Overdue update

I've become quite busy and distracted that updating my blog has become rather difficult. Here is a brief account of what I've been up to and what the future might be looking like.

School has been keeping me busy, although the University of Jordan Language Center has really become a major disappointment. Last semester I enjoyed level 3 much more than I do this semester. The teachers were nice and enthusiastic and since there was a book it was much more structured. For level 5 I have three teachers, only one of which (Hanan) I really enjoy. She keeps the class interested and actually has a personality, making some jokes or humorous comments; she is a lot more capable of explaining things in different ways. Our teacher for media and listening is quite lazy and does not bring too useful content to study (save for a few articles for the one media Arabic lesson we have a week). She also does not really do a lot of teaching and has us students come up to write out new words that we don't know and sits down while telling us it was written wrong on the board (while one might think it is a teaching method, it is clear that it isn't a method). The third teacher we have for reading/writing and whatever else the class is supposed to entail has improved a little since the beginning. He is still very poor at explaining confusing words or concepts, speaks a mixture of both formal Arabic and a very strong "rural" spoken Arabic. He's become a little less critical of us in terms of "where we learned Arabic" and when we don't know something that in his opinion we should know (which in the beginning was very insulting the way he spoke to us), but he still has a weak personality.

My internship is going great. One of our program managers, an Iraqi refugee status who was waiting for his resettlement date, recently learned he can leave April 9th. This actually opens up a huge door for me, as my previous Head of Mission and her replacement both would like to keep me. I might have good news in the next few days! It will be sad to lose him, he was very friendly, funny and sounded like a great employee, but I am very happy to hear he finally is able to be resettled. The previous Head of Mission's mother actually offered and will be hosting him. I can't begin to imagine what it is like to be in his position...imagine being relatively well to do in your country and then having politics really turn your country upside down to the point that the security situation forces you to leave in order to stay alive, making a life in the other country for a few years and then being one of the few who are accepted and approved to be resettled, even more so to the country that initiated the process from the beginning. Not that this reflects any politics in terms of my thoughts on the war, as they are mixed, but I hope anyone reading this can try to put themselves in that perspective, especially if/when you meet a refugee (particularly an Iraqi).

I went to Ramallah for a meeting with the UN Education Cluster group for Gaza. My Head of Mission wanted me to go in person and to talk to the major organizations to help find out some logistical information on the project I've been working on developing for Gaza. The trip itself was alright, except for the really rainy, windy and cold weather that started last Monday night when I got there until I came home the next day. The meeting turned out not to be incredibly productive and we basically found that the cluster group has a lot of internal coordination issues to work out; many of the big time INGOs and UN Agencies didn't even show up, which would have been a lot more helpful as well. The little information that was there to find out was at least a little helpful though, and if nothing else it was a nice experience. If I remember to come back to it in another blog entry, I will cover the complexities of going into Israel, as the security is quite high.

I arrive home June 11th and am quite excited. I've been having a lot of dreams about it actually, and I think subconsciously I'm a lot more excited than I feel on the surface. I'm sure that will change. I do look forward to going to Bahrain with the Rotaractors and then visiting Germany for 6 days with one of my best friends in the U.S. before coming home. As time continues to fly by I'm sure I'll only keep getting more excited...

Culture الثقافة: Food!

A fun topic, since I enjoy cooking and appreciate unique tasting food, I decided I'd mention the food here. I didn't take pictures of food but uploaded some photos of some of the below-mentioned dishes.

Jordan does not claim many unique dishes, however there is the number one national dish worth mentioning: Mansef. For the nationalistic Jordanian, Mansef is national symbol, held close to the heart. It consists of rice topped with pine nuts and/or almonds, parsley or other green garnish, lamb cooked in It is often eaten traditionally the Bedouin style, with the men standing around the tray, one hand behind their back and the other to grab a chunk of meat and rice, made into a ball and with the tip of the thumb 'popped' in the mouth. In Bedouin tradition, it is common to sacrifice a sheep especially for the guest. Also, as a gesture of honor to the guest, the guest might be offered the head of the sheep, including the brain, eyes, tongue and any other part (cooked of course). In all of my experiences in modern-Amman I have not seen or heard of such situations. However, if I'm lucky someday I will get to visit a more traditional Bedouin family.

