I have some great photos of the construction work we see on the way to uni everyday. No such thing as OH&S here! There are metal poles, massive holes and equipment on the side of the roads. Across from our apartment there is a new apartment block being built. The workers live in shelters on the site and we can see them from our balcony sitting around the fire at night, and washing and hanging there clothes during the day. They’re very hard workers. In the last 2 days they have built 2 floors!!! It will probably be around 5, maybe 6 floors altogether. And they work from 7am until late at night.


The part of Amman we are in is neither west nor east, but kinda in the middle and north of the city. It’s a very new part, there is a LOT of construction work going on around us. We were told by our tour guide on our first day that it is like the Beverley Hills of Amman. So we are very lucky.
Evidently the average Jordanian wage is around 100 JD per week, which is only $250 australian. So we find everything so cheap here, but for them it is not the case at all.
Today we all took an Arabic test at the language centre so the teachers could determine which groups we wil be in. Needless to say that all us first years probably understood about 2% of the whole test. But that’s ok, it wasn’t for marks, it was just for us to be put in the right groups.
We also got a tour of the university today. It is HUGE!!! There are sooooooo many students too! 38 000 all up! And like usual we got stared at the whole time. I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get used to the staring. There are so many restaurants, and kiosks and banks and post offices. It’s like a little village. It has a stadium and a gym and a huge library. I think it must be what one of the Ivy league universities must be like in the states. Nothing like Unisa.
After uni I spent 2 hours in the internet cafe talking to my family and James. I also got to upload many of my photos. I apologise to anyone if I haven’t got back to comments yet, I’m not very good at multitasking, and I only have a limited time in the cafe. Once I get onto the uni’s wireless network I’ll be abe to reply to everyone.
After that, Anisa and I went to the phone store and I bought a Jordanian sim card because my travelsim is driving me nuts and half my texts don’t get to anyone. It only cost 5JD and the rates are awesome. I get to choose 3 numbers which are always 40 cents per minute (australian) and the rest are like 60 cents international calls and 40 cents for local calls. The best thing is, the sms’ work!!!
Then I had to buy new purse because unfortunately the one Nick and Abbey got me from their trip has fallen to pieces. Sorry guys! But it did come in very handy for the first few days! We also bought notebooks for class tomorrow and found a fruit and veg store.
Tonight Anisa made dinner which was amazing! Best of all mum, she taught me!! It’s a pakistani type dish made with all different spices and vegies and okra! And rice! I need to return the favour, but I can’t cook as amazing as her, so anyone feel free to send me recipes!!!! I need all the help I can get. Red meat looks like it’s hard to find here too... So I think I’ll need to eat extra spinach and greens to keep my iron levels up. Maybe I can have a beef shawarma once a week to keep me going.
At the moment we are writing our journals. We finished dinner and sat down and thought that it must be 9 o’clock by now and instead it was 6:50!!! So we are forcing ourselves to stay up until 10ish so we don’t wake up at 3 again!
Tomorrow we start class which is exciting! I really want to get better at my Arabic. Being here for a few days has shown me how little I actually know!
Maa salaama! (Goodbye!)
Carly
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