My oh my. It has been forever since I last wrote.
Well, I have had my first trip with my center now. It was interesting. It was a two day trip to aqaba. We left early in the morning on a Friday. When we got to aqaba there was some triathlon going on. So there we were downtown and here comes a herd of women in swimsuits on bikes. And all the guys were lined up to watch. But it was surprising in the way that it would be surprising to see a bunch of women running and biking naked in the states. I am just so unused to seeing women wearing so little in public here. Even an uncovered head catches my head when I am in my village. So we ate our falafel sandwiches and the ladies sort of clucked their tongues in disappoval. Because aqaba is a port town, it is all duty free. That means that the big activity there is shopping. So, we let the girls loose in the market and I went shopping with my coworkers. I assume that most of you reading this know that I hate, actually loathe shopping for clothes. And it is even better when you are dragging around a crying baby. It was really great. I think the best way to describe the shopping district of aqaba is to compare it to china town in most big cities in the US. A bunch of stores with the same cheap plastic crap at every one. So we ran a marathon shopping trip all the while avoiding the triathlon crowds. I didn’t buy anything. I just couldn’t work up the energy to be interested in finding any clothes. I would have rather jabbed a sharp stick in my eye at that point. So I took the baby and commiserated with him while everyone else shopped. My coworkers and I went to the public beach for a while and rolled our pants all the way up to our ankles and waded and drank coffee. And then something really crazy happened. There were two men and a woman sitting at the table next to us. And one of the guys looked at my coworker and said, hey let us see your baby. And she did! Just handed him right over to these perfect strangers. And the baby was fine with it. People here aren’t as super protective of their babies as in the states. Babies are always being passed around because there is the expectation that all people know how to handle them. And they do. Even grown men go gaga for babies here. The hostile we were staying in was next door to a field with a track. And I decided that it would be a good idea to run. The girls came out and cheered for every lap I finished. But after I was done everyone talked about how crazy it was, and why is her face so red? And the bus trip back was exciting as well. Anywhere a girls center goes, a drum comes with. So the trip back was full of drumming and singing and dancing. And if I cant dance Arabic style standing still, I certainly cannot do it on a moving bus.
I decided to take a personal trip to aqaba to meet with my friends for a weekend. And it just so happened that my friend in the next village was taking a day trip down with her special ed kids that very weekend. So I decided to help chaperone for the day and just stay in aqaba when they went home. Her center is mostly comprised of normal functioning deaf kids and from what I could tell middle to severe special ed cases. And all of her kids were the sweetest kids I have met in Jordan. I had a great time. We took them swimming in the ocean, in pants of course. And when we were done in the ocean we got back on the bus, which of course wouldn’t start. So what did we do? Me and my friend and all the special ed kids leapt out of the bus to push start it. And the kids really were excited about it. But I would say that pushing the short bus with those kids really will stick with me for a while.
Then it was time for me to get a hotel for us all. I don’t know why, but apparently it has been decided that I am a really great bargainer, and so I got sent to get us the rooms. And we had some really specific qualifications for me to fill. We wanted an ocean facing balcony, bathrooms in the room and we wanted it all for 5 jd a night. Well, I got most of that except the balconies faced the other way. In itself not a great story. But when I returned from aqaba I went to a friends site to paint a giant mural of a world map. Great. So the next day I wake up covered in something that looks like a cross between chicken pox and shingles. Really everywhere. Even my earlobes. So we force ourselves to finish her map (which took 72 hours by our calculations) and then move on to my site to paint an even bigger one. But when I woke up and my eye was swelling closed I decided perhaps it was time to seek some medical advice. And when my counterpart saw me she insisted I go to the doctor and not come back until I was all better. Her telling of the story went something like this: “your face looked like this (as she grimaced and winked one eye shut). And it made me cry. My husband asked me why I was crying and I said “I just saw andi’s face.””
It was a great version of the story. So yes, I decided to go to amman. And a mere four and a half hours later I was there. I got a corticosteroid shot and a strong antihistamine shot and a prescription of antihistamines. So, in discussing my unknown ailment with other volunteers I came to the realization that I was in fact covered in bug bites. To be more specific, bed bug bites from our wonderful hotel in aqaba. Really even now I cringe to write that. Gross. So I got the worst of the bites since I am so tasty, apparently.
And that meant that I got to go to my six month training with all the other volunteers I never see and Jordanians I have never met looking somewhat like I have mild leprosy. although i am not even sure leprosy can be mild... And Jordanians are not sensitive to embarrassment really. I have heard more times than I can count “whats wrong with her?” “what happened to your face?”. And because I cannot muster up the courage to tell them what it really is, I say it is an allergy. To something. But I don’t know what. I suppose it works.
Our training was good. It made me realize just how great my coworkers and site really are. I have a lot of support and freedom that some of the other volunteers just don’t have. And it was good to see so many people. Plus there was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I mean, I normally wouldn’t get excited about that, but in my house I generally eat a lot of bread and laughing cow cheese. It just never seems worth it to cook. And I generally burn something or undercook it. But I think I have been in my village for too long now. I was really anxious to be around so many people at once and was happy to be back in my house by myself.
So, that is the short version of my life during the last month. Hope all is well at home. Miss y’all.