November 14, 2010l

Dearest Family & Friends,

Time to send all of you an update…by the time I will be able to send you this letter in an e-mail it will be next Sunday, November 21, 2010.  In the brief e-mails I have been able to send up until now I have repeated that the internet use is limited to only a couple of days and this day…this week, Nov. 14 2010 it was only one day.  When I say it is available they only give us very brief amounts of free time in between the language classes/culture and Peace Corps sessions when we can slip back to our rooms and use the internet – but the time is short.  They told us it would be this way during training.

Finally it occurred to me to write and just save the document and then send it off to you when I am able to get online…sometimes I am a little slow at figuring things out.  We have been extremely busy with the beginning language classes - learning to speak Arabic is a challenge - as well as learning the Arabic alphabet and learning to read and write it. Hopefully I will learn to read & write it   “ in sha ‘ allah “… in sha ‘ allah  means in God’s will - The Moslem term that the Jordanian people here use  and use this expression pretty much in about every third sentence they speak.  When I think back on the last year and how I applied for Peace Corps when I knew I would have to retire.  I applied to see if I could get in and then I would know I had a job.  When I think about how inspirational it has been to follow in Anna’s footsteps and to have her as my daughter/ Peace Corps mentor…and now that is day 21 here living in Jordan…what a grand and great life adventure I am on in a part of the world I never dreamed or even gave a passing thought to being in… Wow!!!  YES I am in God’s will!!!

Many of you have asked me questions about life here in Jordan.  I want to tell you that a misconception that I had and many have about Jordan.  Jordan is a country here in the Middle East that has NO oil. Right?  Yes, it has NO OIL. I didn’t know that until I got here.  It is NOT an oil rich country- even though it is a middle eastern country it is not a middle east oil producing country.  Jordan survives on mostly outside aid.  It’s interesting…people work…some and there is some agriculture and some other economic development…but from what I have learned Jordan largely survives on aid…when I get the internet on a more regular basis I plan to study Jordan more, as well as trying to learn more in depth about the history of this land throughout the centuries.

As for me here is my story:   When we arrived we were in the capital city of Amman on October 25 for 3 days for what is called pre-service training.  There was a lot of paperwork involved and medical stuff, such as getting shots, immunizations to help keep us all healthy here in country.

We arrived at Queen Alia Airport in Amman, Jordan at 2:15 a.m. Jordanian time.  We left JFK airport in New York on Saturday night 10/23/2010 east coast time at around 10:30…we had a long layover in Frankfurt, Germany - got to see a little bit of Frankfurt, then back to the airport for a late night flight to here – Jordan.  4 hour flight from Frankfurt to Jordan.  After 3 nights in Amman, they moved us to a city that is north of Amman, maybe an hour or so, this city is in the north by northeast, it is called Mafraq.  There is a university called Al alBayt that they are using as a training center for formal language and culture sessions.  We were there for 2 nights and then they took us all to our host family homes in villages near & around the city of Mafraq.  My village is called K...  I am here in my host family’s home right now.  I have very nice accommodations here…a large room…near the bathroom.  I have a real bed, which many of my PC compatriots do not.  They sleep on cushions or mats that are typical of many Jordanian homes.  I am pretty much at the Hilton of Peace Corps host family homes.  Great digs…where NO ONE smokes…and this is totally unusual in Jordanian homes.  My PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) really did me a big favor, and was sensitive to the request I made…so an asthma attack would not be triggered by the smoke.  We study w/ a language trainer each day of the week except Fridays.  Friday is the Moslem Sunday, it is the big day off…things are closed…families have a big meal together and they do a lot of visiting.  On Saturday they also spend time visiting and doing a lot of things similar to how we might spend a Saturday – chores and errands.  Then Sunday starts the week again, like our Monday…so many of us feel like it is Sunday when it is Friday…it is kind of like being in a time warp.  I have to keep looking at the calendar on my cell phone to figure out what day of the week it is. 

The family has a father & mother, I think they are around my age…maybe a little older, but the age is hard to tell.  They have 3 grown daughters at home, one smaller son who I think is 10 years old.  2 of the daughters are 23 & 22 so they are close to Anna’s age, the other one, I am not sure, I think she may be like 25.  They have another daughter who is married and doesn’t live here – and another son in his twenties who is in the military and stationed in the south, but he has been home twice since I have been in this home since October 29.  The typical day starts around 5 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. they are right outside my bedroom door where the sink is outside the bathroom.  When I hear the family up and moving I know it will be time for me to rise as well.  I hear when breakfast starts to get cooked in the kitchen that the far end of my room shares a common wall with.  I try to sneak into the bathroom between all the other family members.

The breakfast can be an interesting variety.  Since this letter is getting kind of long I think I will save describing typical Jordanian food for another installment at a later date. Anyway, there is no lack of food in my house, for which I am fortunate from what some of the other trainees tell me.  Both the father and mother really like to eat…more so than 2 of the daughters and the little boy who are not as hearty of eaters as the parents.  So, I do get plenty to eat. 

So, I am plugging along with language and culture lessons.  It is difficult,,,but I have learned most of the letters, still getting some of them mixed up..the letters change form when they connect w/ other letters depending on where they are in the word.  The family talks to me and I can get some words, but not whole sentences.  The mom is always telling me what things are, especially the food & I repeat them.   Verb conjugations and plurals as well as masculine and feminine forms of nouns, adjectives and pronouns are all quite challenging.  

It’s been warm here.  I don’t even know how cold it’s gotten at home because of limited internet access I don’t have time to look up weather & news back home.

By the time you get this it either will be Thanksgiving or almost Thanksgiving.  I want to wish you all a very blessed and loving Thanksgiving.  Bonny, Anna & I are in faraway places from each other.  We 3 chose these paths…but never-the-less please keep us in your prayers.  I know this is a long letter…more later on.  God Bless You & Keep you safe & feeling His love!      

 Jo   ~   Aunt Jo

Joanne  (whichever applies)