Politics is in the air...

ELECTIONS

Today is election day in the U.S. I ended up having my Dad write in my choices, since I missed the deadline to get an emergency ballot here. Also, I hear the ballots would not contain the State ballot measures which there are currently some very important issues. The Embassy here will send your ballot for free.

Tonight there are several of us going to another student's house for an election party. It might go until really early tomorrow morning here...it should be fun. I am definitely excited about it. This election is clearly significant, regardless of who wins, since you have the first African American presidential nominee, the transition to a new president after 8 years (disliked by many) and the pressing issues that the entire world is interested in seeing how the U.S. will handle under a new White House. Ever since I have arrived in Jordan a frequent topic that comes up is the election.

Since my return from my year abroad in Germany, in 2001, there have been many significant occurrences that have caused the world to look to the U.S. even more than it has in the past. The most frequently mentioned here are obviously the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq, as well as its Foreign Policy and support for Israel. I have not met a single Jordanian, or other international student (from outside the U.S.) that did not hope Obama would win. Concerns here are that McCain will continue the same Foreign policies of Bush, which are interpreted as being for the purpose of oil, biased support for Israel with no accountability (and a lack of support of the Palestinians) and often a hidden "zionist" agenda. Seldom any of the other major issues or platforms that Americans weigh in voting are taken into consideration.

As for how I voted (for president and on the issues) I wish to refrain from writing in my blog. However, I will share a few thoughts and where I see myself politically. I am not particularly in favor of either candidate. I do not label myself as being with a specific political party and really wish there were more options than the standard two. Both parties hold values that I support and oppose, some stronger than others. I am hopeful that whichever candidate wins, they will be a strong and unifying leader to help our great country out of the economic crisis, into better relations with the international community and uphold and support the true values of the United States of America.

Here Comes Winter

In the last week it has rained twice. Today it actually “poured” for a little while as well. I was told it won’t rain much here though, so I am sure overall it was welcomed. The winter is definitely approaching however; the last two weeks have been milder than before and my apartment has been much colder than usual. My apartment does have a heater, however it is controlled by the landlord. I was told it will be run “during the winter for 8 hours”. I invested in a small heater fan which will hopefully make do until I am able to use the wall heater. Despite these precautions however, most of the buildings here are not insulated (just cement walls) and I hear the cold temperatures, even in doors, can chill you to the bones.

Lat week I went to Fuhais, a Christian town just outside of Amman, to pick olives with the Rotaract clubs. It was a joint project with Amman-Cosmopolitan, Amman-West and Amman-Petra to assist an elderly home. We filled several large bags that they will use and sell. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and a nice breeze. After a while become tiring, but I quickly got the hang of it. The following day one of the Rotaractors, Ghazi, hosted a dinner party at his house for a group of visiting Argentinians. We had the traditional Jordanian dish, Mansaf (lamb over rice with a white cream sauce called jameed poured on top). The guests were invited to join Ghazi and some others in eating the more traditional, Bedouin style way: with our hands. We would grab a small handful of the rice/lamb/sauce and make a ball of it in our (right) hand; then put it on top of our thumb and pop it in our mouth (which is to avoid using “dirty” hands). It was quite messy, but an interesting cultural experience! While some say it isn’t as common anymore in the city I was told the Bedouin (the very traditional people who live off of the land, often nomadic) will kill a lamb for their guest and cook and serve the head (with the eyes, tongue and brain!) to show that it is fresh for them. However, it can only be eaten by the guest if offered (which is a sign of respect). Will I try it if offered? I think so…but then again I don’t have a sheep’s head looking at me on a platter of Mansaf! Followed by Mansaf we had delicious Kanafa, which is an amazing, sweet pastry desert with cheese in the Middle, served warm. Both the Mansaf and Kanafa were the best I’ve had so far.

Two nights ago I went to a meeting with the Rotaract clubs to meet with the District Governor (who is visiting from Egypt). It was nice to see the all of the enthusiastic Rotaract clubs (those between 18-30 years old), as well as an Interact club (those under 18). Last night I went to my host Rotary club’s meeting (Amman-Jordan River) followed by a dinner with the District Governor (who comes from Egypt). I exchanged a flag from my sponsor Rotary club (Point West Rotary Club) and met the governor. Unfortunately I learned that my host District (2450) conference which was to be in Cairo, Egypt, was moved to a more resort-like area in Egypt. Perhaps I will visit Cairo with Fawwaz beforehand. Tomorrow will be another Rotary dinner with the District Governor, at yet another fancy hotel. The meetings here are mostly all done at higher class hotels which can add up quickly in comparison what I regular spend.

