Assalam alaikum

Hello from sunny Jordan!

The temperature is supposed to make it to 37 Celsius today! The weather is exactly the same every day, hot a little windy, and bright blue skies. The weather feels very dry to me, but our girl from Nevada tells me that it is horribly humid here, so I guess it depends on what you are used to, to me, it feels dry!

I realized my emails are getting more and more boring, because things that were originally so exotic and new are now becoming commonplace to me. I suppose that is a good thing though.

Some people have asked about my host family and about food, so I think I will write about those today. My host family consists of my mother (Ohm Ahmad, mother of Ahmad, the oldest boy, or Mahasin), who is a home maker. She has three sisters, and one brother who live in the town, and a sister who lives in Jerash (where the old Roman ruins are, near Amman, when you come to visit, we can see them!) My father (Abu Ahmad, father of Ahmad, or Eisa) runs the dukan, or small store down the street from our house. I think he does something else too, but I am not entirely sure because I really don't interact with him much at all. I can go for days without saying more than hello and goodbye to him. The oldest daughter is Sausan, who is 23. She is the one who just got engaged. The wedding will now be after Ramadan, which starts three days after we arrive at site (September 24). Sausan graduated from a university in Mafraq, in the east of Jordan, with a degree in science. I asked what specifically and she said all science. She will move to her new husband's home after the wedding. The next oldest sister is Jumana. She is the lower of the two special ed sisters. She doesn't seem to like me very much, mostly because I try and talk to her all the time (no one else talks to her very much) and because I am living in her room. Then comes Rima, who is 19 and studying at the university in Irbid. She is studying anthropology. She is a very good dancer and she and Diana are trying to teach me how to dance, but mostly they just laugh at my feeble attempts. The next oldest is Rabab, who is also special ed. She loves me and gives me a high five every time I enter or leave a room that she is in. She is also very stubborn and the family yells at her a lot for misbehaving. The youngest girl, Diana, is 15. She and I have a lot of fun, and I like practicing my vocabulary with her. The two boys, Ahmad (7) and Abud (Abdullah, like the king, 6) are very different from each other. Ahmad is a little monster and gets away with murder in the house. He is very very smart though and a lot of fun when he wants to be. I call him "girti" which means "my monkey". Abud is much calmer than Ahmad, and a very sweet little boy. The boys will be starting 1st and 2nd grade tomorrow, which will give them something to do besides terrorize the sisters.

Food: The food here has been delicious, and I have actually been able to remain a pseudo-vegetarian. I now eat food that was cooked with meat, and I am sure I eat small pieces unknowingly, but for the most part I'm still a vegetarian. In the morning, I usually eat khobez (pita bread) with olive oil and thyme, or cucumbers, or tomatoes or hummus. Lunches are really big, and today's was awesome. Usually it is a big platter of rice with meat, but today was a bunch of different vegetables. I've eaten okra, cauliflower, eggplant, tomato, cucumber, zucchini, potato, and tons of other vegetables. They are usually cooked with a lot of oil, so it will be nice to cook for myself with less oil. Dinner is small again, usually leftovers from lunch, or khobez and oil and thyme. There is also a lot of fresh fruit around that is delicious.

Tomorrow is our counterpart conference, and then our trip to visit our sites, so maybe I will have some interesting information after that adventure.

I miss you all and love you!
Jessica