Another major dish in Jordan (as a result of the major Palestinian population)is the dessert Knaffe (Kanafa). It originates from Nablus. It baked mixture of either fine or rough flour/water mixture with a lot of butter or oil with sweet cheese in the middle with a very sweet sugar-rose water syrup on top. Many people enjoy to tell you where you can find "the best Knaffe", although in my experience it all is very tasty.

Other traditional Arabic food that you will find throughout the region are: hummus (ground chickpeas, tahina/sesame paste, oil and sometimes other stuff), foul (pronounced 'fool', which is ground up falava beans with oil, lemon and other stuff), tabouleh (parsley salad with lemon juice), falafel (friend ground up chickpeas and spices). You can also get all sorts of fast food items such as burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, french fries and of course the Western Fast Food places are located all over. Amman will be getting a Chili's soon and already has major names such as: McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Popeyes Chicken, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Papa John's and many more.

No matter what food

Culture الثقافة: The People

One way I'm reminded how fast my time here is going is how long it's been since my last blog entry, which feels like last week. I wanted to share more information and observations about the culture, this time a little about the people living here.

HOSPITALITY

Even before arriving here I have often heard of how hospitable the Arab culture is. Guests are viewed and given special courtesy in the Arab culture. The other day a taxi driver, who married a German woman and worked with a US company in Germany for 30 years, was briefly explaining how guests are viewed as special. He said that as Arabs fight/mistreat other Arabs, they will take special care of guests to make sure they are happy. When visiting numerous Jordanian homes, the host always makes sure the guests have everything they want. I have heard that the Bedouin, or the people who still live off the land, will sacrifice one of their sheep if a guest comes to visit them as a sign of honor to their guest. When visitors came to Jordan and contacted the Rotaractors, they were always taken good care of. During Ramadan, once I ordered a nice grilled-kebab dinner and while I was waiting I started talking with the cooks/workers. They then invited me behind the counter to partake in their dinner with them. By the time my dinner was finished I could barely touch it!

During my time in Jordan, I have never been "stuck" in any bad situation. Even in the beginning of my time here, when I barely knew anyone, I could always count on someone around me to help me out. While I was in the process to obtain my residency here, a Jordanian helped me understand what document I had with me and helped explain what to expect. When touring around Jerusalem, I met an Arab guy who was going to the same gate in Jerusalem as me. When he found out I had no idea where I was going but wanted to see the major holy sites, he helped me get a map, shared the info he knew and also asked a shop owner he knew to help point me in the right direction. The assistance I often received in such times was never done in an act of trying to earn money; in fact, offering money is often insulting.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

One important point that a Rotarian helped point out is that a very large percentage of people living in Jordan are actually Palestinian. This means they were either born in or their parents/grandparents were born in Israel/Palestine. I also want to point out that whether you refer to the area as Israel or Palestine, you will unavoidably upset someone. The Israelis don't like to acknowledge Palestine, and the Palestinians don't like to acknowledge Israel. The UN commonly uses the title "Occupied Palestinian Territories." After World War II many Palestinians were forced to leave their abandon their homes, business, and land, creating several hundreds of thousands of refugees. As additional wars/conflicts happened, the conflict over "whose land is whose" became more difficult which leads to the current day challenge.

The Palestinians consist of both Muslims and Christians, a point that some of my Christian-Palestinian friends have said is unknown to many. Bethlehem and Nazareth for example are two cities not commonly thought of when you talk about Palestine/Israel. Palestinians often maintain refugee status in whichever country they settle in. There are 1.9 million refugees registered with UNRWA, living in Jordan (out of a little over 6 million people). There are limits to what the refugees are allowed to do; a friend doing research on some of Jordan's policy decisions mentioned a "Jordanization" effort, which reduced Palestinian participation in various sectors, the major one being the military. Most of the cab drivers I have had told me they are from Palestine originally. Currently, Israel heavily restricts travel into the West Bank, Israel, and Gaza for Palestinians. Shortly after my trip there for Christmas, a cab driver told me he was from Bethlehem. When I excitedly shared how beautiful I thought it was there he was upset because I, a foreigner, could get into his home town but he couldn't. Another friend of mine, whose parents were from Palestine originally but they grew up in Saudi Arabia, became noticeably sad when some of the people at our table were talking about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and possible solutions. When I asked him what his thoughts/feelings were, he shared how hard it is just to hear it talked about. He mentions how his family had a strong business in the land before and his family had a very strong reputation. When he went to visit, he explained, everyone treated him with incredible respect because of who father and grandfather were. He's fearful of losing his family history and heritage when he has kids, since they are unable to live in their home town.

