Pictures from Wadi Rum

A couple of weekends back, we decided to do a girls trip to Wadi Rum. We spent the afternoon touring the desert in a jeep. We did some hiking and climbing and finished by watching the sunset over the desert. That evening we had a delicious bedouin dinner back at our camp before heading to bed. In the morning, we had breakfast before driving back to Amman. Highlight: the stars.

Wadi Rum Desert-scape

Our tents in Wadi Rum

The girls

KAS and OBL

I went in to the office (because I can say that I go into 'the office' now) to talk to the director about my hours and duties earlier this week. I was assigned my first project which I am very excited about. I will be organizing a roundtable conference on the Hariri tribunal... in Lebanon. Will I be going to the conference? Yes I will. In addition to organizing the conference, I will be working on co-authoring a couple articles with the director. I am looking forward to picking out a couple topics to research and write on. I am also excited about being able to organize this conference (not to mention travel to Lebanon). After the initial meeting with the director, I was pretty sell assured that I had made the right decision regarding which internship to take.

In other world news, Osama bin Laden's death has had a few interesting effects on life here- nothing extreme. I have had people ask me about my feelings about OBL's demise. Some people have just wanted to express their opinions. One woman that I now work with came to my desk to ask about my feelings and then tell me that she didn't really think OBL died and that it was a ploy of the US government. Peter and Adam (both British) expressed their shock at the joyous response of Americans. The KAS director (a German) was surprised to hear that OBL's death would boost President Obama's public opinion. He said: "that would never happen in Europe."An additional repercussion was the cancellation of both regional Fulbright research conferences. One was to be held in Amman the other in Rabat. Both were summarily cancelled due to a fear of retaliatory attacks against Americans.

I have to admit that I have found my own feelings on the issue to be somewhat nonsensical. My immediate reaction to the news was surprise and, I am embarrassed to say, happiness. I think that my happiness stemmed from my all too human desire for revenge for the 9/11 attacks. Rationally, however, I know that OBL's end is not an end to terrorism, extremism or hatred towards the United States. Bin Laden's death marks a symbolic victory, a morale boost, for the US, more than a strategic win. As many analysts have noted, Al Qaeda is much larger than Osama bin Laden and was organized to survive the death of OBL. And so it will.

Internship Search

     I began my search for an internship a couple of weeks after my session at Qasid ended. I sent about a half dozen resumes and cover letters to various organizations operating in Amman. I received replies from the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, Freedom House and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (a German political foundation). I interviewed with all three organizations and was offered internships with all three. A couple of days after I interviewed with these three, I received a request for an interview from the Arab World Center for Democratic Development and Human Rights. I turned down the interview- mainly because I didn't think it would be as interesting as any of the others.
     I spent the majority of last week trying to decide between positions with Freedom House and KAS. The work with Freedom House sounded much less interesting. I would essentially be working as an assistant to one of the project managers doing menial work. With KAS, I would have the opportunity to write articles and potentially have a project assigned to me. Basically my dilemma came down to this: more interesting work and autonomy with KAS or generally boring work with the more notable Freedom House? Ok so there was another factor in mind- taxi fare. It adds up when it comes to an unpaid internship!
      My days of deliberation have produced this result: I am taking the position with KAS. Inshallah I will begin this week. I am anxious to work and to have a daily schedule. I am looking forward to researching and writing and being generally productive. I will post more on my internship after I have started.

Long Time...

Ok. I know it has been a long time since I have written a post. I have no excuse! So I am going to take the next couple of posts to give a few general life updates.

