>2nd cup (abdoun)- not my favorite.
>al-shareef cafe (right behind my house , 30 sec walk) - i love it, more on the traditional side. most of the time, the cafe is full of men playing cards and smoking hookah. i've come here to study twice. it's nice. i always sit by the entrance, so i get front row seats to the little breeze that blows into the cafe and makes a hot summer day in amman much more tolerable. they serve traditional arabic coffee here & it is so good. orange juice here is freshly squeezed and equally amazing.
>internet cafe (mukhtar mall, right next to qasid institute, 5 min walk) - this place is okay. they have nice plush seats but it gets really hot, especially because it's on the top level of the mall. ambience isn't my favorite.
>turtle green tea bar (rainbow street) - i love it here. it's got a very hip, young vibe. drinks are a bit pricey but they know how to do their drinks. my 3 JD arnold palmer hit the spot ; so delicious. smoking section upstairs (this seems to be pretty common; 2nd cup had the same set up). this place had chalk for the blackboard near the baristas and bar stools, turtle pillows, and kick-ass music. they played coldplay, death cab for cutie, whole bunch of cool french music, even a pink floyd cover in french. i really enjoyed hanging out here. it seemed like the place to hang out too - everyone seemed to know everybody (but then again, that might just be the nature of amman). turtle green, you better watch out, because i will be back.
class: has been good. i was feeling a bit complacent a few days ago - we were still reviewing material that i had already covered spring quarter and the class activities were a bit repetitive and dry. it has also been difficult to jump right back into an 8 am schedule. i have been napping a lot this past week and doing homework all day; hadn't had much of a chance to explore the city. things have been getting better though. my teachers are both great. i especially like tasneen - we play games in her class :) i'm trying to change my mindset and marinate it with reminders such as , "your time here really won't last so make the most of it. qasid is a great institute with great teachers. there's always something new to learn." we may be getting more students at the institute due to the politics in egypt. i found out about morsi at a concert i had gone to tonight. it was so surreal.
successes: upon leaving turtle green tea cafe, i was on the prowl for a taxi. there were a couple parked on the side of the road but they wanted to charge me 4 JD for the ride home (i had paid 2 JD, meter rate, on the way over). no fucking way. found another taxi but it had a broken meter, so i asked if he would take me for 2 JD. he wanted 3 JD. i didn't want to give in that easily. 2.5 JD? okay, 2.5 JD. and thus, my first successful bargain. i ended up leaving the cab feeling quite elated because i had also managed to hold a decent conversation in arabic with the cab driver. life in jordan seems hard but taxi drivers don't have it that bad. it's a pretty good job - they make around the average salary (500-600 JD a month).
rando thoughts: overall, things have felt kind of a roller coaster ride. there have been ups and downs, good and bad. right now, i think i am on the upswing. i was feeling homesick, for people i love back home, mainly. i've decided that the solution is to carve out a community for myself here and to keep myself busy. i hope to get plugged into a church and i'm going to check out one next sunday. pretty excited. i gotta embrace this country. be excited. i think it also helps that my premenstrual mood swings are over.
it matters not how strait the gate.
how charged with punishment the scroll.
i am the master of my fate.
i am the captain of my soul.
--william earnest henley
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