Never Did I Ever

Never Did I Ever Think I Would See This In Jordan! -27 February 2010

Usually I wait till I have a few new stories accumulated until I post a new blog, but for those of you who understand what I am about to show you, you understand my rush!

Today my host sister and I visited the Royal Automobile Museum of Jordan, which is a collection of all the cars owned by the Jordanian Royal Family from the first king to the present king. Present were famous cars from WWI all the way to recently purchased sports cars. Among the collection were brands such as Rolls Royce, BMW, Bentley, Ford, Ferrari, Buick, Aston Martin, and Bugatti.

Yes, I did just say Bugatti. Which model you ask? Why it happens to be one of the most recent. In fact it looks something like this...

The Specs on this car are as follows:

16 cylinder engine

1001 HP

Top Speed: 253 mph

Ten separate radiators just to cool the engine!

Base Price. $1.7 million dollars

No I didn't get to sit in it

No I didn't get to touch it

No the guard wouldn't let me take it

....but I really really wanted to!

FUN FACT:

Yesterday was the prophet Mohammed's birthday (peace be upon him). We tried to visit the King Abdullah Mosque, but it was closed. However, we did get to visit the King Hussein Mosque today...

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9475/kinghusseinmosquezu8.jpg

Aqaba

Aqaba – 19^th February 2010

The trip down to Aqaba during last Friday-Saturday was amazing! We left early Friday morning, around 7:00 am, and arrived in Aqaba around 11:00 am. It was absolutely gorgeous. Aqaba, for those who don’t know, is Jordan’s sole port city, located on the southern tip of the country along the Red Sea. It gave me the sense that I was in California, with mountains in the background and beaches in the foreground. Needless to say, we spent a majority of our only full day there lying around on the beach or exploring the city. (Check out the photos I posted, it was interesting to see fully covered Muslim women swimming in the sea! It is definitely a different culture here!)

This trip was a great getaway from the hectic school schedule we have here! I was with a great group of friends, but I was the only guy in a 6 person group! When we began booking hotels, we came into a cultural “snag” when we tried to house both guy and girls in the same room. It is taboo for unmarried people to share rooms. So a friend of mine, without informing me right away, decided that I was going to be “engaged” to another friend of mine, just in case. However, the rules for foreigners are a lot more relaxed than Jordanians so there ended up being no issue about the rooms. (Good thing too, because I told my “fiancé” that I wasn’t ready to commit and that I was seeing someone behind her back…aka my actual girlfriend.)

The first day there was relatively relaxing, except two points: cab drivers and weird random men.

Because we spend most of our time in Amman, we know the system for cab drivers therefore if a cab driver tries to rip us off, we can call him on it. However, Aqaba was different so we were essentially shooting from the hip when it came to bartering with the cab drivers. We were off to a bad start when we got off our bus at the bus station and our cab driver said it would cost 2 Dinars to drive us to our hotel. (It costs me 2 Dinars to travel 7 miles.) Our hotel ended up being just around the corner, so close we could have walked! But we’re not completely stupid. The cab driver got less than a Dinar for his trip. However, this ended up being a reoccurring problem. The one thing I hate the most so far here is that some people see you as American/Foreign therefore you can rip us off all the time! i.e. some cabs were a**holes, I felt very disrespected at points, and I also felt disappointed because there were some genuinely nice cab drivers who didn’t get a fair deal from us because we assumed they were trying to rip us off too. I was mostly sad because all the stupid cab drivers who try to take advantage of you ruin it for all the genuinely nice ones who deserve to be treated well.

