Driven by Curiosity…

Yes I copied the title from Lina…but I can do this, since I happen to be in Muenster in the very same place at the very same moment! …I am sitting in the Internet Room with one of the Jordanian team members and he is telling me in wonder ‘ Praise God, listen to how many languages we can hear in 4 square meter room!’ .. he has every reason to be surprised, we are hearing Spanish, English, Rumanian, Russian, Arabic in two dialects, Polish,  French and Hungarian… aber scheiße  how could I forget Deutsch?!!!

This has been an experience for  all the team members, including myself! Yes, Lina and I have different modes of functioning as team leaders,  We both find it difficult to draw the line and balance between being strict and being loose. Sometimes I feel like slapping some of them… for example when they show up forty five minutes late, and force the whole group to work an extra hour!  and sometimes I just want to hug them… for example when they acted the Jaha bit!! Man the boys were MARVELLOUS!! True sheikhs! Jordan will be proud!  . And while Lina  tends to more hands off, I tend to be more hands on… but I think this difference is really positive,  because we do complement each other in our own ways.

By the way having Lina around has been wunderbar, we have been talking a lot and discovering how much in common we have, especially during the walks from the Behnnohaus back to our hotel.

The Jordanian team is a very interesting mix this year. We can completely spot the contradictions Jordanian youth have to live through, especially the girls. The society holds women to higher standards and some of them constantly feel they need to act to keep this standard. In moments of letting go, when they act like normal kids in their age such as being silly, giggling, playing…they start feeling guilty and feel they need to emphasize how virtuous they are and constantly explaining to me and to the others what they said and what they meant and how and why they said it…. I keep saying it is ok, you don’t need to explain… I really really understand! But I am thinking it is ok because they really really are just normal human beings!

We had the usual amount of tension in the first couple of days. the tension of discovering the dynamics of how the team functions,  adapting to the new place and the work we are doing, testing the waters with each other and with the other groups, deciding who is a friend and who is not .. one of the girls kept giving the guys sideways looks and stupid  comments when she catches them standing with girls! and they just REJOYCED catching her talking to a  guy… they are still making fun of the poor girl!  But it is ok… maybe she will learn how to keep her mouth shut when she should… I personally hope she does because she was absent the day  they taught tactfulness in school!  I had long talks with all the team members during the last 2 days and today everyone has finally relaxed, it seems like we all know where we stand, and all the negative feelings have finally come out. I completely adore the youngest member in our team, a 17 year old boy. He only has to open his mouth for of us to crack laughing! He throws very witty comments in such a serious manner… we can never tell if he is joking or just is like this

Since I lived in Germany couple of years ago,  spending the time with this team is giving me moments of joy, I don’t get to live every day. Which is to remember how things feel the first time! I just love to see the absolutely innocent and childish pleasure  in their reactions when they try things for the first time… things like drinking  a certain juice for example or eating a certain type of chocolate, or seeing a lake for the first time or even living the long hours or the changing weather, or the shopping… basically the beauty in all the small things that I tend to take to take for granted…. And in moments like this I just feel joyful.

Got to go Dinner is being served and i am starving!