followed immediately by an Arabic lesson. During this time, one of my students, Rania, suggested that she, Fadi, and I play a trio for flute, cello, and piano. It was my favorite part of today. No questions asked. I can't remember the last time I just sat down and read chamber music just for fun. It has to be since around June when Josh and I were working on Hottetterre. Today we played Weber, and the piece was full of bizarre harmonies and mode mixtures, but it didn't matter. I really hope we continue to do this - it was so refreshing!

Tomorrow, I will write program notes on Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

Shway Shway Arabi

But it's really showing improvement. Today was surprisingly wonderful considering the rude awakening I experienced this morning. I set my alarm for 7:40 and was planning to leave the house at 8:15. Instead, I woke up at 8:14. Awesome. After running around like a fool, Maryellen and I managed to leave the house at 8:25. Not bad. I taught a lesson at 9, and then practiced until around noon. At this point, Nadeen stopped by my studio and I started asking her Arabic questions. Holy Arabic questions. My short vocabulary list for the week was more than tripled by the time we finished our lesson an hour and a half later. Fadi joined in, and he started asking me questions and expected complete-sentence answers. As a reward for putting my brain through a blender, he took us to Reem on 2nd circle - the best Shawarma in all of Amman (or so I'm told). I have to admit, it was REALLY good.

After we finished our lunch, Nadeen and I walked to il Ballad again, this time to go to the fruit market. I was going to go myself, but I'm so glad that she decided to come with me. I don't know that I've ever been downtown at this time of day, but it was totally insane. People were everywhere, and not in the good way. On the way, we stopped at a nuts-and-seeds shop and where I bought a kilo of mixed nuts for 2 and 1/2 dinar. And they're fantastic. By the time we reached the souk, Nadeen had told me all of the words that the men were saying to us along the way including, "Oh, my eyes!" I thought this was hilarious. We ended up with really amazing deals at the souk, including 1 and 1/2 kilos apples, 1 kilo sweet potatoes, 1 kilo potatoes, 1 kilo tangerines, 8 ears of corn, 1 kilo tomatoes, 1 kilo onions, 1 kilo cucumbers... all for about 6 JD. And the quality is just phenomenal. Organic and delicious. Maryellen, Joe, Artie, and I had a vegetable feast for dinner tonight. Afterward, Artie and I went to the corner-store market where we found an Arabic bomileh? - I'm not exactly sure what this is other than some sort of citrus fruit, but it looked like this:

I'm saddened to report that I didn't actually enjoy it at all.

Tomorrow morning, Sinfonietta is playing a small concert, and then we have a quintet rehearsal. I teach in the afternoon, and then another rehearsal tomorrow night. And I should have some time in there to practice. Summer festival materials are finally starting to come together.... and the Mozart is at a respectable performance tempo. Moomtaz!

On my walk to work today

Bob Dylan healed my soul. It's not really so profound, but listening to Dylan was exactly what I needed. It was a completely centering experience amidst all of the Amman traffic.

I am happy to report that I'm finally feeling like myself again. There's really nothing I can compare with practicing, journalling, reading John Updike and ee cummings, and listening to Anner Bylsma. And I forgot about all of that for a while. Instead of focusing on the things that make me me, I was trying to blend in with my new surroundings. To acclimate myself to this new culture and job. But if you know me at all, you probably know that I lack chameleon skills.

"in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me"

I just re-read the last two blog updates

And I swear, the more Arabic I learn, the more terrible my English grammar and sentence structure become.

Sadly, I don't really mind.

Nadeen told me today that she's holding an Arabic language competition for the foreigners for the prize of eating a wonderful traditional meal with her family. Clearly the idea of learning language for a fabulous dinner = a win win situation. I'm pleased with my progress so far, but I'm going to start writing myself vocabulary lists and trying to memorize some more nouns. Learning some more verbs would also be good - this way I will sound less like "I go store. Aimee hungry. Aimee want eat" (10 points to you if you catch this reference) and more like a civilized person.

Today was a fairly typical Saturday here in Amman: wake up at 8, leave by 8:30, teach SOS kids from 9 until 10, enjoy quintet rehearsal until lunch time, break for falafel and water, practice the afternoon away, teach from 3 until 4, take tea with some students, teach from 4:45 until 5:45, converse with Nadeen on my way downstairs, head home by taxi, eat a delicious dinner of left-over curried vegetables, vegetables with tuna, and a pomegranate, walk to Haboob to retrieve smoothie-making materials, walk home from Haboob, make smoothies, enjoy pleasant conversation, prepare to go to sleep.

My students are really wonderful and are inspiring me to become a better teacher. More to come on this later.

