Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Postscript to the Second Half of the Last Post in Jordan
I guess I left out Jerusalem. Unfortunately, I have to wake up early tomorrow to pack before my last exam, so I guess I'll be writing about Jerusalem in China. Sorry to torture you all, I'll write everything as soon as I can.
Second Half of the Last Post in Jordan
The weekend after Wadi Rum, I went with 2 of my friends, my roommate Lauren and another girl, Kim, to the Dana Nature Preserve. Dana is kind of an experiment in Jordan, where they are trying to set aside land and still support the local people on it, mostly through tourism. It's basically a canyon, not like Wadi Rum but an actual canyon with a (very small) river at the bottom and cliff sides. There are quite a few trails, most of them requiring a guide. Getting to Dana is a little bit tricky, mostly because there's no bus that goes directly there. Lauren, Kim and I got on a bus in Amman that was supposed to leave at 9 (not surprisingly, we left around 10:30 and the bus driver was disappointed we knew how much money to pay) which took us to a large town that was sort of close, then we had to negotiate for a taxi there. Fortunately, there was a Jordanian woman who I had befriended slightly on the bus (she was the one who told us how much we should pay for the bus) offered to help us get a good price on a taxi. We probably could have managed on our own, but it was definitely helpful to have someone who really speaks the language do the negotiating. The town of Dana itself is very small, so there are a limited number of options in terms of accommodations. We ended up staying at the Dana Tower Hostel, recommended to us by other CIEE students who had gone earlier. It was called a tower, but while it may have been the tallest building in the town, it definitely didn't look like a tower. It was too sprawling for that. A common feature of the architecture for hostels in this part of the world seems to be circuitous stairs and multiple levels but not necessarily directly on top of each other.
All three of us were not feeling especially energetic, and it was the hottest part of the day when we got there, so we decided to take a very short hike to the spring just outside the village and relaxing before deciding what to do. We only had one day, since all three of us had exams on Sunday, and in my case a research paper on Monday, and so we had to come back in the morning on Saturday. The spring was not particularly impressive. There did seem to be a small waterfall above where the stream started, but there was too much underbrush to see clearly. We eventually gave up trying to find it and returned to the hostel to have lunch and wait for the day to cool off slightly. We were all feeling very lazy, at least partially due to the heat, but also, at least in my case, because there was no stressing about homework or preparing for exams, because the material was in Amman. I couldn't study, even if I wanted to, so relaxing was the only option. This semester has been the easiest academically that I have ever had in college, but stretching the finals out for 3 weeks was still somewhat stressful because even though the volume of work was never really high, there was always something. I prefer more of a sprint to the finish style of finals.
Anyway, when we finally did decide to move, we chose to go down the only non-guided trail, straight down into the canyon, so we could go at our own pace. As it turned out, we only got about half-way down when I spotted some sandstone rock outcroppings with shade that looked interesting and we decided to stop. We didn't leave until sunset. I did a little climbing around on the rocks, but mostly we all just sat, occasionally talking, mostly just relaxing. It was a wonderful afternoon, although I can't claim to have seen much of Dana Nature Preserve. I did see a lot of birds though, and different varieties too. It was the most diversity of wildlife I've seen in Jordan. When the sun was close to setting, we started up, which was actually quite challenging. Those switchbacks were extremely steep. We did manage to beat the sun though, and were able to watch it set from the top. It was a great day, except that oddly enough none of us could sleep that night. Our bus was leaving at 5:30, but the other two were too hot to sleep, and I just wasn't tired at all. So we mostly ended up sitting outside, watching the stars. We watched the sun rise and set in the same 24 hour period. It wasn't the most exciting trip, but it was definitely one of the most stress-free. Again, I'll post pictures when my internet is working better.
All three of us were not feeling especially energetic, and it was the hottest part of the day when we got there, so we decided to take a very short hike to the spring just outside the village and relaxing before deciding what to do. We only had one day, since all three of us had exams on Sunday, and in my case a research paper on Monday, and so we had to come back in the morning on Saturday. The spring was not particularly impressive. There did seem to be a small waterfall above where the stream started, but there was too much underbrush to see clearly. We eventually gave up trying to find it and returned to the hostel to have lunch and wait for the day to cool off slightly. We were all feeling very lazy, at least partially due to the heat, but also, at least in my case, because there was no stressing about homework or preparing for exams, because the material was in Amman. I couldn't study, even if I wanted to, so relaxing was the only option. This semester has been the easiest academically that I have ever had in college, but stretching the finals out for 3 weeks was still somewhat stressful because even though the volume of work was never really high, there was always something. I prefer more of a sprint to the finish style of finals.
Anyway, when we finally did decide to move, we chose to go down the only non-guided trail, straight down into the canyon, so we could go at our own pace. As it turned out, we only got about half-way down when I spotted some sandstone rock outcroppings with shade that looked interesting and we decided to stop. We didn't leave until sunset. I did a little climbing around on the rocks, but mostly we all just sat, occasionally talking, mostly just relaxing. It was a wonderful afternoon, although I can't claim to have seen much of Dana Nature Preserve. I did see a lot of birds though, and different varieties too. It was the most diversity of wildlife I've seen in Jordan. When the sun was close to setting, we started up, which was actually quite challenging. Those switchbacks were extremely steep. We did manage to beat the sun though, and were able to watch it set from the top. It was a great day, except that oddly enough none of us could sleep that night. Our bus was leaving at 5:30, but the other two were too hot to sleep, and I just wasn't tired at all. So we mostly ended up sitting outside, watching the stars. We watched the sun rise and set in the same 24 hour period. It wasn't the most exciting trip, but it was definitely one of the most stress-free. Again, I'll post pictures when my internet is working better.
Last Post in Jordan
This is my last post in Jordan. I leave for China tomorrow night, at 2 am. Sorry I've dropped the ball on posting for the last month, finals was stretched out for a full three weeks, so I have actually been busy, plus I've traveled almost every weekend. My last exam is actually tomorrow. I've taken three trips in the past month, two in Jordan and last weekend, I went to Israel. I'll start with the Jordan trips though, Wadi Rum and Dana Nature Preserve.
Wadi Rum is one of the more famous places in Jordan, although unless you've researched the country you've probably never heard of it. It's a great place for rock climbing and actually reminded me very strongly of southern Utah. It's desert, like the rest of Jordan, but although it's called valley (wadi means valley) its more like a lower altitude plateau with small mountains bordering it and somewhat randomly appearing in the middle of it than what I think of as a canyon. The mountains are, not surprisingly, sandstone, which makes climbing somewhat interesting. This was a CIEE trip, and it was a very popular one, so my experience was quite a bit different than if I had gone in a smaller group. There were probably 80 of us, at least. We had been told that we were going on 4x4s, which I thought meant 4-wheelers (ATVs, whatever you want to call it). I couldn't imagine CIEE actually putting all of us college students in charge of our own motorized vehicles, not least because it is strictly forbidden in the study abroad rules. It turned out that I was right, by 4x4s, they meant small pickup trucks with benches in the back suitable for 6 people. At first I was somewhat disappointed (I would have liked to drive something) but it was fun being driven. Of course, being college students, a lot of the 3 hour trip was spent trying to get our drivers to race each other across the desert, and at times they obliged us. There was a LOT of yelling. If there had been any animals in the vicinity, (I never saw any other than camels, who I imagine are used to noisy tourists) they would have been long gone. It was fun though. We had periodic stops for tea and impromptu rock climbing. There were no ropes or anything like that, of course, it was just bouldering, but its been a long time since I got to climb anything, so that was probably my favorite part of the first day. Oh, and did I mention that it was hot? It's gotten hotter since then, so the memory isn't as clear, but it was definitely hot, at the beginning of April. The seasons here mess with my mind a bit.
After the jeep (as they called the pick-ups) ride, we were dropped off at a somewhat picturesque (although it would have been hard to find an un-picturesque spot) spot to watch the sun go down. This would have been much more fun with less people. Possibly with no people. As it happened, we didn't even completely finish watching it go down before we left. Our "camp" for the night, which I had been told was not a bedouin camp, but it was "like" a bedouin camp, consisted of rows of tents made out of rough cloth, which is actually what some bedouin tents are made of, except they use pretty much anything and their tents tend to be more of a patchwork of plastic and fabric, not nearly as orderly as our accommodations. I know this mostly because of the many bedouin tents I've seen by the side of most of the roads in this country, and even occasionally in Amman. Another thing that always accompanies the real bedouin tents is goats, sheep or both, and our hotel definitely didn't have that. There were probably ten establishments like this one all clustered in this one part of the desert, around a small mountain from a town, so as to seem more isolated. Nevertheless, it was nice enough.
The next day, we woke up to the sound of camels. The main features of this trip were the kinds of rides arranged for us. The first day was jeeps/pick-ups. The second day was camels. I thought surely we'd at least get to "drive" our own camels, but that did not happen either. Imagine seeing 80 camels, carrying mostly white American college students, mostly led in chains of camels by Jordanians across the desert of Wadi Rum. It was probably quite a sight. Camels, as it turns out, are not the most comfortable beasts to sit on for long periods of time. Our ride was 3 hours, and if there had been no trotting, I probably would have made it alright. The way you are supposed to sit on a camel is by hooking one of your knees over the front pommel and propping your other foot on top of that leg, sort of cross-legged. Most of us seemed to manage this alright, but my saddle happened to be too big, and there was no way for me to do this without sitting directly on top of the camel's hump (you should be just behind or just ahead of it, I think), which is both uncomfortable and rather precarious. So I wished for stirrups the whole way and couldn't walk the next day. Despite that, it was an interesting trip. We made a few stops at various spots, but the point was the ride itself. I was in the back of a string of 3 camels, led by a Jordanian who also held the reins to another string of 3 camels, so there were 6 of us and our "driver." The driver changed periodically, and watching these guys climb all over their camels was entertaining. My favorite way of mounting that I saw was when they stepped on the camel's neck while it was standing to get up to the saddle. We all mounted on the ground, and then the camel stood up, which was an extremely jerky process (first the back legs straightened, then the front) and you had to hold onto both the front and back pommels to stay seated. Oh, and then there was trotting. Walking was fine, not exactly smooth, but not jarring either. Trotting, on the other hand, is torturous, at least if you aren't sitting right it was. Our driver for the second half of the trip was quite a flirt, although not with any of us (all 6 of us were girls). He would bring our whole mini caravan up to a girl and start chatting. This was fine, except when he decided that he needed to catch up with a particular girl. Then came the trotting. This continued for probably the last hour, and by the end we were all cursing him. My camel in particular was unhelpful in this regard, because he seemed to delight in trotting at any time, and even though he was in the back, he still sometimes got the whole group going unnecessarily. I say he, but I was never actually able to check since he only stood up when I was on him. I named him Ahmed, just for something to yell when he started running. Not that he payed any attention to me of course. I'm sure these camels have carried hundreds of tourists across parts of Wadi Rum. We rode the camels to the visitor center, which is where we met our buses, so that was the end of the Wadi Rum adventure. I'll post pictures later, my internet is being a bit slow at the moment.