This weekend I am going to try to take a trip with the Language Center to Um Qais, where there are ruins of the old Roman City (part of the Decapolis, or the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire). Hopefully I will have more pictures soon!

Wadi Rum and Aqaba

Last weekend I went to Wadi Rum and Aqaba for a conference sponsored by the Rotaract of Amman-West. It was incredible! Wadi Rum is a desert canyon area, and Aqaba is the little bit of coast that Jordan has with the Red Sea. We got down to Wadi Rum after the sunset unfortunately (it is supposed to be spectacular), but it was close to a full moon which was also incredible. We stayed at a camp called “Beit Ali” and went up to the top of the hill for a breathtaking view of the moonlit desert. The bus trip was a mini party, and we stayed up pretty late to continue the party/gathering as well. I tried Hookah (here referred to as: sheesha, argelah or hubbly bubbly. It was interesting, since I had never smoked even a cigarette before. I had never fancied the idea of intentionally inhaling anything “toxic” in my body, but figured it is a big cultural thing and a few times wouldn’t hurt.

The next day we went on a 4x4 “safari” ride through some of the desert and the canyon area. I wish we had more time to climb some. The 4x4 stopped a few times and we were able to get out…unfortunately the batteries I had with me were so cheap and died after 1 or 2 pictures. Afterward we left for Aqaba, checked into the Hotel and had a very delicious lunch: Sayyeidah which is a lightly battered fish in a brown rice with crisp inions and pine nuts, along with many of the tasty Arabic appetizers (hummus, baba ghanoush, salad, tahini). After everyone rested (except me, who went out looking for the nearest public beach, which was harder to find than I hoped) we went on a glass boat around the Red Sea. The boats have some of the bottom where you can see down into the Red Sea. We left after sunset though and since the boat was traveling fast the bubbles from the engine prevented us from seeing anything; so we all hung out on the top deck. It was such a beautiful night. After we got back to the hotel we had the Rotaract District meeting followed by a barbeque and dance party.

The last day we had free time and I went scuba diving in the Red Sea! I went to the Red Sea Diving Center, which was a great choice. Abdullah Mamony is the manager and was very helpful in making arrangements for the dive. It was a British lady who hadn’t went on a dive in over 10 years and me with our Dive Master. Even though I had only gone on less than 20 dives, I managed to do great job with my buoyancy and everything else. She on the other hand was holding onto the Dive Master the whole first dive. Both dives were at one part of the public beach, about a 15 minute drive away from the hotel area. The first dive we went to the sunken Tank and the second we went to the “Seven Sisters” which were seven huge pieces of coral. The sea life was breathtakingly gorgeous and has helped further my love for scuba diving.

Last night I went to an Italian concert sponsored by the Italian Embassy. It was another interesting cultural experience within a cultural experience (if I didn’t write about it, I went to a Flamenco concert a few weeks ago). It was very nice. It would have been much nicer if I could understand the words, but even without knowing you can feel the excitement or tragedy in the tone.

I went to a Rotary-Amman Petra (the sponsor club to the Rotaract club I volunteer with). The guest speaker was a famous Jordanian comedian, Nabil Sawalha, who discussed the importance of laughter and humor. One rotaractor who attended with me, Noujoud, helped share with me how important he has been for Jordan in making steps towards overcoming political/social taboos and how inspiring he has been to the Jordanian and Palestinian people. Later this weekend I’ll be going to a dinner with the Rotary clubs and the District Governor who is visiting.

First Report and Upcoming Trip

Life is back in as much of a routine as it can be for living abroad. Having school each day of the week makes time fly by. Some days the lesson are pretty easy, while other days I feel like I am treading heavily to follow along. Hundreds of new words are thrown at me each day, and it does not feel like I retain them. Although I am often surprised when I hear the words used or go back to review the past lessons.

I completed my Rotary First Report and sent it in. The report answered questions provided in the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Handbook, which basically provides Rotary International a snapshot of what scholars are doing during their year abroad, some of their Rotary participation and some differences between their country and their sponsor country. It is required by Rotary International in order to receive your second/final scholarship payment. To my surprise there were a few issues with it locally, and not with Rotary International. In support of one of the differences I was pointing out (less separation between Church and State) I had mentioned one sentence that had only stated there was a controversy (objectively, without any expressed opinion on it or details). Just mentioning that there was a controversy however, sparked negative reaction which ultimately made me realize it was not significant enough to the purpose of the report; so I decided to take it out. I was originally irked because the reaction to the sentence was blown out of proportion; it was commented that I "focused my report" on the issue.