Teaching English

     About a month ago, a fellow Fulbrighter advertised a position teaching English to Iraqi refugees through the Jesuit Refugee Service. I was interested so I went with her to the school in Ashrafiya to check out the classes and meet the students. I decided to give it a whirl and try my hand at teaching. First, a little more background on the program. JRS offers afternoon classes in English, French and computer sciences for Iraqi refugees. The program runs buses to different parts of Amman to collect the students and bring them to the school building and then take them all back after the classes are over. Currently, there are about 200 students that attend the courses ranging in age from 10 to 60 years old. The classes run from 330pm to about 630pm Monday through Thursday (so that both Christians and Muslims can observe their holy days). I share the three English conversation classes with a British woman who teaches Mondays, my Fulbright friend who teaches both Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have Wednesdays.
     I have to admit that I was quite nervous the first day I taught. I had prepared a goal-setting and expectations exercise for the students. In retrospect, I am very glad I started with this activity. Essentially, I wanted to know what the students wanted me to teach them (having little idea where to begin myself). The three classes had similar requests: American slang, idiomatic expressions, synonyms, pronunciation, grammar and quizzes among other things. Since that first class, I have begun every class with 2 or 3 idiomatic expressions before diving into a discussion or group activity. So far, I have taught them expressions such as "same old, same old," "to lock horns," "basket-case," and "jack-of-all-trades." I intend to eventually teach them "muffin top" and "two shakes of a lamb's tail." I have found that some of the best activities for class are semi-controversial group discussions. They like to argue! As one of my students explained to me- "we all have an opinion!"
    After teaching for several weeks, I have a better handle on the class compositions and strengths and weaknesses of the students. My first class has only about 15 students. Most of them are between 40 and 50 years old. This first class is great to teach because of the size and because the students are all genuinely interested in learning and participating. My second class is slightly larger with about 20 students. Again, most of them are between the ages of 40 and 50. This class is the most advanced and enthusiastic about learning English. There are two men (one about 28 and the other about 40) who sit next to each other and consistently disagree about everything for comedic value rather than actual opposing views. This playful antagonism gets the rest of the class involved in the jokes and the "disagreements" which ultimately makes for a more enjoyable class. My third class is my most difficult. There are about 40 students in this class, most of whom are 22 years old or younger with more young men than women. The age range isn't a problem by itself. This is compounded by the low level of competence in the English language. Essentially, a large portion of the students should be in a beginner class rather than an conversation course. So, the students who don't understand sit in the back and cause problems. There have been a number of times where I have just stood silently waiting for the ruckus to stop before continuing. I have had a couple of instances with the young men. For example, one stopped me in the middle of class to say "teacher, you're pretty." Another time, a couple of boys stayed after class to ask to take my picture. Of course, I told them no and that this was an inappropriate request. Aside from these instances, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The students are, more often than not, enthusiastic, respectful and eager. It is surprisingly rewarding to hear a student use an idiom I taught them. They have endeared themselves to me. I fully intend on continuing on teaching there until I leave.
    Last week, I had a long discussion with the director of the program about placing students in their levels. Until now, the program has simply placed students into classes based on how the class schedule has worked out. This method has made my teaching experience much more difficult. I have to plan a class with multiple ability levels in mind. So, after talking with the director, we decided to administer a conversation placement evaluation. I developed some basic questions and a scale for evaluation for all of the teachers to use. So, last week I went to help with the placement exams for the incoming students- about 300! The process was much easier than I expected and made easier still with the help of the other teachers. My hope is that the classes for the next term will be more uniformly organized in terms of ability level.
    This week is my last week teaching this term. There is a graduate ceremony and picnic for all of the students that I am very excited for. I honestly never thought I would enjoy teaching this much. Future career? Nope- not that much fun.

Bugs make for free dinner!

Early last week, Peter took his visiting friends to the Dead Sea. I couldn't miss the opportunity to lay in the sun so I accompanied. We decided to pay the 25JD to enjoy the private beach and pools of the Holiday Inn at the Dead Sea. The weather was lovely and I was able to get a little sun before lunch. For a bite to eat, we picked the pool side cafe. All five of us ordered hamburgers. Once they arrived and we were part way through our meal when I noticed little bugs crawling around on the plate. Once I took the top off of the hamburger I saw bug bodies smashed into the cheese. After a quick check, the others found bugs on their plates also. So, we called over the waiter. I pointed out the dead insects. He quickly whisked away my plate to cook me a new one. The manager brought my meal back out, apologized and informed us that all of our meals were on the house. Before leaving, the manager asked for a phone number so I passed him my business card. We continued our afternoon at the hotel with little thought of the incident.