Wadi Rum is one of the more famous places in Jordan, although unless you've researched the country you've probably never heard of it. It's a great place for rock climbing and actually reminded me very strongly of southern Utah. It's desert, like the rest of Jordan, but although it's called valley (wadi means valley) its more like a lower altitude plateau with small mountains bordering it and somewhat randomly appearing in the middle of it than what I think of as a canyon. The mountains are, not surprisingly, sandstone, which makes climbing somewhat interesting. This was a CIEE trip, and it was a very popular one, so my experience was quite a bit different than if I had gone in a smaller group. There were probably 80 of us, at least. We had been told that we were going on 4x4s, which I thought meant 4-wheelers (ATVs, whatever you want to call it). I couldn't imagine CIEE actually putting all of us college students in charge of our own motorized vehicles, not least because it is strictly forbidden in the study abroad rules. It turned out that I was right, by 4x4s, they meant small pickup trucks with benches in the back suitable for 6 people. At first I was somewhat disappointed (I would have liked to drive something) but it was fun being driven. Of course, being college students, a lot of the 3 hour trip was spent trying to get our drivers to race each other across the desert, and at times they obliged us. There was a LOT of yelling. If there had been any animals in the vicinity, (I never saw any other than camels, who I imagine are used to noisy tourists) they would have been long gone. It was fun though. We had periodic stops for tea and impromptu rock climbing. There were no ropes or anything like that, of course, it was just bouldering, but its been a long time since I got to climb anything, so that was probably my favorite part of the first day. Oh, and did I mention that it was hot? It's gotten hotter since then, so the memory isn't as clear, but it was definitely hot, at the beginning of April. The seasons here mess with my mind a bit.
After the jeep (as they called the pick-ups) ride, we were dropped off at a somewhat picturesque (although it would have been hard to find an un-picturesque spot) spot to watch the sun go down. This would have been much more fun with less people. Possibly with no people. As it happened, we didn't even completely finish watching it go down before we left. Our "camp" for the night, which I had been told was not a bedouin camp, but it was "like" a bedouin camp, consisted of rows of tents made out of rough cloth, which is actually what some bedouin tents are made of, except they use pretty much anything and their tents tend to be more of a patchwork of plastic and fabric, not nearly as orderly as our accommodations. I know this mostly because of the many bedouin tents I've seen by the side of most of the roads in this country, and even occasionally in Amman. Another thing that always accompanies the real bedouin tents is goats, sheep or both, and our hotel definitely didn't have that. There were probably ten establishments like this one all clustered in this one part of the desert, around a small mountain from a town, so as to seem more isolated. Nevertheless, it was nice enough.
The next day, we woke up to the sound of camels. The main features of this trip were the kinds of rides arranged for us. The first day was jeeps/pick-ups. The second day was camels. I thought surely we'd at least get to "drive" our own camels, but that did not happen either. Imagine seeing 80 camels, carrying mostly white American college students, mostly led in chains of camels by Jordanians across the desert of Wadi Rum. It was probably quite a sight. Camels, as it turns out, are not the most comfortable beasts to sit on for long periods of time. Our ride was 3 hours, and if there had been no trotting, I probably would have made it alright. The way you are supposed to sit on a camel is by hooking one of your knees over the front pommel and propping your other foot on top of that leg, sort of cross-legged. Most of us seemed to manage this alright, but my saddle happened to be too big, and there was no way for me to do this without sitting directly on top of the camel's hump (you should be just behind or just ahead of it, I think), which is both uncomfortable and rather precarious. So I wished for stirrups the whole way and couldn't walk the next day. Despite that, it was an interesting trip. We made a few stops at various spots, but the point was the ride itself. I was in the back of a string of 3 camels, led by a Jordanian who also held the reins to another string of 3 camels, so there were 6 of us and our "driver." The driver changed periodically, and watching these guys climb all over their camels was entertaining. My favorite way of mounting that I saw was when they stepped on the camel's neck while it was standing to get up to the saddle. We all mounted on the ground, and then the camel stood up, which was an extremely jerky process (first the back legs straightened, then the front) and you had to hold onto both the front and back pommels to stay seated. Oh, and then there was trotting. Walking was fine, not exactly smooth, but not jarring either. Trotting, on the other hand, is torturous, at least if you aren't sitting right it was. Our driver for the second half of the trip was quite a flirt, although not with any of us (all 6 of us were girls). He would bring our whole mini caravan up to a girl and start chatting. This was fine, except when he decided that he needed to catch up with a particular girl. Then came the trotting. This continued for probably the last hour, and by the end we were all cursing him. My camel in particular was unhelpful in this regard, because he seemed to delight in trotting at any time, and even though he was in the back, he still sometimes got the whole group going unnecessarily. I say he, but I was never actually able to check since he only stood up when I was on him. I named him Ahmed, just for something to yell when he started running. Not that he payed any attention to me of course. I'm sure these camels have carried hundreds of tourists across parts of Wadi Rum. We rode the camels to the visitor center, which is where we met our buses, so that was the end of the Wadi Rum adventure. I'll post pictures later, my internet is being a bit slow at the moment.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Various field trips...
As usual, I haven't written in a while, but that's because not a lot has happened. Classes are progressing, the end is nearing (1 month left), and I finally have some actual homework, although still not much. I have been on several field trips, for various classes and with CIEE, in the last couple of weeks that were somewhat interesting, although not nearly as exciting as Petra and Wadi Feid. The weekend before last, I went on the CIEE trip to the desert castles in western Jordan, but it wasn't really as exciting as it sounds. We went to 4, and all except one looked like large houses in the middle of the desert more than castles. One of them had very impressive murals, and another had a mosaic floor that was quite beautiful, but even though we had a guide, we weren't given a lot of information about the sites. Most of them were from the Ummayyad period, (roughly the 8th century) and the only one that looked like an actual castle (outer wall with rooms, large courtyard with a mosque in the middle) was originally Roman, rebuilt by a relative of Saladin. West Jordan itself is quite desolate, for the most part. Most of the population lives in east Jordan, because of the lack of water in the west, so although there were a few towns, it felt empty. Oh, and I almost forgot, on our itinerary one of the stops listed was at an "Iraqi border sign" to take pictures. I was confused when I read this, because it didn't look like we were going to be driving long enough to reach the Iraqi border, and that seemed uncharacteristically risky for CIEE, but their meaning became clear when we stopped under a highway sign saying "Iraq" with an arrow pointing west. The funniest part was that nearly everyone filed out of the bus to take pictures under this sign, despite the fact that we were probably at least 200 kilometers from the border. In terms of entertainment, that was the high point of the day.
Last Saturday was also spent on a bus, this time with my Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World class, with brief stops at various mosques, most of them connected to graves of some of the Prophet's Companions. The mosques were beautiful, but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries, so I don't have any pictures. My favorite mosque was the first one we visited, where the prophet Joshua (according to Islam: I don't think he's considered a prophet by Christians or Jews), who took over leadership of the Israelites after Moses died in the Old Testament. There weren't very many people there, and the imam took quite a bit of time telling us Joshua's story and the history of the mosque. We were of course welcomed at every mosque we went to, which included drinks and brief descriptions of the important people buried there, but the imam at the first mosque seemed the least perturbed or... affected by the fact that we were Americans, which was nice. He addressed us as students, not necessarily foreigners. At the last three mosques we went to the same group of men gave us tours of each and one of them was constantly taking pictures. We went pretty far north but stayed in the east (the West Bank was always in sight) and I was surprised at how much agriculture there was. It was a complete contrast from the desert castle trip.
Today I went on yet another field trip, this one to the zoo with my Arabic class, of all places. I had braced myself for the zoo, but honestly it was still worse than I expected. It wasn't actually in Amman, and it was a combination amusement park and zoo. The animals were in barred, very small cages with concrete or dirt floors. That I was expecting, although it was still a bit of a shock, but the amount of trash in the cages was disturbing. They had almost all medium to large animals too, none of them were very small. They had vultures, pelicans, camels, deer, several species of monkey, what I think was a small species of wolf, or else a coyote relative, 2 black bears, and the main attraction, lions and tigers. All of the animals were either sleeping or doing some kind of pacing behavior. At one point there was a trainer in one of the cages with a baby jaguar, holding it by it's tail and using a stick to keep it from biting him. It wasn't clear if there was a purpose for this, but it was definitely disturbing to watch. It was not a fun field trip.
Last Saturday was also spent on a bus, this time with my Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World class, with brief stops at various mosques, most of them connected to graves of some of the Prophet's Companions. The mosques were beautiful, but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries, so I don't have any pictures. My favorite mosque was the first one we visited, where the prophet Joshua (according to Islam: I don't think he's considered a prophet by Christians or Jews), who took over leadership of the Israelites after Moses died in the Old Testament. There weren't very many people there, and the imam took quite a bit of time telling us Joshua's story and the history of the mosque. We were of course welcomed at every mosque we went to, which included drinks and brief descriptions of the important people buried there, but the imam at the first mosque seemed the least perturbed or... affected by the fact that we were Americans, which was nice. He addressed us as students, not necessarily foreigners. At the last three mosques we went to the same group of men gave us tours of each and one of them was constantly taking pictures. We went pretty far north but stayed in the east (the West Bank was always in sight) and I was surprised at how much agriculture there was. It was a complete contrast from the desert castle trip.
Today I went on yet another field trip, this one to the zoo with my Arabic class, of all places. I had braced myself for the zoo, but honestly it was still worse than I expected. It wasn't actually in Amman, and it was a combination amusement park and zoo. The animals were in barred, very small cages with concrete or dirt floors. That I was expecting, although it was still a bit of a shock, but the amount of trash in the cages was disturbing. They had almost all medium to large animals too, none of them were very small. They had vultures, pelicans, camels, deer, several species of monkey, what I think was a small species of wolf, or else a coyote relative, 2 black bears, and the main attraction, lions and tigers. All of the animals were either sleeping or doing some kind of pacing behavior. At one point there was a trainer in one of the cages with a baby jaguar, holding it by it's tail and using a stick to keep it from biting him. It wasn't clear if there was a purpose for this, but it was definitely disturbing to watch. It was not a fun field trip.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Egypt
Cairo is more or less as I remember it, but with more pollution and worse traffic, if that's possible. For those of you who don't know, I spent 6 weeks in Cairo with the AFS exchange program right after I graduated high school. I lived with 2 host families, and my main reason for wanting to go back was to reconnect with them, since I had completely lost touch with one and almost lost touch with the other. I was only half-way successful, but I now have the means to contact the other family, so next time (whenever that is), I'll be able to directly contact them. The family that I did have a tenuous connection with (through Facebook, with my host sister Dina), the El Sherbiny's, welcomed me to Egypt enthusiastically. I was actually a little surprised that they even remember me very well, since I had only stayed with them for a week and a half while my host father in my first family had surgery and was recuperating, and that was 4 years ago. Nevertheless, they invited me to stay with them for spring break.
