Orientation at Qasid 9/1/24

Today we had orientation at Qasid. They gave us a lot of information about living here and housekeeping type information. Omar, the man presenting to us, is from the US, and studied at George Washington University in D.C. so that was pretty cool. He's been in Jordan for 20 years, and he was a great speaker. In the second half, he talked about learning Arabic, the differences between classical, modern standard, and the dialects of Arabic. His knowledge on the history of the language was really impressive and interesting. Everyone at the school is so nice and welcoming. There's a small coffee shop in the school. I met some of the other students and everyone seemed cool. I met a woman from the UK whose family is from Gujarat, so we had a nice talk about that. There was a big lunch with many different Arab dishes, chicken and rice, salads, flat breads, stuffed grape leaves. I also paid my bill for the semester - for the basic modern standards Arabic class, 3 hours a day/5 days a week, the dialect (ammiya) class - another three hours of class per week, and my apartment rent for the semester, it was around 4,300 JOD. They said that if we needed to go to the doctor, they could take us. Since my eye was still not better, I asked them about it, and they said they could take me after the orientation. The man who drove me to my apartment the first day, Bi'lled (not sure how to spell it) said his brother, Ayman would take me. When he took me to him, he introduced him as Ayman, but I said I thought that guy was Ayman?? He said there's two Bi'lleds and two Aymans here! Ayman took me to the ATM to get some cash, and then to the doctor. The doctor spoke English and wrote me a prescription. The visit cost only 10 JOD. Afterwards Ayman took me to the pharmacy (صيدلية), and then dropped me off at home. I have lived in several countries now and have never had this level of help! They really have made things easier to acclimate to the country. I almost feel a little guilty not having to figure these things out for myself. But overall, I'm really impressed with Qasid and their attention to detail and the service they provide to the students. Later that evening, Tamara and I walked to the grocery store, and I bought a number of things - some vegetables, lentils, beans, chicken, and more for 22 JOD. Then we had to walk back home up the hill with everything. Luckily, Tamara had already bought a cart with wheels, "shopping porsche" she said they call them in Austria, so that made it easier. But I was huffing and puffing by the time we got home.