pepsi, BARCA, lemon & mint

The past couple of days have been fantastic!  There has been a rollercoaster of emotion, and I've wanted to throw in the towel, but all in all, these days have been fantastic and make me want to keep going.  So full of seeing and learning and doing...I definitely won't be able to update on everything I've done.

I'd mentioned before...or maybe I didn't...that every morning, I am awakened by the sound of the muezzin's loud chanting voice calling all of the faithful to pray...Every morning around a quarter to four, I hear these words:

God is great

I bear witness that there is no God except the one God

I bear witness that Muhammad is God's messenger

Come to prayer

Come to success

Prayer is better than sleep

God is great

There is no god except the one God

The dawn, or fajr, call to prayer is like the one above.  It is different from the other four calls to prayer of the day because it adds the line "prayer is better than sleep."  At that hour of the morning, it must be more difficult to rise to pray.  Yesterday morning, I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep and didn't end up getting to sleep until after the adhan (call to prayer), so I stayed up and recorded it with my camera.  Erin, this is for you:

I tried to upload the video I actually took from my apartment, but dang Blogger messed up when I tried...So here's another one.  It gives you a pretty good idea of what wakes me every morning.  There are pictures on this one of the masjid and they are lit up with green.  The Prophet Muhammad's favorite color was green, so when it gets dark outside, the mosques are lit up with beautiful green light.

I spent yesterday working with my boss on a new project and I'm getting more excited about it--details will follow as we get more into it.  Arwa called me and asked me if I wanted to go to breakfast, but I had to turn her down since I was at work.  I wasn't really expecting to do a whole lot else, but I'd forgotten about the European Cup game.  I'd gotten back home to my apartment and called Arwa with no answer.  Ehh, I thought, I'll just go venture out and find a little dinner and be chill.  Well, Arwa called me back and we made plans to go to dinner with a friend of hers.  So glad we did!

I got into Arwa's car and we sped off from the apartment.  I'm getting used to the scary driving here, but for all of you who think that I drive scary or have crazy road rage, think again.  I have to hold on for dear life every single time I am in a car here!  It's a bit scary, but it's fun and all a part of the experience...But I digress...

(Well, before I digress, I must add this:  The impression I got was that taking photos at the below mentioned restaurant was not really acceptable--because of the culture here.  I wanted so badly to photograph the scenery around me, but I did not want to risk angering anyone.  So, my dear readers, use your imagination for the time being...pictures are forthcoming, I promise.)

We went to a restaurant in (I think) Eastern Amman called Old Times and it was so cool.  Y'all, it was chill and had an inside, but most of the folks sat out on the open air section--chalk that up to the amazing weather here!  I wish I could ship this mild but breezy weather home to keep!  They had televisions and music and people were just whizzing by in there cars.  Final exams in the universities here are upon us, so you knew when someone was finished by the howls of celebration they gave when they drove by.  There were also projector screens set up especially for the match.  We were a lucky three; we got a table right in front of a screen so we could see the match perfectly!

Arwa, her friend Rafat and I sat down and they did a little talking in Arabic and laughed and laughed.  I of course had no idea what they were saying, but just to be around a relaxed atmosphere made me feel welcome and so I laughed too.  It was a good feeling.  And thankfully Rafat spoke English too, so I wasn't always left out of conversation.  He was a really funny guy and was eager to talk about me being in JO and my life in the States.  We continued to talk, had a great dinner of pizza (which Rafat said wasn't real pizza...of course I knew that but I didn't care if it wasn't real like ours at home) and another Arabic dish whose name I can't remember and Pepsi.  Y'all, the Pepsi here is so much better than at home!  I'm sure I won't drink it when I get back Stateside, but it's so good for now!

The futbol match came on and while I didn't know much about it (shame on me for not knowing more--my best friends are avid players of the sport), it was so much fun to watch.  Or perhaps the added fun was from the hookah we had.  Yes, I had a little hookah, calm down.  It's a once in a lifetime thing.  I mean, how many times will I be in Jordan?  Right.  Well, here they call it sheesha and hubbly-bubbly (that one makes me giggle a little).  We had mint and lemon flavored and the ones we had looked a lot like this.  It was a neat experience, trying to figure out exactly how to do it and how not to inhale (which I did not inhale).  We stayed for the first half of the match and I saw both Barca and ManU score then we left.  When Arwa and I got back to our apartment building, Rafat let us know that Barcelona won!

Arwa and I sat and talked for quite a while and I learned so much about her...I'll elaborate later because this post is already plenty long.  Long story short, she is amazing and I'm so glad I have her here as my friend...ANNNNND her birthday is the day before mine!  We are only one day apart!  I knew she was a great person :)

Well, I've got a conference tomorrow morning, so I must ready myself for bed so I can hail a taxi and brave the drivers of Amman.  Salaam, everyone,

 jMed