Hello everyone,
In this post, I’d like to give you a brief update on everything that’s happened in the meantime. The initial feeling of being overwhelmed has pretty much gone, and everything feels more relaxed, less draining and easier, which I’m really enjoying.
Now that I understand the language at least a bit better, my daily life at TSS has become easier. Learning with the children, communicating with the teachers, but also simply sitting in on conversations, is more relaxed and, of course, more interesting.
In January, I still had plenty of free time and holidays. Caro, Margarete, Julia and I went travelling and explored northern Jordan, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. We took a very relaxed approach to everything, including plenty of games evenings, walks and good food. But what particularly impressed me was seeing Wadi Rum for the first time. We arrived just in time for sunset, and the scenery was simply mesmerising.
After the holidays, we actually only worked for two weeks before the next event came up: the mid-term seminar. For this, I travelled with four other volunteers and our leader to a small village in northern Jordan. We happened to be there during the coldest week of the year, which meant even the air conditioning units, which are supposed to keep us warm, had frozen over. We had to improvise a bit and refill our hot water bottles every two hours, but as the week went on it got warmer and warmer, and on the last day we were actually able to have breakfast outside, which had been unimaginable at the start. I took a lot away from this seminar. I reflected on my time in Jordan so far and was able to set myself goals for the coming period. Getting out of the city and spending time with friends was also very refreshing.
The following weeks flew by. A former volunteer was visiting Jordan for a few weeks, and we got up to a lot. For example, we went on a little road trip to Tafilah (a governorate in Jordan), which was really great fun. Getting lost is, of course, part of the experience, as are unexpectedly long hikes that ended up with a lovely encounter with shepherds, their donkeys and dogs.
It was also exciting to experience Ramadan and celebrate Iftar together with all the children.
Another major highlight was the visit from my family and friends. The six of us travelled through Jordan for two weeks and were able to get to know everything all over again together. It made me realise once more how much has already become part of my daily routine and just how much I’ve learnt over time.
I’d love to tell you all about the exciting things that happened on this trip and afterwards in my next blog post.
Until then, lots of love
Julia
This text was automatically translated using an AI-powered translation system.
