So, friends and family, the first summer semester has come to a close. After a short, short holiday in London with my mom, I am back in Amman for the beginning of Ramadan (which is today; Ramadan kariim).
Needless to say, London was absolutely AMAZING. It was so, so wonderful to spend time with my mom. Over the course of our 6 days in London, we went shopping at Harrod's, saw Wicked at the Apollo Victoria theater, and I taught my mom how to use the Tube!!
We stayed in an awesome hotel (Thistle Hyde Park) right on the north side of Hyde Park. A few blocks down was a street named Queensway, a street full of stores, restaurants, and souvenirs. We had dinner here a few times, past all of the shisha/argiila places! Goodness, I thought I was back in Amman! We took advantage of being able to plan our own schedule with leisurely paced breakfasts and shopping! I purchased a great watch from Harrod's as well as tops from the UK store Evan's and the H&M on Regent Street. It was my first time shopping at either store. When I compared the sizes from UK to US sizes, turns out I purchased a size smaller than I was buying when I left the US! All of this not-eating business is doing my waistline some good!! Ha :)
We walked around Hyde Park, Oxford Street (the prime shopping district) as well as Piccadilly Circus. We had an amazing time and it was so nice not to have a schedule or school to worry about. I would love to go back given the chance. We had some great food (a steak one night as well as Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock) and saw some great sights (the hop-on, hop-off buses are a great value)!
There was also an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I was able to enjoy: I went to the Harry Potter set in Leavesden! I was able to walk in the Great Hall, exactly where Harry, Ron, and Hermoine walked in the films. It was so incredible to see so much Harry Potter history so close to me.
The weather was dreary most of the time but the rain held off most days and we even had some sunshine for a while! It was so refreshing to have air conditioning in most everywhere, people speaking English, and my mother so close. It will hold me off for the 29 days I have left in Amman before my return home.
As I said, Ramadan starts today and will end in 29-30 days. The month of Ramadan is the Islamic holy month which consists of devout prayer, alms giving, fasting from sunrise to sunset, and abstaining from certain activities. A lot of stores and restaurants will be closed for most of the day, allowing for prayer time and reflection during the heat of the day. Some restaurants will serve food to be consumed at home after the sunset. It will be a great opportunity to experience Ramadan in Jordan as an adult as I don't remember much about Ramadan in Qatar.
School starts Sunday. I will be taking an Arabic language class as well as a class on Arab-Israeli politics. I'm sure that will be a very heated and emotional class for everyone. I don't know the professor yet but I'm not too worried. Balqees is my Arabic teacher for this semester as well and I am excited to continue my education with her. She is a great teacher and really has a passion for teaching and making sure that we absorb the material instead of just learning it.
Tonight, I think the plan is to go to a souk later this evening after the sunset and hang out with some of the other ISA students. I'm not sure what the schedule is exactly but I'll let you guys know :)
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it.
Love from Amman.