The next day, the ladies had to catch a bus back to Amman at 11:00 am whereas I purchased a ticket back to the big city for 4:00 pm. I had a mission. I spent the morning hanging out with some of the nicest girls I have ever met and after we went our separate ways, they made me promise to text them so they knew when I got home. When their bus left, I began my mission, the one true reason I came to Aqaba: scuba diving. Alas! Scuba diving was one of the primary sources of income from tourists in Aqaba! So important that the King ordered the intentional scuttling of an old tanker just off the cost to create a man-made reef and to attract tourists. There is also a sunken Soviet Tank! My first scuba experience was amazing! My instructor was Japanese, very helpful, and always smiling. She helped me suit up, gave me a quick briefing, and we were off to the water! I got to see coral, exotic fish, and jellyfish! It was so gorgeous! The weirdest part was my first breath underwater. With my head under the water, all my instincts were telling me not to breath in, but I took that first breath of air and all of the sudden my body was like…..”whoah.” The hardest part for me, because I am so skinny, was sinking. I was laughing to myself multiple time underwater when I saw my instructor taking weights off her weight belt and adding them to mine or trying to pull me back down underwater. (My weight was also a problem when I went skydiving 3 years ago.)

The overall experience was great, but my wet suit was a little loose for my body. I didn’t notice it underwater because I was working constantly, but two ladies I met who were from California and were scuba diving at the same time as me were laughing at me because after I got all of my kit off, I was literally shaking violently because I was so cold. (The Jordanian sun quickly helped me recuperate.) I also made a really nice friend from Damascus who was there at the same time as me.

During our trip to Aqaba, what I didn’t know, however, was that there was a relatively large oil spill just off the shore of Aqaba a day or two before our visit and that the authorities were hustling to get it cleaned up before it began to affect the coral around the bay. Some people saw snorkelers come out of the water at the same beach I was at, covered in oil. I, however, did not see anything like this where I was. According to the news, they got most, if not all, of the oil spill quarantined and cleaned up.

This concludes my trip to Aqaba….oh yeah, my friend Ash broke a shelf in our hotel room closet. (Your welcome! ;) )

INTERESTING STORIES:

Yesterday I noticed an unusual security presence on the University of Jordan campus. Mainly, it consisted of about 12 separate Mercedes/Crown Victoria’s and 17 stern-looking, visible personnel either uniformed or not. Found out the next day that the Jordanian Prime Minister was on campus.

During a break from class today, I was standing outside and noticed a large, well dressed crowd standing around outside. (I also noticed that a strong majority of the people were Asian. Important.) There was a large table with desert and tea on it as well as a photographer walking around. The multitude of people were standing around a black Mercedes with small Chinese flags stuck to the front. After important looking people piled into the car, it began pulling away and everyone was waving bye to the car, so I thought I would join in. I later found out that I was waving goodbye to the Chinese Ambassador to Jordan, who just presented a large donation to the university. Cool!

QUIZ QUESTION: Why, in Jordan, did I see a bus leading to Philadelphia University?

ANSWER! The ancient city of Philadelphia was renamed Amman during the Ghassanian era.

This bar was a brothel....literally. Can't say I went there, we were just warned to stay away.

Interesting cultural perspective for men

Beach af Aqaba

Me and my Amazing Scuba instructor

Minnesota Tim and the Temple at Petra

Minnesota Tim and the Temple at Petra – 13^th February 2010

Well so begins my enormous task of trying to explain in detail my trip to Petra. Here we go…

On the 4 hr bus ride down to Petra, we decided to get in the explorer mood by watching the one and only Indiana Jones on our bus tv. However, I could barely see it and people were too loud for me to hear it. The more interesting part of the drive down was getting to ride on what is known locally as the King’s Highway. (Grammy, I’ve been photographed by his photos and now I’ve driven on his highway, I’ll let you know when I get to meet him!) The road stretches through a variety of Jordanian landscapes. We drove by both rolling hills of the desert as well as the flat, barren wasteland that you see only in movies. The first stop on our two-day trip was at a place known as Shobek Fort. This fort was built by the Crusaders as one of a series of forts along the eastern border of the Crusaders conquests. Specifically built on a hill with a n advantageous view over the entire area, the purpose of this fort was to essentially act as a look out post for incoming Persian invaders. Our tour guide explained to us that this fort as well as several others in the region were part of the conquests depicted in the movie “Kingdom of Heaven.” It was in fact the forces of Salahhidin who retook these areas from the Christian invaders. My coolest experience at this fort was having the opportunity to explore two tunnels that stretched beneath the fort. The first one I went into, I was able to go all the way to the end (about 100 steps in all) to see the giant stone safe they built at the bottom. The second tunnel acted as an enclosed water supply for the fort (in case they needed to hold out from any sieges), but the tunnel essentially reached from the top of this mountain to the bottom, i.e. I was not able, with my tiny cell phone flashlight, to reach the bottom. It did make me feel very Indiana Jonesish though!

