Is This Real Life?

I've finished packing, showered, cleaned myself up, and am anxiously awaiting midnight. At 12, I will be going to the airport to start my journey home!! I can't believe it. I'm so, SO excited. I have missed everyone and home so much. I've already warned my mom that I might want to stop at Whataburger on the way home! :)

It has been a wonderful ten weeks in Amman but I am ready. Inshallah it will all go smoothly and my next post will be from home!!!


See you later guys.

Love from Amman... for another hour.

One week until I am HOMEWARD BOUND!!

Wow. Has it seriously been nine weeks? It seems like I just got off the plane at the Amman airport, greeted by an entire Bedouin tribe.

The week to come will be sad, exciting, and stressful! This week, I have an oral presentation, written assignment, oral exam and written exam for Arabic as well as an essay, HUGE presentation, and a written exam for my Arab-Israeli politics class. Our last day of classes this session is on Thursday, our program ends on Friday, and my journey home begins at 2:45 on Saturday morning! I have a lot to pack; luckily, most of my stuff is so torn up, I don't even think it would make the journey home. So, the next group in our apartment will have an AWESOME maroon sheet set, some cool towels, some super sleek shoes, and even some shower supplies.


I'll update you all whenever I have news. Can't wait to see you guys!!!!!!! ONE WEEK!!!!

Love from Amman :)

Sickness

So I made it a solid week and a half before being sick made me realize I should probably put some food into my body as I didn't even have the strength to cough anymore. I have so much respect for every person who fasts for any amount of time. It requires such dedication and discipline.

I have two weeks left in my journey; it seems like just yesterday I was meeting everyone and we were doing our walking tour. I'm excited because I miss my family but am also scared - two weeks left means finals soon!! Our Arab-Israeli course has a 30 minute presentation as well as a final exam so I'm a little terrified for that class! I'm also going to miss the amazing, slow-pace "enjoy life" mentality that is ever present in Amman. This place has taught me so much about others, respecting our differences and that I should be open to new ideas and has even taught me quite a bit about myself.

This has been an amazing experience for me and I hope I can enjoy the next two weeks to their full potential. This journey has been the best time of my life.


I love you guys and I can't wait to see you.

Love from Amman. 

Fasting!

Howdy!

I don't have many new things to report. Classes have begun and I am really enjoying my classes so far. My Arab-Israeli Politics professor is Canadian and really friendly. I think it will be a good class!

My days are long as I am fasting during this month. I do have breakfast as early as possible before school and I do drink water when it's absolutely necessary but then I don't eat or drink anything else until the adhan (the call to prayer) plays over the loud speaker outside our neighborhood mosque. My professor said the first time he fasted for Ramadan, he lost 17 pounds!! I'm just hoping for five!!!

We have 24 days left here in Amman before we all go our separate ways. An Aggie has moved in to our apartment and we will even have a class together next semester back at A&M! We have a lot of mutual friends and interests and it's so wonderful to have someone who is willing and able to get redass and sing the War Hymn with me!!! I'm so excited to share this journey with someone who will be with me during my last semester at Texas A&M... Wow. I have no desire to say that again for a while....

Class starts in an hour and a half and I still need to finish homework so needless to say, that will be my morning. Frozen orange juice, blogging and homework. Not a bad morning.



See you all soon. I can't wait.


Love from Amman.

Summer II

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.

Aqaba!!!

Oh, my goodness!! Family and friends - you will NOT believe the weekend we had! We, as a group, traveled to Aqaba, a port city on the very south side of Jordan. We were able to swim in the Red Sea, which Moses parted, scuba dive, snorkel, and hang out around the AMAZING town. The water was so many beautiful different shades of blue, ranging from a teal to a deep navy. It was gorgeous!

We stayed in the wonderful Mina Hotel in Aqaba. I don't think I have gotten that good of sleep since my arrival! Ashley, Claire, and I walked around and ended up eating dinner at the 35° East restaurant. (In case you're wondering, get the margarita. It's DELICIOUS!) The restaurant prided itself on its international hospitality as well as American cuisine. Their tagline was "Cocktails, Steaks, and Seafood." It was awesome. They had various countries' flags around the walls - even an American flag!