Fortunately, I have a blog and am able to provide more details on the controversy itself, which I view as a significant issue for Jordan. During Ramadan the government requires restaurants to obtain special permits to sell alcohol. Many restaurants are also closed since Muslims are supposed to fast from sunrise until sunset. Four and five star hotel restaurants and bars are open during Ramadan as well. There was a controversy over the closure of some of the Restaurants that served alcohol. Articles were written about the "crack down" in several papers, such as the Jordan Times and even by the BBC News. The means of closing one very popular ex-pat hang out, which is known for it's considerably liberal atmosphere, Books@ Cafe, was done so in a manner disputed by many. I have heard people from several sides discuss the closure, and do not wish to comment on whether or not I think it was legitimate or not (which was also how I wished to keep it in my report). A video that I think shares some of the different views that people have about the issue can be seen here: http://ikbis.com/Ibrahim/shot/134769.
The fact that I had only brought up the fact that there was a controversy and received strong reactions made me realize that it is a touchy subject for Jordan. The Jordanian government faces a challenge: trying to satisfy the balance between the majority which are socially conservative as well as the minority which are fighting for more liberal reforms. Needless to say it was definitely a learning experience.

Last week I went to a Flamenco Concert. It was very entertaining. Tonight I also went to a concert one of the other Rotary Ambassadorial scholars, Jennifer Bartmess, is playing with. They played Verdi's "Overture" from "La Forza del Destino", Mozart's Piano Concert No. 12 and Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony No. 8." The concert took me back to many pleasant enjoyable concerts I used to go to back home since several of my friends are music majors.

Tomorrow through Saturday I am going on a trip with the Rotaract clubs (hosted by the Rotaract of Amman-West). We will be first going to Wadi Rum, a famous desert canyon area where you can often camp with the bedouin, ride camels and somewhat explore the beautiful canyons and desert. The next day we're going to Aqaba, the little bit of coast Jordan has with the Red Sea. One of the Rotaractors I met scuba dives and I hope to go with him. I am ultra excited to have the chance to dive the Red Sea, since I got my open water certification last April! I'm sure I'll have something to write after my trip, along with some pictures!

Damascus

To walk around the world’s oldest, continuously inhabited city gives such a unique feeling. I just came back from my short visit to Damascus, Syria last night. It was a great trip. I went with some friends from the language center (Andrea from Germany, her friend Maite from Spain, Houston and Jennifer) and we ended up running into a few others at the hotel.

DAY 1
We got to the Abdulli bus/taxi station and had difficulty finding a taxi going to Damascus…either because it was the first day of Eid or because it was 7:30am. When we found one that agreed to take us to the border the group consensus was to take it and hope we’d find something at the border. Fawwaz was concerned and ended up speaking to the driver on the phone and told him how it wasn’t right (possibly not even legal) to just leave us at the border; the guy later got a service taxi returning from Syria to take us the rest of the way. The border crossing was not fun, as expected. Everyone but us American’s got our Visas quickly. It took about 4 hours. I’m pretty confident they weren’t doing anything with the passports for most of that time. In fact, on our way home we noticed a stack of US Passports sitting unattended on the counter for some time. This is the unfortunate consequence of having basically no relations with a country. We got to our hotel (Al-Rabie), which was a small and simple but nice hotel about a 10 minute walk from Old Damascus. Afterward we walked the old city’s streets and had dinner at a small restaurant. I went out to have a cup of coffee with Andrea’s friends from Spain as they smoked hookah.

DAY 2
A day full of walking around, we worked our way through the busy Souk Hamidiyah (a closed air, walk through market with countless merchants trying to sell their wares), the Umayyad mosque (one of the largest and oldest mosques worldwide, which some say contains the head of John the Baptist within its shrine as well as the head of Hussein, the son of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, a major figure in Shi’a Islam) and more of the streets of the old city. While walking through the Souk we stopped to get some of the infamous Pistachio ice cream, which was very refreshing. In the evening we went to a café to listen to a traditional story teller, which was entertaining despite our very rudimentary Arabic skills. Afterward we went to dinner where we had a nice feast and had a live band play while a whirling dervish whirled in his long white robe (a now popular tourist attraction, but historically symbolic dance of the mystic Sufi sect of Islam).