Following the trip to Fort Shobek, we continued on our way down to a small village bordering the site so we could check in to our hotel. We actually got to visit a site known as “little petra,” which was exactly that. A smaller version of the actual petra. Its purpose, it is believed, is to reroute the trade caravans to the outskirts of the lost city of Petra so as not to disturb the entire city, seeing as how the entire economy of Petra was based on trade. Interestingly enough, Petra was located at a very advantageous position in regards to trade. It was essentially the crossroads between all trade routes from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. (Petra is considered the West end of the Silk Road.) Getting to see little petra was amazing, but it was nothing in comparison to the actual Petra coming up!

There has always been something I had wanted to do in the Middle East but had never found the opportunity to do it. It has always been on my “things to do” list, but with school, its hard to get out and go places. HOWEVER! As our bus was pulling up to our hotel in southern Jordan, our tour guide announced over the intercom several important facts for tonight and tomorrow. He told us that we had a 6:00 am wake up time, dinner was at 7:00, and if we wanted, we could purchase a ticket to the Turkish Bath located inside the hotel….. In an instant, my world froze, eyes glazed over, and I began to drool. (okay, not really.) Has it finally come true? Maybe it was destiny that I was to enjoy a Turkish Bath, the idea of it reaching back to the Turks (duh) as well as the Greeks and Roman, on the evening before I visited the lost city of Petra? TWAS! For, not only did I indeed purchase a ticket to the fabled “Turkish Bath,” but it was everything I hoped it to be and MORE! In a nutshell, it is essentially a 4 stage spa. First, I changed into a towel and swimming trunks and sat in the coolest steam sauna I have ever experienced. As I first walked in, there was a distinct line between the steam at the top half of the room and the “not so steamy” air at the bottom. As I sat in the sauna, the steam built up so much that it was nearly total sensory deprivation. The best way I can describe it is like wearing a permanent pair of fogged up glasses. I could barely see my hands and there was no chance of me being able to navigate around the room effectively. After about 15 minutes, the gentleman in charge of the bath came in and ushered me to my next step: the scrub down. I laid on a granite table that was soaked in warm water. The masseuse began to apply this soap that was designed to exfoliate your skin as he scrubbed you down with this weird, rough glove. Following this, I moved on to my 15 minute, full body massage, which needless to say, was pure heaven! After this, I was dressed in three separate towels to help me dry off. (one around my waist, one around my chest, and one tied around my head, I felt like an absorbent ninja!) As I sipped this amazing herbal tea in their special sitting room, the woman at the desk was trying to usher me to the changing room, but I wasn’t having it. Nope. Because there was one part left to my bath that they forgot, but I didn’t. After adjusting to a water scarce culture, showering every other day, and not as long as I was used to, there was no way I was missing out on the most important part of the evening: the Jacuzzi. I sat for the longest time just enjoying the hot water and bubbles in an aura of pure utter happiness. I don’t think I have ever been that relaxed, ever. If there is cash left by the end of this trip, I may do it again. (PS: I highly recommend you do it if you ever get a chance!)

Already this blog is reaching into the second page and I have not even begun to talk about Petra, so hold on to your socks because I am about to knock them off! Here is a little historical background:

Petra is not only a monument; it is an entire lost city that died out due to a shift in the trade route, which their economy was based on. Their descendents are believed to be the Bedouin who still inhabit the area, but no one knows for sure. The people who inhabited it were the Nabateans. At the city’s largest, it is believed to have once housed about 80,000 people. They lived in stone houses, which were destroyed in an earthquake somewhere in the BC time period. Following Roman conquests, Roman influence, especially architectural influence, made its way into Nabatean society. Besides the remains of ONE somewhat standing building, the only thing left from their civilization are the tombs they carved into the sides of the mountains. After the civilization died off, it wasn’t rediscovered until 1812 when Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered it. The reason it was so hard to find was because Petra is located on the inside of a cluster of hard-to-access mountains. The only way in is through something known as the “siq,” which is a winding path no more than 30 feet wide at its widest point, essentially located between two mountains.

