February 7, 2010

The beginning of my 6th month in Jordan, and I finally received my work permit and iqama today.

Wow. That's all.

Out and about in the country

Yesterday, after my 1 PM lesson with Linda, I traveled with Ramez to his hometown of Fuheis, an entirely Christian settlement about a half-hour drive outside of Amman. Traffic was really intense (loud cars, nasty exhaust, too much pollution) on our way there, but once we arrived, I was amazed at how little noise there actually was. The only sounds were coming from neighboring kids playing and dogs barking in the distance. I wish I brought my camera with me because the view was absolutely breath-taking. The sky was cloudy, the air was heavy, and it really felt like a day in October in Ithaca. We ate lunch - oozie and boiled vegetables, fresh-squeezed orange juice, arabic coffee, tea, baklava and chocolate - outside overlooking the country-side. I couldn't get over the amount of nature! I don't think I'm meant to reside permanently in a city. During our meal, a shepherd and a herd of sheep walked down the road. It was picturesque. Ramez told me, "If you enjoy this sort of thing, you're lucky. I swear on all things holy this never happens."

After finishing our lunch, Ramez took me for a tour of Fuheis, that, for being a small town, has a tremendous amount of history and interesting places to see and talk about. From one location it's possible to see the West Bank, and it blows my mind that most of the people who see this view every single day will never have the opportunity to go there. After my tour, we attended an Arabic Mass in one of the two large Catholic Churches in Fuheis.

Kan ieome 7ilu.