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June 22, Tuesday: Sitting in the Apartment
Where to begin? It has been a long few days. I have not had time to write or anything. I'll try to recount all that has happened. I'm still not sleeping too well partly because of the bed, and getting used to the new time table. Yesterday I bought some pinapple juice for 15 Kirsh (21 cents) at the local store (they're everywhere here arond the apartment) and successfully flagged down the bus and asked them if they were going where I wanted. A couple of things that different are
1.) there really aren't addresses, our landloard doesn't even know our address, so you navigate by landmarks, stores, or streets. Since Qasid is about an 8 minute bus ride down the street I just ask if they're going to "Duwar Madeena" which means city circle, because of the roundabouts.
2.) Not every bus goes to the same place, there is not a set bus map or schedule, you have to ask the guy if they're going where you want and if they say no then they'll just drive off and you find one that is.
The buses that I'm taking are like a large VW van and cost either 25 or 30 Kirsh. It takes 100 Kirsh to make 1 Dinar (1.40 USD) and they have 5, 10, 25, and 50 Kirsh coins. You can buy pretty much any meal for a Dinar or less. I've mainly been eating Falafel, Humous, salad, Schwarma, and flatbread. It is all very good and you can wash it down with a pepsi for 35 kirsh or a liter of water for the same price. So overall, food is really really cheap. I've enjoyed walking to the fruit stand and one of the many Falafel shops around our apartment, even though there is KFC, Pizza hut, Mc Donalds, and Burger King within the same walking distance. I'm not planning on eating there although I hear that the Mc Donalds here is awesome, because they use real meat (since it's Halaal). Yesterday was extremely long because we had placement testing to see which level we will be in, and orientation. Today we went on a field trip to Aljoun Castle, which is extremely ancient. You can see into four different countries from the top of it and it is one of the places Jesus went. The cave where Jesus stayed when he was fasting is about 25 Kilometers or so from the castle, and the birthplace of Elijiah is in a part of the town that we came through to get to the castle. Afterwards, we all ate lunch at a restaurant and we had flatbread that you could tear and dip into lots of different sauces and mixes (humous, yogurt with spices, relish that was like german potatoe salad, etc.) After that they brought out lamb that tasted like a pot roast type of recipe with teh juice, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. It was delicious! I've met several people and we talked on the way to and from the castle. We got back and now I'm just chilling, thinking about taking a nap and waiting for Qasid to e-mail me and let me know where I placed.
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