It was really great. I really got to know some of my fellow travelers and I think this weekend was a great bonding experience. I am so sad that some of my friends will be leaving this weekend. They have become family to me and I will miss them so much. 

I've included some pictures to show you guys just how AMAZING this city was. It was one of the world's "Four Corners." The Red Sea separates four countries: Northeast is Jordan, Southeast is Saudi Arabia, Southwest is Egypt, and Northwest is Israel/Palestine/Disputed Territory/The Holy Land. Seeing that was a really cool experience!

Israeli city of Eilat

The only bad thing about this weekend was that I was absent from the wedding of one of my very best friends. Mr. Ryan Alexander McCoy married Therese Rihovsky Saturday night. Zachary went and sent me so many pictures. I really wish I could have been there. Oh - guess what - Zac caught the garter!! Whoop! ;) Ryan and Tess, I am so so so happy for you two and I miss you guys! Congratulations!!

Hope you enjoy. See you all very, very soon.

Love from Amman.

Petra and Wadi Rum

Howdy!!

As the Aggies have officially joined the SEC, I thought I'd let you all know how much I am missing College Station!! There is another Aggie coming to the program next session but I don't know her!

Friday, we drove to Wadi Rum - literally Sand Valley. It was beautiful! The entire area was underwater and so the stone had all sorts of pore holes in it and it was just magnificent!! We went on a camel ride for about 30 minutes then climbed a rock to watch the sunset! It was a beautiful sight. The sand has a lot of iron and other minerals make the sand a gorgeous red/peach color! It was so pretty. We rode back to the camp and were able to get settled before bed. Yes, family, we were in TENTS but inside said tents were two twin beds on two-foot-off-the-ground bed frames. It was definitely my kind of camping. There were full shower facilities (somewhere on site) as well as multiple bathroom stalls designated for women's use only. It was a really cool place that I would definitely recommend. I even got full with the dinner!!! Dinner was different meats that were cooked under the ground with a fire underneath. It was a really cool set up and we got to see it get unearthed with shovels. After dinner, we all kind of hung around a fire with several hookah pipes around us. It was a really great experience. Breakfast the next morning was also great! (We even had hard boiled eggs!)  We gathered our belongings then went on a drive on pick up trucks and went all around the desert and saw all kinds of cool historical markers!


After the ride, we started our voyage to Petra! Heavens to Betsy - Petra is beautiful! It is a great historical site. The amount of time that they put into that monolith (the Treasury) is absolutely astonishing! The entire site is actually a huge area that is all downhill from the start - making a NICE trek at the end. (and YES, family, I DID actually walk the whole way!! No horse for me!) It was amazing how many different countries had representatives at the site. I met other Americans, a couple Italians and even some Australians! After our adventure in Petra, we drove back to Amman.


School resumed once more yesterday for our third week. In Arabic, I had my FIRST oral exam in all five semesters of Arabic. It was really intimidating but I think I did well. My grades in that class and in my foreign policy class have been above what I hoped so I'm pretty happy about that. Today, I explored Amman with a Jordanian girl, Diana, as well as Ashley, Rosalynd, and Anndrea. It was really fun! We went to a part of Amman that I had never been to before.


We all finished our homework early, have been watching movies, and we're currently enjoying each other's company :) It's been a good day here but I have to admit. I miss home. Oh well. Soon!
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and concerns and prayers and kind and encouraging words. I miss you guys so much.


I'm going to head to bed soon. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from friends. Sorry, guys; I'm a photophobe.



Love you and love from Amman.

It's already been three weeks?

As my third week comes to an end, I have had so many great experiences here in Jordan. School is going great and I am finally feeling completely ready and prepared for both classes.

All of our apartment's health issues haven't been completely resolved so I ask for your continued prayers.

Tomorrow we will go to Wadi Rum and ride camels in the desert and camp in Wadi Rum. After that, on Saturday, we will continue on to Petra and be able to see the amazing history that IS Petra.