My host mother, Nashwa, is a regular volunteer with the AFS office in Egypt, so as soon as I arrived, she offered to hook me up with a group of 5 women from Belgium who were doing a week-long exchange as part of a potential expansion of the EVA program, a European program that does short (1 week) exchanges for host mothers, so they can experience a little of what an exchange student goes through. This was the first exchange that had taken place outside of Europe. They had a very busy schedule, so I didn't join them for everything, but I did go to some of the sights in Cairo that I didn't make it to the first time, as well as Fayoum, a town outside of Cairo that has several pyramids (although a bit less impressive or well-known as the Pyramids of Giza). It was an almost entirely female trip, since the volunteers guiding us around were the Egyptian host mothers of the Belgian ladies (as everyone called them). Everyone was at least 20 years older than me, so that was interesting, but also fun. I now have contacts in Belgium if I ever get there. Dutch is also much easier than Arabic, not surprisingly. There were enough words that are basically English with an accent that by the end of the 3 days I spent with them, I was more or less able to follow a conversation based on the key words I picked up and body language, which is very similar, if not identical, to American body language. I hadn't realized how different Egyptian (and Jordanian) body language is from American until I realized that I could understand almost without words what the Belgian ladies were saying, while watching a conversation among Egyptians or Jordanians is almost a complete mystery to me, even if I understand more of the words. I understand Egyptian better than Jordanian though, both the language and the body language, probably because I lived with a host family there.
Besides tagging along with the Belgian ladies, I didn't do anything spectacularly interesting. Mostly, I just relaxed. I went with Dina to her college a couple of days, which was interesting. It's a private school, and in order to get in, it was easiest if the guards thought I was a student, according to Dina. However, the first day I wore a backpack, which immediately gave me away as an outsider. (Dina had to say that I was looking over the school with the possibility of attending.) College students don't wear backpacks here, in Egypt or in Jordan, only high school students. Very occasionally, a man might, but women carry big shoulder bags/purses. So the second day I borrowed one of Dina's bags, and was let in without question. Dina's school is a British private college, so the classes are taught mostly in English, although all of the professors that I saw were Egyptian. Dina is studying marketing, and mid-terms were coming up, so I essentially got a crash-course in junior-level marketing. It was somewhat interesting. Some of the strategies they outlined I recognized from ad campaigns I've seen. The accounting class was fun, oddly enough, because I tried to guess the formula before the professor put up the answer (the other students were supposed to know the formula, of course), and solve it in my head. I'd forgotten how much I used to like math, since I haven't done it in so long.
My host family was largely the same, with one big difference. Both of my host sisters were veiled, starting in September. Nashwa had always veiled, but when I knew Dina and Kout (her sister) 4 years ago, neither of them was particularly religious or politically conscious, which are two major reasons I have heard for veiling. When I asked them about it, Dina said that a very good friend of theirs had died, and that was why they started veiling. She never explained exactly why his death (he died in a freak accident) would cause them to veil. Now that she is veiling though, Dina is very serious about it. I spent more time with her than with Kout (she's 19, Dina's 20), but Dina at least is much more politically conscious than she used to be (not surprisingly; she was 16 when I knew her, and I wasn't particularly politically conscious then either). She also has a boyfriend, which is not exactly allowed. Her mother knows, but her father doesn't, because she wants to marry him, but he's still a student, and her father wouldn't want her to marry him if he can't immediately support her. Dating is no more encouraged in Egypt than it is in Jordan, although of course it happens, especially at university, where everyone is away from their families. However, I had several conversations with Dina in which she criticized veiled women who were physically close to their boyfriends at university, and she doesn't intend to allow her boyfriend any liberties until they are at least engaged, more likely married.
Cairo itself, as I mentioned above, is largely unchanged, from what I saw. It's incredibly dirty, taxi drivers are generally bastards, and as soon as people see a foreigner, the price rises 10 pounds (about equivalent to $2, but a lot in Egypt), unless it's already marked. Nevertheless, I like Cairo better than Amman. It might simply be because I went there first, since I've heard the same opinion expressed, but about Amman, by several other CIEE students. Other cities are nice, but Amman is better. Cairo is much bigger, both in terms of population and in terms of the buildings and sq mileage. In Amman, the average building is about 5 stories, and there are empty lots all over the place, often occupied by small herds of sheep or goats, and the occasional camel or two. In Cairo, the average building is 10-15 stories, and there are no open lots anywhere. There are some donkeys and horses, but they are all working, not grazing, and the only camels are at the pyramids, for tourists to take pictures on. However, Amman is also much more Westernized, in some ways. The malls here are essentially identical to malls in America, and although Cairo has a couple of those too, it also has malls that are nearly completely deserted, in which the escalator has been turned into a stair (wooden railing and all), but a few shops survive, along with a bunch of cats. That particular mall was in Zamalek, one of the richest parts of town. There are definitely Western influences visible in Cairo, but, at least in my opinion, the Egyptians have mostly transformed them to best suit themselves, whereas in Amman, a lot of things seem to be directly imported from the West, without any adjustment. I'm not sure that that's a bad thing, necessarily, but in terms of preserving their cultural independence, I think Cairo is doing better than Amman. I'm not sure about the communities outside of Amman or Cairo, since I haven't really been there, or about Egypt and Jordan as a whole.
Leaving Egypt was an adventure all by itself. I had originally bought a one-way ticket, because I was planning to travel by land to Israel and spend a few days in Jerusalem, but since the Israel's announcement of it's intention to build more settlements in Jerusalem, which got the university students at UJ a bit riled up, I decided that I probably shouldn't go alone, and it was too late to try to find another group of CIEE students who might be there at the same time. So, I decided to go by bus to Nuweiba, a port on the Red Sea, take a ferry to Aqaba, and a bus to Amman. The bus to Nuweiba was the worst part of the trip, because it was overnight. I left around 10 pm, and we were supposed to get to Nuweiba around 5 am, leaving plenty of time to catch the ferry which I was told left at 11 am. Knowing Egypt's record for timely transportation, I figured that was a highly optimistic estimate (both for the bus arrival time and the ferry departure time) and I was right on both counts. The bus seemed to have a lot of trouble with the tiniest hills, and our bus driver apparently had the flu, so really it was a relief just to reach Taba but for whatever reason, we had to switch buses (unscheduled) there. On the next bus, I happened to meet up with two CIEE students who I knew who were also going back to Amman, so the rest of the trip I had company. We didn't have any major bumps, just a lot of waiting. The ferry was the most expensive part of the trip, and we seemed to be almost the only women on board, as well as the only foreigners. They didn't seem to know what to do with us. We were put at the head of the line wherever we went, which we were all kind of uncomfortable with, and once on the boat they shuffled us around a bit until they finally settled us in what had to be the first class section, since it was nearly deserted and was very comfortable. That was the most comfortable part of the journey, but unfortunately it was also the shortest. In Jordan, we got off the boat and onto the bus, so I didn't see any of Aqaba, which is too bad. Apparently it's very pretty.
And now I'm back in Amman. There are 5 weeks left of classes, and then a final week of tests. This semester has going to be over very quickly.
My host mother, Nashwa, is a regular volunteer with the AFS office in Egypt, so as soon as I arrived, she offered to hook me up with a group of 5 women from Belgium who were doing a week-long exchange as part of a potential expansion of the EVA program, a European program that does short (1 week) exchanges for host mothers, so they can experience a little of what an exchange student goes through. This was the first exchange that had taken place outside of Europe. They had a very busy schedule, so I didn't join them for everything, but I did go to some of the sights in Cairo that I didn't make it to the first time, as well as Fayoum, a town outside of Cairo that has several pyramids (although a bit less impressive or well-known as the Pyramids of Giza). It was an almost entirely female trip, since the volunteers guiding us around were the Egyptian host mothers of the Belgian ladies (as everyone called them). Everyone was at least 20 years older than me, so that was interesting, but also fun. I now have contacts in Belgium if I ever get there. Dutch is also much easier than Arabic, not surprisingly. There were enough words that are basically English with an accent that by the end of the 3 days I spent with them, I was more or less able to follow a conversation based on the key words I picked up and body language, which is very similar, if not identical, to American body language. I hadn't realized how different Egyptian (and Jordanian) body language is from American until I realized that I could understand almost without words what the Belgian ladies were saying, while watching a conversation among Egyptians or Jordanians is almost a complete mystery to me, even if I understand more of the words. I understand Egyptian better than Jordanian though, both the language and the body language, probably because I lived with a host family there.
Besides tagging along with the Belgian ladies, I didn't do anything spectacularly interesting. Mostly, I just relaxed. I went with Dina to her college a couple of days, which was interesting. It's a private school, and in order to get in, it was easiest if the guards thought I was a student, according to Dina. However, the first day I wore a backpack, which immediately gave me away as an outsider. (Dina had to say that I was looking over the school with the possibility of attending.) College students don't wear backpacks here, in Egypt or in Jordan, only high school students. Very occasionally, a man might, but women carry big shoulder bags/purses. So the second day I borrowed one of Dina's bags, and was let in without question. Dina's school is a British private college, so the classes are taught mostly in English, although all of the professors that I saw were Egyptian. Dina is studying marketing, and mid-terms were coming up, so I essentially got a crash-course in junior-level marketing. It was somewhat interesting. Some of the strategies they outlined I recognized from ad campaigns I've seen. The accounting class was fun, oddly enough, because I tried to guess the formula before the professor put up the answer (the other students were supposed to know the formula, of course), and solve it in my head. I'd forgotten how much I used to like math, since I haven't done it in so long.
My host family was largely the same, with one big difference. Both of my host sisters were veiled, starting in September. Nashwa had always veiled, but when I knew Dina and Kout (her sister) 4 years ago, neither of them was particularly religious or politically conscious, which are two major reasons I have heard for veiling. When I asked them about it, Dina said that a very good friend of theirs had died, and that was why they started veiling. She never explained exactly why his death (he died in a freak accident) would cause them to veil. Now that she is veiling though, Dina is very serious about it. I spent more time with her than with Kout (she's 19, Dina's 20), but Dina at least is much more politically conscious than she used to be (not surprisingly; she was 16 when I knew her, and I wasn't particularly politically conscious then either). She also has a boyfriend, which is not exactly allowed. Her mother knows, but her father doesn't, because she wants to marry him, but he's still a student, and her father wouldn't want her to marry him if he can't immediately support her. Dating is no more encouraged in Egypt than it is in Jordan, although of course it happens, especially at university, where everyone is away from their families. However, I had several conversations with Dina in which she criticized veiled women who were physically close to their boyfriends at university, and she doesn't intend to allow her boyfriend any liberties until they are at least engaged, more likely married.
Cairo itself, as I mentioned above, is largely unchanged, from what I saw. It's incredibly dirty, taxi drivers are generally bastards, and as soon as people see a foreigner, the price rises 10 pounds (about equivalent to $2, but a lot in Egypt), unless it's already marked. Nevertheless, I like Cairo better than Amman. It might simply be because I went there first, since I've heard the same opinion expressed, but about Amman, by several other CIEE students. Other cities are nice, but Amman is better. Cairo is much bigger, both in terms of population and in terms of the buildings and sq mileage. In Amman, the average building is about 5 stories, and there are empty lots all over the place, often occupied by small herds of sheep or goats, and the occasional camel or two. In Cairo, the average building is 10-15 stories, and there are no open lots anywhere. There are some donkeys and horses, but they are all working, not grazing, and the only camels are at the pyramids, for tourists to take pictures on. However, Amman is also much more Westernized, in some ways. The malls here are essentially identical to malls in America, and although Cairo has a couple of those too, it also has malls that are nearly completely deserted, in which the escalator has been turned into a stair (wooden railing and all), but a few shops survive, along with a bunch of cats. That particular mall was in Zamalek, one of the richest parts of town. There are definitely Western influences visible in Cairo, but, at least in my opinion, the Egyptians have mostly transformed them to best suit themselves, whereas in Amman, a lot of things seem to be directly imported from the West, without any adjustment. I'm not sure that that's a bad thing, necessarily, but in terms of preserving their cultural independence, I think Cairo is doing better than Amman. I'm not sure about the communities outside of Amman or Cairo, since I haven't really been there, or about Egypt and Jordan as a whole.
