Things Work a Little Differently Here

Saturday is a work day here, which is not a big deal except my brain doesn't want to wrap around that idea quite yet. One reason could be that Saturday night's after work, I go to church with Grace and I am used to church being a part of the weekend routine. Oh well, I'm sure after a few more weeks, I will be used to it. I met some more people tonight at church and the worship music was great, really uplifting to praise with everyone.

Ok, so the really funny part of the day was what happened this evening, after church. My favorite falafal stand was OPEN!! woohoo, so I stopped by and got one for myself, then went over to Grace's to eat and hang out. She had signed up online to talk with an internet company here, Wi-Tribe, about getting a faster speed internet but figured it would take them a few days to respond. Well, no, he responded in about a half hour and said he would come by in the evening to set it up. Because of Ramadan, businesses stay open much later and actually do a lot of work at night, again the flip of the day really. SO at 9:45 pm, the internet calls and shows up at the apartment building. Luckily Grace, her roommate Alexandria, and I were all there so it wasn't as weird as it could have been. Very knowledgeable guy and spoke English so that was a plus. He started to set up the internet, then asked for a glass of water.....a few minutes later asked if he could go out on the balcony to smoke.....a few minutes later asked to use the bathroom....and finally got everything set up, left around 11:00 pm!!!! That would never happen back in the States, a service man doing work at 10:30 pm at night...I mean really. But their internet does seem much faster so I need to contemplate whether I might do that. The plus side of faster internet is the ability to load pictures and things like that at a faster speed. I think skype might work better too so we'll see. I'll make my decision when I move into my own place.

Sessions today were great. I had my group sessions and the kids were FULL of energy once again. They seriously wear me out, trying to keep up with them. It is so cool to see the groups starting to listen to each other and work as a team during different experiences. You can hear it in the music too, they are starting to play together instead of doing their own individual things. Quite awesome actually.

Tomorrow I have more individual sessions so I need to get to sleep. Tomorrow is also NOT a fun day because I have to go get my blood test for my residency information. Everyone that applies for residency in Jordan must get a blood test to make sure you don't have swine flu or HIV. HIV is what they worry about most. If you do have it, you are immediately deported out of the country and cannot live here. Luckily, I am positive I have nothing to worry about in that department but I hate getting blood drawn. Lisa has to do it too so we'll support each other, or at least distract each other from the needle part. Alrighty, off to bed but I"ll talk to you soon! xoxo

so many sides to Amman

Well, today was yet another example of why cities are cool, because they are so varied in what you can do/see/experience. Nothing spectacular happened but throughout the day, I was in a variety of different settings. I could not fall asleep last night because the apartment window is facing a hallway - aka, a lady was talking on her cell phone at 12:30 am! Oh well, it tested my patience and ability to fall asleep during anything, haha. Needless to say, I slept in a bit this morning, got up around 9:30 am, had breakfast, checked the news, read e-mails, and got ready for work. Lisa and I had a meeting at the Conservatory at noon to check in about schedules, insurance, etc. and that went very well. The best part about being at the conservatory is being able to sit down at the grand piano and play. Lisa's main instrument was piano and I love to play so we came up with a couple duets today :o) Well I was there, I also received the music I need to practice to audition for the Amman Symphony Orchestra. Queen Noor attended the last concert they had so that is pretty awesome! I need to practice a lot so we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!!

From the conservatory, I rode with Omar (guy that works with us) to the clinic to have some of my individual sessions. The ride is always interesting because driving in Amman is just scary to begin with, then Omar likes to listen to techno and loud music :o) quite funny actually. I had GREAT sessions with all my kids today, they are really opening up to me and working with the music in a positive way. I just need to make sure I stay creative and open-minded about everything as times goes on.

In yummy news, Grace cooked dinner for Lisa and I tonight which was wonderful. She did a honey mustard type sauce over chicken wings with rice and carrots on the side, such an awesome hostess! We were stuffed at the end of the meal but we still had to go out with Dana, the assistant director at the conservatory, for dessert/coffee. This is where it's funny about Amman. The place we went to was a restaurant in the Inter-continental Hotel of Jordan and it was a really really nice, fancy place. People from all over appeared to be eating there and we enjoyed dessert and coffee with two other people from the States. Tim works for the conservatory teaching percussion and Christina is teaching at Kings Academy, teaching strings and orchestra. Both were great people to meet and excited to be in Amman. I keep experiencing all the different sides of Amman from the flea markets, to fruit stands, to the bank and police station, to nice hotels, to people's homes......in fact, it's pretty awesome!

Going to attempt to get a better night's sleep tonight but I will keep you posted. Talk to you soon, miss you. xoxo

Enjoying the Atmosphere

I am writing to you from one of the local bookstores called "The Good Book Shop" on Rainbow Street. It takes me all of about 5 minutes to walk here but it really is a comfortable place to sit and do work, watch people outside, and relax. I brought my computer up here because they have free wi-fi (and I did buy books from them) and the internet is SOO much faster than mine at home, plus I actually can focus better and get more work done when I am not distracted by the apartment. We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do abotu the internet at home. Grace, Lisa, and I might split the cost for wireless and secure our own network but we're not sure if it's worth it or not. This bookstore is great, it has everything from Christian publications to Lonely Planet guides to cookbooks to kids books and more. I am staring at the Lonely Planet book display because there are so many cool places to go travel. Turkey looks cool, I definitely want to go to Paris, Dubai would be awesome, I think Germany and China could also be good. Haha, looks like I need to narrow my list down and spead it out over a couple years.