Classes have ended for the day for me and a few of my roommates and we are now enjoying the luxury of air conditioning and only semi-censored internet!

I promise to write about Petra as I know that is a point of interest for most. Hopefully when we arrive home this afternoon, we will have our internet back as it went out yesterday!

A picture or two next time as well - I promise!!!


Love from Amman.

Two weeks down...

Howdy from Amman! So many things have happened and I am SO sorry to not have kept everyone informed!!

This past week of classes has been rough, to say the least! Our Arabic professor has been going through the material so incredibly fast that we are all having a hard time keeping up. I think we've addressed the issues, that she's under the impression we are WAY ahead of where we actually are in the textbook, and hopefully the pace should be less strenuous (انشالله )!

Our professor for foreign policy is doing a really great job. She is from Indiana and really has a passion for educating us about the realities of politics in the Middle East. I can tell the class assignments will be difficult [such as preparing a presentation about an American foreign policy acting in the Middle East] but I enjoy her class and I think she'll be willing to help us form our presentations.

We've been closer together as an apartment through hanging out at night and doing homework and watching various movies. We have found some GREAT DVDs here in Amman! ;) Just last night, Ashley and I watched 21 Jump Street!

Four of the girls in our apartment [myself included] are in the Arabic 201 course this semester. It is SO nice to have people working on the same assignments as me for once! I can talk to them and know what they're talking about and have my questions answered back!? It's AWESOME. (Sorry, Zac. Computer Science assignments have never [and will never] make sense to me!) We all work together to figure out what the questions (and directions) are asking and it's great to have a community like this!

We traveled to the Dead Sea yesterday. It was only about an hour by van and we were able to use the facilities at the AMAZING Holiday Inn Dead Sea Resort! We walked straight down to the sea and were able to float so effortlessly! It was an incredible experience. On the other side of the water, we could SEE Israel/Palestine/The Holy Land/whatever-your-preference! It was really enjoyable and an experience I'll never forget. We had an amazing time last yesterday and we were all dreading returning to school this morning.

I wish every reader well wishes and will pray for you and for your loved ones. I just ask you do the same; one of our roommates is having some serious health issues and I ask that you pray for her recovery and for answers.



Have a great Sunday. Love from Amman.

Greetings from an exhausted taaliba.

Howdy fam (and friends and other loved ones)! School has now started in Amman and it's providing somewhat of a routine which I find extremely helpful! I am still not used to waking up at 6:45 for school! I haven't woken up that early [regularly] since junior year of high school!!! The bus that the جامعة (university) provides stops at our دوار (circle) at 7:25 IN THE MORNING. Just in case you were wondering, I set an alarm for 7:15 reminding me to get up... and dressed... and moving.

Yesterday, the first day of classes, was rough. I was up late the night before learning of the sudden and tragic loss of a friend and a sister. Kristen (Ambriz) Stoltman passed away from injuries from a car accident Friday night. She was a beautiful girl. We met through Kappa Phi last year even though she was from The Woodlands. She was recently married and had even more recently lost her father. Her husband, Jesse, is still in critical condition in the hospital. I didn't know Jesse but I was friends with Jesse's brother in high school. It hurts my heart to think about how much loss these two families have suffered as well as all of their friends. Kappa Phi has lost a sister - but gained an angel.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well Saturday night. After three hours of sleep, getting up and going to classes was difficult. I didn't feel well during Arabic (which is at 8 - 10:20AM Sunday - Thursday) and had trouble concentrating during my US Foreign Policy class (10:30 - 12:20PM Sunday - Thursday).

After classes, we came home on the 3PM bus and the entire apartment fell into a slumber.  Ashley, Rosalynd and I went to the grocery store last night and I finally bought some real food. I am getting pretty awesome at hailing a taxi cab! I also am getting used to nice, cold showers.

