i saw an interesting music video yesterday. when people here arent out visiting or picnicing, they seem to be watching music videos. most of them are really low budget and have virtually no plot. the ones with a plot tend to be love stories. this was a different sort of love story. first i should mention that the singer is from iraq, which i figured out about halfway through it. it was a man and a woman in love. then came bombs and soldiers to keepthem apart. there were a good deal of images of american soldiers and tanks and the two lovers watching talking heads on the news because they couldnt go out and get to each other due to the war. in the end qa stray american bullet came through her window and killed her. i think that things like that make my host family uncomfortable when i am around. they dont really know if i am offended because they havent asked, and they dont understand that i really want exposure to that kind of stuff. i have tried my best to let them know that i dont like bush or the war, but the official conversation has yet to happen. anyway, this is the media we would never in a million years get in the states. just thought i would share that with you all.
there hasnt been a large reaction, or any that i can tell, to either the london bombings or the happenings in egypt. what does that look like stateside? i cant wait till i can really understand what al jazeera is saying, because that is the only news i get outside of the trips to the internet cafes, in which i get pretty limited time to surf. hmm... well on to the mundane...
the mosquitos here are out of control. i have bites everywhere. mostly on my feet and hands (even on the palms and the bottoms of my feet). you would also think that since i am covered head to toe, those would be the only places i would have them. no. those buggers bite through clothes too.
so far as village life, we have been doing practice sessions at a girl's center similar to where we will be working at our permanent sites. last week it was internet. we were trying to teach a bunch of young girls how to use email. they were about 12 years old, average, and had very little english or computer skills. we were told to use yahoo, an english based mail site. have you ever faced the prospect of explaining what a password is with body language? it was chaotic to say the least. this week was cooking. tuesday we tried chocolate chip cookies, which turned out reasonably well considering we had no recipe. we wanted to do rice crispies treats on thursday but they recommended we do pizza or tacos. we decided to make quesadillas - homemade tortillas and the like. well, it was semi disasterous. the stove didnt work and we ended up trying to fry them in the oven. not a pretty sight with tons of girls running around. the cheese here doesnt melt either. ah well. in the future stick to the simple things.
permanent site announcements and initial language assessments are next week. wish me luck. also, on thursday is my first real visit to amman! it should be fun. we are attending an al houssein summer camp for kids. i will write about it. the work here is definitely not what i expected, and i dont know exactly where i am going to fit in my health specialty. maybe basic hygiene like brushing teeth and stuff. there is so much sugar here. i am going to come back a caffeine and sugar junkie. i average about seven cups of super sugared tea, at least three turkish coffes, and 2 - 6 arabic coffees a day. and then they wonder how i can stay up with them till one am. till next time.