My Heart Will Go On

Man the weekend feels good! I am especially happy because my mom just changed my flights so instead of having an 8 hour lay over in JFK only to fly to DC and have a 3 hour layover and THEN get to boston i am now flying to JFK, have a 2.5 hour layover and flying straight to Boston. what a lifesaver! Additionally i will now be arriving home on the 22nd instead of the 24th so inshallah i will not be a jetlagged mess on xmas eve.

today some friends and I went to wild jordan, a restaurant that is run by the ecological something something part of the government. It is an effort to make jordanian tourism more green and sustainable, the restaurant is one aspect. It was interesting because for my internship class we read a case study of wild jordan but I had never actually gone. All the food is healthy, organic, and harvested/cooked in ecofriendly ways. The seven of us were seated in what seemed to be the hallway but it was nice anyway. On the way to get a cab we walked up rainbow street, which has a lot of cafes and hang out areas for shebab (guys), and I saw a group of guys huddled around a man playing an accordian playing my heart will go on!! i couldnt keep from laughing, it was so great.

Only 17 days left...I cant believe it. I have to write a case study on Al Jidara (where I intern), take a final for Amerca and the Arabs, a spoken and written 3mia final and a written and listening fousha final. Seems like a lot to pack into 17 days, oh yea and i have to pack too!. My time here has been amazing but I am really excited to go home. Not that I am unhappy in any way, I love my life here, which I know is because of my amazing host family, but I cant wait to see everyone back in Cambridge. It is not like each day was a challenge or that I could really pinpoint one thing but living here was harder than I thought it would be. Nothing in particular, and not bad, just different. I think because I had such an amazing time in Korea I thought that being here would be easy, but there is a difference between 6 weeks and 3 months. Regardless I am still really excited to go to Korea. I think it will be completely different from here but my experiences here will help me living away for so long as well.

I am slightly worried (well not really) about Korea because I think I have a complacent attitude, like oh, i have lived there for 6 weeks, I know everything, its going to be super easy, whereas coming to jordan i knew i was starting from scratch and going to struggle. I need to keep telling myself that i shouldnt get full of myself and assume i know everything (even though i do know everything) so i can have the best experience ever instead of letting myself down. At least I am aware of this and can pull in the reins if I ever feel that i am trying too hard or get frustrated because i feel like i shouldn't have the new comer problems. I am planning to stop in Hong Kong on the way there to see my best friend lukas, who studied abroad near shanghai this semester and will be in hong kong next semester. I am also planning on getting to Korea a little early to meet up with some guys from Drexel who are there working in Hubo lab but will be leaving as soon as my semester starts and of course my korean lab boys.

ah but i still have my wonderful time hanging out in cambridge until february! I will slave away in the Harvard mailroom to make ends meet and hopefully just spend the whole month hanging out with people i havent seen and wont see for a while. ALSO I WILL TURN 21!!! ALHAMDULILAH! I have already told my dad that since i spent a semester in a muslim country and will then be legal i plan on spending the whole month of january in a drunken stupor. i will be accepting donations to this cause...youll know where to find me in cambridge soon enough! until then i gotta hit the books and earn my As!