Looking down Rainbow Street right now, there are not many people out and about like usual because of Ramadan. Luckily I hit up the local market before they closed so I will be able to make a good dinner tonight. From 7-9:30 ish, Rainbow Street will look like a ghostown but after 10, the party is started. People literally seem to flip their schedule around during Ramadan and stay up even later than normal, then sleep in late in the morning. Last night, Lisa and I went for coffee around 9:30pm (silly decision because then we stayed up until 2 am) but on the way there, people were everywhere on the streets, all the local shops had re-opened for the evening, and even little kids were scooting around. I'm really interested to see what the big celebration at the end of Ramadan will be like. We actually have 4 days off that week, no one works, just parties. Hmmmmm

I am looking forward to more individual sessions with my kids tomorrow. I have my session plans ready but willing to be flexible as well, never know where the music can take us. I've started to expand my repertoire of Arabic music as well....I"ll attempt to post something, we shall see.

Alright, more later, sorry for the stream of conciousness update, sometimes those are fun! Miss you lots and talk to you soon. xoxo

Always an Adventure

Understanding the language seems to be key to getting important things done here. Without that understanding, it makes for a day like mine, yesterday. :o) I had to go to the police station (do not fear, I was not arrested) to extend my visa to a 3 month tourist visa until my residency paperwork goes through and gets processed. Lisa and I jumped in a taxi to literally about 7 minutes to the 3rd circle where the police station was. On the way, the taxi driver "accidentally" passes the 3rd circle and has to turn around, making more money for himself. The ironic part is that while turning around, he backed his car into a high curb and sounded like he did some major damage. He did not stop to look at that time but geesh! a little scary. Finally, when we made it to the police station, I used the directions Grace gave me to find my way to the right office. There were a few folks inside the office, waiting for something, and a long line outside of the office. As I waited in line, I realized that people just walked in the office, interrupting what was going on inside and no one seemed to care. The line didn't mean anything either, it was just a bunch of people waiting but whoever pushed their way to the front was the one that got their turn next. I'm not usually a pushy person but I stood closest to the door and when I finally got the attention of the officer, he took my passport and I explained what I needed. The actual process of extending the visa took all of 5 minutes, he took my address and phone number, and then stamped it and signed. It was the crazy waiting process that took the most time. I'll remember that next time I go.

After the police station visit, Lisa headed home and I stopped at the bank to pick up my ATM card. This process ended up being much easier as I said "ATM" and they pointed me towards someone who knew a bit of English. I have not received a pay check yet so I don't have use for my ATM card but it feels good to have access to my account when the bank is not open. Because of Ramadan, most businesses have strange hours for the next 3 and 1/2 weeks so I'm not sure when the bank will actually be open for business. The ATM is 24 hours luckily.

Lisa and I had a meeting with Julie earlier and are planning for more clients, 2 more music therapists coming from Holland, and more involvement at the conservatory. I will be helping with the Introduction to Music Therapy course at the Conservatory this fall and will be teaching my own course in the spring! woohoo! I'm really lucky to be able to work with such great people.

In other news, I have been experimenting with cooking....always an adventure with me. I have progressed from days of burning corn to making some delicious meals. Last night, I made stuffed green peppers (stuffed them with rice and chicken) and they were quite tasty! I am trying to eat healthier, although it is difficult sometimes to stay on top of that. I went to mypyramid.gov and found out what my food pyramid should look like according to my height/weight/age, etc. It's pretty cool, I recommend it.

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. Next week, I should be moving into my apartment so I will take lots of pictures of that and I'll also try to take some pictures in the neighborhood, give you an idea of where I live and what I see everyday. I'll update again soon, miss everyone a lot a lot.

Quick Hello

Hey everyone! This is just a quick update but I just wanted to say hi and say that my Saturday went very well. I had my group sessions today and the coolest thing was the moment that I walked in the door and my kids were SUPER excited to see me and start playing :o) I still can't understand too much of what they are telling me but my comprehension of Arabic is already starting to improve in the few short weeks that I have been here. The kids are patient with me and I am with them so it's a good balance thus far.

Ramadan started today and the streets were dead. Grace and I walked to the grocery store this morning and no one was out and about...all the stores were closed. Luckily, the grocery store was open and I was able to get a few things for the week but it was like a ghost town. The same went for tonight on our way home from church. I went back to the Amman International Church that I tried two weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. It is so cool to worship with people from all over the world. It's a very warm community of people as well so very easy to talk to and get to know. At sundown, they break the fast and people can eat from then until 3 am.....quite a concept.

