First Post!

Hello from Jordan!
I made it safely through the Dullas and JFK airports and finally landed in Jordan after an 11 hour flight and a lot of turbulence. From the airport near Amman I met up with a few from the SIT group and we all went to the Ambassador Hotel. It was an interesting parade of Americans and our numerous bags of luggage holding up traffic while we crossed the street.
These past few days have been program orientation which has included how to stay healthy, how to handle culture shock, a few cultural tips, getting cell phones and splitting up into “committees”. I am on the “excursions” committee. My job is to help organize and supervise weekend trips to Petra, Wadi Rum, Bedouin villages, etc. For those of you who went on the DR trip, you will know this is a fitting job. I assign numbers so we can count off for attendance, make sure everyone is on time, keep the group together…it’s my “mom” and organizing skills combined!
Today we during the day we did “drop-offs”. This is when the program directors make teams and write up little scavenger hunt for each team. So then you get a taxi and make your way to your locations, ask your questions, learn about the location, etc. My team was assigned to one place named JARA which after a cup of tea and a hookah finally discovered that it is the oldest neighborhood in Jordan. The owner then showed us a room full of old photos documenting the first families that lived in Amman and the city before it was developed. For lunch we stumbled upon the only Egyptian restaurant that makes fatatri. After we ordered, we discovered that this looks like a pizza but the dough is super thin, almost like a pastry and covers both sides. Then you choose what kind of filling you would like- mine was called Kiri and had cheese, olives and other unknown but tasty ingredients. On the way back to the SIT center, we had a great taxi driver who had learned English just from listening to his conversations in his taxi and watching American movies. He was very patient with my questions and helping me with Arabic. My key words for today are- left (yesar), right (yemeen), cheap (rakhees), expensive (ghali) and circle (duar).
Tomorrow our homestay families pick us up from the SIT center. Everyone is meeting one on one with the homestay director and of course I’m last because I’m a Z. So far everyone has come out of their meeting raving about how they have their own bedroom and/or bathroom, WiFi, a young couple for parents…pretty much everything anyone could want in a homestay family. I’m worried I’ll be stuck with the smelly cat lady with an outhouse for a bathroom and no electricity. I wouldn’t mind this is everyone else in the group was in a similar situation but there would be a different dynamic if I was the only one in this type of environment…it would be quite a challenge. But I’m hoping for the best and God will take care of things 
So I believe those are all the updates I have for now. I’ll hopefully be posting pictures soon. The weather has been very nice (in comparison with Ithaca), “cold” here is maybe 35-40 degrees. It would be great to hear from all of you. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
Love always,
Katie