Our trip into Petra began with the offer to horses from the parking lot to the “siq.” With fairy tales of Indiana Jones and Lawrence of Arabia blooming in my head, I jumped on the offer. (I have not ridden a camel yet, I am saving that for the 3 hr camel ride in Wadi Rum.) My horse was named Musa and he was very well behaved.

As we entered the “siq,” it was captivating to be walking through a geological landscape such as this one! Our tour guide pointed out some eroded ruins of camel caravans carved into the mountains. As we reached the end, our tour guide made us stop and get into a single file line, close our eyes, walk about 30 paces forward, and turn 180 degrees. As we opened our eyes, he began explaining the geological significance of the mountain formation, he directed our attention to a line in the stone and told us to follow it all the way to the end behind us. As we followed it with our eyes, we were soon welcomed with the sight of Petra peeking at us between an opening in the stone walls. It was breath taking and exciting trying to imagine what it was like in the explorer’s mind when he first discovered it. Standing in front of it was breath taking. Located at the top, center is this stone vase sitting atop a large stone cylinder. Treasure seekers used to believe that there was a removable top to that vase and that this is where the Nabateans hid all their gold! (Its always about eh gold, isn’t it?) You can see in the photos that there are bullet holes of people trying to shoot holes in the cylinder so that the “gold” would come pouring out. Our tour guide told us we were allowed to go inside the actual monument, but in my mind I knew we weren’t allowed to. So I went with philosophy “go until you get yelled at.” I.e., I got to go into the monument! J

We continued to go throughout the ancient city of Petra and got to see a large amount of monuments carved into the stone walls. We were told that we were more than welcome to take a 45 minute hike to the top of one of the mountains to see a monastery located at the top. Jumping on the idea, several friends and I immediately went for it, and oh boy was it worth it. The monastery was beautiful and was another version of the most famous tomb of Petra, but the cool part was the way we were able to see it: from a vantage point on the top of an adjacent mountain (small mountain) with a Bedouin tent located at the top of it! I nearly peed my pants when the Bedouins living in the tent invited me and my friends in for tea! It was an awesome experience to sit in their tent, with a fabulous view, sipping tea with the Bedouins! Off in the distance, I could see another goal of mine. Located on the top of a mountain far away, the tallest mountain in the area, is Aaron’s Tomb. (burial place of the prophet Aaron.) It is regarded at one of the most important, but least accessible biblical sites in all the Middle East! One thing I am really interested in is the Bedouin culture. Did you know that hospitality in the Middle East is one of the most important aspects of tradition? Did you know that it is tradition for Bedouin to house you for up to three days without even asking a question about why you are there?

Another “art” I have become more capable in is the art of bartering. But not only bartering, bartering in a different language! There is a large number of souvenir tents set up in Petra offering everything from batteries to scarves to daggers to jewelry. The hardest part is getting a good deal for it. The people who got the worst deals were the naïve tourists who had no idea about the culture of the language. In salesmen speak, “this usually goes for 15 dinars, but I’ll give it to you for 10” actually means “this usually goes for 5 dinars, but I’ll give it to you for 10.” I did witness one older lady, most likely American, fall for that trick while buying a scarf. There are several rules that you need to follow to get a good price. 1: Speak Arabic. If you speak Arabic, people will drop the price instantly! I should know, one man said to me in Arabic, “10 dinar….you speak Arabic? 7 dinar!” 2: Always try to ask for 60% of the price they are offering you. They tried to sell me a kaffiyeh for 7 dinar, I bought it for 4. 3: Walking away from a deal or talking about a competitor can also lower the price, but if the person is being too stubborn, sometimes you just have to walk away. It was interesting to see all the different “angles” people used to try to sell you things. Mostly it was flattery, but there were two guys offering camel rides that were working the “Rastafarian” angle. The phrases they used were “HEY! My brotha from anotha motha! Pretty sly for a white guy! Camel ride?! 5 dinar!” Other friends of mine heard someone yelling “no money, no honey, no chicken curry!” It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to make money.