I'm going to try and get some good sleep again tonight, I am finally really sleeping through the night and waking up rested. Talk to you soon, miss you all so much, love you.

Ups and Downs Balance Out

Well folks, I am continually feeling a mixture of emotions here. They are becoming less extreme on one end or the other but it still is shocking when I feel so excited one moment and so freaked out the next. Yesterday, I worked with my second set of clients and let me tell you, they are truly awesome kids. I have a mixture of Iraqi and Egyptian kids in that set. During individual sessions, without talking, we were communicating in so many ways through drumming/piano improvisation/and more. Just the opportunity for these kids to enjoy a moment of pure happiness while playing is enough to keep me motivated for this job. There are always going to be struggles, and here they are magnified, such as not being able to read the case files yet but I am glad I get to deal with problems like that, I hope that I learn good ways to approach problems and learn from them.

In other news, I had dinner with Julie and her family tonight. Julie is the music therapy professor at the Conservatory and is the woman I have been in contact with since March before I came here. She is WONDERFUl and it was grounding, so normal, to spend time playing with her kids and relaxing in her home. Her husband Soeitji is from Indonesia and they just got back from visiting family in Taiwan, quite an interesting family. Elise (not sure if I am spelling her same correctly) is 8 years old and going into second grade. She is quite the fireball and full of energy, she couldn't wait to show me her room, her dollhouse, toys, and most of all, her tai quan do outfit and kicks :o) Owen, Julie's youngest, is 2 years old and the most adorable kid. He was also FULL of energy, apparently not affected by jet lag and was running around the apartment giggling. He gave me a big hug which is rare for him so I felt very special. The kids call Lisa and I "khalah" which means Auntie, so I am now "Auntie Maryellen" to Elise and Owen, hehe. Soeitji steamed fresh fish for dinner and used a special sauce from Taiwan to season it, SOOO good, and we had veggies and rice to go along with the meal. Such great conversation and laughs took place.

After the kids went to sleep, the topic of conversation turned to Ramadan, which is starting tomorrow (Saturday) here. In the Muslim faith, they fast during Ramadan for 30 days and celebrate at the end of those 30 days. How it works is they cannot eat/drink/swallow anything from sunrise to sunset. They break the fast at sunset and can eat, it's usually a big family meal and people truly enjoy the fellowship together. At first, I thought people would be mad that Ramadan was coming but the air is full of excitement. People are ready and excited to go through this time, there is a sense of comradery. Quite interesting. It makes me think a little of Lent in the Christian faith but sometimes, I feel as though Lent has lost it's true meaning for some. Hopefully, during this month of Ramadan, I myself will be able to take more time to be in prayer and grow spiritually, as that is what this is designed to enhance. Maybe it is because I am in the middle of the Holy Lands but more and more, I am noticing God in the everyday, and I am sure noticing how well he is taking care of me here. It helps so much to know that people at home are thinking about me and I also have people here that I am getting to know and that I can lean on. That's pretty lucky. :o)

Alright, time to sleep, work tomorrow. Keep you updated. (on and p.s, the owner of the ice cream store up the street now knows me because I have gone there a ton already, hehe)

"Hiking" at Wadi Mujib

Yeah, the reason I put hiking in quotes is because I got into a hike that was quite different from anything I have done before. Two days ago, Lisa and Jace and I were talking about wanting to go on a hike (there are tons of great places in Jordan to hike, rock climb etc.) and we heard really good things about Wadi Mujib. Well, according to the guidebook, there was a 3 hour hike through the Siq which we had time for. The other hikes were 6 or 9 hours which we couldn't fit in yesterday. So we decide on the Siq hike. I wore my sneakers, short and a t-shirt, and packed my sack with some snacks, water, camera, etc. Little did we know that we were actually going to be trekking through water, sometimes swimming through water, the ENTIRE hike. Needless to say, I left my camera, snacks, and everything else behind in the car. Ahmad kindly drove us and waited for us while we did the hike. None of had a water proof camera which the guy at the desk told us we should use.....but Jace insisted on bringing his digital camera (because he has a full warranty :o) ) and I'm so glad he did because we got some great pictures along the way!

The hike starts out by climbing down a ladder right into the water, about knee high but then shallows out to ankle high. As we started walking, the Siq began to narrow and the water became deeper at points. Keep in mind we were also going completely against the current the entire way towards the waterfall. About 1/3 of the way, the water started to get really strong...of course this is a self-guided trail as well. There were arrows painted on some of the rocks to point to which side of the rocks were safe to climb. Climbing through water is not an easy thing by the way. At half-way, there were ropes that we had to use to pull ourselves against the current, then hold ourselves up as we fought against the mini-waterfalls to climb up the next set of rocks. The scariest part was one point where I could not balance between my legs and fell back down between two large boulders, luckily I only banged my elbow. Finally, with some teamwork and encouragement, we figured out the best way to climb up without completely hurting ourselves. When we made it to the waterfall, it felt AWESOME! It was so beautiful with the sunlight coming through the top of the Siq, and waterfalls are just magnificent in themselves.

