The End

So here’s the end. I’ve been here for three and a half months now and honestly, it doesn’t even feel like a week. People always say time flies when you’re having fun but even when I wasn’t having fun, time just flew. I barely got a chance to blink. I mean, I’m looking forward to coming home but I’m not overly pumped. I’m going to be happy to see my family, drink out of the tap, eat bacon, etc. but I don’t know, I can always go back to those things.
I’m going to miss so much here. I’m going to miss the cheap, good food – the shwarma and falafel and maansaf. I’m going to miss the ridiculous T.V. shows, the beautiful Arabic calligraphy on every sign; I’m going to miss the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made and playing backgammon with some of the guys while smoking cherry argeelah in a cafe. I’m going to miss the fresh juice, Turkish coffee, sharing a cigarette with a random taxi driver, my amazing and generous host family; but most of all, I’m going to miss the feeling of Jordan, the feeling of being here in the Middle East. We’re surrounded by warring nations but nothing can harm us, nothing is going to hurt me here, I’m safe. It’s a calm, almost serene feeling that I will never be able to fully explain. I don’t want to sound like I had this huge epiphany here, I didn’t, but what I can’t explain is the people, who they are, where they’re from, why they act the way they do. I don’t get it. Why are they so generous? Why would they be so kind to me? Americans are not kind to them so what are they trying to pull? I used to think this way, before now, but now, it’s easy to explain. It’s simple to understand. These are good and kind people, not all of course, in every culture you have good and bad, but here, the good is beyond anything one would see in the states.
I'm going to miss Jordan very, very much and I'm definitely going to miss my wonderful host family. This is really hard for me, Jordan is another one of my "homes" now and it's always hard to leave home, even if there is another one waiting for you. I can't wait to come back to Jordan again, I know that it will be waiting for me in a few years with open arms. See you later Jordan, and Palestine, here I come.

Tattoos

An interesting aspect of Jordanian society, especially Bedouin society, are the tattoos. Half the men here, at least out of the ones I've met, have a black tattoo on their hands or forearms. Most of them get them in Amman but some have gone to a Bedouin tattoo artist who does it with a hot needle and some ink. Either they are an Arabic letter or word or usually some sort of indistinguishable symbol. Every time I ask what they mean, they just smile and say its personal. It's very interesting because in Islam, tattoos are a no go, like most major faiths (don't destroy the body God gave you, etc., etc.). It's just another hypocrisy in this society that jumps out of you. I think, similar to Kenya, the tribal aspect of society, many of the times, overrules the religious aspects. In Kenya, it was with premarital sex/multiple "significant" others and here, there's a contradiction in regards to tattoos, war, respect of women (from my point-of-view), etc. We don't deal with a lot of tribalism in the states so when you encounter it here (which is all the time, your last name defines what tribe you belong to), it catches you off guard and it teaches you a lot more about the society which you will never read in a book or discover from a tour bus. I love it.

Patriarchal-ness of Jordan

I'm sure you all would've guessed by now but something that is very obvious is the Patriarchal type of society going on here in the Middle East. There are different levels of this in the Middle East, Jordan is far more liberal than the Taliban's Shari'a Law for example. In the Holy Qur'an, women are equal to men and everyone here says this as well but if you just look at the society, you will notice that the equality is not always there. For example, whenever my host family goes to visit friends or family for mansaaf, the men sit around one dish and eat first while the women serve us drinks, napkins, pickled goods, etc. Afterward, the women sit in a separate room and eat from the same plate as the men have. It's kind of like the women get the leftovers, I've never been very comfortable with this and this only happens when there is a good amount of people (other than that, the men and women always eat together). When I asked if this is done out of respect for the men or women, the men kind of laughed and said of course it's done out of respect for the men. You can see this in the mosques as well, the women are always either behind the men or in a separate room designated for women. They do this both out of respect for the men and so that the men don't get distracted when they are praying.

Even though everything Muslims believe teaches equality and everything they preach is based around gender equality, it is not apparent in everyday society. I found this kind of hypocrisy very interesting. What is also very interesting is despite the fact that many men here cat call, honk at women, creepily flirt with them, etc. (my host dad included), they all say they respect them as equal human beings. Hypocrisy is just a blast, isn't it? This treatment of women is probably one of the more interesting parts of Jordanian/Middle Eastern society, by no means am I saying all men do this but from what I've seen, the definite majority of men here say one thing, but their actions say another; at least from an American stand point. Here, in Jordan, its just another part of daily life.

Race in the Arab World

First off, just want to say that I finished my ISP, I mean I still have to tweak it, etc. But I'm pretty sure it's all khalas (finished).