Citadel Day

After waking up late on this glorious Friday, Maryellen, Joe, and I decided to trek to the Citadel. Thinking that the taxi driver would take us through the downtown and up the hill, we took a cab to Rainbow Street to get some breakfast. It'd been SO long since I'd been to Rainbow Street - it was so nice to explore again. We ended up eating breakfast at Family Oven where I ordered a not-so-strong American-style coffee and a spinach manaesh, and Maryellen and I split a Nutella dessert. Dessert with breakfast always means it's going to be a good day.

We took a cab to the Citadel, and it appeared that we were headed in a totally wrong direction. Instead of going to the downtown, the cab driver drove us past third circle - the direction from which we came. We spent the entire cab ride thinking that we weren't going to make it there, and all of a sudden we arrived at the hill where it is located. The ruins were amazing, and I really enjoyed the museum. I love to nerd-out on outings such as this one. And I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls!

In totally unrelated news, the hot water in our apartment doesn't seem to be working, and my bathtub is not draining. But on the bright side, I got a warmer blanket for my bed and am sleeping much warmer in my totally uncomfortable bed. And I made a vegetable curry for dinner, and Joe made some cookies. Maryellen made a cake, too. We're so domestic.

Fun in il Ballad

Today felt like 10 days wrapped into 1, and is definitely worth writing about.

Early this morning, I received a text message from my 10:30 lesson student, Samer, telling me that he would be unable to attend the lesson today. Although I look forward to working with him each week, it was kind of nice to roll over and go back to sleep for a while. I made it to the conservatory to only be told by my ear training students that only 3 out of 7 would be able to attend the class today. The others are sick with the same flu that knocked me down last week. So instead of having an intensive class, we listened to a Radiolab episode about Wagner's Ring Cycle. It was SO refreshing to talk about music history with people who were actually interested in listening. Artie made a suggestion to me that I should start learning more about music history on my own to keep myself entertained. After today's class, I'm definitely inspired to do this.

After class, Joe and Nadeen and I made plans to go to il Ballad - the downtown. Tikako (with whom I was eating lunch when they arrived in the cafeteria) asked if she could drive us so that someone could wait in her car in the crowded no-space-to-park streets so that she wouldn't get a ticket while she ran into a restaurant to grab some take-away dinner. A ride to downtown? Sounds OK to me! After driving through all of the traffic and feeling REALLY car sick, we made it safely to the restaurant. Joe and I went into the restaurant (Cairo Restaurant) with Tikako, watched her order, and gawked at the delicious food behind the glass. As a reward for waiting with her she gave us some stuff grape leaves. Joe and I eventually ate these for dinner - and they were phenomenal.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGEVE5GL05JFPJXSIbmXD4MH8v27vL30fSpBkq8LnO_4tvDnRZUYftqNb4CpN9TVm4I7KtfkIOIPt4bUO8cVYiIm_KXNF-vmlN9XbrquSYBlZkA4cScCTd3bgS8KEgCsZdRUUFbnXobeIQ/s400/grape_leaves.jpg

After leaving Tikako, we had a fairly typical downtown experience. Nadeen bought a ring and a necklace from an "antique" store - where the items were actually just made to look antique - and were therefore incredibly affordable. We wandered to the oldest nut/seed place in Ballad - established 1944 - where we bought bizzir and the clerk gave us nooga for free as his treat. Nooga is a kind of a gummy treat that tasted something like Arabic ice cream covered in pistachios. It was quite tasty. I looked for a picture of this, but I can't seem to find one. I'll buy another and take a picture myself. I had a really amazing time today - good company is something that absolutely can't be replaced. I learned many new Arabic words today, too. Always a plus :)

After wandering back to the conservatory, Joe and I made the trek up the hill towards the apartment. The pollution hung like fog over the city this evening and was thick enough that you could almost cut it with a knife. Breathing was interesting. On the way home, we saw this man who was selling fresh almonds from Damascus on the street. He gave us a few to eat. I literally had no cash on me, or I would have gladly traded him a dinar for these delicious nuts. Next time.

After eating our stuffed grape leaves and practicing for a short while, I went to the movies with Nadeen, Humam, and Humam's friend. We saw "The Ugly Truth," a movie that most definitely did not increase my intelligence, but it was so nice to just sit and not think for a few hours. To become engrossed in someone else's drama. Just like going to the movies in America, we stopped at a store before buying our tickets to pick up snacks - far cheaper than buying them inside the theater. Nadeen and I picked some doritos and non-alcoholic beer, while Humam and his friend had a soda and a water respectively. After the movie ended, we all went out for Shawarma in Swaifia. Nadeen and I sat in the car and listened to music while the men ordered and brought the food back to the car. As this Shawarma place has no place to sit down, we had to drive a few blocks away and park. We then proceeded to eat our spoils on the trunk of the car. Apparently this is a very Jordanian thing to do, and we talked about how there may be snow sometime this winter (it's already becoming very cold). I talked about how much snow can sometimes fall at home - and about the great Ithaca snow of Valentines Day 2007. I remember looking up at the sky and seeing stars. And feeling so comfortable. And wishing that I would know that I would have a moment like this whenever I'm feeling upset, because I'm really in good company here.

