yella bye

so, as i write this, it's raining cats and dogs in amman (masha'allah!), and i'm hoping that i'll face better weather tomorrow when i fly to GREECE. most of my friends left this morning, meaning last night was spent crying in public, much to my embarrassment (friends, if you're reading this, i don't miss you AT ALL, especially you, Boeuf). thank god natsi is still here to console me, and we went on an excellent double-date today with dropek and jane.

i guess the most appropriate thing to do now is to make lists, my favorite hobby.

THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT JORDAN

1. the SIT tribe, i guess.
2. waking up at sunrise to the sound of the call to prayer/my host dad praying in the room next door.
3. reem shwarma.
4. the architecture, and the way all the buildings are white and turn pinky purple at sunset.
5. "welcome to jordan!"
6. my host mom.
7. generally not ever knowing what's going on, but being ok with that slash always being out of my element.
8. feeling like i actually sort of understand arabic, which i'm sure will disappear as soon as i don't have to rely on it anymore.
9. the amazing natural beauty.

THINGS I WILL DEFINITELY NOT MISS ABOUT JORDAN

1. bread
2. bread
3. bread
4. the harrassment ("hey! shakira! shakira!")
5. having to think/stress so much about being culturally appropriate.
6. generally not ever knowing what's going on.
7. feeling like i really don't know any arabic.
8. the fact that it's not california.
9. the lack of greenery.

THINGS I AM EXCITED FOR ABOUT AMERICA

1. preparing my own food (that's not bread).
2. generally feeling in control of my own life.
3. being able to go for walks, runs OUTSIDE.
4. california.
5. greenery.
6. my house/bed/family/dog.
7. everything.

OK, i think i'll have more insightful reflections later, but for now i'm stoked to leave tomorrow for a romp around europe with juliet.

maasalema, al urdun. it's been real.

the war is won?

here is an email i just recieved from the academic director at SIT:

"Dear All,

We all want Peace and stop the terror everywhere in this planet not just in the Muslim world. The USA managed to achieve their dream after 10 years of following up Osama, therefore, Kindly Please be low profile regarding this issue, there are Jordanians who will be upset about his death and they consider him as Martyr.

Please don’t defense the USA position in this regard, and don’t show public happiness about it.

Your safety and security is high priority for us."


on a related note, i just read a very interesting article in the NYT magazine about the current legal actions by the US military regarding the premeditated murder of three afghan citizens. here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/magazine/mag-01KillTeam-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=middleeast. it serves as an important reminder of the psychological toll taken on soldiers by war (especially a war as chaotic and disorganized as this one) and how failures to deal with problems in the system and turning a blind eye to inhuman behavior lead to innocent deaths. and we wonder why osama is a martyr and we are viewed less than favorably in the middle east...