Now, something that I've found very interesting here is the idea of race here. I never realized this, but Arabs view themselves as Caucasian. If you look at any form in the US where you mark your race, there isn't a separate box for Arab and I can assure you they should not be considered Asian. It just throws me off a little bit that they consider themselves Caucasian, there is even cream available for women that if applied daily, will make their skin more pale. Everyone in the states is trying to get tan, everyone here's trying to get a little whiter, good stuff. Many Jordanian views of African-Americans are pretty ridiculous too. Many believe that crime in the states is due solely to African-Americans, which makes the fact that our President is African-American just hilarious to some of them. A friend of mine was in a cab where the taxi driver literally laughed the entire trip about our African-American President and how that seemed like a bad idea. The funniest part about this for me is that they love Obama, they think he can do a lot of good for this part of the world, it's just his racial background that confuses many Jordanians. I have a lot more ridiculous stories about taxi drivers, I don't think I could fit them all onto this blog so when I get back to the states, I'll make sure to tell some of you folks about them.

Rest in Peace

Before I say anything, I just want to mention my friend from Drake, Ben Backstrom. He was the victim of a violent crime and died last night in the hospital. He was a fantastic guy and he and I would always share conversations over Rolling Rocks in the bar. I was like him in Middle School, kind of dorky, picked on a lot and I knew he had a rough time at Drake at times. I could have been there for him more and I needed to be and for that Benny, I am sorry. Rest in peace Benny boy, all of us at Drake will miss you very much, you were a phenomenal guy and had so much to offer everyone around you.

Now, I'd like to talk a little bit about the TV series here which honestly, are just hilarious. There is one channel that my family always switches on when we have friends or family over called Zweina Balidna which translates to "Our Nation's Pride." Basically, all it is is a bunch of video clips of the Jordanian military and King Abdullah II with Arabic music in the background. I actually saw my host dad, Amaar, on the channel one time marching with the military, great stuff. WWE Raw (wrestling) is also very popular here, not so much with my family but if there is ever a good match on, cafes will switch it on and people get really into it. The majority of people here get confused when you tell them it's fake so I've stopped bursting their bubble; they are very passionate about their wrestlers. Also, Egypt is kind of the Hollywood of the Middle East and the majority of their movies are just ridiculous. Usually, people get drunk off of one drink, sex is usually this dirty, secretive act, and there's some form of hashish (pot, green, grass, Mary Jane, Marijuana) in every movie, very funny stuff.

My ISP is coming along well, I have about 22 pages written consisting of the Introduction, the Methodology, and the Findings which are the chunkier parts of the ISP so now I just have to do my Literature Review, Conclusion, Bibliography, Appendices, etc. No worries, it's all coming along smoothly.

An Average Day

Things are going so far so good here. I've gotten a few interviews and I'm doing 5 more today and at least 2 tomorrow. I've heard some very interesting points of views ranging from a more "moderate" view to a clearly hard-line view. With the first interview I had, the interviewee had some very interesting quotes that I wrote down such as: "the concept of being a civilian in Israel does not exist" (speaking about how it's a "military state"), "the only way you could have a good and healthy relationship with an Israeli is if you were a subdued servant or if Israel was moved to the far western Sahara desert," and finally, "and those stupid assholes chose Palestine" (speaking about the choice of Palestine as the location for the creation of an Israeli state). I thought that last quote was pretty intense, he sad it in kind of a giggly anger which kind of freaked me out. I really enjoy doing these interviews. The only problem is that sometimes the students who are living with the host parents I interview are in the same room and even though I'm being chill and unbiased, sometimes they pitch in and start antagonizing my interviewee, no good. I think I'm going to request them to leave from now on since it's such a touchy and uncomfortable subject at times.

Now, here's a day in the life of me in Jordan (not during the ISP period). Every morning, I'd wake up around 8:00 and skip breakfast. I'd take a 5-7 minute walk with my computer bag to a roundabout close to my house and then wait 10-20 minutes for a taxi (taxis are pretty rare around my place). After arriving at SIT, either we'd have Arabic in the morning or in the afternoon depending on the day, 3 hours of Arabic every day (hour and a half of Ameia and an hour and a half of FusHa). The days with Arabic in the morning, we'd have Thematic Seminar in the afternoon where a speaker would come in and talk to us about the religion, society, culture, etc. of Jordan. On days when Arabic is in the afternoon, we'd have our Field Study Seminar in the morning where we learned about how to do our ISP: interviews, surveys, ethical research, etc. Every day for lunch, we'd either go to the super market close by SIT, to the roundabout a few blocks away, or to Reem (supposedly the top shwarma stand in the Middle East). SIT is right next to the British and Venezuelan Embassies and we're located in Abdoun (that's the name of the part of Amman). After school, some friends and I would usually shoot over to a cafe for homework and argeelah, then I'd head home and spend the rest of my night with my family. That's pretty much an average day during the school week here in Jordan. Also, the work week here starts on Sunday and ends on Thursday which causes some confusion but you get used to it after a while. Um, the end. Ma salaama.

