Day 2: Oriental Orientation

Sunday, June 23

Originally, we were supposed to have orientation on Saturday, but seeing as how we were so late in getting here, and we didn't meet our host families until yesterday, they decided to move it to Sunday.

So, after waking up and figuring out how the shower worked (you have to turn on the hot water in the kitchen-- Noura showed me), we went to school.

The city is divided into at least two parts (maybe more, I'm not that learned yet). We live in the New City, the side built by the French. The school is in the Old City, which is surrounded by a wall. It's pretty far, probably an hour and half walk on foot. Because of that, we have to either take a taxi or die of heat stroke. We chose the taxi.

Here, they have two types of taxis: Big Taxis and Petite Taxis. The Big Taxi carries people much in the way that a bus does: people get on, they pay the driver, he takes them where they want, and then they get off. Simple.

Except when you're shoved into the back seat with three other people, and there's three people in the front. And no AC aside from rolled down windows in the front seat. Keep in mind that these cars aren't that big. They have normal, 3 person maximum back seats, so imagine the fun when you're literally smashed against door, perched on your seat, your roommate uncomfortably sitting next to you smooshed up against some Arab man, and the drive is winding, long, and somewhat insane. (Remember those hateful circles and triangles from Washington D.C.? It's so, so much worse here.) Anyway, it's all really awkward, but it's cheap, about 40 cents. But after the first day, we decided not to use the Big Taxis anymore.

Petite taxis are slightly smaller, blue (so you can see them from afar), and you can have one all to yourself. It's a bit more expensive, but in the end the difference is really only 10 cents. (It's a lot to them, but not so much for us).

So, we got to the school and for the first time we got to really look at the school. You can't imagine the mosaic work here. It's like nothing you've ever seen, most likely. Unless you fancy mosaic wallpapers for your desktop, I'll wager you've never seen anything like this. I'm not entirely sure how old the mosaic work is (or even how old the building is), but it feels old.

All of those patterns are all tiny mosaics.

Then, yet again, we had another exciting orientation session on how to survive! Basically, the Resident Director tried to describe where things were in the city, and what to do and what not to do. DON'T drink the tap water. DO drink lots of water, however. DON'T go down dark alleys alone. DO visit the shops. DON'T eat the street food. DO talk to people. DON'T eat the fruit without washing it super, super thoroughly. DO eat it, though, because it's delicious.

She also warned us to never pet stray animals. Apparently, there are a lot of stray dogs in the city, and they roam around in packs. A singular dog by itself won't attack you, but if there's more, it's very likely they will.

"You came to the wrong neighborhood, motherfucker." 

It's best to throw rocks at it if there is only one dog, to scare it away. If there's more, you either (a.) change directions, or (b.) good luck. Apparently they only roam around abandoned or empty parts of the city. So basically, don't go places where there are no people. One guy last year did just that (literally minutes after orientation) and he had to get tetanus shots for the remainder of his stay.

There's also a lot of stray cats and kittens. It's all I can do not to pet them. They're so chill and unafraid. And adorable. And diseased. Probably.

After orientation, the Resident Director took us on a tour of the local Souq, or market. It's very confusing, the path is hard to remember, and the road gets really small in places and it's kinda hard to walk sometimes when there's some dude walking the opposite direction as you with his donkey covered in lentils, but there's also some pretty sweet shops in there, where the bros are making hand-made crafts, some of them big things like rugs, or fountains covered in mosaics. It's so cool.

Originally a water fountain, but it's broken now.

In the plaza near the Souq.

But the Souq is also full of men and no women. And I don't think I would ever want to go there without a group of people because of it.

After orientation, we grabbed a taxi and came back to the apartment. We determined that we needed more bottled water, so my roommate and I walked back to the supermarket and bought 10 liters worth for 1.3ish dollars. I like the supermarket. It feels a bit like home. Nobody there really stares at you. I mean, I'm kind of very white, and my roommate is blonde, so there are eyes that follow us everywhere, but the staring is least bad here because there are a lot of types of people there in a reasonable variety of clothes. (Not quite on a Wal*Mart level, but that has a level all its own).

http://peopleofwalmart.tumblr.com/

After we got home, we watched the season finale of Arab Idol with Noura. The finalists were from Palestine, Egypt, and Syria. The Palestinian won, and there was all the parties in Palestine that day. It's more than just a competition in the Middle East. For them, they're not just some singing superstar, they're representing their entire country. It's a pride thing.

More couches.

And, btw, Arab Idol is exactly like American Idol: 4 judges, audience, a lot of blue laser lights, crying mothers, and the same theme music. The only thing it's missing is Ryan Seacrest being a total tool, and Randy telling everyone, "Yo, dog, yo. I really digged the song, y'know. It was real good. You have a lot of power behind your voice and you got real stage-presence. I really felt what you were singing, dog."

Then homework (because, yes, they gave us homework before classes even started). Then sleep.