This morning was a lot better. I had prepacked a baggie of Golden Grahams to take on the bus with me (which were delicious, if you were wondering). I realized also that it's been quite a while since I had a real meal so the breakfast was extremely welcome. I don't know what it is but I find myself not eating a lot while here.

Arabic was okay today; we're reviewing the first ten chapters of al-kitaab which I've learned previously. We were supposed to start chapter 11 tomorrow but she has been going at a slower pace than anticipated so we are a little behind and will need a couple more days to finish a review.

I'm really enjoying my foreign policy class. Our professor, Beth, is an American who graduated from American University in DC. She moved to Jordan about 4 years ago, got married, and hasn't looked back. On our first day of class, she gave us "rules of the road" and tried to help us stay away from cultural taboos. That much thought was definitely appreciated.

I decided to take a taxi home from the university instead of waiting until three and managed to get home and get a solid start on my homework before the rest of the apartment got home, which they are now. I'm not sure what the plan is now but I think we've decided on watching The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (the American version) later this evening. If anything cool happens, I'll let you guys know.



In the meantime, I would really appreciate some thoughts and prayers for Mrs. Ambriz and her family as well as the Stoltmans in their difficult, heart-wrenching time of need.


Miss you all lots.




Love from Amman.

Thursday 6/14

Finally settling in to my apartment. As mentioned yesterday, we watched a movie as an apartment and it was really nice just to sit and laugh together. Everyone was up and running about until around 3 this morning! Today was the first day of a conference that several of the ISA students are attending. I am not participating so I can [hopefully] spend some time with my girlfriends from A&M that are also studying here in Amman.  Today allowed me to collect myself, catch up with the time difference and calm my anxieties. I was able to talk with Zachary and with my grandmother who let me know that her traveling group is reading my blog - talk about pressure!! (Hah - Hi, KBG!)  It was really good though; I haven't gotten much feedback and it was really wonderful to know that people are reading my blog (and enjoying it)!

I met up with everyone for dinner at a local coffee shop.  After dinner, I went to Safeway with Maegan and Brenda for water and school supplies. The other set of ISA apartments is close to the market so while there, we ran in to three other students we know! It's so refreshing to run in to a familiar face. We took a taxi home (which I am getting VERY good at even though I have never used a taxi in the US) and have just arrived in our apartment. I spoke to my friend Nina earlier and we discussed visiting each other tomorrow. If we do, I'll let you know what crazy shenanigans a couple of Aggies can get into :)

Miss you all so very, very much.


Love from Amman.

Photos from Amman.

Queen Alia Airport

Our living room!

 

Our kitchen :)

 

Pictures of the Citadel

 Overlooking Old Amman

 

Me and my AMAZING roommates! So blessed.

Four days already!?

It's already been four days since my arrival! ISA has been so absolutely amazing in EVERYTHING! Every problem mentioned previously was taken care of in less than 24 hours. They're so awesome and my roommates have been so absolutely amazing!

Since the first night, we have been on two walking tours of different parts of Old Amman. It was so cool to see so much history!! We saw downtown Amman and saw the Royal Film Commission's film library. It was so cool! The commission has so many films and periodicals and this really modern viewing station. Me + movies + super cool setting = Oh My Goodness. YES PLEASE. Yesterday we were able to visit old parts of Amman that have been transformed into art houses that show contemporary local artists. It was a really great experience.

Today we toured our university! Oh, HEAVENS there are a lot of hills in this city!! It is so hard to get up some of the hills but the facilities at the bottom are awesome! We got to see the pool, sauna, athletic equipment and bowling alley!! I love that there is a bowling alley! We also took our 201 entrance exam today. I don't think I did very well so we'll see what happens. Other than that, I also received my schedule today. I have Arabic at 8 in the mornings, Sunday through Thursday, and then an American foreign policy class at 10:30 until 12:20.

We went to an orientation meeting tonight then out to dinner to a local restaurant, Jabri. Now we're at the apartment, bonding over a movie and blogging :)

I wish I would have been more detailed but it's been a long couple of days. I promise to try to update more frequently!