Leaving Egypt was an adventure all by itself. I had originally bought a one-way ticket, because I was planning to travel by land to Israel and spend a few days in Jerusalem, but since the Israel's announcement of it's intention to build more settlements in Jerusalem, which got the university students at UJ a bit riled up, I decided that I probably shouldn't go alone, and it was too late to try to find another group of CIEE students who might be there at the same time. So, I decided to go by bus to Nuweiba, a port on the Red Sea, take a ferry to Aqaba, and a bus to Amman. The bus to Nuweiba was the worst part of the trip, because it was overnight. I left around 10 pm, and we were supposed to get to Nuweiba around 5 am, leaving plenty of time to catch the ferry which I was told left at 11 am. Knowing Egypt's record for timely transportation, I figured that was a highly optimistic estimate (both for the bus arrival time and the ferry departure time) and I was right on both counts. The bus seemed to have a lot of trouble with the tiniest hills, and our bus driver apparently had the flu, so really it was a relief just to reach Taba but for whatever reason, we had to switch buses (unscheduled) there. On the next bus, I happened to meet up with two CIEE students who I knew who were also going back to Amman, so the rest of the trip I had company. We didn't have any major bumps, just a lot of waiting. The ferry was the most expensive part of the trip, and we seemed to be almost the only women on board, as well as the only foreigners. They didn't seem to know what to do with us. We were put at the head of the line wherever we went, which we were all kind of uncomfortable with, and once on the boat they shuffled us around a bit until they finally settled us in what had to be the first class section, since it was nearly deserted and was very comfortable. That was the most comfortable part of the journey, but unfortunately it was also the shortest. In Jordan, we got off the boat and onto the bus, so I didn't see any of Aqaba, which is too bad. Apparently it's very pretty.
And now I'm back in Amman. There are 5 weeks left of classes, and then a final week of tests. This semester has going to be over very quickly.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Abraham Path
Last weekend, I went on one of CIEE's scheduled trips, this one call the Abraham Path Voluntary Trail (or something like that). It is a trail system set up in the al-Alyoum or al-Ayoum (I'm not sure which) district of Jordan, which consists of 4 villages in norther Jordan. It was my first trip north, and the first time I saw forests of any kind in Jordan. The north is apparently much more fertile than the south, which is where Petra and Wadi Feid are. The trees in these forests were shorter than, say, New England forests, but not too far off some Alaskan forests. Our first stop on the Path was at the Soap House, where locals make soap out of olive oil and local herbs. Olive trees are everywhere. We even saw some trees that are 2000 years old, planted by the Romans. I have pictures, but my camera isn't with me, so I'll post them later. The actual trail we hiked on was not very long, it was only about a 2 hour hike, but there are more extensive trail systems that the locals are working on, with help from the Abraham Path organization, which gets outside funding from the EU, among others. We met an older couple from England who were helping to set up the trails. Apparently, this couple were the first climbers to visit Jordan with the intention of rock climbing, and they have been helping to promote trails and climbs in the country ever since. They knew Hakeem, our guide in Wadi Feid.
After our hike, we got a tour of some of the notable sites in the villages, including an old Christian church and the buildings that will be a hostel and restaurant, which will hopefully bring more business to the region. We ate lunch in the home of one of our guides, a traditional Jordanian meal with rice, chicken, hummus, flat bread and various fruits and vegetables. Our final stop was the ruins of a church, apparently famous for it's floor mosaics. However, it had rained the day before, so the mosaics were covered to protect them. The views from the church were amazing though. These villages are built on a very small mountain range, and the church was on the top of one of the hills. From that vantage point, our guide pointed out Palestine, and revealed that he was Palestinian. It seems that almost anywhere you go in this part of the country, you can see Palestine. This fact has given me new insight into the reason that the refugees are so set on their right of return. Besides the way they were abruptly kicked out and have very right to be angry about it, they can literally see their land, they just can't get to it. It much be extremely frustrating, and keeps the issue always relevant. I knew this part of the world was very small, geographically, but it's one thing to know it and another to see it.
After our hike, we got a tour of some of the notable sites in the villages, including an old Christian church and the buildings that will be a hostel and restaurant, which will hopefully bring more business to the region. We ate lunch in the home of one of our guides, a traditional Jordanian meal with rice, chicken, hummus, flat bread and various fruits and vegetables. Our final stop was the ruins of a church, apparently famous for it's floor mosaics. However, it had rained the day before, so the mosaics were covered to protect them. The views from the church were amazing though. These villages are built on a very small mountain range, and the church was on the top of one of the hills. From that vantage point, our guide pointed out Palestine, and revealed that he was Palestinian. It seems that almost anywhere you go in this part of the country, you can see Palestine. This fact has given me new insight into the reason that the refugees are so set on their right of return. Besides the way they were abruptly kicked out and have very right to be angry about it, they can literally see their land, they just can't get to it. It much be extremely frustrating, and keeps the issue always relevant. I knew this part of the world was very small, geographically, but it's one thing to know it and another to see it.
Egypt, Abraham Path, and Wadi Feid
Well, it's not exactly tomorrow. So far, my record for how long I've been able to regularly post/write a journal/blog is 2 months, so I guess I subconcsiously decided to take a break before writing about the second 2 months. Our spring break just started, and I am currently in Egypt. However, the Wadi Feid trip (the day after Petra) and the trip I took last weekend with CIEE to al-Alyoum were too cool to not describe, so I'll talk about Egypt next time.
So, Wadi Feid (wadi means valley in Arabic) was not at all what we were expecting. Our guide, Hakeem, and his driver picked us up from our hotel in Petra at 5 am in a pickup truck that seated 5 technically, but we fit 4 in the backseat, and my roommate Lauren and I and Hakeem sat in the back of the truck. It was actually quite nice because we could watch the sun rise, until we got to the dirt roads. Then it was a bit bumpy. Being able to look over the side down a very steep mountian was a little disconcerting too. I'm not afraid of heights at all, except in a car, it seems. The trip took about 2 1/2 hours. After that, we walked. Hanna, who found this company through CIEE, didn't get much information about the hike, and the website was pretty vague too, so we didn't really know what kind of terrain we were dealing with. We thought it would be mostly hiking, with probably some walking through rivers, and a little bit of rappelling. We also knew there were 12 waterfalls, but that was all. So it was a little worrisome when on the ride down, Hakeem mentioned that this was the most technically difficult hike he offered. He didn't really specify what he meant by technically difficult, but that part became clear when we all put on climbing harnesses as soon as we got out of the truck. That was when we found out that not only were there 12 waterfalls, but we were going to rappell down them.
So instead of a hike with some rappelling, this trip turned out to be rappelling with a little hiking in between. At least 2 of the girls were afraid of heights, and even though I'm not, it's still unnerving to rappell, because you have to go backwards, and to begin, you pretty much have to just lean back and trust the rope. By the end, I had the hang of it, but it was definitely hard to begin with. Also, because we were rappelling down waterfalls, it was slippery. You have to keep your feet in front of you so you can control where you're going, and if your feet slip, you usually end up smacking into the wall. We were all doing alright until the 3rd or 4th fall. It was the first really long one, and it went straight down, which is actually easier to rappell, but unnerving to look at. Half of us got down, including me, when we had our first (and only major) accident. Liz, one of Hanna's roommates, was starting to go down, but she wasn't centered on the rope, she was off to the side. If you keep your legs apart, that's usually fine, it's just harder. In her case, I think she slipped (I didn't really see), swuwng on the end of the rope, and hit her head on the wall. We were all wearing helmets, but hers didn't fit properly apparently, and it slipped up just enough so that she hit her head and not the helmet. I was at the bottom for all of this, but apparently the first aid kit the guides (we had 2 at this point, one to be at the top of the rappell, the other at the bottom) had consisted of iodine. That was pretty much it. Liz is fine now, there wasn't any infection or anything, but the fact that that was the entire first aid kit wasn't terribly reassuring.
Liz ended up climbing down that fall with the guide, and we all kept going. She actually couldn't turn back, even if she had wanted to, because we only had 2 guides with us, and we needed them both. As bad as all of this sounds, it was a very rewarding experience to know we had done this, with almost no prior experience, and not much more than basic instruction. The tallest fall was about 200 feet, straight down, and that one was second to last, so we were all tired. By the end of that fall, my hands were burning, probably from holding the rope too tightly at the end because I was afraid I was going to let go. We came down the final fall just as it was starting to get dark, ate lunch quickly (we hadn't eaten since 5 am, and it was now about 4;30 pm) and headed off to find the car, in the dark. There wasn't what I would call a trail, although our guide knew where he was going. We had 5 headlamps for 10 people, so that was interesting too. We walked for about 2 hours, I thihk, before we reached the car, and then we had a 3 or 4 hour drive back to Amman. We got back aroun 2 am.
It was an amazing trip, despite Liz's accident and several people's fear of heights. It was truly beautiful country too, although I admit I wasn't always paying attention. The canyon was mostly sandstone, the same as Petra, red and yellow sandstone. The waterfalls were really beautiful too, although again I didn't always appreciate it while I was doing down them. Unfortunatley none of us had cameras because we knew that we were going to be getting wet (I accidentally went swimming at one point- I went down the wrong side of the fall), and no one had waterproof cameras. I especially would have liked a picture of the 200 ft. fall. Maybe I'll try to draw it when I get home.
So, Wadi Feid (wadi means valley in Arabic) was not at all what we were expecting. Our guide, Hakeem, and his driver picked us up from our hotel in Petra at 5 am in a pickup truck that seated 5 technically, but we fit 4 in the backseat, and my roommate Lauren and I and Hakeem sat in the back of the truck. It was actually quite nice because we could watch the sun rise, until we got to the dirt roads. Then it was a bit bumpy. Being able to look over the side down a very steep mountian was a little disconcerting too. I'm not afraid of heights at all, except in a car, it seems. The trip took about 2 1/2 hours. After that, we walked. Hanna, who found this company through CIEE, didn't get much information about the hike, and the website was pretty vague too, so we didn't really know what kind of terrain we were dealing with. We thought it would be mostly hiking, with probably some walking through rivers, and a little bit of rappelling. We also knew there were 12 waterfalls, but that was all. So it was a little worrisome when on the ride down, Hakeem mentioned that this was the most technically difficult hike he offered. He didn't really specify what he meant by technically difficult, but that part became clear when we all put on climbing harnesses as soon as we got out of the truck. That was when we found out that not only were there 12 waterfalls, but we were going to rappell down them.