One the way back from the hike, we came upon an interesting challenge. At one point, there was a spot that had been hard enough to climb up and we couldn't figure out how to get back down because the current was too strong. Then, a girl in front of us slipped and slid down the water into the water below. Her father without thinking jumped after her and they were both ok. Sliding down was actually the way we were supposed to go......funny how life is like that, the scariest looking option was actually the safest and easiest. The water just carried me over all the rocks and dropped me in a pool deep enough to keep me away from hitting any rocks.

When we got home, we were exhausted and today, my whole body is sore! Ahh. But it was well worth it. Now that my week of adventures is over, it's time to start focusing on my job and my reason for being here. The job is going to be a huge challenge but I"m up for it, I want to make music therapy work here and help develop a great program. I'll need to stay positive through frustrations but I am ready to do that as well. God would not have put me here unless there was a reason and I am open to whatever that is.

Miss everyone a lot, it's so great to be here but wish I could bring everyone I love with me. Talk to you soon!

Jerash and the Roman Ruins

Today, Jace, Lisa and I ventured yet again to Jerash which is north of Amman by about an hour. There are a few 'ruined' cities in the North such as Umm Qais, Pella, and Jerash. Jerash is actually called the "Pompeii of Asia" and it one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the Near East. Many of the gates were still standing, pillars, the long street, a Cathedral, and temples. I put up some pictures on facebook and as soon as I can, I"ll post some on my picture blog. The internet seems to be a bit on the slow side today so loading pictures is not a fun process. :o)

While we were walking around Jerash, it seemed to get hotter and hotter!! I guess I am in the desert but still, I was sweating a ton and trying to drink as much as I could. Luckily, at 11:15, we signed up to go to the Gladiator show. You'll notice in my pictures that they demonstrated what a legion of the Roman army would look like, carry with them, wear, and how they would fight. They showed some of the formations as well as techniques for fighting with the enemy, the Romans were ruthless! After that, they brought out 'Gladiators' who fought each other and the audience got to decide who would live and die. I, of course, was telling them to let everyone live but some other members of the audience did not feel the same way. Chariot races were then demonstrated to close the show. At the end, we got to go down and take pictures with anyone we wanted, just look at pictures to see me with a gladiator helmet as well as Lisa attacking one of the legioneers!

Tonight, I had to lay down, I've been doing so much exploring I was just exhausted! We are going to conclude our week of adventures with a possible 6-hour hike tomorrow in Wadi Mujib which is supposedly to lead through a waterfall, trees, and loveliness.

On a side note, tonight (after I made some really really good fried rice for dinner), Lisa and I heard a kitten crying outside but very close to her balcony. We looked out.....and then up! The kitten was on the edge of the roof terrace just crying and crying SO we decided to go up and see if we could bring the kitten down. When we got up the stairs, I heard a second kitten who was sitting up on the stairs, crying and trying to get out of the stairwell. Using our brilliant minds, we used food to coax them out of the building. What we didn't think about was that they would remember us. Later this evening, we went out to buy supplies for the hike and there was little Blackey, waiting for more food. Not a good trend to start! We'll have to see who shows up tomorrow.

Bed time for me. Missing home a lot. Hopefully I will be moving into my own apartment on September 1st. When that happens, I will be able to stop living out of suitcases (even though I love Lisa) and decorate my own place, make it homey. :o) Talk to you soon!

Music Therapy Abroad

Well folks, I have started my individual and group sessions at the clinic. I can't talk about kids by name or things like that but I can share my experiences and how I feel about everything. Yesterday afternoon, I met my group of clients in two separate group sessions. Meeting these kids for the first time in a group, without being to speak their language, was a bit intimidating but I made it through and we made awesome music together. We played mostly drums/rhythm instruments and lots of smiling and laughter was taking place. The kids really listened to each other throughout the music to match rhythms, dynamics, etc.

The job is definitely going to be a huge challenge for me. I am very particular and want to have successful sessions and experiences but it will take more time to build rapport with these kids because of the language barrier and it will be harder to go deeper with them without a translator (we are supposed to have one but do not right now). If I can do music therapy here, I'm pretty sure I can do it anywhere! That's what I"ll say in my next job interview, haha.

Alright, I am going to bed early tonight to get up in the morning and head to Jerash to see the ancient Roman ruins, more pictures will be up soon. Don't get spoiled though, soon I will be working all the time and my updates will be less exciting ;o) Miss you and talk to you soon, xoxo

A Few Days of Travel

Hello everyone! I know I had been doing a good job of updating everyday but I have been traveling a bit and have not had a moment to sit down and really do justice to what I have seen. I have posted a few pictures on my picture blog (it takes forever to download on there) and I put larger albums of the trips on facebook for people to check out. I tried to describe what I could in captions and I'll do what I can here :o)

Where to begin, let's see.....ok. So Thursday we planned to go to Petra which is an ancient city, full of beautiful architecture and sites (place where Indiana Jones was filmed). We did not leave Amman until noon and got to Petra around 3:30. This was an excellent plan because it was over 100 degrees that day at noon, I personally would not have enjoyed the hike in that kind of heat, the later afternoon was a better choice. We found the visitors center, bought our tickets, and headed into Petra. Within the fist 5 minutes, Lisa had decided to ride a horse down the walk until we reached the As-Siq (the main entrance). The Siq (picture to the left) is what really blew my mind, it is a long/narrow gorge and the way the water cut and colored the rock is beautiful. The nickname for Petra is the pink city because of the way the sun hits the rock, it looks pink and sometimes orange later in the day. Oh, and by the way, Lisa/Jace/Omar/and Juni were the people I went with. Jace is Lisa's friend visiting here for a week, Omar is one of the guys we work with, and Juni is Omar's friend who also happens to make awesome cappuccino! Anyway, continuing with the trip.