After coming home, Maryellen and I talked for a while about our respective days. We also started listening to Christmas music. It's weird; there are already trees in the windows of many of the shops at the mall and it's not yet American Thanksgiving. Listening to Christmas music is really making me miss the smell of my house at Christmas time - the wood and ashes from the fireplace and cookies in the oven. And feeling the warmth of the fire while listening to NPR's broadcast of performances of the St. Olaf choir. And going to Mass at home. And I started thinking about watching Meet me in St. Louis by myself and suddenly became very homesick. Sometimes I feel I shouldn't be allowed to think too much this late at night.

Tomorrow morning we are going to the Citadel for real - and will perhaps play a game of European football in the afternoon.

Southern-style dinners

Last night, Jonathan came to our apartment and prepared a delicious meal of tofu (yes, we found some!) fajitas, fresh salsa, and meatballs. A strange combination, yes, but we were looking for "gross" food for a small Halloween gathering. The fajitas were delicious and spicy. And the company was enjoyable as always.

I stayed up way too late talking to E.j. last night, and I've come to the conclusion that the two of us shouldn't go a few weeks without getting to talk for a while - the result always seems to be a 2+ hour phone call that lasts until well past 3 in the morning my time. I'm kind of jealous of the snow that's been falling in Boulder, but the weather is finally starting to cool off here. Right now it's 70 degrees and sunny with a forecast for Tuesday of 56 and raining! After living in Ithaca, I never thought I'd even be interested in rain or cold weather... but now I am beside-myself excited to see it.

I realized this morning that it has been a really long time since I've written any program notes... and I'm actually missing it. I should get on that.

I teach Ear Training 1 and Form today, plus one beginner flute student. Then orchestra. I'm not entirely sure what the program will be... it's a sight-reading Sunday!

It's been a very rainy day here. The perfect rainy day, actually. As I've been sick with a fever since Wednesday, the weather gave me a wonderful excuse to lay in bed and watch movies all day.

And in honor of Halloween tomorrow, we enjoyed a viewing of Hocus Pocus this evening. It was wonderful as always, and made me miss Trey.

Happy Halloween!

Jordanian-style.

It's been raining on and off since 11 PM tonight :)

Last night we had our second concert of the season. We played Overture to Euranthe by Carl Maria von Weber, Mozart Concerto No. 27 in B-flat with a soloist from America - Bobby Mitchell - and Mendelssohn's 3rd "Scottish" Symphony. I was very pleased with the performance of the ensemble and the positive energy the guest conductor brought to the podium.

Today seemed like 3 days wrapped into 1. I woke up with a fever and went to school in a relatively foul mood. I taught a flute lesson to Samer, ear training 3, and a flute lesson to Rana. By the end of my lesson with Rana, I was feeling much better, and she, Haifa, and Mohanned told me they will take me for Shawarma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma

On the way there, we realized the ramp to Abdoun was closed and there was water all over the streets - a bizarre occurrence here. It was around this time that Mohanned realized that he left his phone at the conservatory, and so just Haifa, Rana, and I went to the Shawarma while he went back to retrieve his phone. The food was delicious but heavy - and felt especially so because I am a little sick. S'okay. No problem.

After coming home, Aggie and I cleaned up our apartment for the Halloween party that we threw in our apartment tonight. Upstairs was "party" atmosphere - food, drinks, music, dancing - while the downstairs apartment enjoyed a viewing of the Silence of the Lambs. Around 6:00, Jonathan and Tomacz came over and helped us prepare pudding for the party, and then we left to attend Bobby's piano recital. What a program! Beethoven Waldstein and other works by List and Debussy. Beautiful. It was so inspiring to hear really fantastic music performed at a high level.

Afterward, we all made our way back to our apartment where we had the ultimate Halloween party - like I said, complete with dirt pudding and a viewing of Silence of the Lambs. After many hours of just laughing and talking, an Iraqi song came onto Maryellen's iTunes playlist. Zaina pointed this fact out, and all of our Arabic friends who were here began dancing or drumming. I asked if I brought my dumbek if Mohanned would play for us. And so he did - and we had a freeze-dancing party. It was wonderful. He then played some traditional songs and many people sang. We were all belly dancing, too. And according to Rana, Dana, and Zaina, I'm not half bad at it. Perhaps I will buy an outfit when I travel to Cairo at the end of the month...

Our neighbors complained of the noise, and somewhere around 1:00 AM, people began to leave from our apartment. Jon and I stayed up until around 3 just talking, and it was so nice to spend time with him again. I love our new place, but I do really miss living with Jonathan. He's crazy and wonderful.