Later that same evening, I received a phone call from Outdoor Outlets manager at the Holiday Inn. He apologized for our experience at lunch and invited all of us back for dinner at the Below 393 restaurant. After consulting the 4 boys, we arranged to go back to the hotel for dinner on Thursday evening.

So, on Thursday we drove the rental car back to the Dead Sea. At the hotel, we were greeted at the entrance by the same manager who had originally contacted me. He walked us down to Below 393 where we were seated by the manager of the restaurant. We lost no time looking through the menus and picking our our meals. I had no intention of ordering an extravagant meal until the 4 boys convinced me that it was clearly our right to eat well. So, we started with a bottle of wine and carpaccio for our starters. I had never had carpaccio before. It was excellent. I must say that I didn't think that raw meat could ever taste so good. Following the carpaccio, we all had steaks for dinner with a bottle of red wine. The filet mignon that I ordered made for the best meal I have had in Jordan. It was superb. After enjoying a leisurely dinner, we had creme brulee for dessert. By the end, I could barely move I had eaten so much. But it was well worth it. The meal was superb. Throughout the course of our meal, the manager brought the Food & Drinks manager and two sous chefs to speak with us and apologize for our previous bug experience. We assured them that the dinner we were enjoying more than made up for it. After calculating, we realized that the hotel had spent between $350 and $400 to make up for our bug-y lunch. Fine with me.

For anyone who comes to Jordan and wants an excellent meal, I will immediately think of this dinner and send them straight to the Dead Sea and the Holiday Inn there.

Additional Photos from Egypt

Pretty in Pink

Napping at Al-Azhar Mosque

Egypt = Awesome

On Wednesday after my final exams, I flew to Cairo for a 5 day stay in Egypt. I had a wonderful time. I am not going to recount everything that I did in Egypt but I will certainly detail the highlights.

The Pyramids
First, I had no idea how close the Pyramids were to Cairo. Suddenly, on our drive to Giza, the Pyramids appeared over the skyline of the edge of Cairo. The contrast was quite spectacular. Needless to say, the Pyramids were breathtaking. I can easily understand how they are considered one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. We spent about 3 hours exploring the three pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx. We were able to climb the Great Pyramid (Pyramid of Khufu). The passageway was narrow and at about a 35-degree angle. Essentially, wood panels had been secured to the slanted stone passageway. Walking up, I had to crouch and bend so as not to hit my head (although I did anyway). Anyone with a touch of claustrophobia would not have enjoyed this experience. At the end of the passageway was the King's Chamber. This is the room with the remnants of the Pharaoh Khufu's sarcophagus.

Aside from climbing inside the Great Pyramid, we spent the remainder of our time walking around the outside of the Pyramids. From what everyone said, there should have been many more tourists but due to the recent turmoil, tourists have been deterred from traveling (not me!). There were a couple of incidents where Egyptians wanted to have their pictures taken with us. I had mine taken with a group of Lebanese school girls. I also posed in front of a tank with an Egyptian soldier. Why? Just because.

My other new experience at the Pyramids was riding a camel! Even though I have been living in Jordan for over 6 months, I had not yet ridden a camel. Well, that has since been changed. There seems to be a wandering herd of camel at the Pyramids and for a small fee you can climb on one and lumber around for a few minutes. Camels are perhaps the most awkward creature I have ever encountered. The way they move (and run, in particular) is just funny. 

 

 Alexandria 

On Sunday, we were scheduled to take a train to Alexandria to visit my friend Ahmed whom I met through the Study of the United States Institute (SUSI) hosted at Miami last summer. Another SUSI-er, Nada, was going to go with us. Unfortunately, I woke up on Sunday morning with strange stomach pains that kept me in bed for a while. At the last second, I decided I should get up and at least try to make it to the train station for our 900am departure. So, we ran. However, while on the metro on the way to the station, I was pretty nauseous so we got off for a few minutes until the next train came. About 5 minutes from the station, Nada called to inform me that the train had just left.