So as we made our way through the Siq, I took about a billion pictures.....and then we came upon the treasury. This was sooo beautiful. At the base of the Treasury, there was a fence over top a new cave that was just discovered 2 and 1/2 years ago. Brown University actually has a program there where they come and excavate parts of the site for research purposes. Pretty amazing. I was defintely starting to feel the Indiana Jones part of the visit, haha. At the Treasury, we were approached by a Bedouin man who offered a camel ride and guided tour of some of the other sites. Lisa attempted to kiss one of the camels but it scared her instead! :o) We did ride the camels which was a blast. I got on top of mine and as it stood up, I was literally leaning totally forward (because it puts it's back legs up first) and then after holding on and letting out a slight scream, it stood up the whole way, providing me with a different viewpoint of Petra, from atop the camel. Lisa, Jace, and I were connected with rope and I was the driver of the group. The camel did listen when I pulled on it to turn and seemed to be pretty relaxed through the whole thing. At one point, it did relieve itself for about 5 minutes, which Lisa had the pleasure of watching as she was behind my camel for the trip. Who would have thought I would ride a camel!!! Unreal. The camel ride took us by the Theater, constructed by the Nabetaneans in the 1st century AD, by the Urn Tomb, believed to have been carved around 70 AD, and down the Colonnaded Street, leading to the old 'city center'. We then rode the camels back to the Treasury, took a few photos of course, and then continued on foot. The camel ride was about 45 minutes.

We made our way back to town around 7:30 and grabbed dinner at the Red Cave Restaurant where they served a mix of traditional Bedouin dishes as well as some regular sandwiches and things. I ordered an Arabic salad which was a TON of vegetables in a tasty vinaigrette, served with a large piece of romaine lettuce. Then I tried Jace's lamb curry which was amazing! And I had pasta with minced meat and sauce. We quickly ate and headed back to the main entrance of Petra for 'Petra by Night'. This was something that looked so cool, we wanted to stay and do it. They line the entire walk to the Treasury with candles (in bags) and the goal is to walk there in silence, taking in the moment, and when we reached the Treasury, there was a small show of Bedouin music and we drank tea, taking in the surroundings. I did post a few pictures of this as as well as a video of the music. The first instrument played was the 'ababa' which is a traditional, one-stringed, instrument here. The second played was a traditional Bedouin flute. Because of the candles and the darkness, the music seemed even more haunting and beautiful. Looking at the stars in the desert was also spectacular. I haven't seen the stars so clear in my whole life, really beautiful.

Let's just say that after all the walking and camel riding, when we made it back to the car, we were all exhausted. Three of us were in the back of a Toyota Corolla so we weren't able to sleep very much on the 3 hour ride back....and it is also through desert, just desert, nothing to look at, except the stars. :o)

2 am we got home and promptly went to bed. Woke up the next morning, called Grace to come with us to the Dead Sea, and Ahmad picked us up at noon for a trip to the Dead Sea!!! It only takes about 45 minutes to get there from Amman and it was nice not to have to worry about a taxi driver we didn't know. I posted some pictures of Ahmad on the picture blog, he is a great guy, does not speak much English but calls himself our Jordanian papa. He also calls me Michael Jackson when I put my sunglasses on, hahaha.

You can't just walk out to the Dead Sea, now you have to go through a resort or hotel to get to the beach part of the Dead Sea so we paid for a day-pass through the Dead Sea Spa Hotel. The place is built for tourists so it was pretty nice, very resort-ish. We walked down to the beach and put our things down, then ventured to the water. SUCH as weird feeling!! You get in and you absolutely cannot make yourself sink, it's like you are constantly on a raft but there isn't one there. I tried to float on my stomach but it kept flipping me on my back. You don't want to get the water in your eyes though, a lot of pain from that for Jace. Also, if you have the smallest cut, watch out. The salt content in the water will make wince! After doing the floating thing for a bit, we decided to join the mud bathing on shore. You literally just reach down by the edge of the water and grab for Dead Sea Mud. People pay the big bucks for this stuff and we were just getting it for free. It's full of good natural minerals apparently so you just rub it all over your body. The mud is black/gray ish and when you put it on, you literally look like a different person. Check out the pictures if you don't believe me, it's so silly looking!! Then, after it's on, you let it dry for a bit to exfoliate the skin, then just get back in the Dead Sea and rinse it off. It took a bit to get if off and I rinsed my face in the showers so I wouldn't get salt in my eyes.

