UJLC

On Thursday, 6/19, those of us who arrived on Wednesday registered, and all of us attended orientation at the University of Jordan Language Center (UJLC). The registration process was a little “worky” as the Swedes might say, but I was able to finish before everything closed at 3 p.m.:

1) Registration form and two passport photos to UJLC administrator.

2) Form from administrator and twenty American dollars to UJLC account at Cairo Amman Bank on campus for university fees. (There was a long line that we had to give up on and come back to after orientation. Saleh has said in the past that bureaucracies are not the smoothest in Jordan.)

3) Form from administrator, receipt from Cairo Amman bank, and $500 dinars in cash to the University Bursar’s Office. (Thank goodness that Saleh told me that it was window ten! Otherwise, that would have taken much longer. It was already enough of a hassle for most of us to be able to withdraw all these large amounts of cash—we had needed cash for our rent, too.)

4) Return to admin office with receipts in order to obtain ID card. (See the pic to the side. The pics were quickly, hand-trimmed, and I love that it’s slightly crooked!) [Note: My friend Lauren and I overheard the administrator grumbling about “a group of students who arrived late and missed the placement exam, who were taking it on Sunday.” That’s us. No one of our group arrived in time for the 9 a.m. Tuesday exam, because we were told it was on 12:30 on Sunday! Good thing Saleh knows everyone here!]

During orientation, we received the travel info for our group trips, as well as our class schedule. In case anyone (Patty?) is interested, we’ll be in class during the following times:

Sunday: 11 a.m.-12:40 p.m. (Remember that the weekly Islamic congregational prayers are held on Friday, so the weekend here is Friday and Saturday.)

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 9 a.m.-10:40 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:40 p.m.

Thursday: 9 a.m.-10:40 a.m.

As Americans, our group can take advantage of the slightly cheesily-named, but convenient, “American Corner,” a room donated by the U.S. Embassy, with lounging spots and computers. It wasn’t open yet, but it should be by Sunday.

Oh, and I have seen a number of interesting toilets in my, albeit, somewhat limited travels. There have been the colorful ones, such as the Hundertwasser Toilet of Modern Art in Vienna. There have been fascinating apparatuses to clean toilets, such as the restaurant toilet in the alley of Nice whose toilet seat revolved after flushing to be washed automatically. But the one at the UJLC almost took the cake. (The best toilet ever still remains Molly’s apartment toilet—part of an entire bathroom set up—in her first Stockholm apartment. It’s really hard to describe just in words, but essentially the sink became the shower, with a rotating wall in the mix. It was an amazing example of Swedish ingenuity in the face of small spaces.) I’ve included a picture on the side. It’s the first time I’ve had to try to aim as a woman, and it was not as easy as it looks! You’ll notice the spigot and the pitcher on the side, a bidet-like process that is another ablution practice for certain Muslims. There is an absence of toilet paper, though. Both of my guide books and Saleh warned me that I would need to bring toilet paper with me at all times, and I am glad that I remembered the advice. One of the quirks that takes getting used to around here.