On the way back to prepare to leave Petra, we stopped in front of the most famous monument just to take it in one last time. I did, however, notice two police officers and one Bedouin Officer standing in front of the monument. Thankfully my friend Liz convinced me to go up and talk to them so I could get a picture with them! I expected them to brush me off as just another tourist, but they engaged me in a really great conversation! (Yes mom, in all Arabic.) They were very friendly, and were more than willing to take a photo with me! The Bedouin Officer even offered to come up to the University so I could try on his uniform! If I knew it didn’t hinder him at all, I would have loved to do that more than anything!

As we hit the parking lot, I got to see a bit of British influence on Jordanian Culture: Jordanian Bag Pipers dressed in robes, sashes, and kaffiyehs. They were pretty good and people danced along to the music!

As you can tell by the length of this blog, this was the experience of a lifetime! But it aint over yet! Scuba diving in Aqaba next weekend!

FUN FACTS:

Lines on the road here act more as “guidelines”

SHORT STORIES:

I saw a man crossing multiple lanes of speeding traffic, paying more attention to not spilling his tea than not getting hit by a car.

Whenever you have a guest over, you serve tea, coffee, and biscuits. It was my host mom’s birthday last week. I drank 5 separate cups of tea and 1 cup of coffee. EVERYONE came by to say hi.

QUIZ QUESTION: Why, in Jordan, did I see a bus leading to Philadelphia University? (I know the answer, do you?)

Petra, in Photos....

Me riding a horse named Musa

Riding Horses in Jordan (Mine was named Musa)

Standing in the ruins of a nabatean archway

The bedouin's tent was on the tip top peak of a mountain!

Inside the bedouins tent

Standing on the top of mount diir, next to the bedouin tent

Me and the King's (here you go grammy)

Alas, Petra

Petra is not just a monument, its an entire lost city

Snowball fight in Jordan

A section of Shobek Fort that was added on to by the Persians

Eastward view of Shobek Fort, which was designed to watch out for incoming Persian forces

A crusader tunnel I explored, very Indiana Joneish

In front of Shobek Fort

The Hamas-Fatah Conundrum

The Hamas-Fatah Conundrum – 5^th-6^th February 2010

Something big happened today in Jordan. Something really important. Up until this point the tension in people’s houses had been rising to a boiling point and when the government made the announcement today, everyone, and I mean everyone, released their tension. All day I have been hearing gunfire and explosions in and around the neighborhood. We went to a relative’s house in a really nice area to check up on them and we heard shooting just down the street. That was the closest it ever came to the house. Don’t bother checking the news because no one in America is reporting this. You may only fine a mention of it in the Jordanian news outlets. That’s the way it works here, because today was the day the Ministry of Education announced the results of the Tajehee, or the Jordanian equivalent of a major high school exam that determines whether or not families will be able to send their children to college. Those who had passing grades paraded through the streets with their car horns blaring. Celebrations at home involved a Middle East tradition of firing guns into the air and lighting off fireworks. Wait. I mentioned earlier that it was only celebratory gunfire right? Hope I didn’t lead you to thinking something different. (More gray hairs for mom?)