For the rest of the day, we just relaxed on the pier, looking across the Dead Sea to Israel. Again, I constantly have to remind myself that I am actually here. It is just nuts!!

When we got back last night, we were pretty goofy from being in the sun all day so we updated facebook (how nerdy of us) and just relaxed, got pizza from the Family Oven (the place that gave me the heart shaped pastry last week) and then headed for bed.

The coolest part about both trips was being surrounded by people from ALL over the world. I was hearing so many different languages around me, it was a really cool experience. I still see that the majority of people in this world are kind people, we need to always remember that.

Wow, so after I have written you a book, I guess I will stop writing for now. Hope you can imagine some of what I described, it's hard to put it into words what I experienced but I'm trying :o)

Today, I have my first sessions with my own clients so I will let you know how it goes! I'm a bit nervous but I know that so much can be communicated through music, it should be good.

Talk to you soon! I miss you so much, xoxo

It's been a Wednesday

Today, being Wednesday, was my fourth day observing at the clinic. Now, let me explain that the kids we are working with are AWESOME and they love love love music. However, sometimes, things don't always go as planned with the facility etc. The music therapy room was being torn apart today, new walls, drills, you name it, and we had no warning to take the instruments out. Luckily there was another room we could use but it was not as therapeutic as we would have liked. Little things like that will be the challenge here and I will need patience to work with those things.

Lisa and I had a great moment with Ahmad, our driver, on the way home from the clinic. We took some pictures (which I will post on my picture blog :o) ) and then we changed his radio station to an American one and guess what they were playing......."We Built This City". So, through the streets of Amman, Ahmad was driving two dancing American girls and even Ahmad himself began to bounce a bit to the most ridiculous 80's song! haha. It was priceless.

I have also come to realize that I love the ice cream place that is up the street from us. I am blanking on the name right now but I'll update you. All I know is that I went yesterday and HAD to go back today...so good, yum yum.

Tomorrow, Lisa/Omar/Jace/and I are going to Petra and we are so lucky, we are staying for the candlelight walk through it. I am soo excited, and I will definitely have pictures for you over the weekend. On Friday, we are then going to the Dead Sea. I would say look for a very detailed blog about these adventures on Friday or Saturday.

Alrighty, off to bed so I am ready to hike tomorrow! It will be 100 degrees so lots of water and sunscreen needed. I miss everyone a lot.....it's so good to experience new things but hard to be away from everyone that I love. I'll update as soon as I can!

The World is Still Getting Smaller

Today was an excellent day...I am feeling much more confident in getting around and I am really becoming aware of my neighborhood and the surrounding areas. That being said, I still have not seen A LOT of the city. It is comprised of hills and there are so many small windy roads, it will take a whole year to see half of it I am sure. The amount of shops, markets, and restaurants is crazy too. Everything I have tried has been so good. :o)

This morning was a pretty lazy morning. I got up at a normal time (9:00 am, hehe) and took my time eating breakfast and getting ready. Lisa got back and she and I discussed how we want to work out but finding a gym here will be a challenge. We found one that looks good but it is also looking like it might cost a ton. So, to make ourselves feel better, we found some short workouts on YouTube, who knew? That helped for today but we'll see what else we find. I might asking for workout DVDs, haha.

At the clinic, the kids were full of it. Lisa had a few of her younger clients which are the cutest but the most devilish. :o) I am very excited to start work on my own but I am not looking forward to the constant battle of convincing people what music therapy is and why it works. I would have to do that whether I was here or in the States but it is still tiring. Interacting with the children through music is a beautiful. I did a improvisation with a little guy and he was really following and playing with me, taking turns etc. Woohoo!

Ok, so Lisa has a friend visiting from the States, he landed at 4:45 and we had our driver from the conservatory pick him up. Well, apparently it is illegal for the yellow taxis from Amman to go to and from the airport but Ahmad used his taxi anyway......so Jace's first experience in Amman was being chased the police in a taxi with a guy who doesn't speak much English. Needless to say, Ahmad did not stop for the police, only went extremely fast and beat them back to the city where he drove Jace to meet us at the clinic. Oh the stories! When we got back home, we just ate dinner on the back balcony and talked for a bit. Then I convinced everyone that we needed to walk down the street to try the new ice cream place.....so we did. And it ended up that the guy working at the ice cream store had gone to school in Phoenix and Jace and Lisa went to ASU there. crazy!!!! To end the evening's showing of "it's a small world", we exited the ice cream shop and a guy shuffled past me on the street that I recognized.....now who would I recognize in a city of 3 million people. Well, it happened to be Keanan's friend Brit, who I recognized because of facebook, lol! So we called out his name and he turned around and bam, another friend in this city around the world. It's moments like that in which I know life is not random. I am here in Amman, Jordan for a purpose. We'll have to see what comes of this adventure. Write to you more soon. Miss you much.