Bookra el "Football Jama3" - and I'm sure it will be a good time as always.

My apologies for the disjunct nature of this post - it's almost 4 AM.

May you have love, kindness, and compassion for all living things

I'm drinking a cup of Yogi tea, and the above is its wise saying for my evening.

Today began as my Sundays typically do here - wake up later than I intend to, go to school, teach classes, come home and make dinner. Today was the first day that I actually had to yell at my ear-training class for being late and then being impossible during class. One of my students said, "but miss, I was only 4 minutes late and you said I was 10 minutes late. Why?" And I said, "Are you asking because you're embarrassed that I called you out in front of everyone? Be on time and you won't have to worry about it." I hate being that teacher. Form was amazing as always. As was my 11-year-old rock-star flute student.

Two months of eating every-which-way is finally catching up with me. I don't think I'm going to go back to strict veganism (I might actually starve to death trying to do that here), but I need to make some changes in the direction of normality. I forget that when I start eating every-which-way I forget to eat for many hours at a time, and then feel anxious and tense. Simple changes will be helpful. Like no more Nutella for breakfast. ;)

Tomorrow, our guest conductor from Holland will run two rehearsals with the orchestra - 10:00 - 1:00, and again from 6:35 - 10:05. I think it's going to be a long day, but I'm excited to meet him.

Jukebox Taxi

Taxi rides are a part of my daily life here in Amman. I mostly enjoy them. And I mostly get made fun of for my "shway shway Arabi"- or if my driver happens to speak English particularly well, am asked if I'm married (YES! ABSOLUTELY!) and how old my children are (when they ask, I have two - Sarah and Marcus). But tonight when Joe, Maryellen, and I piled into a taxi, the driver was singing to himself. It even took me a while to realize that he wasn't actually listening to the radio he was singing so loudly. And every time Joe would give him a direction, he would pause for a second, repeat the direction in a questioning tone, and not even wait for confirmation before continuing to sing. He had a nice voice, too!

This morning I had my first group lesson with the "SOS" students. These students are orphaned children anywhere from ages 6 to 14 who are interested in music and want to learn a wind instrument. I have four students. Only two of them had instruments to use today - and only one of them speaks English. This (in complete sincerity) made for a really amazing hour. One of my girls is an advanced beginner, and her English is really quite good. She helped me show the other students the names of the notes and their fingerings, how to hold the instrument, etc. And I had to laugh, because under pressure, even the Arabic that I am completely comfortable with goes out the window. After asking each of them "Shoo is mik?" I said "Ana min Aimee" instead of "Ana Aimee" - "I'm from Aimee", not "I'm Aimee" And especially since Rand's English is so terrific, I really felt like a moron. She didn't really seem to mind, though.

In other flute related news, Maryellen and I had a private sectional tonight - and it was so wonderful to just play duets! I feel like we got more accomplished tonight - and are now more motivated to practice - than we've achieved in any of our large-group sectionals so far. I'm just wishing that I purchased more flute duets in college! (And am missing Cora something awful).

I am very Ithaca-sick these past few days. If you're there, please deeply breathe the Autumn air for me. And look at the leaves. :)

Fractions are fun

The mosquitos are winning this war. It's been unseasonably hot here in the past week - highs around 95 and lows somewhere in the mid-to-low 70's. This would be fine with me if it did not cause a significant spike in the mosquito population. I've always been one to wake up and have many mosquito bites, but this is border-line ridiculous. This morning, Maryellen helped me count, and there are 28 bites (that we could find), and 2/3 of those bites are on my feet.

Two nights ago the Amman Sinfonietta played a concert at the Roman Amphitheater downtown. I went there only by mistake one day with a taxi driver who misunderstood my directions to the conservatory, so this was the first time I'd gotten a chance to walk around and really see the ruins. It was fascinating. The most fun I had, though, was getting to watch Salarios walk around and examine every inch of the theater. The concert was for a group of Italian diplomats who were having some sort of business dinner at the amphitheater - and like at the Dead Sea concert - didn't really seem to care that we were providing them with cheesy music (we played arrangements of marches and My Way...). It might sound like I'm complaining. I'm not - It's 9/10 amusement and 1/10 complete shock that I'm actually here. I'm really blessed that I'm able to take all of these exciting side-trips I am able to take because of my job.