So far it has been yet another weekend of socializing! We went to my Auntie’s house just down the street for tea but I was lucky to have the chance to meet some new family members. I can say without a doubt that every family member I have met so far has been nothing but nice! I owe a great debt to everyone here who has graciously welcomed me into their homes and have been nothing but kind and friendly! They are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. J Most everybody at the house today I had already met. The two sisters of my host mother are sweet old ladies who hassle me to always speak Arabic but guide me when I get stuck. There were, however, several new faces. First, there were two younger children named Rama and Karim, 13ish and 9ish, respectively. I spent part of the evening playing a game on the computer with Rama and the other part trying to take a photo of Karim. (He was shy and would hide from the computer, but I got him when he was distracted! Mwahahaha!) I was very impressed with Rama (she reminded me of a young hilly). She was very smart and outgoing! Although she was only 13, she spoke near perfect English to me and asked me questions about politics—and she never danced around a question. (Are you a democrat or republican? Did you support Bush? What do you think of Obama?) I actually laughing at one point because the entire family was paying attention to me as I answered the questions and Rama asked me if I supported Hamas or Fatah. The family got a kick out of her question and told her I was American, not Palestinian. (I really do enjoy living with a family of Palestinian origin. Its just the perspective in the Middle East I wanted to understand the most!) The son, Karim, was only shy of the camera. Most of the time he was either running around or he was on his computer looking at airplanes. He really wants to be a pilot of passenger aircraft one day! He is really good with geography and aircraft identification. I showed him some pictures of the planes Papa flew during WWII. He thought it was really cool! Their mother, Dima, was by far my favorite person of the night! She was just a really interesting person to talk to. She helped me with my Arabic and was one of the only people who would speak clearly and slowly to me so I could understand what she was saying!

Visited more family today! This time it was the Aunt and Uncle from my “dads” side! I had a really great discussion (limited by my speaking ability) with the Uncle about my love for the history of the Middle East! He was also very knowledgeable about US history! (He has three children living in the United States.) I promised, when I speaking ability gets better, to return to his house and talk about history.

Last night my host sister and I had a movie night! We watched “Have You Heard About the Morgans?” Although a blatent chick flick, I really enjoyed it and we had a great time! I even got to tell her about American culture!

Bridget: My host sister loves Michael Buble. She recommends the website: http://www.mood.fm/

FUN FACTS:

Plays are still put on in the large Roman Ampitheater in Amman.

Reality TV is just and famous in Jordan as the US. (Although I haven’t found any equivalent to Jersey Shore.) Soaps Operas are crazy too.

The colloquial Arabic here is very rich. I am being taught a Jordanian dialect in school, I am speaking a Palestinian dialect at home.

The tribal system here is becoming more and more evident to me. Community here, and in Islam, is very important. First impressions are based on both the way you act and the stereotypes people gather of your family name. (So far Bettis is going pretty well.)

The Royal Family here are the last direct descendents of the Prophet Mohammed (sala aalihu wa salam)

Legitimacy of government authority is only gained through lineage to the prophet. If you ever rule Muslim people, you must at least try to claim some sort of lineage to Mohammad. That’s what the British did when they colonized Jordan.

Jebel Al-Qala

Temple of Hercules

Temple of Hercules

Dead Sea Scroll (OMFG!!)

Jebel Al-Qala

Temple of Hercules

Amman Overview

Amman Overview (Notice the Roman Ampitheater)

Jebel Al-Qala

The Citadel

Stories will come. Until then, enjoy photos!

Call to Prayer in Amman, Jordan

Short Stories

Short Stories - 4 February 2010

Today it rained/snowed in Amman. All week, the newscasters have been building up hype about a large snowstorm that would be hitting the city all weekend. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (at least comparing it to Minnesota storms). In the lower parts of the city it was only wind and rain but as you got higher it turned into snow. (So far, none of it has stayed.) The word here is that once anyone even mentions snow, everything shuts down. (Hamdullah, there was no school today! 3-day weekend!)

There is a term I have created for a special kind of fruit my host parents give me. I call it “guilt fruit.” The first week here I noticed a large pile of fruit in the kitchen. As I observed it throughout the week, I noticed that’s its overall size ceased to change but it continued to age. However, I failed to realize until recently that every last bit of it was meant for me. My host parents apparently don’t eat the fruit, so it has been my sole responsibility to devour the enormous pile. My parents began to ask me every night and before I left for school if I wanted fruit. I quickly took the hint and began, begrudgingly, taking fruit to school every day, hence “guilt fruit.”