yum food

Just a quick update today before I head to the clinic. I walked down to the bank and exchanged the last bit of my US money into JD (Jordanian dinars) and man, that is depressing. The amount I get back is significantly less than the amount I gave, however, cost of living is much lower here. I stopped at a local falafel place on the way back and got a huge falafel sandwich and a pepsi for less than 1 JD! Falafel is a Middle Eastern specialty consisting of small, deep fried balls made of highly spiced, ground vegetables (usually chickpeas or fava beans mixed with onions and fresh herbs). They're generally tucked inside pita bread, sandwich-style which is the way I had it today. :o)

In other news, yesterday I was walking home from the grocery store up the street and a car passed me on a side street. The sticker on the back window of the car said.....ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE! How crazy is that?! I'm hoping I see them again, I was too shocked to really try to get them to stop. If anyone knows who that might be, let me know. hehe

This afternoon, I am going to observe Lisa again at the clinic. This observation time is crucial for me so I can really see how the kids are interacting and working in music therapy. This population is difficult for many reasons but the language barrier adds another level of complexity. The cool thing about it is that it forces me to be super aware of facial expressions, body language, to really focus on the individual and the music they are making, what it is saying. Observing is also giving me time to make notes, come up with new ideas, and hopefully figure out what kind of research I want to do while I am over here. I definitely want to conduct a study of some sort, just not sure what yet.

I will let you know how everything goes later! Talk to you soon, miss you all

In Addition....

In my excitement of typing last night, I forgot another important detail from the day yesterday. When Lisa and I got home from work, we heard the landlord in the building so we scurried over to his office to see if we could catch him. Luckily he was there and I introduced myself and told him I was very interested in staying in his building. He immediately told me about a place that would be opening up at the end of the month when a lady moves out so he took me upstairs to see it. We couldn't go in because she wasn't at home but he opened the window to the kitchen and that looked nice enough for me. Also, I have direct access to the roof terrace that is overlooking the city and has lots of plants and little lights :o) it will be lovely to eat dinner out there. I will take pictures as soon as I can of that area. I made the decision to take the apartment even though I haven't seen the rest of it, Abu Mohammd (the landlord) took us into his son's apartment that he will be making into two separate ones by the end of September and they were both very very nice. Now, the idea of "nice" here is relative to the culture. When I take pictures, you'll see what I mean, but I am very happy to be in the same building as Lisa and Grace and this neighborhood is quite safe with lots of places to walk to (shops, restaurants, bank, etc).

So apartment down, ready to roll at the end of the month. Oh, and Lisa is letting me stay here until then which is SUPER nice. You guys would love her. I feel like I've known her for a long time but we just met. That seems to be the trend with meeting people here. Alright, more positing later. Talk to you soon!! xoxo

excitement excitement

Well folks, things are getting better as we speak. Today, I went with Lisa to the Institute for Family Health, founded by Queen Noor in the 80's to provide numerous social services to vicitms of trauma and those in need. That is where the music therapy clinic takes place in Amman and the kids there were beautiful. Hyper but beautiful. :o) Just seeing them smile was amazing....it is easy to forget that they have gone through so many things at such a young age that I cannot imagine and yet they still have the ability to be a child. Most of them work hard around the house so having fun with music and their peers is a huge experience. Oh and p.s, heard a mix of arabic pop as well as Michael Jackson's "Thriller" today during sessions.

On the way back from the clinic, Achmed, our driver from the conservatory stopped at Starbucks so I could feel normal for a bit. hahaha, what a strange experience to go into Starbucks in Amman, Jordan. Have to say I didn't quite feel normal.

I planned to go the Amman International Church after work with my new friend Grace so we hopped a taxi and made our way to the church. Wow, what an experience. I felt as though I was in a regular church in the U.S singing praise and worship songs that I know and listening to a sermon in clear English.

Afterwards, my friend Amit (met through a friend of Mom's from work, etc. etc., small world!) picked Grace and I up and took up to Simmone and Rami's house (people I met on Wednesday night at dinner) and we ate an awesome BBQ dinner, met even more people (from Australia, Jordan, Germany, Pakistan). Following dinner was a brilliant ant game of Taboo, one of my favorite board games. It was SO good to sit and laugh with people and as strange as it may sound, the people here are so friendly, I feel as if I've known them longer than a few days. It's unbelievable. At the same time, I still have that voice in my head that is not sure about spending a WHOLE year here without seeing friends and family. I don't want to lose touch with home but I am glad to be here, at least for now. Just preparing everyone, I"m sure there will be many many ups and downs along my journey so bear with me.

Tomorrow is a pretty quiet day but I will be sure to update you on what's new. I miss you and love you lots.

New Picture Site

My brother suggested I use another blog for pictures which I thought was a great idea. In the menu bar to the left, I have listed my blog for pictures appropriately named

http://maryellenpictures.tumblr.com

In other news, I met a new person in my building today, her name is Grace and she is working for a language company over here for 4 months. I can't tell you how nice it was to go to lunch and sit and talk with her. Then we went on a little exploration of downtown Amman. Let me explain that today is Friday, the holy day here, so things are a little bit slower. Also, it was probably not the best idea to walk in parts of downtown today as a foreign woman. While we were exploring, we literally saw zero women at some points. Quite a different experience I must say.

