First day of classes!

First day of classes today! It felt a little like kindergarten or the first day of college.

I got to the CIEE office early to turn in some forms and waited with some other people from class. We walked in a large wandering group of Americans the two or three blocks from Khalifeh Plaza to the University, where we met some of the student interns who would show us where our classrooms were. Mind you, the temperature was cold. And I was in dress pants. We stood and waited – finally, some movement! The interns took us near the building and we were on our own.

Now, the paper given us had two rooms on it – why, I don’t know. So, we entered the suggested building and tried to find our classroom. This proved difficult as all the class signs were in Arabic and we were Beginning Arabic 1 and do not read any Arabic. One of the guys asked for directions and we found the classroom – locked. More waiting, and someone emerged from another office to unlock it. We entered and waited. Ten minutes or so passed with no professor. A few University students poked their heads in – “You have a class in here, now?” they asked.

“Well, we think so.” They disappeared. More waiting.

An official looking person poked her head in, “Follow me” – which we did, going into another building and up a flight of stairs. This was the correct classroom.

The walls were painted a bright robin’s egg blue and the floors were cracked brown tile. Our desks are the standard type found in high schools and had the small wooden side writing desks attached. There was a white board in the front of the room and off to the side, the strangely modern sight of a SmartBoard contrasted with the surroundings that reminded me of images I have seen of schools in India.

The professor was tall for a Jordanian and spare; dressed in a long, well tailored plaid garment and white silk hejab, she might have been the only warm person in the room. She has a dry but sweet sense of humor that pervaded the lecture.

Lecture was three hours, in which we covered around 60 words of vocabulary (most of which I already knew), the first three consonants and the first six vowels (three short and three long) of Arabic. There will be a quiz tomorrow.

After this, I and my heavy backpack went back to the CIEE office with two girls from the class. They, however, seemed to know each other very well, and I felt like an awkward third wheel. I eventually wandered from the office back to the campus to eat lunch, since I didn’t want a giant and expensive schawerma sandwich.

Eating at the University cafeteria was quite the experience. First, although the campus size is ten times the size of my home campus, the cafeteria portion I saw was only a quarter at most of the size of the cafeteria at home. There was one long serving line at the front, from which two lines of students snaked, meeting at the middle to pay at the cash register. There were perhaps fifty tables around the room; a little light filtered through the ceiling to floor windows that had been dressed in a heavy yellow or orange window treatment. The line took quite some time, which seemed like an enormous time thanks to the heavy bookbag.

I finally got to the front of the line to pick up my fake wooden tray and enormous silverware, feeling a bit like Oliver Twist with my enormous spoon. I got a small bowl of hummus, a huge container of plain yoghurt, a piece of round pita bread (khoubbz), and a can of Pepsi – all for 750P (about $1.10 USD)! Although the hummus did taste like a school cafeteria’s and I have heard that Hashem’s downtown has much better deals on falafel and serving sizes, I was quite satisfied with the meal. (I did it again, didn’t I? I just wrote about my eating experiences. Again.)

With forty five minutes before meeting the rest of the group for a safety briefing (don’t you just love the use of the word briefing? It makes me feel so official and governmental), I did the one thing that is required of me no matter the campus I am on – I found and explored the library.

Most of the books, of course, were in Arabic. The shelves and layout reminded me of the lower levels of the Princeont library. However, I did find some very warm rooms. I eventually wended my way upstairs, where I found a nearly empty reading room, waiting in dusky silence under the sleeping bookshelfs and heavy drapes. The room was nearly empty because there was an attendant in the room. I am sure she wandered what this very American person was doing in what was clearly not an American section; however, I seated myself at the furthest long table and pulled out a few nearby books just to make myself appear as though I belonged. It also must have been nearly empty because I think it was a financial and law reading room – at least, one of the books I pulled out was a financial survey and comparison of Arabic insurance companies from 1991 to 1995. Ahli Bank did okay for itself during those years.

After warming myself, it was time to meet for the security briefing, which consisted of “don’t do dumb things,” and their version of “if you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough,” which is: “If you are going to be a stupid American, don’t come running for help to the US Embassy, because we can’t help Jordanian law-breakers. And if we can help you, you will have to pay for it. Dearly.” It’s sad that these warnings must be repeated – one would hope that junior students in international relations would understand that being publically intoxicated in an Islamic society is not generally a good idea. Unfortunately, this is not so.

Studied for a bit after the briefing, and then home. I am getting mad skillz in hailing taxis. Although tonight, we had a very nice taxi driver. I was with another girl, who didn't know how to get home. I felt rather sorry for the cabby, driving around two very American Americans, looking for a house that we finally found having passed it once (I think).

And now, to study!