Today I'm teaching my form class which really makes me smile. I think these girls believe that I only listen to Bach, because that's all we've looked at so far. We're working on fugue analysis now. :)

Mumtaz! It's Nadeen's birthday :)

This evening after a walk to the local flower shop with Tomacz and Maryellen, an entourage in three separate cars drove out to Humam's farm, which is (with my very limited understanding of the layout of the city of Amman), somewhere in the direction of the airport. And Aqaba if you decide to drive another 400 km or so. It's Thursday night, so traffic was totally insane, and for the first time since being here, I was almost car-sick. When we arrived at Humam's farm, it was already dark and many people were already gathered preparing for a party. As per usual, hummus and pita adorned the table along with cognac and wine brought especially for this birthday celebration. After eating and drinking a while, Humam played many traditional songs on buzuq and his sister played nay and danced. And had many of us dance with her. How wonderful and ridiculous! We also all tried to play the nay - equally ridiculous and so difficult! I was unable to make a sound - but Yoo-Jin was a rock-star!

Dinner consisted of roasted chicken (rubbed with vinegar and stuffed with rice, cashews, and spices), kusa (stuffed squash), stuffed grape leaves, a variation on fatoush, and another type of rice. Oh my goodness - how delicious! The farm is far enough outside of center-city Amman that you could see more stars than usual. The birthday cake was divine. And we sang happy birthday to Nadeen in at least 3 languages.

The hospitality and sense of family I felt this evening was totally overwhelming and wonderful. It made me nostalgic in a way that I've not yet experienced: thinking about coming home next year and realizing how much I'm going to miss many of the people I've met and grown fond of here in Amman. And the beautiful city. And this warm, welcoming culture.

Trio's lemon-mint smoothies have been overthrown

There's a place on Third Circle called "Fruit Salad" that has absolutely the most fantastic lemon-mint smoothies I think I'll ever taste. I think it's fantastic that I'm counting this as the biggest success of my day. I followed it up with falafel. And I FINALLY purchased some notebooks so that I can keep track of my lessons. And a notebook for Arabic phrases. And tonight, ASO started rehearsing Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony.

I'm procrastinating planning classes by listening to flute music? I've never done this in my life. I think it's funny how my priorities are changing.

A jumble of catching up

I've been terrible about writing in this blog recently, but it's been really wonderful to be so busy. I started teaching college-level classes two weeks ago, and we've just entered our third week of school. I have three classes: Ear training 1 and 3, and Form and Analysis. Side note: I love Form. I would seriously consider teaching theory if my piano skills were better and I was promised that I could teach only Form classes ca. 1650 to present. We've been hanging out in Bach invention land, and we're finally moving on to actual Fugues on Wednesday. Once Joe arrives here on Friday and I have my official Ithaca College Form and Analysis binder, I'll be much happier about preparing for class.

My flute students are still wonderful and actually showing a good bit of improvement. It's refreshing. It makes me feel as though I'm actually making a difference here. Even if it is "only music".

Our first concerts went well. After the Symphony concert, a party of 18 went out to eat at this restaurant called "Trio" that has the best shi-sha and lemon-mint smoothies I've had yet. Side note: smoking shi-sha is terrible for flute-playing lungs and after not being able to make simple phrases in rehearsal on Saturday morning, I've officially quit smoking save incredibly special occasions.

Since my last post I've ventured to both Mt. Nebo and the Dead Sea, and they are just as beautiful as I imagined they would be. We played a concert at the Dead Sea, and I watched the sun set over Palestine. It was incredibly really powerful. When we arrived, the orchestra had a sound check. And then we waited. For hours. This wouldn't have been bad if the dinner party for which we were providing music found it fit to feed its musicians, but instead, we all sat around enjoying pleasant conversation and occasionally (okay, pretty consistently) complaining about the lack of food in our stomachs. No problem. I learned a good bit of Arabic that night from twin 14-year-old girls named Dana and Lana. And from Heifa. I also met a man that evening who is so funny that I couldn't help but crack up at his jokes - that were told entirely in Arabic. Wonderful people.

I've moved into a new apartment in a house near Allyss, Artie, Tim, and Christina. The location is really amazing, and the apartment is beautiful. Three big bedrooms, three porches, a giant living room (that happens to be very conducive to dance parties), a nice kitchen, a working washer for laundry, a dining room, and excellent company. Maryellen and I moved last Monday, and Aggie moved in on Saturday. We had a house-warming gathering on Saturday that was overall a success. Maryellen made chicken (that I was told was very delicious), and I made some lentil soup. Other food brought to our party included really delicious home-made hummus, green bean salad, fatoush, fried rice (Taiwanese-style) and a plethora of alcohol and sweets. Nadeen made this chocolate mousse pie that was so delicious - and I am thrilled to know how to make it! We danced and played charades. And I can't really explain to you how funny it is to see a room full of adults - some of whom have never even heard of charades - get up and try to act out movie titles. And try to dance to American pop music from the 1990's. And then your conductor is one of those people. It made me happy.

This morning Andrew taught me some new Arabic phrases and encouraged me to buy a notebook so that I can keep this new language glued to my hand. "It's the best way to remember new phrases!" he keeps telling me. I agree. I'm excited to start learning how to write, too. I think the script is so artistic. And since Arabic is phonetic, it will definitely help with pronunciation.