Among the Arab culture there are several different subcultures. Identifying with your nationality is only one of many here. The non-Palestinian Jordanians I have noticed are often quite proud of their nationality. There is even a strong pride in which city you come from. Two of the major cities I hear Jordanians often boast about are Salt and Irbid. Religion is also an identity many are extremely proud of. The Christians and Muslims get along very well in Jordan; the Christians, though a minority, are often some of the wealthiest people.

Culture الثقالفة

After reflecting on my blog I feel there is so much I could share that I haven't. Living in Jordan has become so regular for me, I often forget that what might have become normal to me- or the new experiences I continue to have that don't surprise me as much as they would a first time visitor- still remains a mystery to people who have never been to Jordan or any other Arab country.

Now that the new semester is starting and I continue to meet many new students who just arrived I am reminded of various aspects of the society and culture that are unfamiliar to many. Below I will mention one of the many parts of the culture that I've thought of recently about commenting on. I will continue to think of topics and write more, and for any readers out there can think of other things for me to add, or would like me to add on something I said, please comment and mention those things. If you find yourself slightly embarrassed about asking something and don't want the comment to be viewable by anyone else, feel free to email me: gregdistic@live.com.

TRAFFIC / TRANSPORTATION

As I mentioned a long time ago (so it seems at least) crossing the street was a chaotic and frightening experience. Having lived here for a while I developed the skill and confidence that keeps me from seeing my life flash before my eyes, as often is the case with the 'newbies.' With a population of over 2.5 million people, the roads are quite chaotic at times. Although, compared to when I was in Cairo, which has a population of over 8 million, Amman seems like nothing. My developed skills are definitely practiced everyday I go to my internship. As far as I can recall, crosswalks are non-existent. When there is the occasional pedestrian bridge or tunnel, they are often very far apart. So it simply takes walking into the street at just the right time where you will get past the first 'lane' and wait until the next car passes in the following lane until you reach the other side. TIP: find a speed bump which are sometimes common, as the slowdown in traffic will be slightly more likely.

I did not have the chance to rent a car, but my friend Houston did; he said it was definitely a new and quite different experience. Another American classmate of mine had a car from his company and I've been able to see how his driving assimilated into the Jordanian way. While there are some lines painted to form lanes, they are rather optional. When no cars are around, people will often tend to dive in the middle of the street. Amman has seven major circles which have been a major venting point for many Jordanians I've met. The 'rule' for circles, as it has been explained to me, is "whoever is in the circle gets the right of way". However, as I have often thought my taxi would be considered "in the circle" he would stop and other cars would go.

I was born in New York, but since I grew up in California I cannot make an accurate comparison, but here the horn is used much more often than back home. Even when I am going to bed (or as I type this at 11:30pm at night) there is never a minute (and rarely 30 seconds when I count) when I do not hear a honk. It is sometimes used as it is in the states, a warning for others; I've also seen taxis honk to let pedestrians know they are empty; and I have also seen a few taxis honk (with passengers in them) honk at attractive girls walking on the street.

If/whenever I do return to Jordan for a job or further study, one of the top items on my to-do list is buy a car. While taxis are convenient and not too expensive (especially compared to the US) I get so tired of riding in them. However, for anyone traveling here for a short time, taxis really are a great way to travel. You must make sure they run their meter (unless it is after midnight in the really early morning, which prices must be negotiated. Even so, prices anywhere in Amman can easily be negotiated to no more than 5JD, which is still most likely too much). I also just heard (and notice) a new taxi system here, called "Mumayez taxi". I don't know who owns them, but apparently you can call a number and have them pick you up from where you are. Someone was telling me that you can have multiple stops/a schedule and at the end you pay the bill. They too run a meter, although it starts slightly higher than the normal yellow ones. However, after midnight they will continue to run the meter and not require you to pay more than it reads.

I still have not yet explored the buses, as many others haven't. Their routes are constant and there are quite a few of them in Amman, however their schedules seem to be quite irregular. Oftentimes, buses will leave when they fill up...which could take 20-30 minutes or even an hour. When walking along the street, you will also have a guy standing in the door way of the bus shouting at you to see if you want to get on the bus.

