Home Stretch

Ahhh.. So I'm into the home stretch... Less that one month to go Al-Hamdoulillah. I really don't think I can get out of here soon enough. May Allah swt give me patience.

So had the second of the three exams for this quarter - it didn't go as well as I'd hoped so Insha'allah I'll sit the retake either on Tuesday or Saturday depending on the homework situation and how muc study I actually get in...

Had a wonderful experience in a taxi today (I know it almost sounds like a lie)! So I leave class and I go wait on the street for a cab and after a few short minutes one stops. He doesn't argue with me about taking me where I want to go, in fact he is quite pleasant - he asks my permission to stop for petrol, which due to his manners I agree to and don't even bother to get irritated that the meter is still running (standard practice). Anyway, while waiting for the car to be filled he asks me if I'd like some 1JD notes (Jordan is strange in that everybody wants you to pay for everything in "ones" - using a bigger note can result in scorn and even rejection - its like buying groceries for a week with one dollar coins!). I take his notes and give him a five, which he promptly gives to the petrol-man (no arguement because the petrol is exactly 5JD). The we continue on our merry way. He asked me if I was at the mall, and I explain that I study near by. So he tells me that he remembers me, he's driven me before apparently on the way to school with two of the other girls about a month back - a little weird considering how many people he must pick up each day, but anyway he seemed vaguely familiar. So he asks if I'm American. After I explain that I am from Australia, he asks if there are a lot of Muslims in Aussie (Arabs love this question for some reason), so I explain that there aren't really that many when compared to the rest of the population. So he asks if I'm muslim. Now there comes a time when you no longer have the energy to be irritated by this question - it took time, but I have reached that point. So I reply in the affirmative. He asks if I'm really Australian, once again I reply in the affirmative. But he is convinced I am (at least) part-Arab. So I explain "Dad's from Aussie and Mum's from Britain". He asks if they are muslim too. I say no. So he starts praying for them - that was nice. So he asks if I'm married - standard fare...I say yes... Anyway, so we get to the house and I go to pay and he refuses to take my money. He told me the ride was free and he hoped my studies went well.

I was smiling for most of the afternoon - what a nice fellow. May Allah swt reward him. Amin.
In fact, now that I think about it, I've had good taxi drivers for the last month or so - not one inappropriate comment... Maybe its because my Arabic is getting slightly better...

So now I'm back to the drugery of "house life". Feeling very constrained. Very tired of things. Very irritable. Need to get out of here and onto somewhere else. Need change.

Early class in the morning - just what I need on my day off. Al-hamdoulillah.

Insha'allah all is well. Still missing home. Space. Greenery. The water. Kheir insha'allah.

Much love and ma'a salama

Still Alive

Yes, I am still alive. Nothing much of interest has occurred of late. Just study, study and more study.. Oh and the development of an obsession with Sugar Daddies! *yum* It is probably the only place in Jordan where you can buy real cupcakes! I may have to blow the weekly food budget just to have one, but damn it, its worth it!

Sat my first exam of the quarter almost a month ago now and I did ok - the second exam of the quarter is on Saturday (du'as please).

Today was an interesting day. I started off with tajweed - where I convieniently learnt how to curse more accurately (in arabic of course) - and read more pages in one lesson than I have ever read before, which was very exciting and motivating. Al-hamdoulillah I'm almost finished Juz Amma - quite an achievement if you had heard me attempt to read less than a month ago subhan'allah. After tajweed (cleaning the house, getting worked up at the slowness of our internet, pretending to do homework) the girls went out to lunch with on of the teachers - she's hilarious, she's finally realised my arabic is NOT good enough to have a conversation lol, but masha'allah she is very patient. Lunch was ok, not great, blew the budget, still feeling ill... I really need to stop overeating.

Other than that the remainder of the day has thus far consisted of homework and note writing, all I really want to do is sleep and its only 8PM! Daylight saving changes are killing my time. Insha'allah we're planning a trip to the Occupied Territories for the next Eid break instead of a re-run of Wadi Mujib. I'm sooo excited!

In the short-term though, I'm more excited about my chai and watching Summer Heights High (yes I have spent the last 40 hours downloading lol - I told you, ridiculously slow internet)...

So life is as it was. Insha'allah all are well. I'm missing clean air, open spaces, parks, trees, any form of greenery really, and the sea.

Much Love and Ma'a Salama.