My first week went by fast, but my second week went by even faster. This week was another week of excitement for me! There is just so much to do. First off, I’ve been so tired lately that I stopped noticing the 4 am prayer calls. (Great for me because I’m a light sleeper and I don’t have to toss and turn to get back to sleep anymore.) Curiosity stuck with me, but I was able to ask around and learn a little bit more about these prayer calls. These calls come from mosques which are locations where Muslims pray. At first after a couple days in Jordan, I thought these prayer calls were recordings, but it turns out that a muezzin, (a chosen man that leads the call to prayer) sing this melodious call/chat. I posted a picture of a mosque in downtown Amman in my previous post. The building can be distinguished by the green lights.
Just a little side note if you didn’t already know...the working days here in Jordan is different compared to the United States. In Jordan, Sunday-Thursday is equivalent to the United States Monday-Friday. So for me, classes start on Sunday and end on Thursday. This week, I have been able to participate a bit more in class, which is helping me with my confidence. The thought of being wrong scares me, but I’m starting to realize that discussing my thoughts and being wrong is ok, especially when it is helping me with my critical thinking skills.
This week, I had two quizzes, so of course I did a ton of studying. It made the time go by faster, but this intense course is taking a toll on me. These two courses are pushing me to the limit but for the better. I am learning so much, not only about global health and epidemiology, but also about my own personal studying habits and time management skills. I’m doing my best to keep up, and am continuing to push myself because I know I can do this!
Thursday was an eventful day for me. Our class site visits were to an herbal clinic, and the UNRWA headquarters. The UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and is the main provider of basic services such as health, education, relief and social services to registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East. The clinic that I have been going to on Mondays and Wednesdays, Al Baqa’a, is through the UNRWA. Being able to visit the UNRWA headquarters is going to stick with me for a very very long time. The UNRWA is doing so much and such incredibly amazing things that are changing the lives of so many refugees, it is unbelievably heart touching. I know this is very hard for the readers of my blog to understand but for me, being able to see everything first hand is very emotional. Just being in Jordan, visiting the clinics, seeing how hard the doctors and staff are working, in such conditions, is just mind blowing. If you would like to know more about UNRWA, you can visit a website called American friends of UNRWA at www.friendsUNRWA.org.
On Thursday evening, I rode a jamal (camel)!
On Friday, our group moved hotels. Yes, very shocking to me too but the issue with the internet not working or working intermittently needed to be fixed. So as a group we moved from the Arena Hotel to Gardenia Hotel. The Gardenia Hotel is closer to downtown Amman, and I honestly hope the internet issue will be fixed once we are settled. Internet access will be especially important for us these upcoming weeks for class as we will be doing a lot of research. I have my fingers crossed! Plus, with internet access, hopefully I’ll be able to blog more too!
Oh, and by the request of some of the blog readers, here are some pictures of the foods I’ve been eating!
Can't wait to share more experiences and pictures soon! :)
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