Sent 7/29/06

Things I now find normal (that you probably wouldn't)

a) The call to prayer five times a day (4am, noon, 4:30 pm, sunset-7:30pm, and 9pm) As a side note, I always thought you had to pray right at the call to prayer, and I was very confused when things didn't stop immediately when I heard it. It actually marks the beginning of a time period, and you have to pray before the next call to prayer. It is preferable if you pray right away though, so you don't forget. If you do happen to forget you can do that prayer when you remember
b) Piles of smoldering trash in the field on my way to school
c) The constant shuffling of seats when someone new enters a room or gets on a bus so that males are sitting next to males and females next to females
d) The camel and goat herds and Bedouin tents in the field next to the markez al manar (center where we work)
e) Drinking eight thousand cups of shai (tea) AND eight thousand cups of gahwa (Arabic coffee) at every house we visit
f) Not leaving the house after dark
g) Cars constantly honking their horns, while children stand on the backseat, on the driver's lap, and wrestle with each other in the front seat (Mom-prepare yourself for this!) Meanwhile there don't seem to be lanes, and the cars/buses/trucks full of fruit drive really really fast.
h) Being forced to repeat Arabic words with ridiculous letters fifty times in a row while a tiny Jordanian girl yells "Cmon" (which actually means repeat/again in Arabic) at you


Love you all!!!
Jessica