I had a hilarious cab-ride back from lunch at Abdoun Circle today with Artie, where the driver put on dance tunes with a pumping bass. Including Jock Jams. And then I started singing and dancing in the back of the cab, and that just made all three of us laugh. I can really appreciate when an event (even as silly as this) is understood so cross-culturally and in spite of a language barrier. And actually because of a language barrier. It happens to me so many times in a day, and it's a wonderful reminder to me that we are all the same despite our heritage, language, or location.

I think that's all for now. I will be better about keeping regular updates here - there are too many events for me to possibly remember without writing them down.

Eid ul-Fitr - I'm on vacation :)

I awoke yesterday morning (afternoon?) to an overcast sky. In Jordan? Beautiful day. After a lazy wake-up and a berry-peach-nectarine-banana smoothie (oh, the local produce!), I called Mary Ellen, and we walked downtown. To our disappointment and accurate prediction, most of the shops were closed due to the Eid ul-Fitr (the holiday of breaking fast after the holy month of Ramadan). Hameuda DVD was open, though, and we made a killing of an assortment of DVDs including a Rosetta Stone disc, a season of the Gilmore Girls and Amelie. We then walked to the produce market where the restless shop-keepers were almost bursting with excitement to see customers. And two western women at that. They kept offering us pomegranates and pistachios to taste until Mary Ellen purchased a pomegranate and some oranges and I picked some beans, onions, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a pomegranate, all for 4 JD. I know that I've mentioned that I had the best pomegranate of my life about a week ago, but that was epically shattered by the pomegranate I bought yesterday. Pretty soon, I'm fairly certain my taste buds are going to reject any American produce upon my return home. As we were leaving the market, one of the men asked us to take a picture. We awkwardly agreed, until we figured out that they were hoping that we would provide the camera for this picture. Sorry, boys.

When we arrived back home, it started to rain. The sky actually opened for a five-minute window and had a miniature catharsis. And we stood outside in it with our arms outstretched and our faces turned upward tasting the raindrops. Smelling the salty, sweet perfume. I think if anyone could have seen us they would have thought we were crazy. Later that night after Mass, one of the women was commenting on how she doesn't understand why the winter is coming so early. If this is winter, I'll take it!

I've been tired enough recently that I've started to sleep completely through the night. Even through the Mosque prayers that echo through the hills at 4:30 in the morning. Prayers happen 5 times a day and are impossible to miss regardless of your location in Amman. I find them really calming and a fantastic way of marking time throughout the day. I wish there were a way of capturing it, but I don't think any kind of recorded sound could effectively showcase this sound spread.

My Arabic is still terrible but showing improvement. Insha'Allah.

Good morning, Amman!

Lisa frequents an 8 AM daily Mass here and I tagged along this morning. Our walk there was so peaceful. I have never seen the streets of Amman so empty. For 7:45 in the morning, it makes complete cultural sense, especially considering that is Friday, the holy day of 90% of the population here. The vast majority were still asleep, in fact, at 9:30 when we were walking back from the Church. All except for the sanitation workers who were sweeping the streets and watering honeysuckle, and the guards who were standing with their machine guns attempting to appear as serious as possible. I think I might appear this way, too, if I was forced to hold a gun all day.

Mass was really lovely - quiet in the morning stillness and entirely in Arabic - and so peaceful. What a different vibe from this past Sunday. There were only nine people in the entire Church: Father Ya'koub, four Sisters, Lisa, myself, and two other women. Afterward, one of the Sisters approached Lisa and I and asked why we were in Amman. We told her we are teaching music, and she invited us to the Convent at some time in the future. It was at this time that Father Ya'koub motioned to us from behind the alter that we should come forward. He welcomed us, and surprisingly to me, remembered my name. He told me, "how could one forget such a face - you have the moon of Heaven in your face." I don't know that I've ever felt so flattered. He invited us to a delicious breakfast of toasted pita, labna (a soft cheese of cream cheese consistency), hard, salty cheese, honey, olive oil, sweet sesame paste, olives, tea, and coffee. He could tell that I was unsure of what to make of the cheeses, and he poured some olive oil into my dish, explaining that it is sheer sin to waste this olive oil. Once I tried, I understood completely; it was absolutely the best olive oil I have ever tasted. He then took both cheeses and poured them into the oil. He instructed me to watch Lisa, who was smashing the oil and cheese together with her fork. I was then instructed to spread this delicious mixture on the toasted pita topped with the honey. I felt like I finally found a taste for the soul of Arabia - the true essence of Middle-Eastern culture - in that first bite. What a wonderful meal. What a wonderful morning. What beautiful community. What hospitality and humbleness were delivered to me this morning.

