Lessons Learned

“Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.”  - Jodi Picoult

As I have been away from my beloved Colorado for almost two weeks now, my journey so far has definitely shown me the little (or not so little) things that I love about home. But it has also taught me some good lessons about my home-for-now.
Aside from my wonderful boyfriend, mom, and friends, here are a few things I'm starting to miss right about now:

1. Long showers - Jordan is the 4th poorest country in the world for water, so showers must be short and certainly can't happen every day. My family gets a certain amount of water every week. It is sent and stored in a large tub on the roof, and if we run out before next week, that's it... we're out. My long and out of control mane of hair is protesting this already.

2. Diet coke - Anyone who knows me at all should be proud I haven't gone into withdrawals yet. Diet coke is sparse here, but luckily there is juices and smoothies here more than anything else. Almost all places sell at least 20 different types of juice... Probably a healthy substitute for Diet Coke.

3. America's Got Talent - The internet connection to too terrible to watch any videos most of the time


Things I have learned thus far:

1. Don't assume that grapes are seedless. And when you find out they aren't, you'll probably spend more time than it's worth trying to eat them

2. Never ever flush toilet paper. The water pipes here are too weak, and they are too short on water.

3. The call to prayer - going into a Muslim country, this was something I was really excited for. The call to prayer plays out through the city 5 times a day. It is a recording that is also played with a man's voice, and almost sounds like singing. It is entrancing and captivating and one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. Thankfully, I no longer wake up to it at 4:30 or 5 am, but I do get to hear it throughout the day, and once in the evening.

4. You will get addicted to soap operas- My host mom is obsessed with the Turkish soap opera Fatima. She watches is every night at 6 pm, no matter what. I'm already getting hooked even though it is Turkish, dubbed over with Arabic voices so I essentially have no idea what is going on.

5. People here don't really like cats. The city is absolutely FULL of stray cats. They're all so cute, it takes a lot of will power not to try and pet them all.

6. Honking isn't rude, it's simply a way of life - blinkers are a waste of time, just honk and people will assume you have the right of way.


I just completed my first week of classes, so there isn't much else exciting to report. I'll do my best to keep up with this as classes get going though!