Day Three

Day Three:

Today, I was in my first car accident. It was pretty uneventful. Our coach bus decided to back up in the middle of a busy road and hit the taxi behind it, crushing the taxi’s hood. But not to worry, two “Accident Investigation” vans were on the scene in a jiffy! To add to the five children dying each week from automobile accidents in Jordan, apparently a Jordanian dies every nine minutes from an automobile accident. It is hard to tell why exactly this happens, since Arabs aren’t exactly known for their punctuality. Our director hinted at some other reasons involving a certain amount of “frustration”. The lanes are even made widely (where there are marked lanes, of course) so that a few cars can almost squeeze into the lane. Miraculously, it seems that people do stop for red lights, but all other driving rules go out the window.

We also had a fascinating safety lesson for about two hours. We learned that the secret police are our friends, but that stalkers try to pretend to be the secret police, because they are so ubiquitous. I also learned a thing or two about taxi fare negotiation and legitimacy. I got a small chance tonight, but I can’t wait to put that into play!

Later, we saw a wedding reception ceremony in the hotel of our restaurant. The bride was of course covered, but had on a very large white dress. There were musicians and dancers and guests dancing around the happy couple, which didn’t actually look so happy, and looked very serious.

High Point: Registering for a free internet spot right across the street from campus!
Low Point: Oral Arabic interviews