I am fighting the temptation to go back to sleep, and am planning to be in bed early tonight. We'll see what actually happens.

I am missing the smell of the woods and autumn in the Northeast, but wouldn't trade my current experiences for anything.

Here, evening hangs heavy.

Air of women's

perfume, exhaust from cars,

Mosque prayers,

gasoline, coffee,

incense.

Spices, cigarettes.

Honeysuckle.

Getting Around Town

I keep thinking that my days could not possibly get any better, and then another day happens. I am amazed and blessed.

I taught a lesson today at 11 to a woman who is in her forties and has only been playing for a year and a half. Her intuition is fantastic. It was in fact one of the most pleasurable lessons I think I've ever taught. Afterward, we had our first quintet -quartet? where is our bassoonist? - rehearsal. I feel that this chamber music opportunity is going to be a really beautiful experience. It will be even better when all of the parts are present!

After quintet, I ate a light lunch and walked around the conservatory and the concert hall taking some pictures to post here. I was sitting with Allyss and waiting for Jonathan to get out of a meeting when a fifty-something, confident, smiling, Japanese woman entered the room. She said hello to Allyss and then announced that she was looking for me. We had a lesson, and no one told me! Not a problem. This lesson was also incredibly enjoyable. The entire time, this woman, the wife of a diplomat, referred to herself only in the first person and was INCREDIBLY enthusiastic. She doesn't know all of her scales yet, but was able to play the first movement of the Bach Partita down - flawlessly. Jordan is full of surprises.

I went home by myself today, and the sun was shining in all of its 5 o'clock wonder. The sky is so blue. A cab pulled up, and gave my directions entirely in Arabic. I was very happy about this (though I know it's not difficult, it still made me smile), but to my surprise, the driver spoke perfect English. His cab smelled like old cigars and sweat. He told me my Arabic was quite decent (fooled him! or he was just trying to lay on the charm...), and then asked why I was in Jordan. I responded on business, and he welcomed me. He then asked my nationality, and I told him that I am American. He began to tell me what a horrible man George Bush is, and I agreed that George Bush has made some terrible decisions, but then he ceased speaking to me until I said, "Han Henna" (Stop here). I said "Shookran" (thank you) for the ride, and he grumbled something that sounded like "you're welcome". It's the first experience I've had here like this - I'm intrigued to document them as time goes on. I don't think I'll stop telling people that I'm from America to avoid an awkward encounter. Somehow, and who knows how, I'd like to learn to show people that just because I come from a certain physical place or have a certain background does mean that is who I am. It does not represent ME. And I wonder about how many times I've absent-mindedly written people off the very way this cab driver wrote me off this afternoon. You really never know who will teach you a valuable lesson.

After I got home and devoured pita, hummus, and green beans, Mary Ellen and I met up with Agnes and Jon at Books at Cafe. We stayed for a few hours where I ate a piece of carrot cake (!!!), had the most delicious cup of coffee I've had since arriving, and enjoyed an apple-mint argehla. Oh, my head. It's good, though. On our walk home, I finally bought a cell phone! Jonathan can now stop his services as my personal secretary, for which I'm sure he's grateful.

Every foreigner I've met here has a spark about them. We're building our own little community and really growing through each other. Each personality is different, yet somehow perfectly balanced. Like a hand-woven tapestry. It's strange - I've only been here a week, but I'm already starting to feel very settled and comfortable in my surroundings. Almost as if I've been here before. I am so blessed. Nothing by chance. Truly.

Pictures (slightly out of order) for those of you who wanted to see them:



View of Amman from outside the Conservatory

View "up" from inside the Conservatory. Winding!



View from Amman from the Conservatory #2


My "studio space"

View of the Concert Hall from my practice room

Arabic is Interesting

Arabic ice cream: delicious. My attempt to get back into eating dairy is going really well, I must admit. I had some pizza on Friday, goat cheese on Saturday, and some ice cream tonight. Relatively little headaches considering the amount of time that has passed since I've consumed dairy on any kind of regular basis. The ice cream that I ate tonight came from a place called "Licky Licky", and was an interesting concoction... something along these lines, I do believe:

4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch or sahlab
1/8 teaspoon ground mistika
1 teaspoon rose water

Mine had pistachios in it. A really large scoop for JD 0.70.

The hummos I had today is the best I've ever tasted. Ever. And the pita! Today I bought about 10 pitas for JD0.25. In the past few days I've taken to shopping at little side-of-the-road stands for produce. It's so fresh that I'm finding I'm buying more than I can eat before it spoils. I really can't believe how cheap and amazingly tasty the fruit is. :)

Tonight, Lisa, a music therapist who lives upstairs, and I went to Mass together about a 5-minute walk from our apartment. The Church is quaint and charming. Just small enough for a congregation to feel really snuggled into a Sunday evening Mass. Not too ornate. Two large pictures of Mother Mary. Really beautiful. The priest, Father Jacob, met us outside and talked with us briefly. After we walked into the Church and were about to sit down, Lisa told me the Mass would be entirely in Arabic. Though I knew what was happening because the Mass almost always follows the same format, I didn't understand anything verbally. I felt like a small child. As in, I knew where I was supposed to be and what I should be doing, but not how to respond. Even so, it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had in Church. It brought me to tears.