For traveling long distances there are many ways to travel. There are a variety of major tourist bus companies which are much cheaper than taxis; these buses are a lot similar to Greyhound or similar ones in the US. There are also small buses that can be found which are even cheaper, but the size and comfort is much less. Service taxis (white cabs) can also be taken from major bus/transportation stations; although often they will be more pricey. I have also heard from friends who took a taxi to the Dead Sea (30 minutes away or so) that the driver continued to complain that they need to get back since he said staying at the Dead Sea was losing him business...although in reality he probably made more money on that one trip than he makes in a day.

Commentary on the recent Gaza event...

Here’s a blog I forgot I had started to write and never posted regarding the situation with Gaza. Since it’s been almost a week since the fighting has halted, at least temporarily, and since I started my internship and have been briefly looking into a few aspects about Gaza I figure it’s worth updating and sharing.

For the last two days my boss had me look into psychosocial work in Gaza. It’s been quite depressing to come across a lot of the information about the casualties and how everyone else suffered, especially the kids. Psychosocial work addresses the trauma faced by living in a war zone. As a result of witnessing one or even all of their family members being beaten or killed, or their house- which should be a symbol of safety and security- being demolished by foreign forces, a large percentage of children have displayed signs of post traumatic stress syndrome and/or depression. I came across some pictures drawn by children in Gaza, when asked to draw by therapists, which displayed military aircraft or soldiers gunning/bombing people. I can’t even imagine the additional signs that the psychosocial workers find in the children.

On the January 20 World Health Organization Cluster Bulletin, it was estimated that 1300 people were killed, with around 5300 injured during the Israeli operation (lasting from December 27, 2008 – January 18, 2009). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that up to 100,000 people were displaced. Also, as of January 14 approximately 500,000 people had no access to running water, and the rest of the population only had access for a few hours each week. The destruction was far worse, as the already infrastructure, already weakened by the blockade that was set up, was damaged even more.

While I was always safe here, especially with Jordan’s strong security, the situation with Gaza was pretty sad and had a lot of negative reactions. To share some perspective, here is a brief description of what I experienced here related to the situation in Gaza. People are really upset and the mood is down and hopeless. Since the initial air strikes there were several organized peaceful demonstrations throughout Amman. New Years parties were cancelled throughout the Amman (as well as other cities, such as Dubai) and the overall mood during the holiday season was rather solemn. I've had Jordanians here tell me they don't support Hamas and would not mind seeing them destroyed/disappear. But with the amount of collateral damage and the number of innocent deaths, people find this act as horrifically brutal, unjustifiable and often come to believe that Israel does not want peace at all with the Palestinians. I have had numerous graphically disturbing emails sent to me with pictures of some of the innocent casualties, among them babies, youth and women. When the argument that Israeli is defending itself against the rocket attacks of Hamas, people will often respond how ineffective the rockets have been. Compared to damages, the rockets have really done nothing compared to what this recent bombing of Israel has done to the entire Gaza population, which is estimated to be 1.5 million. Others have expressed that the desperate situation in Gaza leaves nothing else for the Palestinians to do. Since Israel left Gaza for the Palestinians, they put up a blockade where they were severely restricting what goes in and out of Gaza (including supplies and people). During the ceasefires, which I have been told rockets were still being fired, albeit in much less frequency, no progress was made to ease the blockade and allow for an improvement of life within the walls around Gaza. In my opinion I feel the rockets are still wrong and only hurt the Palestinian cause, but I also see the response of Israel was far too strong and in the end very destructive to the path to peace.

Overall the people here feel helpless and don't feel they can really do anything for their 'fellow brothers'. The Arab culture is unique in that the identity of being Arab exceeds national borders. There are so many cultural similarities between those all throughout the various Arab countries which I have witnessed in Egypt and Lebanon and among those from other Arab countries that I meet here. Since the Palestinians are part of the Arab culture, hurting them affects the rest of the Arabs in one way or another. For the more liberal Arab countries, Jordan specifically, a situation like this puts the government in a really tough spot where they must weigh their choice of actions carefully in siding with the West for the continued, essential economic support, and with the cries of the people for some type of action to help their fellow Arab brothers in dire need.

