Hangin with the shabab

Well hello everyone! So last night I was back in my apt, and I had a relatively functional nights rest! After the cockroach massacre last night (which was followed up by some additional executions this evening) and after taking care of the blog and some emails, I participated in the mosquito massacre. I closed the door to my room and then proceeded to hunt down every mosquito I could find... killing about 5 or 6. I went to bed, and was mocked by a few that I had missed. They underestimated my level of annoyance with them. I woke up, turned on the lights, and proceeded to hunt them like the evil vermin they were. I even taunted them... out loud! And though they seemed to cleverly hide... I outwitted them each time. Ha!

Today was a pretty good day. I mostly cleaned. I went to the store to get some supplies, and then I scrubbed my floors (although I haven't quite got to the bathroom yet... ick!). Once the floors were clean I went to a local shop and bought some carpet, which really makes this place feel more homey. It's like I'm doing interior design... I bought a tablecloth for the table, I'm going to print out some pictures to put on the walls. I figure if I'm gonna be here for three months, I may as well settle in.

At lunchtime I was wandering and found a falafel shop here in town. I ordered one and talked to the guy while he made it. He welcomed me to Sab'ha, and then refused to take any money for it. Have I mentioned how awesome these people are? They are the kindest, most hospitable people on the face of the planet, and I am very grateful to have this experience.

When I was tired of cleaning (thus... I still have a dirty bathroom) I headed outside to wander some more. I came across a group of shabab (teenage guys) and they invited me to hang with them. We just walked together for a while... cruisin'. Their English was OK, and my Arabic is getting better, so we communicated just fine. They're just like any group of American teens; they asked me what my favorite movie was, my favorite car, if the girls were prettier in America than in Jordan, etc. One pulled out his iPod and played some sweet Arab tunes, and we all danced down the street together. It was way fun. One of the guys, whose name was (I think) Fahal, seemed kind of protective of me. When I declined the invitation to ride a shifty looking horse, one of the boys kept hassling me about it, trying to get me to go on. Fahal just grabbed my hand and led me away, dancing and talking. (And he kept holding my hand for probably 5 minutes... which is actually quite normal for guy friends in this culture). When we got back into town, Fahal and one of the boys started arguing over who I would go drink juice with... haha. They played tug-a-war for me, and Fahal won, so I ended up at his home for the next four hours, drinking water, juice, tea, and staying for dinner. I met his cousin, who's about 28 (Fahal is 18) and we had a great conversation. His cousins English is pretty good, and strangely that makes me more confident in my Arabic. I held my own pretty good... they kept complimenting me on my Arabic and acting surprised that I'd only been studying it for a year. We talked about a lot, mealtime customs in America vs. Jordan, marriage (the cousin is engaged), Israelis and Palestinians, the woes of media, etc. And at the end, as always, they made sure to tell me that I can always come to them if I need anything.

Tomorrow is my first day going to the school, so I'm pretty excited. Wish me luck!

يرمي

PS- one more thing: I forgot a sweet story from dinner yesterday. I was trying to ask the father of the household how many sons he had, but I accidentally asked how much his sons cost (which is only one syllable different, in my defense!). We all got a pretty good laugh out of that. I realized later how lucky I was that I didn't ask him about his daughters like that... especially since it was at his house that they proposed a wife for me!