Independent Study Project (ISP)

So school is over. No more classes whatsoever and now we're all starting with our ISP period. We have about a month to do literature review, interviews and surveys, and to type up a 35-40 page ISP paper based on our research. The topic I have chosen to focus on is the Jordanian view of the Israeli people, government, and the Israeli entity as a whole. I am planning on conducting the bulk of my research through 15-25 interviews of average, working (or studying) Jordanians over the age of 18. I am not going to interview scholars or academics on the politics of Jordan and Israel because I am looking for the opinions of the average Jordanian. I'm finding my interviewees through my family, family friends, and host families/friends of host families of other students in the program. I am also planning on interviewing a nice mix of both Jordanians of Jordanian decent, and those of Palestinian decent (supposedly 45% of Jordanians are of Palestinian decent but some say it's up to 70%). I am not planning on doing a lot of literature review since nobody has published articles on the solely Jordanian view of Israel but I am planning on talking about the history of their relationship in this section. These are the questions I will be asking for my interviews:

1. What are your views of the Israeli government?
2. Could you please elaborate on these issues? Why do you feel this way?
3. What are your views of the Israeli people?
4. Could you please elaborate on these issues? Why do you feel this way?
5. Do you see a separation between the Israeli people and their government? Why or why not?
6. How do you feel about the Israeli government’s actions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip?
7. If there is one thing you could say to the Israeli government leaders, what would it be?
8. If there is one thing you could say to the American government leaders, what would it be?
9.Have you ever met a Jew?
10. What was their occupation?
11. How has this encounter affected your view of the Jewish population?
12. Have you ever met an Israeli?
13. What was their occupation?
14. How has this encounter affected your view of the Israeli population?
15. Do you differentiate between Jewish and Israeli?
16. Do you have any other comments on anything we have discussed?
17. If this was read by influential political leaders, what would you want to say to them?

I've already spoken to a few Jordanians just in regular conversations about this issue and I've faced a couple different views. Some can differentiate between the Israeli people and their government and sometimes even support some Israeli's initiatives to help the Palestinian population. But most I've spoken to show a severe disdain (to put it gently) for the Israeli entity as a whole and actually believe that the Israeli people WANT war, and not peace. This interests me very much and both the director of SIT and my adviser have warned me against what I may hear. I'm not too worried, living in America, you get used to ignorance, misunderstanding, and unwarranted hatred towards things people don't understand. Something I believe fervently is this: people only hate what they don't understand. I think this project is going to partially prove my point but hopefully I can use this project later to help people understand one another a little better. Then again, this is me thinking optimistically which I don't do very often so bear with me. So what do you think of the topic? I'm pumped to start my interviews tomorrow.

South Jordan and Cultural Insensitivity

Alright, I'm sorry it took me so long to post but I've been pretty busy getting everything together. South Jordan was unbelievable. We started of our trip by visiting Kerak, some ruins on the way to the south. We then went to Petra where we learned about the old city and the Nebateaens who ran the trade metropolis of the Middle East. Petra (the old city) connected Europe to Asia to Africa and actually covered a huge chunk of the Middle East. It is truly impossible to visit all of Petra in one day, it would probably take around 3 days to not only see all of the old city but to truly appreciate it. First, you walk through the Siq which is a gorgeous canyon of sandstone and other minerals, after about half an hour or so of walking, you emerge to see the Treasury building. The reason the Treasury building is so remarkable is because it's in such good condition and is the first building you see after the Siq. Some friends and I then walked a couple kilometers and climbed close to 1500 steps to reach the Monastery. The Monastery is another of the better intact buildings at Petra and is actually two times or so the size of the Treasury. Both however are truly breath-taking and the landscape and scenery where Petra was built is one of the more beautiful things I've seen. After Petra, we headed to Wadi Rum. We slept in tents, sang by the campfire, went driving over dunes in jeeps, climbed these massive rock formations, rode camels, and watched the sunset over the Wadi. Wadi Rum means "Rum Valley" (not the alcohol, it's just a name) but the locals call it Wadi Qamr, "Valley of the Moon," because at night, the Wadi is illuminated by the stars and the moon. A few of us also climbed one of the rock formations early in the morning and watched the sunrise while doing yoga over Wadi Rum. First time doing yoga, pretty fun, not gonna lie. After Wadi Rum, we headed to Aqaba where we first snorkeled in the Red Sea. We all had free time after that where we went to a great seafood restaurant called "Ali Baba." After Aqaba, we headed to Dana Nature Reserve where we again slept in tents and hung out by the campfire. We also climbed one on the mountains next to our site and watched the sunset over the reserve, I think that could truly be categorized as an awesome experience. We were going to do another hike the next morning but Dr. Raed (the SIT director) got very sick, hospital, the works, and so we all decided to head home early to let him relax.

