With only a few days remaining before I make my debut as a teacher, I am trying to get as many things done as possible: traveling, hanging out with friends, work at the school, and work at Ayn Al Basha. I come home late like this each night (although it says 3AM, it’s actually more like 4AM to my internal clock thanks to Daylight Savings shutting off) and barely have enough energy to brush my teeth, much less write long blog entries like I was apt to a couple months ago.

However, as today was both Friday and Halloween, I gave myself the evening off from my self-enforced schedule of computer management and went to a couple parties. More on that in a few paragraphs. Ayn Al Basha is coming along nicely, hamdilallah, and not a moment too late. We’re suffering constant delays in getting the products we need from other suppliers, little things like desks (just arrived yesterday) and chairs, as well as – the windows and doors. Needless to say, I have the computers imaged and ready to be installed, but I’m sure not putting $9,000 worth of computer equipment into a room that doesn’t have a door.

Although the electricity is almost totally wired through the building, we don’t have it turned on yet to prevent our two awesome electricians (kharabyee) from toasting themselves. However, we tested out our florescent light system in one room just a couple days ago, the day of the first huge rainstorm. It was incredible; mist, fog and muddy/sandy water racing down the mountains everywhere. I was setting up the first four computers in the admin building (the green one) with Aaron, Jeff, and Ahmad, and suddenly there was a massive flood of light pouring out into the yard next to us. Each room has about 20 long florescent bulbs in them, making each room brighter than daylight. I joked that IRD will want us to conduct classes at night if they hear about how nice the light system is!

Yesterday was the orientation day for the Iraqi students. About 90-120 students showed up throughout the day to hear Aaron speak (or more specifically, for Aaron to make noises, which Ahmad translated into something recognizable for them) and to ask questions about the programs they were enrolled in. I wasn’t in attendance (I had Linux and Windows images to tweak for multilingual support on the other side of the complex) but I heard later that it was really draining. A lot of the Iraqis were upset that they had been put into other classes when the one they originally wanted was full, and wanted to ask Aaron how they could switch. Unfortunately, almost EVERYONE wanted to switch into Computer Hardware – my class. Aaron and Jeff were seriously trying to weigh whether or not to drop the Construction course entirely (which 1-2 people signed up for) and trying to get another 2 Hardware instructors. A lot of the other students were upset with the time of day the class was offered: 9:30 in the morning was too early for them? I raised my eyebrow at that one. They also wanted to know why it was in the “middle of nowhere” in a tiny town like Ayn Al Basha. I happened to be talking with one of the English speaking fathers of one of the younger trainees, and he described it like this, “When we first heard it was in Ayn Al Basha, we thought, Wayn Al Basha?” [wayn is Arabic for ‘where?’]

Even though today was a Friday and technically our day off, I went with Aaron and Jeff to the site in the morning to do more installations. The electricians were there as well, and I spent the next 3 hours working side-by-side laying power and network cable with one of them and his nephew, a young boy about 11-12 years old who smiled shyly at me and helped hold wires and attach jack plates when I finished with each cable. They invited me to sit down with them for lunch; a roasted chicken for each of us wrapped in delicate, thin bread (khubiz sherak) with pungent purple-skinned onions and coffee laced with gritty brown cardamom seeds (which taste great when diluted in coffee, but not so great when you suck in a mouthful of the grounds that are at the bottom of each cup). I learned that it wasn’t just the two electricians that were brothers, but they had brought most of their family with them – 8 other brothers, who handled lighting systems, ceiling tiles, and many other things. They were surprised that I only had one brother; they thought I was joking, and even seemed sympathetic and consoling when I told him that small families and only children were completely common in America.

As Jeff and Aaron were leaving, they invited me to a Halloween party that was being thrown by the friend of a friend, and asked me what I was going as. I had to think fast, but a friend of mine back in America had already suggested an interesting pun to me the previous evening: a Ceiling Fan! Why not? It was a quick matter for me to whip up a homemade “#1 Finger) and some signs for my sweatshirt. Yes – I was not a rotating air-moving device, but instead: a guy who just really, really loved ceilings!

In comparison with a few costumes from previous years in college:

Yep, I'm a banana.	I was supposed to be the Pusher Robot, but people thought that I was half of the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots.
I don't think I'm going to win any points for artistic design this year.	However, I should get some points for using Ceiling Cat in a costume, right?

The first party I went to with Jeff and Aaron and some of their friends that I’d already known from the past few months. It was a relaxed, laid-back party, all American people my age here in Jordan for school or business. Most of them had actually been in Jordan for less time than I had, which caused me to double-take and remember I’ve been here over 9 weeks already. There were lots of political costumes, especially in my group: a Sarah Palin, an injured McCain supporter, a Joe Six Pack, and a Hockey Mom. Ironically, I was the only non-political one in the group!

Shawn called me and invited me to the second party over by 3rd Circle in his apartment building, which I didn’t stay at long because his place was simply packed with partying young Arabs and foreign students, all drinking alcohol (gasp!) and I’m pretty sure I saw someone doing a line of coke in the corner of the apartment room as the DJ thundered away in the corner and flashing green criss-crossing lasers etched the smoke-wreathed air. I only saw Shawn himself once; he was dressed in pajamas and a stocking cap and I wondered with amusement whether he was dressed up or not. I was only there for about half an hour, awkwardly sipping Finnish vodka in a corner and feeling stupid in my sheets of paper when suddenly a huge Arab guy in a checked keffiyeh burst into the room and shouted, “okay everyone shut up, we got the cops here again, get the hell out or we’re all ****ed, go go go! yulla yulla!” I quickly poured my vodka into something that looked like it had once been a potted plant and got the heck out of there. A cute Palestinian girl started talking to me as I was leaving, trying to convince me to go with her and some friends to an Irish pub a few blocks away, but I declined, still uneasy over more “harram” drinking activity after being marched past a stone-faced Jordanian cop in the stairwell whose dark gaze sized up everyone one of us as we slunk past.

The doors are supposed to arrive at Ayn Al Basha on Sunday morning, which means I’ll be working late getting all the computers set up tomorrow and making sure the images are working properly with our network setup. We unfortunately won’t have internet access for another week (who saw THAT coming?) but at least we’ll have file and printer sharing. Knowing me and my propensity for working late hours, I’ll probably just end up staying there all night to “guard” the computers since there won’t be a door. Dedicated? Yes? Freezing cold? Most definitely, but hey; I missed my chance to go camping in Petra so this is my camping experience. Those computers, even in hibernate mode, are going to be putting out quite a few degrees of heat, too – an unorthodox solution, but improvisation is definitely the game in Jordan! 🙂