Finding Balance

About two weeks have past since I've lived in Jordan. I say live because I don't believe I came here as a tourist. It will be a short time lived but an incredible time lived. By incredible, I do not mean to say that there have been no bad times. I've ran into creepy or just really mean taxi drivers and felt completely incompetent in my language ability. I've many times felt tears swell in my eye when unable to answer a question in Arabic or understand what the person was saying.

But I've discovered balance between utter language despair and being the only American in a crowd with enjoying the my time in Amman and reflecting on what I have and will learn. I know with whom and on what to practice and I have faith that this experience will serve as the great foundation to my ultimate fluency in Arabic.

Yesterday, I felt for the first time in a week a real American in an American setting. Yesterday, I bought a gym membership at a gym near my school (I'm not too sure how long I can go without running without imploding). My friend planned to meet me an hour later. As I went to change for the gym, I realized that I had forgot my shoe. Yes just one shoe, I was fortunate enough to remember one. Running with only one shoe might not be a pleasant experience...anyway I had an hour to spare by myself before my friend could come and meet me. I saw a Starbuck. They had alot of coffee and I had a book by one of my favorite authors. I spent the next hour sitting alone drinking coffee and reading a book at a Starbucks. America.

Only later that afternoon, I was thrown into a real Arab setting. I went with my family to a traditional Arab dance performance. Huddle under a colorfully designed tent and standing along side rows of plastic chair crammed together over Bedouin rugs covered in dust. A princess in the royal family was there as well the two most famous signers in Jordan. Of course I didn't know this until later.

After the dance performance, there was an opportunity to meet and take photos with the two most famous signers in Jordan. I stood aside in a crowded room as my host mother pushed her two children into a picture with them. She turns to me, "Kelsey, go in!"

I respond, utterly confused, "Why? Where?"

"There! In the middle" a chorus of photographers with my host mom as the solo artist. I jump into the picture only later to find out that I had just been photographed with...you guessed it...the two most famous signers. My host mom explained to me that everyone in Jordan knows who these people are. As if I didn't stand out as the most American in the crowd already.

Each American student in my program is matched with a 'language partner". This person is to help understand the language, help with speaking, and just be there for the American student. I've met mine twice thus far and she is the one of the nicest people I have ever met. Her name is Aisha. We're making plans to see movies, go to places of the city where I've never been, and perhaps go to Petra.

All is well in Amman. There have been a number of peaceful demonstrations concerning the most recent Israel-Palestine-international conflict. But I've stayed largely out of the news while I'm here. Largely because I don't have the time to follow the news are religiously as I do at home. However, I did not a NGO that works in this region that I've instantly fallen in love with.

The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature.

They work to help reverse deforestation and confront access to water issues in Jordan and Palestine. For every one tree that is torn down, they strive to plant ten in its place. Their work is located heavily in Palestine where the extension of Israeli settlements and the building of 'the wall' tears down acres of olive trees: a source of income and food for the Palestinians.

Their website is wwww.apnature.org. I'm in love.