In dealing with International Students, I have always been on the receiving end. i.e., I was always helping show around foreign students, interacting with them, helping them with their English, etc. However, now the tables have turned and it is me who is the foreign student. This was made very clear to me the other day when I tried telling my host family I was full, but instead told them I was a character from 1001 Arabian Nights. They proceeded to laugh whole-heartedly at me for the next five minutes and still continue to not let me live that moment down.

Something very very cool happened to me yesterday but since I am aware of basic security protocol and how public this blog is, I thought it would be smart to wait 24 hrs until after the fact to tell you. (You’re welcome, Muhabarat. Hope your day is going well.) For the privacy of the receiving party, I will not disclose the reason for the visit, but as I was walking into my neighborhood after the taxi dropped me off and my spider sense started to tingle. (That among other things, BA DA CHA!) One thing I noticed that was out of place was this really nice car sitting in front of a house with the door slightly open. I carefully walked by it and went into my house. What I missed only a few minutes earlier was the 2 heavily armed guards (and I’m sure many more nearby) escorting the sister of King Hussein (that’s right, a princess) into the house! My family was rushing around the house and peeking out windows JUST IN CASE she decided she wanted to come in for tea. (No luck.) I did, however, get to peek at her while she was leaving. It would suck to say that I came to Jordan and didn’t get to see any royalty. Little did I know that it would be from so close away!

I also thought I should tell you that I was hit by a car the other day. No worries, I am in one piece. Hit is probably the wrong word to use; I just like it because it freaks people out. Bumped is a better word to use. As I was waiting outside my university attempting to flag down a taxi, I was waiving bye to some friends who were getting into a cab, an SUV parked at the Burger King behind me backed up without looking where he was going. He seemed very apologetic, but he still hit me. Dumbass.

My travel itinerary this weekend has been simple so far. Rarely do I ever know where I am going. We visit so many family members that I just smile and go with the flow. Currently I am sitting in the living room of my host brother, I just left the house of my Aunts, soon I will go to my friend Sam’s house. (Nope, didn’t plan that one either.)

FUN FACTS:

There are no more fun things left in Jordan to tell you. Everything else is dramatic or boring…..ok that’s not true.

According to a local newspaper known as the Onion, after years of regional conflicts and a chronic shortage of resources, Jordan has had a troubled history. However, King Abdullah made a very wise decision in marrying Queen Rania.

English is prevalent in Jordan for the same reason French is popular in Lebanon. Prior to Independence, Jordan was administered by the British.

As I had mentioned in a previous blog, Jordan has the second highest refugee rate in the world. There are extremely large numbers of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees living within Jordan. There are Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Arab Israeli War, the 1967 Arab Israeli War, and Iraqi refugees from Desert Storm and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Refugees have become such a predominant part of Jordan history that there is no longer one type of Jordanian. (There has been some tension around this as you can imagine.) There are Jordanians, and then there Jordanians of Palestinian origin. (They even distinguish between refugees from the 1948 and 1967 wars.) My family came to Jordan from Kuwait after Operation Desert Storm.

The Talented Mr. Nahha

The Talented Mr. Nahhas - 3 February 2010

Not too much to report on yet but have a few stories I can share. I had a “guy’s night” with my host brother Zaki last night. We went to his place, had a few snacks, and watched an action/bank robbery movie. It was a great time, although with Zaki as a new father, movie night also included pausing the movie to calm down his crying son. Nevertheless it was still a great time! I absolutely love his entire family! They are such nice people. They also have a live-in maid who helps out around the house, she’s always smiling and seems really nice too. We were warned to be careful interacting with the maids and being weary of how the family treats the maids too because there is rampant abuse in the Middle East, primarily because many maids are of Asian descent. No worries here! It seems as if their maid is part of the family and they treat her like it! I am also really jealous of the view from his patio, which has an absolutely amazing view of a famous citadel located in Amman. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Amman_Citadel.jpg/250px-Amman_Citadel.jpg)

After movie night I came back home and watched a little bit of the Middle Eastern version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Even though my host father recognized that it first originated in the US, and I mentioned it was very popular there, he still felt that he should explain the rules to me so that I could understand what I was watching. So now not only do I have a thorough grasp of the rules in English, but now also Arabic! He also gave me a high five, which I thought warranted mentioning because he is in his 70’s.

