Hello Everyone,

I’m really sorry it has been so long since my last post, but as some of you may know there have been some extenuating circumstances.

First of all, I am home. I’m here in good old Rhode Island, safe and sound. I came home about three and a half weeks early. This is because of a family emergency that I felt that I needed to be home for. My mom was having surgery for tumors found in her body the week before and I felt I needed to be home to support her and be there for her. So I decided to leave Jordan early.

I spent the weekend before I left doing lots of schoolwork. I wanted to get some things done before I left. I spent a lot of time on the phone and using the Internet as well trying to get information from home. When I had decided to come home, things went into a rush. I needed to fill out paper work, and get new plane tickets. I also had to do a ton of shopping and packing. So I skipped classes to pack and shop for gifts for people at home. I went downtown and got a lot of things I needed and got all my Christmas shopping done!

I also had to talk to my teachers about the academic situation. They were all very understanding and once I explained the situation told me I need to go back and that I should not worry about the academics for a while, to just go home and be with my family. I took an oral final for my Jordanian Arabic class and talked to my other teachers about whether I would have to do any work from home or not. It was unclear, but it will all be taken care of.

I also had to say goodbye to a lot of people! This was the hardest part. Everyone understood why I was coming home though. That’s the thing about Jordanians. They are so family oriented and they would not hesitate to be with family at a time like this. They were so supportive and encouraging about me leaving and I knew they understood. It was just really hard to say goodbye to the people that have meant so much to me over the past four months. It’s hard wanting to be in two places at once. I did a lot of hanging out my last 2 or 3 days in Jordan, just having fun and being with people. About 17 of the people from CIEE took me out to a nice Chinese restaurant on my second to last night. It was such a good time and a lot of fun to be with everyone.

I spent my last day running around, getting everything set, saying goodbye to people, and packing. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of the Magnusons, a family from Rhode Island that is now living in Jordan. They were such a help by letting me use their phone and Internet and just being a comfort and support to me.

My last days were really good in Jordan and I miss it much already! However, I will write about my adjustment back to the US next week or so. Just so you all know, my mom is doing well. She had her surgery and they were able to remove the tumor without doing as extensive surgery as they thought. She is recovering well as well!

So until next time.

Ma Salema, this time from Kingston.

Hey Guys and Girls,

Well there isn’t too much going on here in Jordan. On the everyday life front, security is insane now in this city. Everywhere there are metal detectors and security guards, private and public. It’s a good thing I guess. It brings up the classic argument of the balance between freedom and security. When you increase security, you decrease freedom and as you increase freedom, security decreases.

Some of the “old guard” of the Jordanian government are doing a little “I told you so” so the reformers here in Jordan saying, look at what happens when you give the people freedom and rights. It’s interesting because Jordan is one of the reforming and progressive countries in the region and this attack could hinder that. We’ll see I guess.

There are also so many rumors about what really happened and who was really involved and if it could have been stopped. We have heard that the Jordanian government let the bombers accomplish their mission in order to draw terrorists into Jordan and catch them when they get here. There are other rumors too. In this region, if there are no rumors, then things are weird. Rumors fly all over the place all the time and it is like an Arab pastime. We’re talking serious conspiracy theories and major, major rumors. Its a very interesting aspect of the culture!

The restrictions for our group are still in place and will be until the end of the semester. It is a good thing though. I have so much work to do until school is over. I have a paper to write this weekend and next weekend as well and I will need to do research for these papers as well.

So Thursday is Thanksgiving as I’m sure you all know and this will be my first Thanksgiving away from home. It will be interesting being away from my family, but I still have so much to be thankful for. My experience here and even just the opportunity to come here at all. For the friends that I have made here and the things I have learned. I will be having a Thanksgiving meal with a missionary family that is here from Rhode Island. They invited me to come to their house and it will be such a blessing to be with fellow believers on a day to be thankful to God for all He has done for me! I hope you all have a great day as well and have so much to be thankful for!

At the language center some people started a soccer league with competition between the different levels of Arabic. We have a pretty good team in level 2 and we should do well. We lost our first game 2-1, but I don’t foresee another loss, because we played the best team first and I don’t think we’ll have trouble with any other teams, but we’ll see.

Well there is only a month left until I’m home. Almost everyone (including me) is ready to go home. One of the group, one of our favorites, Tom went home this past weekend by order of his parents. We were all really sad to see him go. In a way, however, we are all very jealous that he is back in the good old US of A, flushing toilet paper, driving cars, and being in clean cities. I miss the US a lot. I probably miss things I don’t even know I miss. I’m sure this week will go fast though and I will try to make the most of it considering it’s my last month in Jordan.