I am going to work on updating my photo blog to give you some visuals of what I saw today. Talk to you soon!!

some pictures..

Third Full Day - oh how time is strange

Today is only my third full day here but I feel as though I have been here for weeks. Time always does the opposite of what we want it to do, when we want it to drag, it flies and vice versa. Let me give you the outline of today....a strange but good one I have to say.

Last night, I still did not sleep, I have been falling asleep at 5 am which would be 10 pm at home. Makes sense but it is not easy to then get up 3 hours later. Ugh, I am hoping that will change soon, jet lag could be the end of my sanity. :o) just kidding!

Ok, so after a night of not sleeping, I got up and showered, put on my long tunic top to cover my butt and put on capris. Cute little shoes of course, can't go without cute shoes. Then Lisa and I headed down the street to take a look at an apartment that was supposedly for rent. The landlord took us in and said that it was being used as storage, well, YES it was. There was stuff everywhere and the landlord said he was planning on remodeling (literally taking walls down) and that it would be ready in a month. Hm.....not sure about that one, and there would only be on very tiny window. I will call him back in a day and probably tell him no unless I really can't find anything else. Luckily, my supervisor will be back on the 19th and said I could stay with her if I need to. One thing I have found here are very giving people.

Continuing with my day, I headed to the National Conservatory of Music in a taxi. Driving here is CRAZY!! I am glad I don't have to do it, haha. I met the assistant director and took care of some work stuff like insurance, etc. I started feeling very overwhelmed because everyone was speaking arabic around me and I felt out of place. At that same moment, I was feeling excited because we had discussed the clinic and the new instruments coming and my client load. I will have 20 clients! I will do individual sessions and groups.

After finishing, Lisa and I had a cappuccino at the conservatory and then Omar, one of the people I will be working with, drove us home in his Mercedes convertible. People here are able to buy cars tax free so you can get good cars for cheap.

As we got close, Lisa decided she wanted to stop by the Catholic church she has been going to. It is not far from where she lives so Omar dropped her off, then she called me and wanted me to come to so he took me back. The priest there has adopted Lisa as one of his own and has been feeding her breakfast and lunch. He was not there this particular afternoon but his cleaner, Laura - a tiny woman from the Philippines, invited me for lunch too. She cooked wonderful fish and rice and veggies, gave me tea and an apple to top it off. So giving! The BEST part was that I could hear the Muslim call to prayer on the loud speaker outside while at the same time, I was watching Lisa and Laura dance around to the American pop station which happened to be playing Paula Abdoul's "Straight Up" :o)

To top the day of, I stopped by the cell phone place and got a pay as you go plan to call the people I work with here. AND! the best purchase so far is a comfy comfy pillow. I am predicting that this will help me sleep better tonight.

Sorry for the obnoxiously long update. I will try to be better at this in the future but I want to tell you all about everything I do!! Miss you so much! I will update soon!

oh and p.s - connections of life are everywhere. Lisa and I were taken to dinner last night by a friend, Amit, that I was connected with through someone's brother of someone that works with my mom. While at dinner, Amit's friends came, one from Germany and she knows someone that will be going to study at the same place that my brother Ben is going to in a month. The old song, "It's a Small World" pops into my head.

In a Land Far Away

Hi everybody! This is my first update from Amman, Jordan. I made it here safe and sound, all in one piece. The trip started off with a bit of a problem as my flight from Dulles to JFK was cancelled. Luckily, I have amazing parents who drove me the 4 and 1/2 hours to JFK and got me there on time. The goodbyes were a little short and I had to go through security quickly but it was probably better that way, less time for me to cry.

I am currently staying in Lisa's apartment, the other music therapist that has been here since May. She is wonderful and it's so nice to have a friend right away. Hopefully I will find an apartment of my own to move into quickly so I don't bug her too long. ;o) The apartments here vary in size and in quality so the search could be interesting. The pace of the city is busy but the people here seem to take more time to walk around and enjoy the moment a bit.

My first night, I landed at 5:15, got dropped off at Lisa's at 6:15 and we went to meet one of her friends for dinner soon after. Of all places, we ended up going to get Chinese food. I had lovely wonton soup and fried rice, easy on the stomach for my first few days here. I got to meet Lisa's friend Allen who is from Georgia. He's here teaching art I believe to refugee children. I need to check on that as I was a bit loopy from exhaustion at the end of the day yesterday.

I am going to spend this week catching up on sleep and trying to adjust, then I start work on Saturday. The work week here it Saturday to Thursday, the holy day is Friday. Makes for a different type of schedule but I think I will like it, people stay up late here and sleep in later in the morning. I could deal with that. I will be starting at the clinic with the kids on Saturday and then towards the end of the month, things for the undergrad program will begin to get underway.

Well, I will stop typing for now, hope to get pictures up soon. When I have my own place, I will be sure to put pictures of that as well. Right now, I am longing for routine, everything is just so new and crazy that I feel overwhelmed. I hope that will begin to change soon. Love you all and miss you so much, talk to you soon.