So instead of a hike with some rappelling, this trip turned out to be rappelling with a little hiking in between. At least 2 of the girls were afraid of heights, and even though I'm not, it's still unnerving to rappell, because you have to go backwards, and to begin, you pretty much have to just lean back and trust the rope. By the end, I had the hang of it, but it was definitely hard to begin with. Also, because we were rappelling down waterfalls, it was slippery. You have to keep your feet in front of you so you can control where you're going, and if your feet slip, you usually end up smacking into the wall. We were all doing alright until the 3rd or 4th fall. It was the first really long one, and it went straight down, which is actually easier to rappell, but unnerving to look at. Half of us got down, including me, when we had our first (and only major) accident. Liz, one of Hanna's roommates, was starting to go down, but she wasn't centered on the rope, she was off to the side. If you keep your legs apart, that's usually fine, it's just harder. In her case, I think she slipped (I didn't really see), swuwng on the end of the rope, and hit her head on the wall. We were all wearing helmets, but hers didn't fit properly apparently, and it slipped up just enough so that she hit her head and not the helmet. I was at the bottom for all of this, but apparently the first aid kit the guides (we had 2 at this point, one to be at the top of the rappell, the other at the bottom) had consisted of iodine. That was pretty much it. Liz is fine now, there wasn't any infection or anything, but the fact that that was the entire first aid kit wasn't terribly reassuring.
Liz ended up climbing down that fall with the guide, and we all kept going. She actually couldn't turn back, even if she had wanted to, because we only had 2 guides with us, and we needed them both. As bad as all of this sounds, it was a very rewarding experience to know we had done this, with almost no prior experience, and not much more than basic instruction. The tallest fall was about 200 feet, straight down, and that one was second to last, so we were all tired. By the end of that fall, my hands were burning, probably from holding the rope too tightly at the end because I was afraid I was going to let go. We came down the final fall just as it was starting to get dark, ate lunch quickly (we hadn't eaten since 5 am, and it was now about 4;30 pm) and headed off to find the car, in the dark. There wasn't what I would call a trail, although our guide knew where he was going. We had 5 headlamps for 10 people, so that was interesting too. We walked for about 2 hours, I thihk, before we reached the car, and then we had a 3 or 4 hour drive back to Amman. We got back aroun 2 am.
It was an amazing trip, despite Liz's accident and several people's fear of heights. It was truly beautiful country too, although I admit I wasn't always paying attention. The canyon was mostly sandstone, the same as Petra, red and yellow sandstone. The waterfalls were really beautiful too, although again I didn't always appreciate it while I was doing down them. Unfortunatley none of us had cameras because we knew that we were going to be getting wet (I accidentally went swimming at one point- I went down the wrong side of the fall), and no one had waterproof cameras. I especially would have liked a picture of the 200 ft. fall. Maybe I'll try to draw it when I get home.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Petra
So I finally left Amman. A friend of mine from Arabic class, Hanna, planned a weekend trip for her mother, who was visiting, and a bunch of us jumped on the bandwagon. The first day was spent in Petra (I was the only person who did that with them) and the second was spent in Wadi Fein, which I will write about tomorrow because I don't want to overshadow Petra. We set out after class on Thursday, so basically after dark, which was a bit of an adventure all by itself. We thought we might be able to take a bus, which everyone said would be safer and cheaper than a service taxi (basically a taxi that you share with anyone else going in the same direction), but it turns out that there is only one bus a day to Petra, very early in the morning. Fortunately for us, we got a taxi with a driver who spoke English (he spent a year or so in India, apparently) and who not only took us to the right bus station to get a service taxi, but negotiated with the taxi drivers to get us a good deal. On the whole car ride down, which was about 2-3 hours, Hanna and her mother quized me on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Jordan's part in it. It was nice to know that I haven't forgotten everything I learned last semester, and it's not a subject that I've talked to many people about, which surprised me at first, but it makes sense that that would be a very sensitive subject here.
Our hotel was cheap, but clean, so I was happy. We only had to sleep there, after all. All of Friday, we were at Petra. We went around 8, but there were already pretty big crowds at the ticket office, including a huge group of I think Japanese tourists, all wearing kuffiyehs (the traditional Arab men's headdress, made famous by Yasser Arafat). We got an optional public tour as part of our ticket price and decided to take it, which turned out to be a very good decision because our guide was one of the archeologists who had worked on the site. I'm not sure why he was ferrying tourists around, but he had pictures of his digs, and corrected several of the plaques which were apparently wrong. For example, the most famous part of Petra, the Treasury, the site of third Indiana Jones movie ending, was actually a temple, not a treasury. It more spectacular in real life than in any of the pictures I saw, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. In order to get from the visitor center to the entrance to the city, which is a narrow canyon called the Siq, we had the option of riding a horse. At a walk, of course, although the guy leading mine did let me take the reins, so at least I was able to direct her myself. Once we reached the Siq, it's a ways down, gradually, to the point where the canyon opens up and the Treasury appears. Oh, most of this rock is sandstone, and the color variations are due to mineral deposits from rain, I think. Actually, except for the carved portions, it looked very similar to southern Utah. Here are some pictures from the Siq:
Once we reached the Siq, the canyon opens up and the farther you walk, the more there is to see. Almost everywhere you look there is evidence of the Nabataean people, the ones who built all of this. They ruled Jordan, and a bit of each of the surrounding countries, a little bit before the Common Era, and a little bit after they were conquered by the Romans. There was some evidence of both Roman and Greek influence in the architecture, including an amphitheater carved out of the surrounding rock, unlike any other in the world. It was lost to the outside world for quite a while (there were Bedouin people living there the whole time) until sometime in the 1800s when it was re-discovered by a European traveler. Of the buildings that remain, they are almost entirely tombs, temples or other public buildings. There are very few surviving houses, and apparently no tools have been found, so we don't know exactly how they did their carving, or much about their everyday lives. The last place we went was the Monastery, which actually looks very similar to the Treasury. It's at the top of what I think was the highest mountain in the area. The hike up wasn't technically difficult, but we went up at the hottest part of the day, so I had to rest a lot. I've learned to not try to predict Jordan weather, because the temperature seems to change drastically overnight, but it was probably the hottest it's been since I came. Here are some pictures of the Treasury, tombs, the amphitheater, the Monastery, and the row of columns which apparently was some sort of public audience chamber:
After viewing all these amazing ruins, one of the highlights for the day involved a flesh-and-blood man. While we were at the top of the Monastery, we saw six helicopters fly by, which some Jordanians that we had been talking to confirmed that only very important people, like the King, use. They also mentioned that Vice President Joe Biden was supposed to show up to Petra that day. Sure enough, we got off the mountain just in time to watch a line of about 20 bright and shiny SUVs drive down a very narrow back road to near where we were resting. So, we went over to see if it really was Joe Biden. The Jordanian army guy that we struck up a conversation with confirmed that Joe was there, with Hamza, one of King Abdullah's brothers, to see the sights. We waited for quite a while, watching some clearly American military personnel (the bullet proof vests and guns strapped to their thighs were the clues) taking pictures of each other, but no sign of Biden. Just as we were leaving, here he comes, down the road from the Siq, with about 50 other people. I wasn't able to spot Hamza, but Biden was wearing a baseball cap and easily identifiable. So, I saw my Vice President, in person, for the first time in Jordan. It was a pretty perfect ending to a good day.
I will tell you about the other half of my weekend tomorrow.
Our hotel was cheap, but clean, so I was happy. We only had to sleep there, after all. All of Friday, we were at Petra. We went around 8, but there were already pretty big crowds at the ticket office, including a huge group of I think Japanese tourists, all wearing kuffiyehs (the traditional Arab men's headdress, made famous by Yasser Arafat). We got an optional public tour as part of our ticket price and decided to take it, which turned out to be a very good decision because our guide was one of the archeologists who had worked on the site. I'm not sure why he was ferrying tourists around, but he had pictures of his digs, and corrected several of the plaques which were apparently wrong. For example, the most famous part of Petra, the Treasury, the site of third Indiana Jones movie ending, was actually a temple, not a treasury. It more spectacular in real life than in any of the pictures I saw, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. In order to get from the visitor center to the entrance to the city, which is a narrow canyon called the Siq, we had the option of riding a horse. At a walk, of course, although the guy leading mine did let me take the reins, so at least I was able to direct her myself. Once we reached the Siq, it's a ways down, gradually, to the point where the canyon opens up and the Treasury appears. Oh, most of this rock is sandstone, and the color variations are due to mineral deposits from rain, I think. Actually, except for the carved portions, it looked very similar to southern Utah. Here are some pictures from the Siq:
Once we reached the Siq, the canyon opens up and the farther you walk, the more there is to see. Almost everywhere you look there is evidence of the Nabataean people, the ones who built all of this. They ruled Jordan, and a bit of each of the surrounding countries, a little bit before the Common Era, and a little bit after they were conquered by the Romans. There was some evidence of both Roman and Greek influence in the architecture, including an amphitheater carved out of the surrounding rock, unlike any other in the world. It was lost to the outside world for quite a while (there were Bedouin people living there the whole time) until sometime in the 1800s when it was re-discovered by a European traveler. Of the buildings that remain, they are almost entirely tombs, temples or other public buildings. There are very few surviving houses, and apparently no tools have been found, so we don't know exactly how they did their carving, or much about their everyday lives. The last place we went was the Monastery, which actually looks very similar to the Treasury. It's at the top of what I think was the highest mountain in the area. The hike up wasn't technically difficult, but we went up at the hottest part of the day, so I had to rest a lot. I've learned to not try to predict Jordan weather, because the temperature seems to change drastically overnight, but it was probably the hottest it's been since I came. Here are some pictures of the Treasury, tombs, the amphitheater, the Monastery, and the row of columns which apparently was some sort of public audience chamber:
After viewing all these amazing ruins, one of the highlights for the day involved a flesh-and-blood man. While we were at the top of the Monastery, we saw six helicopters fly by, which some Jordanians that we had been talking to confirmed that only very important people, like the King, use. They also mentioned that Vice President Joe Biden was supposed to show up to Petra that day. Sure enough, we got off the mountain just in time to watch a line of about 20 bright and shiny SUVs drive down a very narrow back road to near where we were resting. So, we went over to see if it really was Joe Biden. The Jordanian army guy that we struck up a conversation with confirmed that Joe was there, with Hamza, one of King Abdullah's brothers, to see the sights. We waited for quite a while, watching some clearly American military personnel (the bullet proof vests and guns strapped to their thighs were the clues) taking pictures of each other, but no sign of Biden. Just as we were leaving, here he comes, down the road from the Siq, with about 50 other people. I wasn't able to spot Hamza, but Biden was wearing a baseball cap and easily identifiable. So, I saw my Vice President, in person, for the first time in Jordan. It was a pretty perfect ending to a good day.
I will tell you about the other half of my weekend tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monsoons (close enough)
We had enough rain on Sunday to need a few sandbags on one of the streets of the University. Or rather, on what was the street; it had turned into a river. I found out that I have a hole not just in one shoe, but both, while fording this river. It had been raining since Thursday and it finally stopped today. For the most part, I enjoyed the rain, since I didn't have to be out in it much, but it was also nice to see the sun today.
I haven't written in a few days because the internet has been rather unreliable. Apparently, for some reason at the end of the month the internet gets really slow. The other CIEE people I know who have witribe (the wireless internet service I have) experienced the same thing.
