Beginning

I talk about the value of change and flexibility a lot, and this summer has given me another chance to practice flexibility and experience change.

On August 10th, I packed my bags for a Fulbright year in Jordan. I’m setting off to teach English in a private Jordanian university: Princess Sumaya University for Technology, or PSUT. On my way to Jordan, I stopped over at my friend Christina Gordon’s apartment in Washington, D.C. for two nights.

Now, the first chance for flexibility. While we were away at a good-bye party for Christina her apartment was broken into and our three laptops were stolen, as well as her roommate’s wallet. We were relieved, in the midst of filing a police report at midnight, that our passports were still there so that we could continue to Jordan in two days.

Besides this setback (which involved sleeping with my passport under my pillow that night and a umbrella-turned-weapon by my the bed) the rest of the stay was enjoyable. We spent time with Christina’s friends and family, bought new laptops at Best Buy, and went to a Nationals’ game at the stadium.

On Monday, we were off to Dulles International Airport with our four fifty-pound bags and much appreciated laptops. We made it to Frankfurt, our layover city, and succeeded at some exploring. Our first stop was a restaurant, where we ate pork chops, schnitzel, potatoes, sauerkraut, and apple wine.

Once we’d fed ourselves on some legit German food, we headed to downtown walking and explored for awhile, much jet-lagged. We stopped for lattes and coffees at several cafes along the way in an attempt to be more alert in the middle of our regular sleep cycle.

Frankfurt was beautiful. The weather was hinting at the tipping point of summer to fall, and it wasn’t humid at all. We found an Irish pub where we had internet and waited for our bus tour to begin. I found a good quote on the inside of the bathroom door in the pub.

Once the time came, we met our extremely curt and blunt tour guide, who chided us for going to the bus rather than the tour office. We weren’t okay with that on no REM sleep and lots of walking, but our relationship with him improved throughout the afternoon because we refused to take his guff. We explored the city via a “get-on-get-off” tour bus system, and took lots of sleepy pictures with old architecture in the background. I’ve decided I like Frankfurt.