Two weeks away

Without even noticing it, I passed the ten-day mark. Summer before last, I went to Sao Paulo, helped build a building, paint a playground, make kites, et cetera et cetera, and within ten days, we were back. Oh, culture shock and all that whatnot. We came back with a new foreign beverage addiction (guarana!) and cultural experiences (chicken hearts!) and everything was grand. Roughly the same idea with Belize in the two summers before that. Seven days, painting, playing with children, et cetera et cetera. Foreign beverage: soursop juice! Cultural experience: Cipro, anyone?

Fourteen days here. I have not yet found a beverage to brag about once I get home. I have eaten interesting foods, but I have not gotten interesting sicknesses. (Let's hope those two stay the same.) I have not painted playgrounds, constructed buildings, or played with impoverished children. In fact, it doesn't feel like I've been doing a whole lot at all. Until I think about it...

I've:

Gotten a new phone, and memorized its new number.

Learned my way around new currency.

Learned how to direct a taxi. Yameen, yameen, doughree, hun.

Met dozens upon dozens of new people. (New to me, at least.)

Begun four new classes, more on that later.

Eaten all sorts of international - not just Middle Eastern - foods. Homemade ricotta, anyone?

Learned to say Palestine, and never Israel.

Figured out how to turn my new alarm off in my sleep.

Gotten used to always using at least two power adapters for my electronic devices.

Gotten used to hearing the call to prayer.

And much more. It's been quite a full two weeks, really.

I'll write about my new classes and other adventures soon, but for now, let's just catch up on a few things that are overdue.

This is my mailing address, for letters only. If for any reason you want to send a package, I can give you that address, too. Be warned, packages may take weeks or months or never arrive at all.

Sarah Bruce

c/o CIEE

P.O. Box 13434

Amman, 11942, Jordan

It takes roughly a week for letters to get from the US to Jordan.

Let me know what you want to know! I would love to hear - and by "hear," I mean "read" - your questions about Jordan and life and life in Jordan. So far I've just been writing what I find interesting, but I'd also like to know what you're interested in. Ask me things!

And finally, there are some pictures I've been meaning to post.

The Dead Sea.

Me floating in the Dead Sea.

Lots of people floating in the Dead Sea.

Snow! Seriously, just trust me on this one, those little white flecks are really flakes.

My room! (In fact, I'm sitting at the foot of that bed right now.) Home sweet Jordanian home.