Anyway, moving on. My classes are progressing, although I think we could be going a little bit faster in Arabic. The Arab Women Writer's class has been especially interesting. We started by reading several chapters in Leila Ahmed's "Women and Gender in Islam." Had read parts of that book before, but not these chapters which focused on Egypt in the early 20th century and the interactions between the imperialist power (Britain), the first feminists, and various Egyptian nationalist and Islamic groups which were emerging at the time. According to Ahmed, this was the period when the "women's issue" became a matter of national importance, a position that it has maintained since then, largely thanks to the British. The Western powers in the Middle East (mainly Britain and France) used the supposed oppression of women, so defined by the practices of female seclusion, veiling, polygamy, and child marriage, to legitimate their economic and political domination. That isn't to say that there wasn't necessary oppression going on, but that is a very tricky word to define and in this instance, the word was used by some imperialists as merely a tool to explain the necessity of their presence: to civilize the ignorant peoples of the Middle East. One possible reason for why this issue was highlighted above others that they might have chosen is that it coincided with the rise of the feminist movement in Europe and the States. Ironically, one of the greatest spokesmen for the "liberation" of Egyptian women was Lord Cromer, who apparently founded the "Men's League for Opposing Women's Suffrage" in England. The main focus of these "liberation" efforts was to get women to unveil, not to educate them (in fact fewer women were educated under the British than before they took control) or empower them politically. Egyptian nationalists took the symbols attacked by the British, like veiling, and sought to defend them because they opposed on principle anything the British supported, which further reinforced the importance of the "woman issue." This discourse is the root, according to Ahmed, of the ongoing controversy surrounding Muslim women and the veil, both in the West (especially in media) and in the Middle East.
Most of Ahmed's ideas were familiar to me, and her logic makes sense. When I was first starting to research Muslim women and the issues surrounding them, the attention given to the veil didn't really make sense to me. It may be true that some forms of hijab are physically uncomfortable or inconvenient, but it seems that lack of education, political rights, social rights, and lack of voice in general should be more important issues. The veil is a symbol of those things for some people (Westerners), but to think that by simply getting rid of it would therefore get rid of all those other problems seemed overly simplistic to me. There are certainly instances where a woman is forced by a male member of her family (husband, uncle, father, brother, etc.) to wear the hijab, but the majority of the women that I have talked to here and in Egypt about it have declared quite proudly that they chose to wear the veil, either for religious or political reasons. The political reasons go back to the efforts of the British (and in other countries other imperialist powers) to eradicate the veil, which turned it into a symbol of resistance and nationalism. Another of Ahmed's points, however, was that all the attention given to the veil masked the fact that the British seem to have done nearly nothing for women during their control of Egypt, and in fact did harm in some areas. There were even European (and maybe American) feminists who supported the imperialist project against the veil, without realizing the shallowness of that crusade.
Feminism is another issue that we have been discussing a lot in Arab Women Writer's. Over here, it is a dirty word, signifying an adoption of another culture (the West) in place of the native culture. I believe that this is an issue for many former colonized countries, as are other ideas that are viewed as Western imports. (Technology is fine though.) Rula, the professor of my class, is a self-proclaimed feminist, but she has been very frank about the difficulties of using that word, as well as other imported terminology, such as gender. People hear these words and shut down, it seems. I haven't witnessed this myself, but I also haven't asked any questions using the term feminism yet. I did ask my peer tutor about the hijab (she wears one), and she has promised to give me a lecture, complete with sources from the Qur'an and hadiths at our next meeting. It will be interesting to hear her take on it as opposed to Rula.
I haven't written in a few days because the internet has been rather unreliable. Apparently, for some reason at the end of the month the internet gets really slow. The other CIEE people I know who have witribe (the wireless internet service I have) experienced the same thing.
Anyway, moving on. My classes are progressing, although I think we could be going a little bit faster in Arabic. The Arab Women Writer's class has been especially interesting. We started by reading several chapters in Leila Ahmed's "Women and Gender in Islam." Had read parts of that book before, but not these chapters which focused on Egypt in the early 20th century and the interactions between the imperialist power (Britain), the first feminists, and various Egyptian nationalist and Islamic groups which were emerging at the time. According to Ahmed, this was the period when the "women's issue" became a matter of national importance, a position that it has maintained since then, largely thanks to the British. The Western powers in the Middle East (mainly Britain and France) used the supposed oppression of women, so defined by the practices of female seclusion, veiling, polygamy, and child marriage, to legitimate their economic and political domination. That isn't to say that there wasn't necessary oppression going on, but that is a very tricky word to define and in this instance, the word was used by some imperialists as merely a tool to explain the necessity of their presence: to civilize the ignorant peoples of the Middle East. One possible reason for why this issue was highlighted above others that they might have chosen is that it coincided with the rise of the feminist movement in Europe and the States. Ironically, one of the greatest spokesmen for the "liberation" of Egyptian women was Lord Cromer, who apparently founded the "Men's League for Opposing Women's Suffrage" in England. The main focus of these "liberation" efforts was to get women to unveil, not to educate them (in fact fewer women were educated under the British than before they took control) or empower them politically. Egyptian nationalists took the symbols attacked by the British, like veiling, and sought to defend them because they opposed on principle anything the British supported, which further reinforced the importance of the "woman issue." This discourse is the root, according to Ahmed, of the ongoing controversy surrounding Muslim women and the veil, both in the West (especially in media) and in the Middle East.
Most of Ahmed's ideas were familiar to me, and her logic makes sense. When I was first starting to research Muslim women and the issues surrounding them, the attention given to the veil didn't really make sense to me. It may be true that some forms of hijab are physically uncomfortable or inconvenient, but it seems that lack of education, political rights, social rights, and lack of voice in general should be more important issues. The veil is a symbol of those things for some people (Westerners), but to think that by simply getting rid of it would therefore get rid of all those other problems seemed overly simplistic to me. There are certainly instances where a woman is forced by a male member of her family (husband, uncle, father, brother, etc.) to wear the hijab, but the majority of the women that I have talked to here and in Egypt about it have declared quite proudly that they chose to wear the veil, either for religious or political reasons. The political reasons go back to the efforts of the British (and in other countries other imperialist powers) to eradicate the veil, which turned it into a symbol of resistance and nationalism. Another of Ahmed's points, however, was that all the attention given to the veil masked the fact that the British seem to have done nearly nothing for women during their control of Egypt, and in fact did harm in some areas. There were even European (and maybe American) feminists who supported the imperialist project against the veil, without realizing the shallowness of that crusade.
Feminism is another issue that we have been discussing a lot in Arab Women Writer's. Over here, it is a dirty word, signifying an adoption of another culture (the West) in place of the native culture. I believe that this is an issue for many former colonized countries, as are other ideas that are viewed as Western imports. (Technology is fine though.) Rula, the professor of my class, is a self-proclaimed feminist, but she has been very frank about the difficulties of using that word, as well as other imported terminology, such as gender. People hear these words and shut down, it seems. I haven't witnessed this myself, but I also haven't asked any questions using the term feminism yet. I did ask my peer tutor about the hijab (she wears one), and she has promised to give me a lecture, complete with sources from the Qur'an and hadiths at our next meeting. It will be interesting to hear her take on it as opposed to Rula.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Citadel and City Mall
This weekend I went to a mall that could have been yanked from any major city in America and then a ruin that contained remnants of the civilizations who have occupied this country since the Romans. It was quite a contrast. I needed to get some shoes, so my roommate and I went to City Mall, the most expensive shopping center, although not the only one, in Amman. I didn't actually get shoes there, but it was big enough that we did spend the better part of 2 hours wandering around. In addition to the Clare's, TGI Friday's, Starbucks, Gap and various other American stores, there was a gigantic Walmart-like thing attached to the mall called Carrefour. It was bigger and slightly fancier than Walmart, actually. Apparently it's a French chain. All of this combined to make me feel like I was back in the States. It was a very odd and disorienting experience. I'm not sure why I was so surprised, really, because there was something similar in Cairo called City Stars, but I don't think I'll be going back there much while I'm here.
The ruins were much more what I was expecting, although they were rather spectacular in their own way as well. We went to two sites, I think the two biggest and best preserved in Amman, the Roman Theater and the Citadel. The Roman Theater was exactly what it sounds like. I saw very similar theaters in Greece, but it was still impressive. There was also a museum attached that for the price of 1 dinar (about $1.40) you could go in, and even take pictures. It wasn't about the Romans though, but the Bedouin. There weren't many informational plaques, it was basically a collection of artifacts such as traditional costumes worn by people (mostly women) from specific areas, including some areas in Palestine, various jewelry, tools, artwork in various mediums and there were a few examples of what a Bedouin tent might look like, or a loom, etc. It was interesting, but not very informative about the history or current importance of the Bedouin culture on display. The Bedouin tribal system is still very much in evidence in Jordan today, to the point where it dictates marriages (clans that don't get along historically don't intermarry, apparently). This museum didn't go into that at all, though.
Here are some pictures of the theater:
The Citadel was a bit different. For one thing, it's the site of multiple civilizations' settlements. There weren't many informational plaques at this site either, but at the very least it was a Roman site and an Umayyad site (the first dynastic Muslim rulers, after the original caliphs, around the 700s). There didn't seem to be any rules as to what could and couldn't be touched, walked on, climbed on or sat on, although there were guards walking around who yelled if someone climbed too high. All of these ruins, by the way, were limestone, I'm pretty sure. That seems to be the local rock. There was only one intact structure, which I think was the mosque, and it had obviously been restored. Everything else was outlined by half falling down columns and the remnants of the foundation. The only information I gleaned from one of the few plaques around explained that because there was no natural spring at the site, all rainwater had to be collected and saved in underground cisterns, some remnants of which remain.
The truly magnificent part of this site, however, was the view. I may have mentioned in one of my early posts being surprised by the hills that make up the city of Amman. Well, the Citadel sits on the top of a hill that if it is not the center of the city, certainly once was. You can see, in all directions, the city sprawled out below. The entire city is probably not visible, but if not it's probably close. This is where I took my long-promised pictures of the city, since it's probably one of the few times I'll remember my camera. I even got some pictures with me in it, just to prove to my mother I'm not making all of this up.
Here are some more pictures:
The ruins were much more what I was expecting, although they were rather spectacular in their own way as well. We went to two sites, I think the two biggest and best preserved in Amman, the Roman Theater and the Citadel. The Roman Theater was exactly what it sounds like. I saw very similar theaters in Greece, but it was still impressive. There was also a museum attached that for the price of 1 dinar (about $1.40) you could go in, and even take pictures. It wasn't about the Romans though, but the Bedouin. There weren't many informational plaques, it was basically a collection of artifacts such as traditional costumes worn by people (mostly women) from specific areas, including some areas in Palestine, various jewelry, tools, artwork in various mediums and there were a few examples of what a Bedouin tent might look like, or a loom, etc. It was interesting, but not very informative about the history or current importance of the Bedouin culture on display. The Bedouin tribal system is still very much in evidence in Jordan today, to the point where it dictates marriages (clans that don't get along historically don't intermarry, apparently). This museum didn't go into that at all, though.
Here are some pictures of the theater:
The Citadel was a bit different. For one thing, it's the site of multiple civilizations' settlements. There weren't many informational plaques at this site either, but at the very least it was a Roman site and an Umayyad site (the first dynastic Muslim rulers, after the original caliphs, around the 700s). There didn't seem to be any rules as to what could and couldn't be touched, walked on, climbed on or sat on, although there were guards walking around who yelled if someone climbed too high. All of these ruins, by the way, were limestone, I'm pretty sure. That seems to be the local rock. There was only one intact structure, which I think was the mosque, and it had obviously been restored. Everything else was outlined by half falling down columns and the remnants of the foundation. The only information I gleaned from one of the few plaques around explained that because there was no natural spring at the site, all rainwater had to be collected and saved in underground cisterns, some remnants of which remain.
