Cultural Differences

Sometimes, when I walk around certain parts of Amman, I notice that vast differences between this culture and American culture. Other times, when I walk by Starbucks or Burger King, I realize that people keep trying to mix the two. I think deep down, people want to understand each other, they want to know what the other one is thinking/feeling. Today, I had to send an e-mail to my work colleagues about things that have not been changing and are now starting to really affect my work with the clients. To me, and to Julie, my e-mail was direct and to the point, asking to meet in person but relaying thoughts and ideas that have been mentioned the past two months. To my surprise, offense was taken to the e-mail by more than one party even though one person was never criticized. The project itself was split into issues that have come up but wow, I was taken back by the reaction of the staff. This is a great learning experience for me because I am sure I will deal with issues like this no matter where I work but here, because of the cultural differences, reactions are magnified x 10.

In other news, our symphony concert is tomorrow night! The strings were a little shaky tonight but overall, our sound is very good. The concert is called "A Triple Tale Night" for the three big composers we are performing. I love the Beethoven symphony but man, if we take the second movement any slower, we'll kill the audience :o) Hopefully later in the year, I'll be able to record one of the concerts of part of it to share with you on my blog. I also promise to update pictures soon!! When October 1st rolls around, my internet will be back to normal. Woohoo!

I did have a wonderfully awesome surprise this afternoon and that was receiving 6 letters in the mail!! Some of them were posted from the beginning of September, others from the middle, but I got them all today. It was so nice to read what people were up to, receive pictures, and I just felt so loved. Thank you thank you, I am so lucky and blessed to have such a great support system. I know that I am busy here but I do think about you at home all the time and I miss everyone so much. Just think about how great it will be when I come home in 10 months. Not too long, we can start the countdown ;o) but I do want to take advantage of all my time here too. Alright, off to bed. I"ll let you know how the concert goes tomorrow! xoxo