أنا سعيدة جدا

Today has been so full of good things that I am just glowing from happiness. Some of the wonderful things that have made my day:

• I GOT AN INTERNSHIP IN AMMAN! I will be doing actual research for an organization that I admire and respect, Friends of the Earth Middle East. The organization is basically a collaboration between Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian environmentalists to promote peace in the region by dealing with shared environmental concerns, such as the highly politicized topic of water (and it’s scarcity) in the Middle East. I look forward to sharing my internship experiences on this blog!

• I GET AN EXTRA 10kg IN BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE! Ticket.se, the provider of my Turkish Air ticket to Amman, sent me my trip details since I fly in 5 days (!!!) and it seems as if I have 30kg instead of 20kg in baggage allowance. This is yet to be confirmed though. It is kind of too good to be true!
• I FOUND PERFECT JEANS! …And they were 70% off! The shopaholic in me is crying tears of joy.
• IT’S A SUNNY DAY! The sun is such a beautiful rarity in Sweden. You really learn to appreciate it here. It is as if the sky is reflecting my happy mood.

I feel like I do need to cover my promised topic, football, since I actually did some research. I'm almost starting to feel like a real travel writer! Anyway, last thursday I saw CSKA Moscow beat my beloved home team AIK (we played very well - the first 20 minutes) in a game that is loved around the world (though not quite so much in the country where they think football is a game played predominantly with your hands, which is something I will never understand).

Here is a picture of some loyal gnagare (translates to "rodents", the unfortunate nickname of supporters of AIK):

Football (as in European/African/Asian/South American football to all my American friends and family) is also the favorite sport in Jordan. Just as seemingly simple environmental problems such as water is highly politicized in the Middle East, so is football, as I found out in an article on Al Jazeera (not to be confused with one of Amman's main football teams, which is also called Al Jazeera). Apparently "supporters of the winning team usually leave the stadium chanting political and racist slogans." The article also quotes the author of a cable exposed on Wikileaks "the game exposed the growing rift between East Bankers and Palestinians in Jordan." I hope to get a chance to see a football game in Jordan (though hopefully one not as violent as the one covered by Al Jazeera) and tell you from experience what it was like.

The precious sun is now setting over the Swedish countryside and I promised to accompany my dad on a walk in the gorgeous evening light (my ornithologist dad already has his binoculars in hand). I hope your day was as happy as mine was!