Finals are next week and I desperately need to focus, but I'm distracted. Jordan keeps teasing me, pulling me away from my studies and books. I find myself google-mapping our hotel, the Wihdat Refugee Camp, and the UNRWA headquarters trying to imagine myself there. I keep translating phrases into arabic and hope I'm pronouncing the foreign words correctly. My mouth feels clumsy and I'm afraid of mispronouncing something and transforming the word into something completely different....or offensive. Will I speak arabic with a spanish accent? I'm sure that'd be comical.
I've read almost every article on Palestinian refugees in Jordan google has to offer. There aren't many. I'm discovering this is a little-studied population which only increases my curiosity. There are books on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Egypt and Israel, but not Jordan. When I asked Professor Al-Delaimy about it he simply replied that the literature didn't exist. Why? I don't want to be *that* American who shows up culturally unaware and historically ignorant. So I'm combing BBC News, Aljazeera, and CNN for any political updates on the country and have a news filter set on my email in case something interesting pops up.
In just a few weeks I'll be there. In Jordan. In Amman. Only finals and few last-minute details stand in the way. I'm so excited I'm jittery and totally can't concentrate on studying.
Must.focus. 25 more days!
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