First semi-migraine since I've arrived. I consider myself really lucky, since I've be so stressed. It never really materialized into a headache. Really, it just kept doing the sound and light sensitivity, dizziness, and then not able to communicate well in Arabic. When I walked by the Libyan guard this morning, I couldn't think of one word to say in response to his morning Arabic lesson he tries to give me. He asked what was wrong with me, and I told him mariida (sick), but then he looked at me like, you look fine. After a minute, he kind of smiled. I think he thought I was on something, or maybe had too much fun last night.
Lots of stressful things have really kind of faded some. I refuse to think about issues from home that have been stressful, and as long as I don't think about missing people, I'm not homesick very much. I still have not heard back to find out if I will be able to have my spring semester here or not, and this really bums me out. I'd hoped to know one way or the other by now. What will be, will be, though. The universe usually takes good care of me.
I'm trying to live just off of my stipend here, so I decided I could no longer spend money on taxis. Instead, I was going to insist on riding the bus to and from school, but I was unsure where it picked up. I knew the general location since I had been dropped off the day before on the opposite side of the street. I asked the street sweeper guy, and he kind of told me where to be, but I could not find it. Eventually, another student came. I told her what I was trying to do. She asked me what I was studying, and since I had the migraine, my Arabic was extra bad. She said, "You are studying Arabic, and your Arabic is bad??" These ladies tell it like it is out here, lol. So, I told her, "That's why I am studying. If it was good, I wouldn't need to be here.!" Two buses past our bus stop that were full, which meant they would not be stopping for us. Another student showed up, and she and the other girl decided we needed a taxi. Between the three of us, it was almost the same as the bus anyway. My new friend, Jasmine, told me she expected me to be at the bus stop Sunday morning at 7:20. It was funny for this girl to act like my mom when I easily had fifteen years on her.
I really struggled throughout the day to stay in school, because I really did feel horrible. I had a quiz and I know I didn't do that well. I also knew that I just have to pass, since all my credits here are pass fail. And that quiz is not that big of a component to my grade.
Right now, I am at my internship, having completed pretty much everything I was supposed to do already. The work ethic here is a lot slower than at home. Nothing is an emergency, and things can always wait until tomorrow. My boss went home sick, and I can't do anything else until she returns to approve my content for the website.
My husband asked me what it is that I do here. How's this for my resume:
Information Retention, Conservation, and Development
Website Design and Maintenance
Information Acquisition and Distribution
Sounds pretty good I think. Because Jordan is a developing country, they don't have things in place which are things you'd take for granted in the states. For example, their filing system is a stack of random papers on a bunch of people's desks, or put in files in closets, possibly in order, but no SPECIFIC order. It's really just however the most recent person thought they should be arranged. They just recently got a server, and the mail room scans EVERYTHING, and then it goes into a random file located by date, but no identifying features in its file name, so nothing can be found. It works better to just sift through the papers on a desk. There is no place for contacts, and business cards are just xeroxed (possibly illegibly) onto a sheet of paper and then scanned.
My job is to change that. So, myself and an actual employee here have been working on the best way to organize the files; developing a more logical system which is categorized by key words and specific blocks of numbers. The actual work here is going to be re-archiving existing things, and then doing all the giant backlog of other documents.
The second part is creating English content from the existing materials. I'm supposed to update the information, as well as streamline and simplify the website. Lastly, I am in charge of the newsletter which will be distributed to investors quarterly, so I'll only have to do that once. I am hoping all of this looks good when I'm looking for work a year from now.
Two semesters left before I can join the work force. Still feels so far away...
Lots of stressful things have really kind of faded some. I refuse to think about issues from home that have been stressful, and as long as I don't think about missing people, I'm not homesick very much. I still have not heard back to find out if I will be able to have my spring semester here or not, and this really bums me out. I'd hoped to know one way or the other by now. What will be, will be, though. The universe usually takes good care of me.
I'm trying to live just off of my stipend here, so I decided I could no longer spend money on taxis. Instead, I was going to insist on riding the bus to and from school, but I was unsure where it picked up. I knew the general location since I had been dropped off the day before on the opposite side of the street. I asked the street sweeper guy, and he kind of told me where to be, but I could not find it. Eventually, another student came. I told her what I was trying to do. She asked me what I was studying, and since I had the migraine, my Arabic was extra bad. She said, "You are studying Arabic, and your Arabic is bad??" These ladies tell it like it is out here, lol. So, I told her, "That's why I am studying. If it was good, I wouldn't need to be here.!" Two buses past our bus stop that were full, which meant they would not be stopping for us. Another student showed up, and she and the other girl decided we needed a taxi. Between the three of us, it was almost the same as the bus anyway. My new friend, Jasmine, told me she expected me to be at the bus stop Sunday morning at 7:20. It was funny for this girl to act like my mom when I easily had fifteen years on her.
I really struggled throughout the day to stay in school, because I really did feel horrible. I had a quiz and I know I didn't do that well. I also knew that I just have to pass, since all my credits here are pass fail. And that quiz is not that big of a component to my grade.
Right now, I am at my internship, having completed pretty much everything I was supposed to do already. The work ethic here is a lot slower than at home. Nothing is an emergency, and things can always wait until tomorrow. My boss went home sick, and I can't do anything else until she returns to approve my content for the website.
My husband asked me what it is that I do here. How's this for my resume:
Information Retention, Conservation, and Development
Website Design and Maintenance
Information Acquisition and Distribution
Sounds pretty good I think. Because Jordan is a developing country, they don't have things in place which are things you'd take for granted in the states. For example, their filing system is a stack of random papers on a bunch of people's desks, or put in files in closets, possibly in order, but no SPECIFIC order. It's really just however the most recent person thought they should be arranged. They just recently got a server, and the mail room scans EVERYTHING, and then it goes into a random file located by date, but no identifying features in its file name, so nothing can be found. It works better to just sift through the papers on a desk. There is no place for contacts, and business cards are just xeroxed (possibly illegibly) onto a sheet of paper and then scanned.
My job is to change that. So, myself and an actual employee here have been working on the best way to organize the files; developing a more logical system which is categorized by key words and specific blocks of numbers. The actual work here is going to be re-archiving existing things, and then doing all the giant backlog of other documents.
The second part is creating English content from the existing materials. I'm supposed to update the information, as well as streamline and simplify the website. Lastly, I am in charge of the newsletter which will be distributed to investors quarterly, so I'll only have to do that once. I am hoping all of this looks good when I'm looking for work a year from now.
Two semesters left before I can join the work force. Still feels so far away...
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