My overall hatred of spectator sports is being seriously compromised by how awesome the World Cup has been. I've actually only watched a couple of the matches (including the one between Holland and Spain), but it's been better than I could have expected. There's nothing like hanging out at a chill bar or cafe, smoking narghile, having a beer, and getting really into the game with everyone else in the room. I always pick the underdog team because, typically, everyone here roots for the same countries. When Holland slaughtered Spain, I was probably the only one happy about it. Unfortunately, a lot of the matches take place in the late afternoon in Brazil which is very late at night here, so I won't be able to watch most of them.
I had my first language partner meeting today-- a weekly 3-hour-long meeting. Luckily my language partner, Muhammad, seems really interesting and interested in everything. When I ask him if he's heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, he tells me all the novels of his that he's read. When I tell him how much I love Salvador Dali, he shows me his favorite painting of his and has me explain the symbolism behind it. He's seemingly really interested in different religions, though he says he's not religious himself. He asked me all about different excerpts from the Bible, but he clearly knows more about Christianity than I do. Luckily, he likes pool, ping pong, and tennis, so those, along with watching the World Cup matches, will probably take up most of our meetings.
Tomorrow I plan on going to the American Embassy to apply for a second passport. I never thought it was possible to legally hold two valid American passports, but under special circumstances it is allowed. My 'special' circumstance is that I want to visit the West Bank as soon as possible. It's fairly simple going there by car or bus without entering Israel, but once you cross into the West Bank from Jordan, you get an Israeli stamp in your passport. Supposedly Israelis will stamp a separate page if you request it but I can't risk them stamping my actual passport. Once they do, that would eliminate the possibility of me traveling to Lebanon or, more importantly, Yemen, or any other Arab country aside from Egypt, Morocco, and, obviously, Jordan. Because of this situation, I should be eligible for a 2 year temporary passport, which would be reserved for travel to Israel and Palestine.
And finally, there's nothing like looking at kayak.com and seeing that a round trip flight to Beirut is only $250. Given my three day weekends, I'm sure this is something I'll take advantage of. My freedom and my proximity to all of these places where I've wanted to be for so long is overwhelming. It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm in Amman and will likely be in this region for over a year.
![]()
I had my first language partner meeting today-- a weekly 3-hour-long meeting. Luckily my language partner, Muhammad, seems really interesting and interested in everything. When I ask him if he's heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, he tells me all the novels of his that he's read. When I tell him how much I love Salvador Dali, he shows me his favorite painting of his and has me explain the symbolism behind it. He's seemingly really interested in different religions, though he says he's not religious himself. He asked me all about different excerpts from the Bible, but he clearly knows more about Christianity than I do. Luckily, he likes pool, ping pong, and tennis, so those, along with watching the World Cup matches, will probably take up most of our meetings.
Tomorrow I plan on going to the American Embassy to apply for a second passport. I never thought it was possible to legally hold two valid American passports, but under special circumstances it is allowed. My 'special' circumstance is that I want to visit the West Bank as soon as possible. It's fairly simple going there by car or bus without entering Israel, but once you cross into the West Bank from Jordan, you get an Israeli stamp in your passport. Supposedly Israelis will stamp a separate page if you request it but I can't risk them stamping my actual passport. Once they do, that would eliminate the possibility of me traveling to Lebanon or, more importantly, Yemen, or any other Arab country aside from Egypt, Morocco, and, obviously, Jordan. Because of this situation, I should be eligible for a 2 year temporary passport, which would be reserved for travel to Israel and Palestine.
And finally, there's nothing like looking at kayak.com and seeing that a round trip flight to Beirut is only $250. Given my three day weekends, I'm sure this is something I'll take advantage of. My freedom and my proximity to all of these places where I've wanted to be for so long is overwhelming. It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm in Amman and will likely be in this region for over a year.
No comments:
Post a Comment