FROM JORDAN WITH LOVE

Arrived in Amman from Japan February 1 via Beijing and Dubai (thanks to Air China, which welcomed me to their frequent flier program by charging me over $1000 for overweight luggage - I unpacked excess junk at Osaka airport, jettisoning anything with weight, and got it down to just $100 overweight!)

I thought I would feel immediate culture shock (Japan is not like the Middle East in many important respects), but it was as if I had merely changed gears and was instantly "Sundberg of Arabia" again, with my trusty camel and bedouin guides setting explosives along the Hijaz railway against the dastardly Ottoman Turks of the Axis of Evil ...

Oops, wrong story. Mine a little more prosaic, I'm afraid.

I was met at the airport by my old Georgetown friend Dale's Associated Press driver Abdullah and whisked into downtown Amman, where Dale met me and took me to some friends' place as a temporary guesthouse until I could find my own apartment.

Now, into week 3, I have ...

a) enrolled at the University of Jordan's Arabic for Speakers of Other Languages Program (ASOL) placing in level 7 (out of 6 - they had to create a new level due to the number of advanced students this semester). I have my UJ ID card and new dictionaries.

b) leased an apartment in the old part of town (the "real" Amman, to my mind) near First Circle on Jebel Amman. At the moment, I am living in sawdust from the carpenter (who has been putting together my armoire closet and bed) and peeled wall paint chips from the painter. Normally, the landlord arranges remodeling BEFORE the tenant moves in, but this is Jordan ... But ultimately, it should be a nice place: I'm on the ground floor off a little tiled courtyard with a lemon tree behind a wall. My neighbor, who introduced himself a couple of days ago, is a Sudanese pastor named Jacob.

First Circle is not very close to the university, but there is more to my life (I hope) than just studies, and outside of classes, the university area is, I'm afraid to say, a touch boring. The heart of Amman is just down the hill from my flat, and up one street is the newly gentrifying "Rainbow Street" (named after an old theater in the area) with bookshops, cafes, and restaurants. I do plan to study, just not buried away in my apartment for hours!

I did a little review after arriving to see how many times I've been in Amman. My first visit here was with my parents and sister and two Iowa cousins Julie and Jane for Christmas 1974 (yes, I was barely out of diapers). Including the present 5-month Arabic study visit, I counted seven visits!