Whenever you move to a new place there are always challenges that arise as you navigate the culture, customs, and traditions of the new space you are in. As a TCK, I felt as though I had the upper hand coming into this new experience as I have had a lot of experience adapting to new cultures and contexts throughout the years. That being said, I couldn't have been more wrong. This transition has proven to be more difficult than I anticipated. Getting used to living in a city surrounded by an unfamiliar culture has been difficult and I have found myself withdrawing a little more. I was quite frustrated with myself because I thought that I should be so much better at this sort of thing because of my TCK background.

I was really stuck in trying to figure out why I was feeling this way when I came across a chapter in a book I am reading called Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds. In the chapter, the authors discuss the social skills of TCKs mentioning that sometimes TCKs move at a slower pace when adapting to a new environment in order to determine the best ways to blend in and respect the culture they are in. I really resonated with this and was encouraged to not let these feelings get in the way of my curiosity. One of my goals for the coming weeks here in Jordan is to be curious. I think this is a great lesson not just for myself but also for me to share with my students. Being curious helps drive a lot of our questions and growth as people. My focus in the coming weeks will be to be curious about everything I am involved with and not be afraid to ask questions or try new things.

Speaking of new things, below you will find some of the new adventures and experiences that I had in Jordan this past week!

On Saturday, I went with one of my hosts on a drive down into the Jordan valley. It was a beautiful scenic drive as we dropped from 2500 feet above sea level to below sea level in the valley. About an hour and a half drive north of Amman we finally reached an archeological dig site which is the ancient city of Pella. The site offers the opportunity to see the remains of chalcolithic settlements from the 4th millennium BC, evidence of Bronze and Iron age walled cities, Byzantine churches, early Islamic residences, and a small medieval mosque. I had a great time exploring the site and reminiscing about the history of this land with my host. Below are a few pictures from our adventure!

I thought I would end this week's blog with a section on just some of my highlights from the week!

1. I did not share too much in this blog about my teaching experience, but I have taken over the 7th-grade pre-algebra class which has been a blast. I have the students working on a cool scale drawing project right now which I will share more about in next week's blog! I am hoping to teach some more of the Algebra I classes starting next week but the 7th graders are enough for now!

2. Getting out of the city and exploring the ancient city of Pella was incredibly life-giving! It was so fun to just walk around the old city and explore some of the ruins!

3. Trying out some new food this week has to be one of my top highlights! I loved getting to go out to some new places and eat some good Jordanian food!

4. I kept on hearing what sounded like an ice cream truck going around the block near the house all week. The sound wasn't very exciting though and was actually beginning to get obnoxious. I decided the other day to take a look out the window when I heard it and discovered that it was a propane tank truck! It drives around the streets of the neighborhood in case anyone runs out of propane since it is used for all the gas stoves and ovens. Not something I have seen before, but I guess it makes sense and is quite convenient for everyone!

Thanks for reading my blog! Stay tuned for next week to hear more about what is happening at Whitman!