Love from Amman.

mini post

Family and friends, I'd like to take this opportunity to write a little summary of some of the unusual circumstances we are now aware of in our apartment. One of the toilets is broken in the bedroom with its own bathroom, our water pressure SUCKS and my hair is crunchy and feels like stuff is still in it [probably because it is because i can't wash anything out], we have a water ration (tanks get filled up once a week by the city; if we use all of it before the replacement, then we don't have water), and it gets freaking hot in the bedrooms with no AC (which we solve by opening the windows even though the screen doesn't exactly cover the whole opening).

Just thought you should know.

Love from Amman.

FINALLY IN OUR APARTMENT!!

After two days, I have finally arrived in Amman and to my apartment! The flights were good and I even managed to know someone on my flight from Heathrow. After I arrived in Jordan, I descended onto the tarmac from the plane. That was REALLY cool. I felt like I was a foreign dignitary (expecting a crowd and all... needless to say, there was no crowd). Then after the bus ride to the airport itself, I walked to the visa line and had to purchase a 30-day visa. The official asked me what I was doing in Jordan. When I responded in Arabic, he was (pleasantly) surprised and said something back which I didn't catch but he didn't say anything else so I'm assuming it wasn't a question... After the visa line, Immigration stopped you and asked you what you were doing and checked that you got the visa stamp. Once past immigration, my bags had to be scanned again and once approved, I was FINALLY allowed out of the airport.

ISA mentioned that there would be signs to greet us. Well, an entire TRIBE was at the airport, singing, dancing, and playing music, to celebrate the homecoming of a family member who just received a bachelor's in medicine. The reception area was PACKED!! I walked around for about ten minutes with two duffel bags, a carry on and a purse, while hopelessly searching for someone I might recognize or the sign that was somewhere in the crowd. Luckily, Ghadeer, a lovely woman who works for ISA, recognized ME and came up to me and pointed me to a meeting location where I waited for the other three people in my arrival group. 

Once there, I met Ryan, Brett, and Anndrea. Ryan is an amazing photographer (ryankolter.com) and is SO excited to be here. Brett is getting his masters at TAMU so that's pretty cool; at least I can have someone I know back home that will KNOW what all will happen this summer... Ha. Anndrea is from Oklahoma but goes to school in Iowa. She has such an exuberant personality that is infectious! Once we were all together, we were directed to a driver who took us to meet Mohammad, our other ISA contact, at the Safeway in central Amman. 

This Safeway will be our grocery store [and whatever else store since it has two stories] during our stay. We were told to get snacks for the night and then we would be escorted home. Obviously, as four Americans in a Jordanian supermarket, we had WAY too much fun.. Everyone purchased a 6 pack of water and various American snacks. [Zac, they had flaming hot FUNYUNS... I KNOW you're jealous.]

As we shopped, we ran in to another ISA group and greeted and introduced each other. Post shopping, we walked outside and got into our vans and then were deposited at various apartments throughout the city. Of course, I was the last person in my van to get dropped off, at the last apartment ISA had. I was alone in our van and my new friend Rosalynd was the last one in her van so we decided to conglomerate our belongings and use one van so the other driver wouldn't have to stay there for us.

Rosalynd and I got to our apartment to meet Janna and Magean, two other Americans who had arrived days before and had stayed in other accommodations in Amman. After dropping off our things, the four of us explored near our apartment and ended up getting fresh Jordanian pizza. On the way back to the apartment, Janna and I ran into some of the boys from earlier, who are living in separate housing arrangements, and we agreed to have some sort of group exploration later this evening.

As we were all getting to know each other, with the arrival of our fifth roommate, Brenda from Denton - love her already, the power went out. Apparently, you can't have more than one AC unit on. Oops. No one told us that.... So that's when we opened all the windows and decided it was time for bed. The mattresses feel like a foam pad on top of wood instead of on top of a mattress. It's not the most comfortable but it's not unbearable. I need to put my sheets onto the bed as the bed had an undersheet (I'd say a fitted sheet but I'm not sure if it IS a fitted sheet) and a comforter but with a variable AC, I'll need a flat sheet on there for sure.