Tomorrow I am teaching a lesson and then having a quintet rehearsal (minus the bassoonist, who has yet to arrive in Amman). I'm excited!

Around town

Yesterday afternoon, I traveled downtown for the first time with Jonathan and Mary Ellen. The trip began right outside of my apartment with a long descent down the Al-Rainbow Street stairs. The hills here in Amman remind me a lot of Ithaca's; I'm hoping this will keep me from becoming too homesick! Once we reached the bottom, I felt like I had entered another world entirely. The shops each specialize in one item or set of items. For instance, Mary Ellen needed some sheets, so we entered a store no bigger than my kitchen at home that only sells bedding. The shop keeper makes everything there himself. Mary Ellen picked out some sheets and a comforter and agreed to come and pick them up later. When we returned, he threw in two hand-sewn pillows that he had literally just finished for free. The entire trip cost her around JD35, or $48.

Something I find really interesting is that piracy is not illegal here, and so there are DVD shops where you can find literally any movie you'd be interested in watching for only JD1.

Traffic is interesting... there are cars everywhere! Before coming here, Christina was telling me about how she was going to have to drive to her job and how that was nerve-wracking. I now understand why that would even be a concern. Drivers are crazy here. I can actually hear my dad yelling at other cars when I'm riding in a taxi. Though there are lanes on most streets, no one really obeys them. Sometimes on two-lane roads people will either drive directly down the middle or drive three to a lane. Crossing the street is interesting, too. One has to trust that drivers will see you and stop for you. Insha'Allah.

This morning I was both excited and nervous to go to my first rehearsal, only to find out when I got to the Conservatory that it was cancelled yesterday afternoon. Welcome to Jordan!

Tomorrow, Chih-Hao, Yoo Jin, Jonathan, and I are headed up to the Citadel and to the Roman theater. I'm really excited.

I'm still trying to get on some kind of regular sleep schedule. I'm forcing myself to stay awake until at least 10 PM tonight.

Welcome to Jordan

I arrived here in Amman on Sunday evening just a little after 4 PM after a really wonderful flight. I sat next to this retired man named Gabe who was originally from Syria and had been living in Connecticut for the past 35 years or so, and we talked for almost two hours about my journey to the Middle East. He explained some hot topics concerning culture, customs, hospitality, food (and tips on how to best wash lettuce), and attempted to teach me some Arabic. He was traveling with his eighty-something-year-old mother who was going back to Syria to spend some time with his sister. Gabe was continuing on to Germany by car with one of his brothers a few days after arriving in Syria. His mother offered me (in Arabic and translated through Gabe) a place to stay if I ever found myself in Syria somewhere around three hours north of Damascus. Good to know.

In my experience so far, everyone I've met is just as hospitable.

After landing, I made a fairly smooth transition through customs and collected my baggage. The Conservatory sent someone to pick me up, and he brought me to my apartment on First Circle. My roommate, Jonathan, helped me move my baggage into the apartment and get relatively settled. Our apartment has three bedrooms and is HUGE - far more space than we really know what to do with!

We made a trip out to a place called Carefour that night - a Jordanian Walmart-type store. And by that I mean, they have everything you could ever want to purchase at an unreasonably low price (but hopefully without my concerns for the workers)... We bought much produce, lentils, beans, bread, juice, and a blender. Beautiful.

I honestly don't remember going to sleep that evening. The next day, after a trip to the Conservatory and practicing, I forced myself to stay awake to fight the jet lag. Allyss, Artie, Tim, Christina, Yoo Jin, Chih-Hao, Jonathan, Mary Ellen (one of the music therapists here), and I all went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was delicious. I was kind of amused (and still am) that my first "real" meal here was not Arabic-influenced at all. Since it's Ramadan, it seems like you have to go out of your way to find local cuisine, especially since they aren't open until after 8:30 or 9:00 pm. I'm still looking forward to this.

Our stove wasn't working our first few days here, but it is now, and we made a feast of lentils, rice, and a hodge-podge of delicious fresh vegetables and tomatoes. So delicious. The produce here is so organic and the fruit is seriously the best I've ever tasted. Fresh pears, plums, peaches... and local bananas! Needless to say, my smoothies have been pretty fantastic.

I made my first visit to the downtown today - I will write more on this later after my first rehearsal!

Seriously, life could not be much better right now.