We met Nada at the ticket counter to see about getting tickets for the 10am train. There weren't any tickets left. Nada suggested taking a local mini bus. She said, "my mom would kill me if she knew." So, obviously, we decided to take a mini bus. The trip up was easy. I dosed off on the way but, 2.5 hours later when we made it to Alexandria, I was feeling pretty sick again. We met Ahmed and I told him what was going on with my stomach. He ran to a pharmacy and got me some medicine. Then, we headed to get lunch because I hadn't eaten anything and, of course, couldn't take any pills on an empty stomach. So, Ahmed got us into a cab and directed the driver to a restaurant right on the Mediterranean. First of all, the sea was beautiful! The restaurant sat right on the edge with a beautiful view. We walked in and Ahmed arranged for a display of fresh fish so we could pick our own. We ended up getting a selection of fish, shrimp and squid. It was quite an experience. When the food finally came out, I was very ready to eat, not least because I wanted to pop a pain killer. There was so much food! Ahmed showed me how to eat the fish (because they were served whole). I wasn't very good at it. Nada opted not to eat the fish because it was too messy and she wasn't going to try to tackle it with her head scarf on. 

From lunch, we walked to the Bibliotheca Alexandria. This library is built on the remains of the Ancient Library of Alexandria (another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).  The Ancient Library of Alexandria was supposedly the largest collection of documents and manuscripts of the ancient world. We were unable to enter the library so we simply explored the modern architecture of the outside. 

After the Library, we took a cab to a caste that sits on the water. It was a beautiful view. We bought ice cream at Alexandria's most famous ice cream shop. Ahmed introduced me to rice and milk with ice cream on top. The combination was surprisingly delicious. At about this time, I started to feel pretty ill again. So, we decided to get in a cab and head somewhere where we could sit, check up on the referendum results and have a drink. So, we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out before heading back to the train station to get our train to Cairo. 

Tahrir Square and the Egyptian National Museum

On Saturday, we visited Tahrir Square and the Egyptian National Museum. We set Saturday aside for this because we thought there might be a little excitement with the referendum being held. However, we later learned that the voting took place in schools which dispersed the population to various parts of the city. Our day started by taking the metro to the Egyptian National Museum, a strangely pink building located directly next to the burnt building of Mubarak's party headquarters. The museum contained plenty of ancient artifacts. The most popular exhibit was filled with the gold accessories of Tutankhamen. 

After spending a few hours wandering around the museum, we walked outside and down the street to Tahrir Square proper. We saw people with Egyptian flags painted on their cheeks, tree trunks painted the colors of the flag, people waving or wearing the flag. We were approached by excited Egyptians wanting their picture taken with us and the Egyptian flags that we bought. I could tell how excited they were! 

General Observations

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Cairo. I noticed how happy the people were compared to Jordanians. People had a sense of humor about everything. Shopkeepers would joke with you even if you didn't want to buy their wares. People volunteered to help us with directions or basically anything before we even needed to ask! The population is so much poorer in Egypt but I think not having the 'burdens' of Jordanian wealth has made them a happier people. 

Also, Cairo felt like a much more vibrant city with so much more to offer than Amman. For example, one evening we went to a jazz club for a concert by a Brazilian band. That would never happen in Amman. There were restaurants upon restaurants to try out with any kind of food you could imagine. 

Khoushri (basically Egyptian fast food) is delicious.

Dental care needs to be stepped up in Egypt.

Everything was so incredibly cheap! 

 Also, everything was so incredibly dirty!

Nada, me and Ahmed

At the Pyramids.

Pink= museum. Charred= Mubarak's party HQs

Painting Flags

Khoushri

 

Tahrir Square and happy Egyptian girls :)