Jerusalem Sunset

Ryan at the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv

So until next week, Ma Salema from Amman

PS. here are some more pics from my trip to Israel

Hey Everyone!

First of all I want you all to know that I am safe and sound here in Amman! Thank you for all of your prayers, thoughts and emails! I’m sorry that it has been a little while since my last post, but I have been busy and laying low as well.

So for those of you who don’t know what happened here last Wednesday, I will you an update. Wednesday night suicide bombers set off explosions at three major hotels in downtown Amman, killing 57 people and injuring over 100. It was a horrible atrocity! At the time of the bombing, a wedding party was taking place which accounted for most of the deaths.

I was sitting in my apartment when it happened and my landlord’s son ran down to tell us to turn on the news because some bombs had gone off. We turned on BBC World because that’s all we had in English for news. They didn’t have many details as it had just happened. We ended up going upstairs to our landlord’s flat to watch Euronews, which is in English. As the details of the three bombings came in along with growing casualty numbers the feeling of the place became very sobering. (By this point I had called my parents, girlfriend, and URI to let them know I was safe) The feeling was very, very similar to that of 9/11 in the US. Sobering, sad, and even angry at what was happening. There was an incredible desire for information and details, to know who, why, how, etc. It brought back many memories of the day of and following the attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Our landlords, Jordanians, were very upset, shocked, surprised, and angry. Nothing this bad has ever happened here in their lifetime and it is never expected.

You may think that being here, in the middle of it all, next to Israel, and next to Iraq would mean that violence and attacks here would be expected, but they are not. Jordan is the safest country in the region. They are heavily policed and very secure. They have the mukhabarat, the secret police that are everywhere and have foiled many attempts at terrorism in Jordan. They have been very successful and that is a huge reason that this attack was such a surprise. Jordanians rely on and are very proud of their security and this really hurt that and surprised them.

Despite their wounds, and maybe because of them, Jordanians rallied! They demonstrated against terrorism and violence and against the evil that did this horrible thing. They wore their colors, and they flew their flags. Again, this brought back feelings of America’s response to 9/11 and the wave of patriotism and community that we experienced. Flags appeared everywhere; on cars, houses, and stores. It is still quite amazing how the Jordanians have come out against violence and surrounded those who had lost so much. There was a huge demonstration at school that they even let us out of class for.

Jordan Nationalism

As far as our program’s reaction to the attacks, they have restricted us very much. We are not allowed to attend any demonstrations. We are not allowed to go to any Western restaurants, or large restaurants, no malls, no supermarkets, no hotels, no cafes, no bars, and no clubs. We are not allowed to go downtown, or to the market in Abdali. It’s pretty crazy and really stinks, but it will help me focus on my work. Also, unfortunately my good buddy Tom is going home to the US. His parents feel that the safety situation is too unstable and they are bringing him home. We will miss him greatly.

We got the day off of school on Thursday for a national day of mourning and Sunday was a holiday for the late King Hussein’s birthday, so we had a four day weekend and didn’t do much but hang around and study.

I miss home a lot, but time is definitely running short here. Only 5 weeks left! It’s hard to believe. I had an Arabic test and a test in my IR class. The Arabic was very hard, but I think I did alright. My Arabic has most definitely been improving and it is becoming more encouraging. I did very well on the IR midterm and I continue to like the area study classes a lot. This week we are starting a soccer league at the Language Center. Each level of Arabic gets a team and we play each other to see who has the best. There is a lot of trash talking and it will be a lot of fun. My first game is on Thursday, and we have a pretty good team so I think we’ll win.

Well that’s all for now. If you have any other questions about what happened here or about the reactions please ask!

Ma Salema from Amman!

Hey everyone!

I’m really excited to tell you all about my trip this weekend. So, due to the end of Ramadan there is a holiday called Eid. It’s three days of celebration and partying. Due to this we got two days off of school at the end of the week to have a four day weekend. So 7 of us planned a trip to Israel.