The truly magnificent part of this site, however, was the view. I may have mentioned in one of my early posts being surprised by the hills that make up the city of Amman. Well, the Citadel sits on the top of a hill that if it is not the center of the city, certainly once was. You can see, in all directions, the city sprawled out below. The entire city is probably not visible, but if not it's probably close. This is where I took my long-promised pictures of the city, since it's probably one of the few times I'll remember my camera. I even got some pictures with me in it, just to prove to my mother I'm not making all of this up.
Here are some more pictures:
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A Day in the Life
My life here is starting to settle into a routine. That's one of the reasons I haven't written for a few days. I go to class 5 days a week, for various hours of the day, but I'm at the university from 9 am until at least 5 pm, more often 7 or 8. On Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday I only have afternoon classes, but I meet my peer tutor, Arwa, for an hour at 9 because that is what is convenient for her. Between 10 and 2 (when my afternoon classes start), I usually do homework or read something non-academic. Monday and Wednesday look pretty much the same, except I have a class instead of meeting Arwa. At this point, I still don't have much homework, at least compared to Marlboro, and I don't think that's going to change much. Contemporary Arab Women Writers is a literature class, so we'll be reading several books, but they're all pretty short. For the first two weeks, we only have 80 pages to read. My other class, Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World (I seem to be picking contemporary subjects lately, which is funny because I'm a history student), requires only about 400 pages for the entire semester. However, both classes require things like presentations also, so it won't be too easy. Just not as much reading and writing as I'm used to. The Arabic classes don't require much homework either, although that might change. We do get lots of quizs though.
So far, my weekends have consisted mostly of hanging around the apartment, usually with one excursion out a day, to downtown usually. I discovered the souk yesterday, the fresh fruits and vegetables market, which was interesting. That's probably where we'll be getting our produce for now on, since it's cheaper than the grocery store. There were several spice stalls which smelled particularly amazing, although of course everything was labeled in Arabic and I didn't recognize most of it. I haven't done much cooking yet, beyond pasta and rice, because we still haven't found a long lighter to light the oven (it's gas), and my roommate doesn't cook at all, beyond boiling water and heating things up. I'm hoping that I can find someone, maybe my peer tutor, to teach me some Jordanian cooking recipes or techniques.
Arwa, my peer tutor, is extremely nice, as are most of the Jordanians I've talked to, especially the women. She is a senior at the University of Jordan, is the oldest child in her family, and comes 2 hours on the bus to get to school everyday. She is working on becoming a translator, and her English is quite good. She is also fairly religious (Muslim), from the few conversations we've had so far. Of the three times we've met, religion has come up twice, including the first time. CIEE tells us (both Jordanians and Americans) not to get into the sticky subjects, like religion, politics, and sexuality, until we get to know each other a little better. We've already broken that rule/suggestion, but she seems open-minded about my lack of religion, although I think she thinks I just haven't figured it out yet, and I'll choose something when I do. She hasn't tried to convert me at all though, not even by just explaining how wonderful Islam is (something that I actually do agree with, I just don't want to join), which is the usual reaction I've gotten in the past.
I haven't heard back from the UNRWA people yet, but Ahmed at CIEE got me and two other students an interview with the Microfund for Women organization in Amman. I had expressed an interest in it before I found the ad for Gaza Camp, although microfinance isn't really my passion. However, from the interview it sounds like they're trying to branch out into non-finance related fields as well, to generally help their female clients and their families. One program that they mentioned being involved in was a breast cancer awareness effort, spearheaded by a branch of the King Hussein Cancer Center. The other thing that was clear in the interview, however, was that they don't really need a ton of help, although they'll try to find jobs for all 3 of us for at least a couple of hours a week. It would be interesting, but if that's the case I'll probably just volunteer at the Gaza Camp, if they need me of course.
So far, my weekends have consisted mostly of hanging around the apartment, usually with one excursion out a day, to downtown usually. I discovered the souk yesterday, the fresh fruits and vegetables market, which was interesting. That's probably where we'll be getting our produce for now on, since it's cheaper than the grocery store. There were several spice stalls which smelled particularly amazing, although of course everything was labeled in Arabic and I didn't recognize most of it. I haven't done much cooking yet, beyond pasta and rice, because we still haven't found a long lighter to light the oven (it's gas), and my roommate doesn't cook at all, beyond boiling water and heating things up. I'm hoping that I can find someone, maybe my peer tutor, to teach me some Jordanian cooking recipes or techniques.
Arwa, my peer tutor, is extremely nice, as are most of the Jordanians I've talked to, especially the women. She is a senior at the University of Jordan, is the oldest child in her family, and comes 2 hours on the bus to get to school everyday. She is working on becoming a translator, and her English is quite good. She is also fairly religious (Muslim), from the few conversations we've had so far. Of the three times we've met, religion has come up twice, including the first time. CIEE tells us (both Jordanians and Americans) not to get into the sticky subjects, like religion, politics, and sexuality, until we get to know each other a little better. We've already broken that rule/suggestion, but she seems open-minded about my lack of religion, although I think she thinks I just haven't figured it out yet, and I'll choose something when I do. She hasn't tried to convert me at all though, not even by just explaining how wonderful Islam is (something that I actually do agree with, I just don't want to join), which is the usual reaction I've gotten in the past.
I haven't heard back from the UNRWA people yet, but Ahmed at CIEE got me and two other students an interview with the Microfund for Women organization in Amman. I had expressed an interest in it before I found the ad for Gaza Camp, although microfinance isn't really my passion. However, from the interview it sounds like they're trying to branch out into non-finance related fields as well, to generally help their female clients and their families. One program that they mentioned being involved in was a breast cancer awareness effort, spearheaded by a branch of the King Hussein Cancer Center. The other thing that was clear in the interview, however, was that they don't really need a ton of help, although they'll try to find jobs for all 3 of us for at least a couple of hours a week. It would be interesting, but if that's the case I'll probably just volunteer at the Gaza Camp, if they need me of course.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Jordanians
It occurs to me that I haven't really described Jordanians very much. The population on the streets is mostly men, typically dressed in jeans if they're under 30, otherwise in slacks. I've seen very few galabiyyas (the dress-like garment traditionally worn by Middle Eastern men), except for last Friday, and I'm not sure if that was in deference to the holy day, or because it was particularly cold and they were just another layer. In Egypt, there were quite a few men wearing galabiyyas all the time, although usually they were 30 and up. Women on the streets, as far as I've seen, wear at least the hijab, and I've seen quite a few variations of face veils as well, although only once or twice is everything, including the eyes, covered. Women's dress is a little bit harder to judge at the moment, because it's winter and everyone is bundled up in coats. I haven't seen anything that bares more than the hands and face, but again, that could be winter. Some women do wear tight clothes though, particularly very tight jeans. Everyone, women most notably but men too, is very fashionable. That was something that I was expecting from my experience in Egypt. Arabs in general (I think) make a big distinction between inside the house and outside. Appearances are very important. When I was in Egypt, my host sisters and mother had indoor clothes and outdoor clothes. The outdoor clothes were much fancier, of course. I don't know if it's the same here, but there is definitely a lot of thought put into appearance by everyone.
Jordanians also seem a lot quieter than Egyptians. During orientation, Allison cautioned us not to stand out too much, which included talking and laughing loudly in large groups. I didn't think much about it at the time, because as a rule Egyptians are much louder than any group of Americans, although we are certainly loud too, and I assumed it would be the same. Not so. When there are women on the street, they don't really talk, or if they do it's very quietly. Men talk, but also not very loudly, usually. There is plenty of horn honking though.
Jordanians also seem a lot quieter than Egyptians. During orientation, Allison cautioned us not to stand out too much, which included talking and laughing loudly in large groups. I didn't think much about it at the time, because as a rule Egyptians are much louder than any group of Americans, although we are certainly loud too, and I assumed it would be the same. Not so. When there are women on the street, they don't really talk, or if they do it's very quietly. Men talk, but also not very loudly, usually. There is plenty of horn honking though.
UNRWA
One of the reasons I decided to apply to CIEE was the contacts they have with local organizations who would welcome American volunteers. On the website they were quite vague about what organizations those might be, but during orientation we were given a list. The great thing is that we contact the organizations ourselves and set up an arrangement with them, without help from CIEE. So far I've been satisfied with the program, but it is a bit all-encompassing. Almost everything we could possibly want or need is taken care of or we're shown how to do it, which of course makes our lives easier, but I didn't want to study abroad because it would be easy. The difficulty is part of the appeal, at least for me.
So far I've only contacted one organization, a particular UNRWA camp (UNRWA is the UN organization that provides specifically for Palestinian refugees) called Gaza Camp. I think it's located right outside the city, and they're looking for a number of volunteers to fill specific positions. The only opportunities that I am qualified for involve teaching English, either to refugees or other volunteers, but that's fine with me. They don't require TEFL training, just English speakers, although it sounds like the classes are meant to prepare the students to pass TEFL type exams. I got a response to my email which consisted of the list of open positions, but it sounds like they really need people. The large numbers of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, and the possibility that I might be able to work with them in some way, was part of the reason I decided to come to Jordan, so this is very encouraging.
So far I've only contacted one organization, a particular UNRWA camp (UNRWA is the UN organization that provides specifically for Palestinian refugees) called Gaza Camp. I think it's located right outside the city, and they're looking for a number of volunteers to fill specific positions. The only opportunities that I am qualified for involve teaching English, either to refugees or other volunteers, but that's fine with me. They don't require TEFL training, just English speakers, although it sounds like the classes are meant to prepare the students to pass TEFL type exams. I got a response to my email which consisted of the list of open positions, but it sounds like they really need people. The large numbers of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, and the possibility that I might be able to work with them in some way, was part of the reason I decided to come to Jordan, so this is very encouraging.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Downtown Amman
Class was canceled on Thursday (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday; Friday is the holy day in Islam) because apparently it snowed the night before and was supposed to snow again during the day. Lauren went to campus to use the internet and go to the gym she just joined there, and she said there was a dusting of snow on some cars, but sadly, there was nothing in Jabal Amman. It was raining very hard though, for most of the day. Winter here seems to be fairly inconstant. For most of the week, it was in the 50s and 60s and very sunny.
On Friday, Lauren and I decided to do some more exploring around our apartment. We ended up downtown, which is something of a labyrinth of small shops and restaurants. Shops selling the same things are usually grouped together, so it's pretty easy to compare prices, not that I've done much shopping yet. This trip was mostly just to get a feel for the place. We found some Roman ruins, I think of a bathhouse, in the middle of the shops, which was a little jarring. They were fenced off, so we couldn't go in, and they were pretty small, but it was still strange to walk past a meat shop and suddenly see ruins, right in the middle of downtown. I remember seeing that a lot in Greece, but somehow I didn't expect it here, although I know there are some famous Roman ruins in Jordan, as well as such places as Petra. The country itself is so young that I keep forgetting that this area has been inhabited by thousands of years. During orientation, Allison (the program director) pointed out that this land has been part of at least 7-9 larger empires in it's history. It is ancient, although the country and government of Jordan is not.
