Home

I never imagined that my first time living alone would be in a house in a village in Northern Jordan. For the first 18 years of my life, I lived in the same house in Seattle. I will always consider that home. In fact, the night before I left for Peace Corps I slept in the same room that I slept in when I was 3 years old. However, since turning 18, I've lived in 5 different countries, 7 different cities, and maybe a dozen different houses. I've lived alone for a month or 2 a couple of those places, but up until now I've primarily lived with either my family or roommates. It's strange yet liberating living alone.

I arrived in Kuranjah a week ago today, and finally have my house set up to a point where it is beginning to feel more like a home. It's nice. It has it's quirks, but is in by no means a "hut" that we sometimes envision Peace Corps Volunteers living in. And the view.... well. The view is pretty incredible.

 

I have a view of the Ajloun Castle (on the far left), am close to the school I'll be working at, have a fruit stand right down the street and a duukan just past that. A bit further down the road is the supermarket, the bank, tons of bakeries, butcher shops showing off hanging carcases, the post office, shops, the bus stop. Most things I want or need I can find here. I even found peanut butter!

My landlord and his family live upstairs, and they are all truly wonderful. They have 9 grown children, the youngest is 16. I have been invited over for lunch every day since I have arrived and often stayed well past 10 to chat, drink tea, eat cake, drink coffee, eat fruit, drink tea, watch tv, chat, drink nescafe, until finally I insist that it is time for me to go to sleep. None of them speak much English. Their idea of speaking "shway shway" (slow slow) is a bit different than mine. Regardless, I've been able to pick up on a fair amount of what they say and when things get really confusing, there's google translate.

In this blog, I try to focus on the positive things- there are so many wonderful things to share about my experience here and about the people and the country. But it should not go unnoted that I have my daily struggles. It's uncomfortable getting stared at by the shebab (teenage boys). I get lonely at times. Being unable to communicate everything I want to is frustrating. It's hard reading the news and remembering where I am, and how much pain there is in places very near me and feeling helpless in being able to change or alleviate the suffering of others.

Rather than feeling constantly overwhelmed, I try to focus on the good- the view outside my bedroom window, the kindness of my neighbors, the baby goats that live next door, the little girl who helped me carry my bags of fruit and veggies back to my house, the person who goes out of their way to walk you to the bus stop to ensure you get on the right one. I could on, and trust me, I will...