I also forgot to mention that I went on a really long walk the other day. I had never once planned to go on this walk and most likely will not do it again. Here is the background. The popular thing here for American students to do is join a gym. Everyone loves to work out so everyone is gossiping about which gym they’ve joined. Ladies seem to like one called Aspire. Being a Muslim country, Aspire is specifically a women only gym. I tried getting a membership since I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get my groove on, but no dice. For some odd reason they just kept yelling at me in Arabic! (Joking, mom.) Anyway, my friends and I decided to try walking to a gym just down the street from the University called “Sports City.” All I remember is that we tried walking to it a few days before, it took a butt-load (technical term) of time and we never found it, and we ended up hailing a cab. The only difference this time is that we didn’t hail a cab. For some reason we just kept walking……and walking……..and walking until before I knew it, I was in my neighborhood! (Did I mention that a large part of this trip was down the side of a major highway?) I looked at it on google earth and realized it was about a 5 mile walk. Needless to say, I’m never doing that again. (My family wasn’t so happy either.)

PS: Mom, I got all of the classes I wanted.

FUN FACTS:

Jordan is the home to one of the most important, yet inaccessible sites in biblical history. Known as “Aaron’s Tomb,” it is located at the tip top peak of Mount Hor.

It is said that Moses was buried at Mount Nebo, in Jordan.

Every country with a land border to Jordan has a State Department travel warning on it.

The tales of Lawrence of Arabia took place largely in Jordan. The strategic port he helped capture was Aqaba, in the south, and if you ever watch the movie, it was filmed in Wadi Rum.

Battle to the Death

Battle to the Death (Well, not really. Just thought it sounded cool) - 31 January 2010

So ends the first weekend with my family and I think everyone deserves a recap. The biggest struggle from the weekend was trying to read cultural taboos. That, and trying to understand what people are saying. It takes so much energy that by 7:30-8:00 at night, I am dead tried. I spend most of my time in the family room because we were told that it is very rude just to stay locked up in your room all day. I.e., it’s hard for me to figure out when I should/shouldn’t Skype, etc. I also spent a lot, I mean a LOT of time socializing. When guests come over, it’s a BIG deal. Everyone sits in the living room and catches up while drinking tea. I also gave my gifts to my host family! I gave them a large photo album style book about the US that has pictures of people all over the country; it’s called America 24/7. I also brought two big bags of Twix and Hersey’s Chocolate. The food here has been great and plentiful and the family has been welcoming and loving. Everything here is great.

1 February 2010- So today I had a goal of looking less American than usual on campus. I dressed nice, like everyone does, but I didn’t wear anything overtly American (say, like white sneakers and a hockey jersey). I wore my black Express jacket, because every guy here wears a black jacket, and had nice plain brown shoes on. I didn’t take a backpack to school today because if you carry a backpack, you’re an American. Period. I also spent the day people watching and looking and posture and personalities of people walking around. The ultimate test came when I was meeting up with some friends on the way home. We were meeting by a bus station near campus so I leaned up against a bus stop platform right next to a group of guys, didn’t smile, and just waited. My friends walked right past me without seeing me! SUCCESS! Then I was so happy I proceeded to smile, once again labeling myself as an American.

FUN FACTS:

Pull out a map and your immediately labeled a foreigner. As a guy who uses maps and cardinal directions to navigate, its hard living in a culture that’s the exact opposite. I tried asking my host sister which way is north and she gave me a blank stare. Funny thing is though, now that I have asked, she is starting to figure out cardinal directions.

A taxi driver was pointing to his taxi and asking me if I wanted to go to Syria. He was actually pointing to his open trunk. I hope I never get driven to Syria via the trunk of a car.

A friend told me that more books have been translated into Spanish last year than into Arabic in the past 100,000 years.

Also, I live only a few blocks away from the Jordanian Parliament Building and the National Art Gallery.