South Jordan was an amazing time and truly gorgeous. The one thing that bothered me however were the tourists; the mass amounts of tour groups, tour guides, and culturally-insensitive people trudging around Petra and Aqaba. I know I'm technically a tourist as well, but I see myself more as a student who is learning about the tourist scene in Jordan. The Middle East is a fantastic region of the world and I'd recommend anybody to go, but what people need to learn, what foreigners need to learn, is that this is a different culture. Locals don't wear shorts or tank-tops, this is wrong according to their culture and to their faith so it annoys me when I see this. I actually saw a girl wearing a tank-top, really short jean-shorts, and then she had the nerve to put a hijab on. I guess I just don't understand how certain people think. I always encourage travel and new experiences, but don't do it if you're just going to be ignorant of the culture you're in. Tour groups don't allow you to experience a culture, they allow you to stare at a culture from behind a glass wall. This to me is not travel. I'm sorry about that little rant but I felt like I had to get that out. Anyway, I have some pictures for you guys; there were too much for the blog so I did another Flickr page. Hope you enjoy them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48644224@N08/sets/72157623699184727/

Alright, that's all for now but I'll be posting again soon since school is almost over for us and the ISP period starts next week. Ma salaama.

Wadi Mujib and South Jordan

Today, a good amount of the SIT kids went to Wadi Mujib which is the lowest natural reserve in the world, right next to the Dead Sea. It was beautiful. We did a river walk through this canyon which a lot of the stone looked like polished wood, truly insane. We trekked through and did a little climbing until we reached the waterfall at the end (we didn't have a guide so we couldn't get up the waterfall but we had fun just hanging out). I discovered that if you go to the back of the waterfall and jump into one of the streams, it pushes you under water and forces you out the other side, very fun. Some of the kids were skeptical at first but I convinced some of them to join in purposely losing your footing to jump into a raging waterfall, I'd recommend it to anyone.
Tomorrow, the SIT students are heading out way to early (again) to south Jordan. We will spend 4 days exploring Aqaba, Wadi Rum, and Petra. A couple of the guys and I are planning on renting jet skis in Aqaba to ride on the Red Sea, we'll go swimming, eat fresh sea food, etc. Also, we'll be spending a night in tents in Wadi Rum where we'll play music around the camp fire and I think roast marshmallows In Sha'Allah (God Willing, hopefully). We're also going to try to get to Petra early in the morning so that there will be less tourists there and also so that we see the Treasury building right when the sunrise hits it, I can't wait. After south Jordan, we have a couple more days of classes where we'll all be presenting our projects; then our Independent Study Project period begins. I'll tell you more about what I'm doing later. I won't have a computer in south Jordan so I'll make sure to post a good one for you when I get back, pictures, stories, all that stuff. Ma salaama.

Haram

This is going to be a little more serious post but I think you may find it interesting. First off, after we got back from Egypt, every students' blood was drawn and tested for both Hepatitis C and AIDS. Good news is that all of us are clean but the news that bothered me the most is that if any of us tested positive, we would be removed from the country immediately. This bothers me on so many levels. This means that if you are HIV positive, you could never live in Jordan, or even visit for more than a month. I'm sorry, but restricting people like this is inhumane, at least that's what I believe. I spent this past summer in Kenya (www.lukasinkenya.blogspot.com) and the thought of some of the children I met being restricted as to where they could go and what they could experience simply because of a disease they have hurts me. I understand it from a governmental standpoint, preserving the nation and protecting the people, etc. But when it comes to basic humanity, this is wrong.