So far, I haven't interacted with Jordanians as much as I would like. It is still the first week, of course, but it's already clear that it would be quite easy to interact only with Americans or English speaking Jordanians, either in the CIEE program or not. Fortunately, I have been assigned a peer tutor, which I requested, who will be a University of Jordan student who is charged with only speaking to me in Arabic for a certain amount of time each week. I've also decided to join a gym near the college, called Aspire. It's not cheap, and because of it's proximity to the school there will be quite a few CIEE students there too, probably, but when I got a tour of the place, there were plenty of Jordanians as well. It's a women only gym, too. There are coed gyms, but they tend to be even more expensive, and apparently women only gyms are somewhat unique in that they are a place outside of each woman's home where she can unveil, if she wears the hijab (most of the women I've seen on the street and at the university at least wear the hijab, the headscarf.), and interact with other women. The program director recommended the experience as unique. Between those two things, I will hopefully overcome the temptation to interact only with people I easily understand.
On Friday, Lauren and I decided to do some more exploring around our apartment. We ended up downtown, which is something of a labyrinth of small shops and restaurants. Shops selling the same things are usually grouped together, so it's pretty easy to compare prices, not that I've done much shopping yet. This trip was mostly just to get a feel for the place. We found some Roman ruins, I think of a bathhouse, in the middle of the shops, which was a little jarring. They were fenced off, so we couldn't go in, and they were pretty small, but it was still strange to walk past a meat shop and suddenly see ruins, right in the middle of downtown. I remember seeing that a lot in Greece, but somehow I didn't expect it here, although I know there are some famous Roman ruins in Jordan, as well as such places as Petra. The country itself is so young that I keep forgetting that this area has been inhabited by thousands of years. During orientation, Allison (the program director) pointed out that this land has been part of at least 7-9 larger empires in it's history. It is ancient, although the country and government of Jordan is not.
So far, I haven't interacted with Jordanians as much as I would like. It is still the first week, of course, but it's already clear that it would be quite easy to interact only with Americans or English speaking Jordanians, either in the CIEE program or not. Fortunately, I have been assigned a peer tutor, which I requested, who will be a University of Jordan student who is charged with only speaking to me in Arabic for a certain amount of time each week. I've also decided to join a gym near the college, called Aspire. It's not cheap, and because of it's proximity to the school there will be quite a few CIEE students there too, probably, but when I got a tour of the place, there were plenty of Jordanians as well. It's a women only gym, too. There are coed gyms, but they tend to be even more expensive, and apparently women only gyms are somewhat unique in that they are a place outside of each woman's home where she can unveil, if she wears the hijab (most of the women I've seen on the street and at the university at least wear the hijab, the headscarf.), and interact with other women. The program director recommended the experience as unique. Between those two things, I will hopefully overcome the temptation to interact only with people I easily understand.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Classes begin
Arabic class began yesterday. I don't know yet what my area studies classes are going to be, but they will start next week. I have fusha (modern standard Arabic-the written language) 3 times a week for almost 3 hours a day and ameya (Jordanian colloquial-almost a completely different language) only once a week, for an hour and a half. Personally, I would prefer having more ameya instruction, since fusha won't help me to understand Jordanians much. Most Arabic speakers do understand fusha, because it's taught to them in school and it's what political speeches and most written texts use. However, while they will understand what I am saying (probably), they will most likely reply to me in ameya, so I won't know what they're saying. I have also forgotten almost all of the fusha I learned in Egypt and only remember Egyptian colloquial because that is all that I used. Each country has it's own dialect of Arabic, some of which are mutually incomprehensible, but fortunately for me, Jordanian and Egyptian are pretty close. The little speaking I've done has been in Egyptian, and so far I've been understood and have mostly understood the responses. However, it's been 4 years since I studied Arabic and I remember very little. The placement exam we took during orientation was quite humbling. I didn't realize that the entire test, both oral and written, was going to be in modern standard, and as I mentioned above, I don't remember any modern standard at all. Despite that, I am in beginning 2, which fortunately means I don't have to learn the alphabet for the third time. Our professor, Amjad, speaks to us mostly in Arabic before switching to English if we don't understand, which is a technique that I appreciate. So far everything we've gone over I knew at once point, but since I've forgotten all of it, it's a useful review.
The University campus itself is much greener than I was expecting, and bigger. It's clear that they work pretty hard to make the campus beautiful. I think there are 40,000 students, mostly from Jordan or other Arab countries although I met a French girl yesterday who asked me for directions. The buildings themselves tend to be rougher on the inside, but they're all quite impressive from the outside. Everything is white limestone, which I found out is what almost every building in the city is made of or at least covered with. I haven't taken many pictures of the city yet, I promise to work on that, but here is one from near my apartment:
The University campus itself is much greener than I was expecting, and bigger. It's clear that they work pretty hard to make the campus beautiful. I think there are 40,000 students, mostly from Jordan or other Arab countries although I met a French girl yesterday who asked me for directions. The buildings themselves tend to be rougher on the inside, but they're all quite impressive from the outside. Everything is white limestone, which I found out is what almost every building in the city is made of or at least covered with. I haven't taken many pictures of the city yet, I promise to work on that, but here is one from near my apartment:
Friday, January 29, 2010
Jabal Amman
Orientation is over. A lot of the kids complained bitterly about how controlling the program leaders were and how long the lectures were, but I actually thought it was one of the better orientations for study abroad that I've participated in, and I've experienced two others. There was some repetition of a couple of the major safety points, but considering that we're all college students and not generally known for our respect for safety rules, I thought that was probably wise. But now it's over, and we've all scattered to different parts of the city, either in apartments or homestays. It's definitely a relief not to have to move in a group of 100 people. I am in an apartment in Jabal Amman (Mount Amman), which apparently is one of the coveted neighborhoods to be in for it's proximity to downtown, although it's farther away from the University. I only have 1 roommate and we each have our own rooms. Before we got to the apartments yesterday Stewart, a CIEE employee, commented off-handedly that some students have said that the apartments are better than dorm rooms. Well, there is absolutely no comparison, at least with Marlboro dorms. It's an apartment meant for a family unit, so Lauren (my roommate) and I each have our own rooms, there is a living room with a TV and cable and matching coach and easy chairs and a dining room as well as a kitchen and full bath. It's entirely furnished, including cooking stuff, and we have two balconies, one of which is in my room and faces the street. All in all, it's a very nice apartment.
There are 6 other girls living in the same building and last night several of us decided to do some exploring and look for food and internet. Internet is definitely a priority for just about every American student I've talked to on this trip. I actually try to avoid the internet when I'm on break, which according to some makes me a luddite. We found a restaurant easily enough, but apparently we were very early for dinner because only as we were leaving (around 8) were other people starting to arrive. However, this meant that we got very personal attention from the waitstaff and the manager. Of the 6 of us, 4 of us spoke some Arabic, but only 2 spoke enough to be of any use (I don't remember much that's useful except phrases like mish fahime, meaning I don't understand) but so far almost everyone we encountered spoke at least a little bit of English or at least understood us. The manager of the restaurant was no exception, and he seemed to enjoy our limited conversation, or maybe it was just our presence, so much that he gave us a round of Turkish or Arabic coffee at the end of the meal on the house, as well as his card and an invitation to come back.
All of this happened after dark, a fact that made me a bit nervous at first, since 6 American women stand out quite easily. I was expecting cat calls, offers of various kinds, and possibly even men following us. I was very surprised when no one approached us at all. In Egypt, at the very least I constantly heard "Welcome to Egypt" and "How are you," which may seem quite innocent and for the most part was. However, it is still a consistent part of the experience of any Western woman walking down the street in Egypt. Apparently, in Jordan this is less common, although certainly there were plenty of stories in orientation of women being followed, flashed, and having men want to marry them. But it seems that the casual harassment on the street that I was used to, and expecting, is less common, at least in the parts of Amman that I've been to so far. Even the stares aren't as intense, although so far I haven't been to any parts of Amman that are completely devoid of Westerners.
There are 6 other girls living in the same building and last night several of us decided to do some exploring and look for food and internet. Internet is definitely a priority for just about every American student I've talked to on this trip. I actually try to avoid the internet when I'm on break, which according to some makes me a luddite. We found a restaurant easily enough, but apparently we were very early for dinner because only as we were leaving (around 8) were other people starting to arrive. However, this meant that we got very personal attention from the waitstaff and the manager. Of the 6 of us, 4 of us spoke some Arabic, but only 2 spoke enough to be of any use (I don't remember much that's useful except phrases like mish fahime, meaning I don't understand) but so far almost everyone we encountered spoke at least a little bit of English or at least understood us. The manager of the restaurant was no exception, and he seemed to enjoy our limited conversation, or maybe it was just our presence, so much that he gave us a round of Turkish or Arabic coffee at the end of the meal on the house, as well as his card and an invitation to come back.
All of this happened after dark, a fact that made me a bit nervous at first, since 6 American women stand out quite easily. I was expecting cat calls, offers of various kinds, and possibly even men following us. I was very surprised when no one approached us at all. In Egypt, at the very least I constantly heard "Welcome to Egypt" and "How are you," which may seem quite innocent and for the most part was. However, it is still a consistent part of the experience of any Western woman walking down the street in Egypt. Apparently, in Jordan this is less common, although certainly there were plenty of stories in orientation of women being followed, flashed, and having men want to marry them. But it seems that the casual harassment on the street that I was used to, and expecting, is less common, at least in the parts of Amman that I've been to so far. Even the stares aren't as intense, although so far I haven't been to any parts of Amman that are completely devoid of Westerners.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Dead Sea
The Dead Sea was not at all what I expected, although to be honest I hadn't thought much about it before hand. On maps, it's very difficult for me to judge the size of anything in the Middle East because my scale of reference is Alaska, which is close to twenty times the size of Jordan. Consequently, I was expecting the Dead Sea to be similar to a medium size lake. It's not massive, and it is possible to see across to the other side, which is the West Bank. (Apparently on a clear day you can see Jerusalem.) However, you can't see the entire lake at once, and since we stayed at one end of it, I'm not really sure how long it is. The aspect of the landscape surrounding the Dead Sea that surprised me was the mountains. Mountains, by my definition, have to be devoid of trees at some point (so the Green Mountains don't count for me, a debate I have had many times in Vermont. They're very pretty hills.), and while these mountains probably don't qualify for the title in terms of altitude, they were almost entire without vegetation, so to me they looked like mountains. The colors of the rocks was incredible, ranging from almost green to vibrant red. I tried to get pictures that conveyed the differences, but only in a couple of them are the colors really visible.
Most of the last two days have been devoted to traditional orientation, the main point of which is to emphasize to us that we don't know the rules of behavior in this society and we should listen to those who do. We did take a break though, to swim in the Dead Sea, one of the strangest experiences I've ever had. The water feels almost slimy and it was quite disorienting for me, since I am used to swimming, because normal swimming is almost impossible. Getting any part of your body below the water line requires real effort, so it's easiest to just lie down. There was a Jordanian man on the beach with a bucket of black mud who, for 2 dinars (about $2.50) would cover you in "healing" mud from the Dead Sea, although there wasn't any on the beach we were on.
Here are some pictures of the Dead Sea and the surrounding mountains.
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