General Update

Again sorry for the complete lack of posting.

I had a request for a general update about classes who I am with. My classes are going well; however, they are a little slow. My teacher's name is Muthena and he has a PhD in Arabic grammar. He always says "mumtez (excellent)" after you do anything, even if it was quite poor. This made it especially funny when he told a student from my Miami that his dictation was horrible in front of the entire class. He grades all tests in front of you and tells you your grade loud enough for the entire class to hear. Using social pressure for motivation is the norm in Arab universities. For those who would like to know and because I like saying it, I got a 100% on the midterm.

The company here is also good. The Miami group has 16 people in it and is the largest group from one university by far. Whenever I meet someone at the language center they know at least one person from "the Miami delegation."

Also I have met a number of other people here. I hang out with two French girls in my class alot. There are three Italians here that are alot of fun. While visiting Jerash, I met a Dutch woman that runs an art exchange between Jordan, Lebanon, and the Netherlands. Also while at the Syrian border (more on that later) I met an Iraqi man that was very interesting to talk to. He graduated first in his class at Baghdad University, but was unable to complete his doctorate there because of the war. He is now studying in Beirut. We exchaged emails and hopefully we stay in touch.

The last general note is that on my birthday, I went to see Wall-E and got an ice cream cake. Despite turning 21, I felt like being 11 for a day. The cake came from a somewhat famous Jordanian dessert maker called Jabri.

Other than my travels which will be noted in other posts, that is all there is to report. Daily life consists of studying, planning our weekend excursions, relaxing in an air conditioned room.