So last time I left off with the end of my second day of orientation... since I have some time to make up due to my lack in keeping this blog updated, I'm going to speed through the next couple of days.
So on wednesday, it was the big day: we were going to meet our host families. Now, understand - CIEE scared the living crap out of us when it came to this. But it all had a purpose, which was preparing us for the worst. There are a large amount of cultural differences between the US and Jordan, which is why CIEE was very adamant about making sure we were extremely prepared for the worst of the worst in terms of culture shock. Coming from a Turkish family, I sort of knew what to expect, but Arabs and Turks still differ in many ways, so I was a little nervous myself.
I really didn't need to be, though. My host family is absolutely incredible. It's a young(ish) married couple, whose dynamic is actually extremely interesting - she's a christian and he's a muslim. This like neeeever happens here in Jordan, where more than 95% of the population is Muslim and tends to be pretty conservative. So their story is definitely a very unique, but super beautiful one. They are both extremely nice and super relaxed. I actually don't have a curfew and they allow me to go out with friends as I please, as long as I am safe and keep them up to date with where I am. This is also an incredible miracle! They are truly amazing people. One of my favorite parts of this past weekend was staying in and watching like 5 movies in a row with the family.
Another awesome thing about this family, is that the woman's family is hosting other students. Her mom is hosting two guys from the program, and her cousins are hosting another girl. The most amazing part is that this girl turned out to be Evelina! The only other Clarkie from the entire program! So we have a big christian, extremely loud and funny family thing going on. Literally, my favorite thing is going over to either her cousin's or mother's house to spend time with the other kids from the program and the big family.
Also, one of the cousins that Evelina is staying with is getting engaged in a couple of weeks. This means a huge family engagement party! The four of us are absolutely thrilled for this, as there will be lots of loud family members, food and dancing! I literally cannot wait.
In other words, I could not be more happy with the host family I ended up with. I feel extremely lucky.
However, I need to share another adventure from my third day of being here in Jordan. Since before I arrived, a couple days before or so, I had started to develop a severely sore throat. While we were here, it got considerably worse... to the point where I was pretty much blinded from the pain. I couldn't even swallow water, let alone any pain killer pills. It got so bad on the third day, I had to ask CIEE to help me make an appointment with a doctor.
It was amazing how fast they were able to get me to the Arab Medical Center. They hailed me a cab, where the taxi driver literally walked me all the way in to help me with the paper work and I was able to immediately see a doctor. Another thing I didn't realize about Jordan, is that all the doctors here are required to learn English. So my doctor spoke perfect english and was able to help me in no time. I was given antibiotics for the obviously severe case of strep throat I had caught. The medicine was super cheap to obtain and I felt better after only one day of taking it. This experience really made my day, because I now know that I can really really trust the health system here in Jordan. I am in good hands, which is super comforting.
Otherwise, we finished up the week of orientation with lots of different lectures on culture, academics, and other things that were meant to scare us a little into behaving while we were here. I think all of us were ready of the weekend. I spent most of it at home, doing literally nothing but sleeping and watching movies with my family - it was just what I needed.
So that pretty much wraps up the first few days of orientation and such...
No comments:
Post a Comment