FINALLY..an update!

Happy Birthday to meeeeee!

That's right, it's officially my first meaningless birthday- at age 22 I don't get into R-rated movies for the first time (legally), I don't get to smoke for the first time (legally), don't get to drink for the first time (heh legally)..heck I can't even rent a car yet in the U.S.! Oh wait, there is this posh bar in Amman called the Blue Fig that apparently doesn't let you buy alcohol unless you're twenty TWO so maybe I'll have to hit that place up. Like the major dork that I am, I'm essentially throwing a party for myself tonight and inviting anyone in the program who wants to come (or who doesn't totally despise me after my many nervous breakdowns in the middle of class!!). I think I'll finally check out the Yemeni restaurant that everyone and their mom has gone to except me and then maybe find some decadent kunafa soaked in syrup and rose water, mmmmm.

Well before I describe my oh so glorious vacation to Petra and Aqaba this past weekend, let me first start with the BAD news. To say that my grades are horrendous here would be an understatement. In my 2.2 decades of life, I have never been in serious danger of failing a class, but I am thinking I will be lucky just to pass ONE. To anyone who is reading this who is studying abroad in the Middle East or has studied here in the past- you may think you have loads of homework and that you are drowning in the Arabic language, but you have NO IDEA. Picture it: you've taken 3 years of the language at a public university where the Arabic department is just beginning to blossom, and you find yourself in the middle of a class with a native speaker whose FusHa even puts yours to shame, a guy who spent a year in Egypt, another guy who speaks Persian and is a vocabulary MACHINE, aNOTHER guy who has taken 4 years of Arabic (including a whole semester on media) and is on Fulbright next year in Jordan, oh, and a whole myriad of Harvardites. Need I go on???? I have never felt less competent and less achieved in my entire life. I've got to figure out a way to take 4th year Arabic at Duke next year and work my tail off reading/watching Al Jazeera and maybe trudging through some Palestinian novels so I can catch up with this whole new generation of Arabic geniuses. Otherwise I might be living in a box in Saudi Arabia someday in a worn out burqa begging for dates (not of the social variety).

All right so back to more sunny topics! I had a blast this weekend as our group celebrated our halfway point in the Becoming Fluent in Self-Deprecation..ahem...Arabic immersion program (ok so apparently the forecast for this post is overcast after all). We left right after two days straight of major tests for Petra, where we stayed in a ritzy hotel with a pool and a breathtaking view of the city of stone and cave. I must admit that it was glorious to actually act like clueless tourists for a weekend- we are all guilty of speaking English to the Arab hotel employees, and I don't think any of us care!!! Also I was able to don some non-grandma garb for a few days which was amazingly liberating. The night we arrived we went swimming and then had an expensive buffet-style dinner at the hotel: even though the food wasn't that great I enjoyed eating fruits and vegetables for the first time in weeks.

On Friday morning we left the hotel at 6:30AM to start our hike that would leave me feeling sore until, well, today actually. For any of you who haven't been paying attention to international news, Petra was just declared one of the new Seven Wonders of the World so it was all the more exciting to get my brand new New Balances all dusty and worn-in on those rugged desert paths. First we walked through the siq which was really pleasant and cool under the shade of the rocks during the early morning hours and then reached the Treasury which is one of the main sites at Petra (I'll post pictures later). If we thought we were tired then we had no idea what was in store for us- a 5 hour hike up to the Monastery and a peak with a view expanding over 50 miles. Although my clothes were completely soaking wet, my calves aching, and my lungs shriveled and dry from the physical toll the hike had taken on me (especially after smoking some really harsh shisha the night before), I would definitely recommend the long treck up to the Monastery to anyone who can handle it. We also met lots of Bedouin on the way up who were either offering "air conditioned taxis" aka donkey rides to the Monastery or selling various items of jewelry and souvenirs in make shift shops along the mountainside and even got to play with some of the children. For the first time my dark little cynical heart was softened when little girls no more than 6 years old approached me, offering me "presents" (for 1 dinar) of painted rocks. When you see children that young trying to do business you really can't make excuses to yourself about why not to give money- clearly they're not going to go out and buy a bottle of whiskey to drown their troubles away. I didn't buy any rocks, but I did purchase several nice necklaces, one of which is made of camel bone supposedly, for very cheap prices. The most notorious purchase of the day, however, was Allison's Bedouin doll (who she aptly named "Petra") that Ola is convinced is stuffed with "donkey poo" and designed by a 5 year old- again, I really need a picture here!

On to Aqaba! Unfortunately we had to rush out of Petra that afternoon so we could arrive at the hotel in Aqaba on time for free time at the beach, pool, etc., but I was extremely thankful to reach this touristy beach resort town. We stayed in a 5 star hotel called Movenpick, and let me tell you, the Swiss really know their hospitality. I believe there were 5 different swimming pools, a private beach, several nice restaurants- one of which featured seafood- bars, etc etc etc!! No trekking through rocks and ruins that day, just relaxing in the sun and taking a nice dip in the Red Sea, from which you can see Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel. I got up early to go snorkeling early Saturday morning but right as I was leaving I realized that I didn't bring any contact with me (given that I've sworn them off after I got one stuck in my eye the night we went to Amman) and I wouldn't be able to see any fish or coral without my glasses. Deciding that seeing some pretty colors under the sea wasn't worth 15 dinars, I worked on so-called tan and enjoyed some rich maple walnut ice cream at the hotel restaurant.

Well my break between classes is almost up so I better run! Pictures coming soon!