We left bright and early on Wednesday morning and drove up to Northern Jordan to the border crossing there because it is much easier to cross there. We had to take a bus from the Jordan border to the Israel border through a no mans land. When we got to the Israeli side Ben and I were questioned. I was questioned first and I was grilled pretty good about where I was going, why I was going there, how I knew about all these places, etc.
Ben was then asked the same questions to make sure our answers matched. After everything was all set we waited for the others and got picked up by a van to take us to our hotel in Jerusalem. We got to our hotel around noon and we checked in to very nice rooms. We then got right to the sight seeing. We were staying in the Old City. It is still walled in by ancient walls. We walked around the narrow streets lined by shops and asked for directions to the Western, or Wailing Wall. We found our way there eventually. It was quite an experience. There were people there praying and lots of security around. We took a lot of pictures and then Ben and I went down to the wall. The Jews write their prayers down on paper and then roll it up and place it in the cracks of the wall. The wall is covered with them. It was a very intense experience. We then tried to get to the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount, but they would only let Muslims there for prayer. We then went shopping in the Christian Quarter. After that we met this American kid who was studying in Jerusalem and he showed us around the New City and brought us to a cool burger place.

Ryan at the Wailing Wall.

Thursday we got up early and tried again to get into the Temple Mount but couldn’t. We then went to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane and saw the Basilica of Agony where Jesus was betrayed. And from there we started the Passion Walk. We walked to the city and entered at the Dung Gate where Jesus did and walked the Villa Della Rosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where the Catholics and Orthodox believe Jesus was crucified and buried. It was quite an experience to walk where Jesus did while He was suffering so much. (Even though the streets Jesus walked on are about 60 feet under the ones we did).

The Mount of Olives.

A few of us then went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. It took me a while to go through it and it was very, very emotional and sad. At the end there was a registry of victims of the holocaust and I was able to look up some of my family.

We then went to the sight of the crucifixion and burial of Christ according to the Protestants. It was a really neat place. It was simple and we saw the “place of the skull”, where Christ was crucified and then the tomb where Jesus rose again. It was another emotional experience, but really cool to be there. Ben, Craig, and I then went into West Jerusalem to walk around. We got some ice cream and listened to an Israeli jam band in Zion Square.

Friday, a few of us went to Tel Aviv in the morning. It was very, very western and it was like being in America, only everything was in Hebrew. We went to Rabin Square, which is the place where Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated. We happened to be there on the 10 year anniversary of the sad day. While we were at the memorial a reporter from Radio Israel interviewed me and Ben on our thoughts about the day and the meaning of what happened 10 years ago. After that we went to the Mediterranean Sea. It was cold so we didn’t go swimming, but there were a lot of windsurfers out because it was really windy. We then walked around the city and got some food. We then came back to Jerusalem.

Saturday we got up early and again and a few of us crossed into the West Bank and went to Bethlehem. It was definitely an interesting experience going through security into the West Bank and through the Terrorism Barrier. We went to the Church built at the birthplace of Christ and saw the place where He was born and then did a little shopping. We then came back to Jerusalem and hung out and did some more shopping there. In the afternoon we took a cab back north to the border crossing up there and although it was chaos getting back to Jordon we got back safe and sound.

I loved being in Israel. It was such a weird feeling being in the center of the world, politically and religiously. I saw things that have been so important to me all my life and it really brought the pages of the Bible alive! When I was there it was like they weren’t just stories, you can see where it all really happened. Also to see all the security everywhere was a strange experience. All the police carrying very big guns and them being almost everywhere was foreign. I felt very safe the whole trip and I wasn’t worried about my safety at any point. At the same time it felt a lot like the US, especially in Western Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. Almost everyone spoke English and most people spoke it very well. It made me want to study there for a semester as well. It was a great experience and its was something I did not think I would be able to do this early in my life. I definitely hope to go back some day soon!

I’m back in Jordan now and getting settled back into the swing of things again. We are back to our normal schedule so I’m at school till 5:30 everyday again. There’s a lot of work to do considering there are less then 7 weeks until I come home.

Well that’s a good update for now. If anyone has questions about Israel or anything else please ask.

Ma Salema from Amman!

Hey Everyone!

So I’m just writing to give you all a short update on what’s going on here in Amman.

School has been stressful as it has been for a while. There is still a lot of reading to do for my area study classes and there is a lot of studying to for my Arabic class. I’m still learning a lot of Arabic, but many of the words are hard to retain unless I use them a lot and some of them I don’t use at all daily.

Today (Tuesday) is the second to last day of Ramadan and I’m pretty glad it is over. It really has been an “inconvenience” for most of us here and it makes many of the people who are fasting cranky and in a bad mood. At times it has been impossible to find a cab and as I said before many stores are closed most of the day and some have been closed all month.

