my first post from jordan. just to update you all. i flew into dc last week to meet my fellow trainees, had a whirlwind training and flew into jordan. at about 1 am, we flew over tel aviv. as we crossed the west bank, we could see the wall that israel is building from the plane. it was surreal. we got into amman (the capital) at about 1:40 in the morning. then we hopped on a bus to drive the hour and forty minutes north to irbid, our training site. we started lessons at 11:30 that same day. since then has been a whirlwind of culture and language training. i have almost picked up reading arabic script, and now i just need the rules and vocabulary. that perhaps sounds more optimistic than i am feeling about it. from looking at our language training manual, we have just ten weeks to learn a year's worth of material. the food is wonderful so far, and only one of the trainees has gotten terribly sick. i am, however, feeling a bit sore and fatigued from the typhoid vaccine i got today. hopefully it will subside before tomorrow. the gender segregation has not really hit me too hard just yet. i am starting to get used to the long skirts and shirts. one trainee said that the culture shock would hit the women here, and the men upon their return to the states. they are allowed to go anywhere, wear short sleeves, smoke, and go to cafes. the women, however are not allowed to do any of this. we will be cooking, cleaning and shopping. i think though, that between this and child rearing, the women may pick up the language much faster. many of the girls seem horrified at the undertaking, but i myself have decided that i will do it well and take whatever cultural experience i can from it. so far my only mistake has been to make friends with the guys, as i usually do. these friendships are a little easier than with most of the girls so far, but i suppose that when i am cut off from speaking to them it will get much easier to bond with my fellow female trainees. i have been shopping in town once, which was an experience all its own. i dislike shopping enough in the states, but this was far more intense than even i could imagine. once we entered the store (some of the girls had not brought appropriate clothing) clothes were furiously whipped around while girls tried them on and our language and culture facilitator (lcf) bargained to get us the best price. i ended up with a pair of slippers and was exhausted after only two hours. i am not yet accustomed to the time change, but i feel that tonight i may finally get a full night's rest. tomorrow is a big day. tomorrow i will meet the family that i will be living with for the next ten weeks and move into a smaller village. i will have to introduce myself using my very limited arabic as well as learn how to navigate public transportation to and from irbid. busses here run differently than in the states. i will be staying there and having language classes during the week and coming back to irbid to get back together with the group once a week. i appologize for the fractured feel of this post. i suppose i will get better at this as i get used to a public journal. hope all at home is well, and please send me mailing addresses. i would love to hear from you all.