DAY 3
We visited the old palace in the Old City and shopped a little throughout the Souks more before heading back to Jordan. The return trip was a lot easier, with little hassle. It felt good to get back to Amman, where I actually had the slight sensation of returning home…although there is nothing that can ever replace the REAL home.


Some pictures:

Going to Syria

It’s Eid al-Fitr (the celebration at the end of Ramadan that lasts 3 days). I’ll be going to Syria (Damascus) with some friends from the language center (Houston, Andrea and Jennifer) until Thursday! There was a suicide bomb that went off a few days ago…call me crazy since it was still an act of terrorism, but it will not be as dangerous as I know many people back home will think. It hit a government building, the exact intensions unknown at the moment. Given it being Eid and such an event having occurred, I have a feeling security is going to be more strict than I might ever witness during my year here.

School is moving along well. I’m still learning, although each day there are hundreds of new words thrown at me wit’s so hard to keep up. Today I went to play soccer with some friends…I did really well considering I haven’t seriously kicked a ball since High School. Ramadan was a good experience…but I’m glad it’s over, since it will be easier to grab some food or a drink out in public during the day. Things were more calm than usual, although you could tell the stress of hunger and thirst on some occasions…especially on the road, before dinner.

I had another Iftar at an orphanage with Adeeb, the president of the Rotaract club I’ve been volunteering with. We’ll also be starting some fundraising and outreach programs sometime, and after sharing that I’ve had some experience doing so, I will be helping out quite a bit I’m sure. I also volunteered with a Jordanian community service group called Action Committee at an Iftar with refugee children, with my friend Andrew. I will upload pictures after I return from Syria. The kids were very enthusiastic to talk to us, and we had a great time.

The other day some friends and I went to some ruins in Amman (Roman and Byzantine). Those pictures will also be uploaded after I get back from my trip to Syria. Stay tuned…

Ramadan Continues

It is very interesting to observe the different views about Ramadan by those not practicing the traditions of Islam. While Jordan’s population is vastly Muslim, there is a decent sized Christian community, as well as those who don’t practice all traditions of Islam. One evening a friend, Houston, and I were being polite and rather diplomatic to a taxi driver, asking him how his Ramadan was going and wishing him all the best; he used rather colorful language expressing his vast dislike for the month. Many have mentioned how much of an inconvenience it was for those not fasting, since practically all restaurants are closed and it is illegal to eat and drink in public. To those who may be traveling here in the future during Ramadan: there is a Subway sandwich shop not far from the University that is open, and the other day I went to a nice restaurant/bakery in Abdoun called Crumbs which even had a license to serve alcohol. There is also an extremely popular restaurant/café/book store called Books@ Café in the downtown area that is usually open during Ramadan. Although, apparently the restaurant was recently shut down for the rest of Ramadan by the ‘intelligence police’ (the Mukhabarat, whose name is somewhat feared by many Jordanians). I heard someone mention it was because someone was dining and drinking alcohol on the outside patio, and was seen and then reported by a neighbor…others have speculated the reasons were out of dislike, since Books@ has a considerably ‘liberal vibe.’ Books@ is definitely a good place to meet other ex-pats, and seems to be a good place to make a few connections.

School began on Sunday. The language test placed me in level four! To no surprise to me I moved down to level three after the first day, since the expectations far exceeded my skill level. Many of the students I met during my first month Language Training had to move down at least one level, sometimes two. The Language Center’s placement test is definitely not too accurate at assessing student’s levels. Also, there aren’t enough levels to put students into. My class has over 30 students and so does the level four. The variation in skill level also has some students in between the existing levels, as the class they are in is too hard, but the class under them is too easy. I find myself somewhere in the middle of my class as far as skill, and hope as the semester goes on I will be able to move up a little more.

I went to an Iftar at an orphanage on Sunday with two others from the Rotaract Club of Amman-Petra. It was a good experience. There are a few more planned that I hope to attend. We delivered the food, helped set up/arrange things in their dining room, talked to some of the kids for a little bit, ate when the mosque sounded the Idaam (the call to end the fast), I took a few pictures with the kids and then we left. It was a little shorter than I anticipated, but was good to show a group of kids that others are out there thinking of them. Here are some pictures I took:

Last night I went to the annual Bingo night one of the Rotaract clubs hold and had a lot of fun. There was a magician who put on an entertaining show, as well as a small band that played for a little bit. Tonight I have a few parties/events that I’m invited to and am attempting to figure out how to divide up my time among them all. Tomorrow I’m going to the Dead Sea as well as a Desert Castle along the way with a friend, Alex. I’m pretty excited to finally see somewhere outside of Amman!