Internship and touring Jordan

As of last Sunday I have an internship! I will be an intern for People In Need, which is a Czech NGO. People In Need works in crisis areas around the world in relief and development. It works in over 40 countries. The office in Amman remotely works on projects in Southern Iraq- in the Basra, Misan and Thi-Qar provinces, which are the poorest in Iraq. Since a westerner can't go walking around the area there, and since there are a lot of Iraqi refugees in Jordan, the office hires Iraqis to do the implementation and training needed. One project manager has been waiting his resettlement approval; for the last 2 or 3 months he has been told "any day now". A Rotarian, Assil Bakki, knew the head of mission, Megan King, and put me in touch with her. I worked one day so far and will be really starting to work more starting this week.

Another Rotary Ambassadorial scholar that I met back in my scholarship orientation last March, Annelise Cohon (http://guesswhereiamtoday.blogspot.com/), came to visit with her friend. I hosted them at my place and showed them around. I was filled with a renewed feeling of excitement for being here, since life had become a rather dull routine. I reminisce back on the first several weeks in Jordan and how new and different somethings seemed. While every now and then there are new encounters that I haven't yet experienced, it is certainly less frequent. We went bowling in Amman, we toured the Jerash ruins, we saw the Desert Castles which was new for me as well as Mount Nebo (the site where Moses looked onto the promised land before dying) and then we took them down to meet up with a friend of mine in the Peace Corps, who they had met on the bus coming from Israel. They then went down to Petra and Wadi Rum before going back home. It was a nice and reassuring feeling to translate and communicate with the shop owners/tour guides/servers when they were here.

The desert castles were pretty interesting. They were mostly from the Umayyid era (7th-8th centuries). Many are beleived to have been made for recreational retreats. One was believed to be used as a shelter for some wanted to go hunting. Another was believed to be one of the first hotels in the area. One of the last castles we visited had a bedouin tent where we were all invited for a nice cup of tea and relaxing. The bedouin, Hakim I believe, was very friendly and shared some of the traditions with us, particularly with the meanings of the different ways to wear the kufiyeh. When a man wears it with the corners pulled up/wrapped up on top of his head, it means he is single and looking for a wife. If a married man wears it simply hanging on his head, with the black band holding it in place, it would mean he is happy with his wife. If he pulls it up to cover his face, it would mean he is unhappy with her. He told us if he takes it off he is probably going crazy by his kids or wife, wanting to rip his hair out! Now it is become a lot more of a fashion trend, so the reasons/moods of the person wearing it different ways may not be as it had once been. It was quite enjoyable and another highly recommended experience for those visiting Jordan. Below are some pictures of our trips:

Some goats on the way to the Dead Sea.
View that moses saw of the promised land before dying.
Mount Nebo,
Downtown Amman produce market.
Downtown Amman.
Desert castle/believed to be old hotel.
Hakim at his bedouin tent.
Well at a desert castle.
Desert Castle.
Desert castle.
Me, Annelise and Lindsay.
Me at a desert castle and the beautiful site.
Jerash view from apitheater.
Old Temple at Jerash.
Me at Jerash

Winter Break

Yesterday I had my last final. I feel really good about all of them. We had a speaking final where we had to just talk for a few minutes about the positives/negatives of Jordan so far; since it was such an open topic it wasn't too hard. Speaking has been my weakest point though, but it was the best speaking presentation in Arabic I've done so far. Other classmates even said I did a good job! Then I had a listening test where we listened to a story/paragraph from our book for 10 minutes or so on the Language Center's state-of-the-art tape players, and then answer questions. We had a small reading test for pronunciation and then finally, the hardest of all, the written. The written final, like the midterm, was a hit-or-miss since we learned countless words throughout the entire semester. Anyway, I put a lot of studying in for all of them and it definitely paid off. I'll get my grades in a few days. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do for the break now that school is out.

I went to the Bethany on the Jordan (the Baptism site) last Friday. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was there, along with the Vatican Ambassador to Jordan as well as other major religious figures. There was a service followed by a procession to the river itself. At first it was closed to everyone but the Patriarch and some higher ups/alter boys who processed there; they came back with water from it and anointed everyone with branches dipped in the water. Omar and I waited and then they finally opened it up and we went down to it. It was a really nice place and amazing to think Jesus was baptized there so long ago. Here are some pictures: