PST

so in the world of the peace corps everything is acronyms. right now i am in PST, which is preservice training, so i am on my way to Mafraq to begin all of my language and technical training, along with starting my 9 week homestay. I can't wait to meet my family and i'll hopefully be able to get to an internet cafe at at least some point during this time to let you all know how much i am failing at arabic, how much i am being laughed at, and how much i get to make fun of my fellow trainees because they have to adjust to the squatter toilets and (thank you beautiful thailand!) i have already come to terms with that demon. i'll try to post a pic or two, amman is actually pretty awesome from above, but i'm already unbelievably pressed for time. love you all.

Hello From Jordan

Hello from Jordan! So turns out when I signed up to do Peace Corps Jordan they actually meant that they were going to send me to the actual country to actually live. So far we are just in a hotel in Amman, doing all the registration stuff and getting paperwork done. They gave us 21 dinar or JDs as "walkaround money" which is about 32 dollars I think, but I haven't had a chance to use it since we only got in yesterday at about 7pm and have had constant things to do since then. Haven't really gotten a chance to walk around the city at all, but I think tonight we are going to have some free time after dinner to hit some shops and take a look around. Not much interesting to say just yet, just getting to know the other volunteers, all 41 of them, and just learning their names is taking up most of my brainpower. There is a huge mix of people, even a few married couples which I was surprised about. I'm shooting this off in a few minutes break between sessions, in the lobby of the hotel where they have wireless(!) and it's pretty hot down here because all the doors are open, so I think I'm going to head back up to the room to freshen up a bit and stop sweating before the next session starts. Brought a hair straightener to tame the beast, but it doesn't seem to work even with the adapter sooooo I look good all the time now. Luckily it may be hot but it's not very humid. Winter should be starting in just a few weeks which I am already looking forward to since hot weather and multiple layers covering wrists and ankles don't mix all that well for me.

I would love to sign off with an Arabic phrase, but I can't because I know none. So I'll just say I miss you all and I'll try to send more enthralling updates whenever possible. On that note it may not be possible for the next 3 months but we'll see.

Love