Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Top 5 most awkward experiences:

1. My host mother was trying to explain the shower to me and kept asking me to undress and get in so she could show me. I insisted, however, that I could manage. I was confused because she placed a bucket inside the tub and filled it with water and kept pointing to it. I still don’t know what that was about.
2. There is no toilet paper in any public bathroom. Yeah. That’s taken some adjustment. Tissue packets are now a staple in my purse.
3. I don’t know how to act around the house maid. She’s younger than me, Sri Lankan, and she only knows a smattering of English and Arabic. I just feel awkward around her because she wakes me up, washes my clothes, serves me tea and cleans everything. I’m not used to having someone do all that for me. I thought live-in housemaids were only for the very rich with huge mansions, but it seems many middle class Arab families have housemaids.
4. Two young Saudi guys approached me and a new guy friend when we were hanging out at the Roman amphitheater. They seemed only interested in talking to my friend and acted very condescendingly toward me. I must say I was a bit insulted, but I’ve been told that sort of attitude is normal.
5. A family member and I had a discussion about rape in Jordan. He explained that if a woman is raped in Jordan, she’d have very little chance of getting married. When I said that in the U.S., that would not be a reason for spinsterhood, he looked at me pointedly and said, “Of course not, everyone knows that anything goes in the U.S.” It was not, I don’t think, a personal attack on my morality, but I still felt uncomfortable.

Top 5 most amazing experiences:

1. Listening to the evening call to prayer from the ruins of the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace at the top of Jebel Qala in Amman. From the top we could see all of Amman, its chaos, its bustle, but also its dusky beauty. This was how I pictured the Middle East: sizzling hot, of course, but also rather mystical, rich with ancient history and full of modern excitement.
2. Eating Kataif with my host family. This traditional Ramadan dessert is basically small pancakes filled with nuts and cream, pinched closed, and then soaked in hot sugar-water. It’s addictive, and also guaranteed to give me diabetes early in life.
3. Walking on Rainbow Street in Amman at night. The cobble stones and narrow, winding streets remind me of Europe, yet the smell of hookah and the monochrome beige buildings are distinctly Middle Eastern. Hailing a taxi after 9 p.m., however, is quite a feat.
4. Hanging out in the living room and watching Arab music videos with my family. They get so excited, sing along, clap and sometimes dance. Some prefer singers from the Gulf or from the U.S., while one host brother practically salivates when the video of a Lebanese singer comes on. It’s so fun to watch their enthusiasm and try to sing along too.
5. Drinking mint and lemon juice. It sounds like a weird concoction, but it’s seriously the only liquid that makes me feel better about this awful late-summer heat. I’ve drunk so much the past week that it’s coming out my pores.

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