taking the long way home. almost to the finish line.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Well hello there faithful readers! I’m finally back. I’ve had a bit of a busy couple of months and even with that I have had almost no desire to write about the day to day details. But here I am. Let’s hope I can come up with something good, eh?
Operation smile came back to Jordan. It is the project where doctors give free operations for cleft palates and hare lips. This year there were about 75 jordanian kids involved and about 45 kids and families from Iraq. Our job was to help coordinate and entertain the Iraqi families. This time, however, the only political conversations I had were with other peace corps volunteers. The weather was great, the playing was awesome and pictures were snapped every which way. I, as always, failed to get my camera out and take any. But there are about a hundred pictures of me floating around Iraq now.
At the end of operation smile there was a party, as there is every year. We got invited to the after party, but when we showed up we couldn’t get in. seriously. As if this stupid little club was studio 54 or something! I suppose our rag tag little group of volunteers didn’t look quite cool enough in our village clothes. But seriously, I haven’t been rejected like that since I was 20! Ive gotten into better clubs in my pj’s… so there we stood in a well off section of Jordan. No busses or taxis to be found anywhere. So we decided to go to the same stupid bar we go to everytime. At least they would let us in, and there would be something to dance to. I think the high point of that night must have been the 20 minute walk of shame from the cool club.
The week after operation smile my mom and sister came to visit! We spent most of it in my village. Exhausting. Everyone in my village was clamoring for a visit, and I did the best I could to get it all in. that meant all day everyday involved some sort of food or drink and more than a little translation work on my part. We got fed all sorts of good Jordanian food and drank liters of tea. Our visit to petra seemed a bit like a circus event. My mom and sister both have blond hair and because of that we stood out. And then when I spoke Arabic we were immediately ushered into every Bedouin gift stall to drink tea and chat with them. I got at least three invitations to eat at their homes. Maybe I should run back to petra sometime this month.
Our trip to petra included a mule ride a donkey ride a camel ride a horse buggy ride and a horse ride. I don’t like riding large animals. The camel was the worst. When you get on a camel they have to stand up. And they are very tall animals. First, they stand on their back legs which pitches you forward and leaves you wondering if you can maybe catch the camel by the neck to break your fall when you come crashing forward out of the saddle. Then the camel kind of struggles up onto all fours. It is about the most awkward riding experience you could have. My camel was pissed the whole time as well. kept grunting and growling. My saddle started to slide off the back of the camel, meaning that I had to go through the mounting and dismounting of the angry camel twice. Good times. And our camel driver? He was about five. My mom’s camel got tied to the little five year old’s donkey and off we went. He did a good job, I guess.
After the village came the dead sea. We stayed at the Marriott, which is about the nicest hotel I have been in for years. We bobbed up and down in the dead sea and I think all three of us got it in our eyes. Imagine adding about 2 cups of water to about a pound of salt and then pouring it in your eyes. I think it feels about like getting dead sea water in your eyes.
We are smack dab in the middle of Ramadan. Actually, it is almost over by now. We had a pre Ramadan weigh-in at work… standard. My first night of Ramadan I broke fast with my neighbors. The night included one of the married couples calling each other “baby” a whole lot and doing things like offering to feed each other in an attempt to fully horrify the seven year old boy that was with us. He was disgusted and everyone else thought it was hilarious. I thought it was an odd type of joke to find here. and the children spent the rest of the night laughing about how someone had farted at the mosque during prayer. The adults seemed less entertained about that one. I think it may be the first fart joke I have heard here.
Oh, here’s a fun day I had. I woke up and put on a nice new white skirt that my mom left with me and went to work. Initially everyone thought that it was just the prettiest thing they ever saw. Then they told me to go stand in the light so they could see it better. Their exact words? “Andi, you may as well be standing there in your underwear. We can see your legs through that!” I, of course was embarrassed and said I was going to run home and change. But not so fast. No no. there was a package for me to open, and my clothes could apparently wait. There is a guy who thinks that if he sends me enough packages at work I will eventually consent to marry him. Last time it came straight to me, but this time I was lucky enough to have three giggling ladies watch me open the mystery package. It had a love letter (in English, luckily – I don’t even think I want to write what he said. Let’s just say he wanted to reassure me that he was chaste and I had nothing to worry about) and lots of jewelry. It also had 2 cds which they insisted I put in the computer straight away. I wanted to melt into my shoes. My ladies were all giggling and calling their friends and telling them about my new boyfriend and how I may marry a Jordanian. I don’t think I can accurately describe the horror I was feeling. And I put in the cds and found more love letters and music. Love songs of course. Complete with the wedding march. I guess he did his research about Americans. So yes. I died a thousand times of embarrassment.
Alright. well. I guess that is all the news from here. im not feeling particulary inspired. I’m off to do laundry, go to work, not eat and thank my lucky stars that no one here thinks I am a catholic…