Yesterday, I checked out of the hotel I had been staying in since I arrived in Jordan and moved in with my host family.  So far, the living situation has been quite comfortable with the biggest inconvenience merely being that the house does not have internet access.  My family is a 60 year old father and his three sons, whose ages range from 20-25.  The mother is half Swiss and living in Switzerland for the fall, so I will most likely not see her during the seven weeks that I spend with the family.  The family’s house, situated in middle class neighborhood in Amman, is two levels and much bigger than I expected an Arab middle class house to be.  I have my own my bedroom that is quite spacious.  Overall, my host family is very laid back and not overbearing.  In the 24 hours that I have been living with the family, I have spent the majority of my time situating myself in my new surroundings by unpacking setting up my room, and lounging around and watching TV with my home stay brothers. 



Like anybody would feel if they found themselves in a completely new home, I do have some homesickness.  Looking at the pictures of friends and family that I have hung up, my initial gut reaction is a desire to return back to the comfort and familiarity of the United States; however, I know that once I develop a daily routine and the secure feeling it brings my homesickness will wane.  One instant remedy for my homesickness though has been watching TV with my home stay brothers as the Arab satellite programs have many English speaking channels with American shows such as Friends. 

In addition, the conversations I have with my home stay brothers while watching TV makes me feel more and more comfortable with each exchange.  Our conversations have run the gambit so far as we have discussed a wide array of topics, ranging from very serious political issues to the question of which region of the Arab world has the most attractive girls.  With these conversations I am able to get a deeper glimpse into Arab life and culture.  For instance, they jokingly label Jordan as “the 52nd state of America with Israel being the 51st of course”; however, the conversations that I have had with my home stay father, Gaith, have been the most enlightening.

A graduate from the University of Amman with degrees in Physics and Chemistry, a former CEO of an Arab pharmaceutical company, Gaith is quite an intelligent man and a pleasure to talk politics with.  While I have lived in his house for only a day, I have had many conversations with him that have allowed me to see the views held by the majority of the Arab world. Even though I do not agree with all of Gaith’s points of view, I still see talking with someone who for instance, supports Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party for their ability to keep Iraq stable, as a precious opportunity to really understand how Arabs view the events of our day. For instance, many Arabs believe that Iraq’s suicidal sectarian violence was instigated by neither al-Qaeda, Baathists, nor Shiite militias, but rather by a United States government that wants to see Iraq stay weak not strong.  Expectedly, Gaith’s view of Israel and their treatment of the Palestinian people is very negative.  After hearing his account of what he has seen in the West Bank, it is easy to see why Arabs are so passionate about this issue.  After only one day, I feel that I am already able to see a world invisible to the lens of a CNN or Fox News camera

And on a different note, here is a view of my school, and from my school: