These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

There are many excellent things about the University of Jordan.  The campus is absolutely gorgeous (let's revisit this picture).  Due to the absence of copyright laws, I only spent 15JD for all of my textbooks (aka photocopied and bound compilations of articles and book chapters) for the semester.  I can (and most certainly do) purchase a cup of tea with mint leaves, a warm pastry filled with melty Nutella, or a fresh falafel and hummus sandwich for .5JD or less right on campus.

However, quite possibly the greatest thing about UJ is my Modern Standard Arabic professor, Nizar.  He is an entirely adorable, young Jordanian man who stands all of 5'4 tall, has a mouth full of braces, and just got engaged last summer. 

Sneaky photo of Prof. Nizar from the middle of class.

Not only is he a pretty phenomenal Arabic professor, but he is easily the most bubbly and enthusiastic person that I have ever met.  How he manages to mostly keep my attention for the duration of a three-hour class is a mystery to me.  During our very first class, he sang us excerpts of Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Celine Dion songs.  Last week, he directed the class in a rousing rendition of "Hey Jude" and then randomly decided to demonstrate his calligraphy skills by writing all of our names in Arabic on the board (see picture above).  I'm really expecting to see him as a contestant on the acclaimed television show Arabs Got Talent any day now.  Other antics include animated games of charades to explain unfamiliar words without resorting to English, instructing us to play pictionary with the new vocabulary list, doing the splits to get us to answer questions quickly (before he splits his pants), and enthusiastically producing his just-finished doctoral thesis from a plastic bag one day at the beginning of class and inviting us all to some sort of thesis-related party at the Faculty of Foreign Language.

Prof. Nizar easily makes my top ten favorite things in Jordan list.  What a guy.

Also, last Tuesday was my lovely Jordanian partner-in-crime's 21st birthday.  I will leave you with the following photograph of an epic Jordanian sparkler-cake and the crown that I made for Lura from tin foil and a headband (I'm a little too proud of it).

Delicious cake/innovative crown creation at Paris Cafe.

I have so much love for this girl.  Early curfews, Arabic listening homework, and large family gatherings are only made bearable by her presence (and lolcats).  Happy belated birthday, Lura!