Ryan and his favorite taxi driver, Mohonid

I’ve been hanging out with Ben and Tom a lot and we have been getting close and bonding. It’s good to finally have a community of support and trust here.

So a few things that are new:

We now have a cleaning guy to clean our apartment. Our landlord hooked us up with him. He’s Egyptian and he does a great job. He comes every other week and cleans the whole apartment. He’s a really nice guy, but it’s really hard to understand him because the dialect of Arabic that Egyptians speak is so different from Jordanian Arabic and from Modern Standard Arabic. By the way, Egyptian laborers here in Jordan working in the service industry. Many come here to do many of the jobs that most Jordanians don’t want to do (i.e. housekeeping).

I played soccer this past weekend at a park near my apartment. It was a lot of fun and hard work because I haven’t played in a long time. I’m really out of shape, and my body killed me for running so much, but it was good for me and made me realize how out of shape I am. It also presented a sort of theme in Jordanian society. I was playing with a bunch of Christians kids our age. The first team we played was Christians as well and it was a friendly game. We won that game so we then played another team that was waiting to play. This team was a team of Muslims. This game was much more competitive with more trash talking and it was much more physical and much less friendly then the first game. It was very interesting.

This past weekend there was also a Halloween party at the apartment above mine. It was a good time and a lot of people were there. I didn’t dress up but most people didn’t. There were a few great costumes though. Halloween isn’t really celebrated here at all. We only found two places that even had Halloween stuff in it.

Ryan’s friends, Andrew and Lindsay, dressed as a bedouin couple.

So tomorrow (Wednesday) me and 6 other people are going to Israel for 4 days during the holiday after Ramadan ends called Eid. I’m really excited about it and it should be a great time. I’m going to try to see as much as possible. Even just getting across the border will be an interesting experience. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.

Well that’s it for now. Ma Salema from Amman.

Hello All!

I’m sorry it has been a little while since my last post. School has kept me busy and I also wanted to wait until after this weekend so I could tell you about my trip.

I’ll start with the weekend trip. On Saturday I went with Ben, Kristen, and Lauren to the Dead Sea. We went early in the morning to get a full day in and to avoid the crowds. The Dead Sea is only about a half hour from Amman, but the difference in temperature is amazing. On the way there we stopped at a point on the road that shows you where sea level is. You then proceed from there 390 meters (about 1200 feet) down to the lowest point on earth (on land). We went to a hotel there that allows access to its private beach for a fee. This is much better then the public beach because it’s cleaner and there are less people. Also, you are paying for access to 5 freshwater pools as well.

Ryan at the sea level marker.

It was like 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer at the Dead Sea then it was in Amman. So it was hot and that was good. We went down to the beach and sunbathed for a little while. Then we went into the Sea. It is warm and as you can guess really salty! Once you get waist deep you can feel that you are less dense then the water and you can feel the force pushing you up. It really messes with your balance. We then started floating. It was so cool. You are absolutely weightless. You can float on your stomach or on your back or on your side and there are no worries. It was cool.

Weightless in the Dead Sea.

On the bottom of the Sea there are salt crystals that formed and there is also very nice mud. This mud is suppose to be very good for your skin, so we put it on our bodies and let it dry. Then we took showers and went in the pool. We repeated this process another time during the day. It was a lot of fun! And quite a neat experience!

Ryan’s mud mask.

Other then that I have been really busy with school. Arabic class is still really stressful and hard, but I’m getting better and spending more time studying and working on it. I’m also starting to do research for the papers I’m going to have to write for my area study classes. I still have a lot of reading for these classes.

The Ramadan schedule continues and I guess we are all starting to get used to it. But its almost over, so we will have to get used to another schedule soon enough. The Arab hospitality never ceases to amaze me as I am welcome into more and more homes and given all that I need or could want. I’ve been spending less time at home and more time with friends here. I’ve been getting really close to Ben and Tom. It was Tom’s birthday the other day and we took him out.

Last week it rained here for the first time since I’ve been here. It wasn’t a real rain though. It sprinkled for a few hours. What it did show was that this city is very dirty. After the rain there was a thin layer of mud everywhere. But from what I hear, Amman is very clean compared to other cities in the region. It is very nice; we just live in the middle of a desert.

I still miss home a lot, but I’m trying to make the most of my time here. Learning the language, the culture, and making friends. I know I will look back on this as a great time in my life. I’m past the half way point now so it’s all downhill from here. It has gone by very quickly, and I feel like it won’t slow down either.

So until next time, Ma Salema from Amman