We awoke at various times this morning. Of course, my body, being dumb, woke up (the first time) at around 6 AM. I then dozed on and off until 11 when the stifling heat became intolerable. We ALL woke up sweaty.

Mohammad came by just a bit ago and managed to coax the electricity back on and told us that we should only have one AC unit on at a time but that we could get multiple fans for each room and that the fans wouldn't cause an electricity problem. Needless to say, fans are on our Safeway list. Speaking of which, I've decided to compose a list of things we need and surprisingly, things we don't.

THINGS TO PURCHASE FROM SAFEWAY: 

-Toilet paper. There was one roll for 5 girls....We need TP.

-FANS. This whole 1 AC unit demands fans.

-Soap... There is no soap in our house or paper towels for that matter

-CANDLES in case the power goes out again...

THINGS WE SURPRISINGLY DON'T NEED FROM SAFEWAY:

-Bug spray... there are no bugs.

-Red Bull... because every child under 12 has so much energy, that MUST be their source...These kids are ALL HYPER ALL THE TIME.

-Makeup... no surprise here. No makeup.

-Milk... none of it is pasteurized so I'm just gonna stay away from it for now...

-Sweets. There is an entire candy aisle that I just didn't even walk down. It's ALL American candy, too. It looked SO good but I'd rather get some traditional Jordanian sweets instead.

We're all enjoying the AC in the living room which we've designated as the specific AC which will be kept on at most times. We need to go shopping at some point for household items and we all need to shower as well for the most part. We'll take care of all of it later today I bet. We have to meet up with ISA staff at 4 [which is in 3 hours from now] at a local circle and then will go on a tour of Amman. Walking shoes will be at the ready here pretty soon. I'm not sure what else today holds but as long as the power stays on this time, you'll know later tonight!! 

And I promise I'll put up pictures soon. Ryan Kolter (www.ryankolter.com) said I could use some of his photos so you'll probably see mine and the significantly better ones which will be Ryan's photos. 

Shukran wa Gig 'Em. 

Love from Amman.

Uhhhh... How is it already JUNE?

I can't believe I'm leaving for Jordan on Saturday.. Wasn't it just August and I was the overachiever getting everything situated? It's finally here and I can't wait to finally just get to Amman and be there. انشالله everything will go as planned and smoothly. My friends Nina, Erin, Tonya, and Brawnlyn are already in Amman and LOVE IT already! Saturday, get here faster!!!

ELEVEN.

ELEVEN DAYS UNTIL DEPARTURE.... It's getting so incredibly close! I can't believe it! Hopefully the days slow down... every minute I have is precious but they're FLEETING!!

One last shot to get before departure and maybe an errand or two - like actually getting my MEDS ahead of time... I'll take care of that tomorrow. SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!!!

NINETEEN DAYS UNTIL DEPARTURE

I leave in 19 days. I'm not sure I'm ready for this!!!! I've purchased a lot of the things I think I'll need (like long dresses and converters and various things like that) but I still feel like I'm missing something. I just started reading another ISA student's blog and now I'm getting really nervous. She has posted pictures of excursion but nothing really of her accommodations inside Amman or of the classes or of any every day location. I have NO idea what to expect.... At least I fly through London on my way to Amman so I'll be able to get most anything I need [that I managed to forget] right before I get to Jordan. I'll keep you updated if anything new happens. Looking forward to getting my documentation with my roommates names and other people going!!!

Here we go.... 40 DAYS.

My flights are booked, ISA has let me in and now there are only 40 MORE DAYS until Jordan!! I can't believe time is flying so fast!! I've reached out to the ISA Facebook group and have managed to befriend a couple of people going on the same trip as me. I can't wait. I'm not much of a picture person but I promise there will be LOTS of photos from this summer... OMG. 40 days. seriously!?

Signed up today for my study abroad in Amman! I can't wait. I'm so excited but nervous at the same time. I have traveled abroad quite a bit but it's my first time overseas alone. I'll let you know how it goes!