summer breakdown

In a little over 48 hours, I'll be on my way to Amman, Jordan via Salt Lake City, then Paris (the only time I've ever wished for a longer layover in my life). In the meantime I'm packing my suitcase and everything else in my now-apartment because Derrick and Lissie are moving in with Mom and Dad Hull for about 4-5 of the 7 weeks I'll be gone and after that we'll be camping out in Provo. Some friends of ours will be gone for the summer and they needed someone they trusted to house-sit for them. Untethered as we are, it seemed like a convenient, cheap solution for us since we don't have much in the way of money and I'll be in Provo doing my Spanish language certification this summer before we move to Manhattan. No more commuting = a happier me = a happier Hull family. But I'll especially miss living closer to two of my siblings, our awesome landlords, and our ward congregation that has been so welcoming to us.

So, Amman. I am really excited to live in Amman. I've always wanted to live abroad. My mom's wanderlust gave me a chance to visit a lot of places as a tourist when I was younger, and I still will be a tourist in a lot of ways, but I really look forward to making some friends, eating a lot of local food, and having a chance to settle in and learn a foreign city and culture and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of Arabic.

 The work I'll be doing this summer will be a great opportunity for me.  For those of you who are confused as to why I'm going there at all, let me give a brief explanation.  I'll be going with a team of students to evaluate a government program that is trying to decrease the number of poverty pockets in Jordan. Specifically, the Ministry of Social Development has asked us to evaluate a grant program they have for qualifying poor families. We will be determining how the process of applying for and receiving the grant works, whether the Ministry is reaching their target population, and what the overall effects of the grant are on the families. Does it actually influence upward mobility? Is it reducing these poverty pockets? These are some of the questions we've been working on as we've written up our evaluation plan. So we'll be conducting interviews and doing surveys of a select number of participants and feedback will go back to the Ministry with whatever alterations or suggestions we may have.

Because I'm not going as a tourist, but as an intern in a government office, I need to follow cultural dress codes with greater intensity than I probably would otherwise. No, I won't be wearing a burqa, which some women choose to do in Jordan (keep in mind that Jordan is not Iran), but I will be dressing more conservatively than I normally would in such a hot place. We're talking long skirts, slacks, quarter-length sleeved shirts. I'll survive by drinking water and growing pit-stains on my shirts.

Things I would love to see while I'm there: number one on my list is Petra. I'd also love to float on top of the Dead Sea and there is a possibility that I could see Jerusalem, but we'll see since I'm leaving a few weeks earlier than my other team members, one of whom decided to stay longer for Ramadan which is way cool.  When Derrick and I talked about me doing an international something this summer, we decided a month would be long enough, but then it turned into 6, and now 7 weeks (due to flight scheduling). I think 7 weeks is definitely going to be the max amount that I can be away from my favorite person and our 3 year old. Because Derrick is going to be with his parents for the majority of my stay, I'm convinced that my separation from Lissie is going to be harder for me than for her.

So, that's it. I'm certain you'll hear from me while I'm in the field on this blog. Whether I'll be too hot and sweaty to pull together a coherent sentence or two is another matter.

*Sorry for the unrelated political tone of this map. I chose it because it made Jordan's location so clear.