Jordan

Ulpan ended last week, I took the test, and then everyone from the Rothberg School wanted to go to Eilat. However, my friend Dave, Yael, and I felt we needed more than sunny beaches of Eilat- we needed adventure. There are several reasons why I chose not to stay in Eilat and instead test my luck in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
1. I have never been to Jordan before. I went to Eilat 4 years ago on Seminar and even though I quite enjoyed it, it was nothing new. It's very important to me that I try new things this semester, and heading east is certainly new.
2. Petra was supposed to be beautiful. And it was beautiful. I am thrilled I was able to walk down the historic siq, see the incredible temples carved out of rock, and drink tea with the hospitable Bedouins. It was amazing. I got pictures up.
3. I needed some adventure. Laying around on a beach is fun and everything, but it's not like I've been particularly hounded for the past month. I hardly consider going out every night and wandering around Jerusalem that stressful on the body or mind. I mean, Ulpan was interesting but it was hardly challenging. But good news! I passed my Ulpan test! Kitah Bet, here I come!
Anyway, hiking through the hills of Petra, riding donkeys up mountains, and exploring cities where there's hardly any English and absolutely zero Hebrew just seemed much more in the cards than getting burnt in Eilat. Plus, there's plenty of opportunity in the future to go to the beach, be it in Eilat or Tel-Aviv. Going across the border is a special occassion.
I have one story of particular interest. The three of needed to get to Amman Friday morning so we took a cab to Maan where there were busses to Amman. We got on this Sherut type of deal which we were told was supposed to cost a Dinar and a half (roughly $3). However, the man who collected money from us instead took 3 dinars from us each. Confused, we each paid more than we thought we had to. Suddenly, a man sitting to our right starts speaking to the man collecting the money in Arabic that is clearly getting the money collector more and more angry. The collector begins yelling, clearly very upset. Babies start crying. Everyone's looking at us. I begin to feel a little sick. What's going on? What have we done? Is this an Arab only bus? Are we not allowed on this bus? Suddenly, the collector violently throws 2 dinars back into my hand and screams some Arabic explitive at the man to our right. He then lunges towards him and needs to be restrained by other men on the bus. He's finally escorted away. We offer the man who saved us a collective 4 and a half dinars and "shookran" (thank you) and were more than greatful for his samaritan gesture. He said something when he really didn't have to for the greater good. Just a nice story in a land whose people often get a bad rap. But that money collector was an ass. Can't defend him.
We arrived in Amman in a peaceful 2 hours. Didn't care much for the city that used to be called "Philadelphia," but it was interesting nontheless. I just got bad vibes because there was a very sparse female presence. Things just felt off balance. I must admit, however, that the people there were quite friendly. Those who knew a little English were eager to salute us with a hearty "Welcome!" and were happy to help us find our way around the developing city. With that said, there's really no reason for visiting Amman -- there's just too many nicer Middle Eastern cities to visit. If you really need a new sheshbesh board or curved knife, you can find a perfectly good one in the old city.
We made it home from Amman the next day relatively quickly without much hassle at the Allenby boarder. It felt incredibly refreshing to hear hebrew spoken again...and to see women! Beautiful, Israeli woman, with uncovered heads! Wallah!
Classes started today. Foreign Policy of Israel. Seems boring and interesting at the same time. Sorry if that doesn't make sense. I can't wait for my Israeli culture class through ethnography and film. And I just made plans with Aunt Elana to celebrate my passing into Kitah Aleph to Bet by going to McDonalds with the mishpacha. Tomorrow should be a fun day.

Pooper Bowl

Day after the Eagle's dissapointing loss in the Super Bowl. I woke up this morning at 3 pm feeling hung over and empty. After staying up until almost 6 AM to watch what should have been Philadelphia's first major sports championship in my lifetime, I had no trouble falling asleep, despite my incredible dissapointment in my team.
But waking up was incredibly difficult. I realize its just a game but the frustration just takes a toll on you. It's just hard not to invest in this team, to root and cheer for them. They're just a fun, exciting, charismatic bunch. So many stories, TO, just being from Philadelphia, the Eagle's deserved to win this. ESPNmotion showed a clip from the postgame press conference where TO said something along the lines of "If Brett Farve would have played through this he would have been called a hero, and I was called 'selfish'." How can you not root for a guy like that? So many haters, so many people you just wanted to stick it to.
I watched the game at Jeff Seidel's Student Center. He had the game projected onto a wall so there were no problems watching it. As people walked in I took an unofficial poll of who was supporting whom. The Patriots had a far greater fanbase, funny considering how only one was actually from the subjective area of "New England." My friend Dave from Cherry Hill and I were the only ones there who were truely rooting for the Eagles. This girl was too but I forget her name. I know her friend is name Ariella though, for whatever that's worth and that she goes to camp Mosheva. Or is her friend? I guess that's not important.
Because there were around 50 kids at this party, and only 2 of them were actually philly fans from philly, I had to represent. We cheered, yelled, and screamed the E-A-G-L-E-S bee after every first down. Of course, people jeered and rolled their eyes, but we didn't care. After we scored first, pure jubilation -- we were meushar, which is a hebrew word that loosely translates to happily content. Jumping around, singing the Eagles fight song. The pat fan wasn't as obnoxious as the New York fans, who love rooting against the Eagles almost as much as they love rooting for their pathetic Giants.
They didn't phase us, however, as the scoreboard indicated, we were winning, just 3 quarters away from our first ever Super Bowl championship.
But then the 4th quarter came. They scored. And they scored again. Uh oh. We're down ten with 3 minutes left. Crap. The New York fans are starting to really tick me off. The smug look on the Pats fan is even more. Those girls who were yelling at me to stop screaming were really starting to bother me too. I realize it's 4 AM here, but the Eagle's are in the superbowl, goddammit!! I don't CARE if neighbors are complaining! This kind of situation doesn't happen every day, let alone every 25 years!
Another ugly, unforgiving McNabb pick. We lose. New York fans cheer as if their team had actually won it. Dave and I sit with our heads in our palms. The pats fan, in an act of class, greets us with a handshake and "good game." We go home to sleep.
Today I went to the ministry of tourism internship orientation. I was placed in the "Alternative Tourism and Target Audeinces" unit. It seems pretty interesting and I think I'm going to do it instead of work at the Truman Institute. I realize that the Truman Institute has alot to offer but I just think I'd have more fun this one and be happier. I just feel a little bad about not taking the Truman one because it seemed like they had alot of interesting things to teach about the Military Occupation in the territories. Perhaps I'll come back and work with that later. This Ministry of Tourism opportunity is simply something I will probably never have an opportunity to work on again. The Palestinian thing I can do later if I want to.
One thing I have noticed is that being 3000 miles away from the chaos of the Super Bowl makes the pain of defeat easier to deal with. This weather has simply been awful though. It's been cold and rainy every day for the past week, and it doesn't look like it'll be getting any better for at least another month. So until then, I'll just have to bear with it and trudge through it. Shabbas with Aunt Elana, Uncle Steve, and the kids was lovely, however. They put leftover Chullent in a jar for me which provides me with lunch and dinner for the next couple of days. Thanks, Aunt Elana!