I'd also like to talk about a word you hear a lot here: haram. Haram directly translates to "forbidden" but it really means "forbidden according to Islam." Here are a few things I've learned about that are haram: eating pork, playing any music whatsoever during the Call of the Prayer, owning a dog, any physical intimacy before marriage, sodomy, and then you have your basics of course like murder, adultery, etc. Now with murder and adultery, I get why those would be haram, those are morally wrong no matter what, you don't need religion to tell you not to kill each other. But when I ask my family or different Muslims why they don't eat pork, or why they can't own a dog, or why women should wear a hijab, I have never once got an answer other than "because it is said in the Holy Qu'ran." I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks like this, but I think there should be a reason for a woman to have to cover herself in public, or why sodomy or homosexuality in general is not OK. I've noticed that Christianity and Islam alike don't give reasons for any of this but people still obey them without question. However, it's far more noticeable here in an Islamic nation though since there is no such thing as Separation of Church and State (and that 95% of the country are Muslim). I don't mind if people follow an organized religion but take time to think about it, understand why you're doing something or not doing something, don't just do it because a book says so. Religion was created by humans, not by a higher power or greater being, so if you do follow one of the mass faiths, try to understand it more instead of blindly following what someone else is telling you to do.

Sorry if I offended anyone in this post. Islam and Christianity both are beautiful faiths, if interpreted and understood well. Ma salaama.

Tis3a Nisa2

So here it is, the quality isn't great since it's on the internet but I think you'll still appreciate it. I created the song entirely on Garageband and I edited the movie on iMovie on Nick's Mac. Nick wrote and rapped the majority of the song except for two verses and the chorus which I wrote and recorded. I'm really proud of this bad boy, I put a lot of work into it so it's kind of my baby. I hope you can read the subtitles, if not, just know it's about nine women who want to marry me and I can't decide which one; then after rapping about all of them, we choose the ninth. Hope you enjoy.

Copyright Infringement

One of the more prevalent/funnier parts of the Middle East is the mass amounts of pirating and copyright infringement that you encounter. You'll be walking through the super market and you see a blurry picture of 1976 Mickey Mouse on a yogurt carton and you know that the Arabic company that made it did not pay for that 1976 Mickey Mouse picture. It's really funny to see all these old cartoons that I used to watch as a kid, I've seen Mickey Mouse, Tom & Jerry, I think Thundercats one time which just threw me off. I also saw a commercial where you could win a new Chevy Camaro and the entire commercial was pirated from Transformers.
I also bought 6 pirated DVDs a few weeks ago for 5 JD (about 7 bucks). I got Boondock Saints 2, 2012, Ninja Assassin, Dark Knight, Wolfman, and Legion. It's usually a hit or miss with pirated DVDs but my friends said they found a legit place which I think I'll be heading to soon. I faced a few problems with my DVDs since I bought them off the street. Ninja Assassin was blank, Wolfman was in Spanish, 2012 was muted for the last 20 minutes, and Legion was slightly diagonal the entire time but if you lay down while watching it, it's perfect. Dark Knight and Boondock Saints 2 are the best except every once in a while, you see a person stand up in front of the screen and walk out of the theater; it's not bad though, it's like I'm at the movies.

Mansaaf and Bacon

So today, I'd like to talk a little bit about mansaaf. Mansaaf is the signature dish of Jordan and is made up of rice, peanuts, either chicken or meat (other than pork) and this yogurty, milky, stuff. I say meat because in Arabic, they don't have a word for lamb or goat or beef, they just have the word "meat." The yogurty stuff is made from goat's milk usually and it's very rich. Mansaaf is usually eaten from a giant platter in the middle of a group of people and you eat with your hands. You take a glob of meat and rice, roll it around in your hands until it's a ball, and then pop it in your mouth. It's very delicious, I usually go with just a small amount of the milk but a lot of people here drink it straight out of the bowl, crazy.
Now, after talking about what I do get a lot here, I'd like to talk about what I don't: bacon. I can live without porkchops, and I can handle a few months without ribs, but bacon is something I've been craving for a while now. Pork is forbidden to eat in Islam since they consider it a "dirty" creature. They even have to be careful about marshmallows since those are sometimes made from pig's feet, sorry if I ruined anyone's marshmallow appetite there. Bacon is one of the things I'm going to get without delay when I'm back in the states, I know this isn't too interesting, but I
felt like venting.
This week is pretty packed, I have a few papers, an Arabic final, and the Arabic project is due next week. Good news however is that I'm done with the rap. I created it entirely on Garageband on my friends computer. The song is called Tis3a Nisa2 (Nine Ladies) and it's about how I have nine women who want to marry me but I'm having trouble figuring out which one to choose. I rap two verses and sing the chorus and my friend raps the rest (he doesn't have that great of rhythm but I think it turned out). I also edited all the music and am in the process of making the video right now. I think this is just gonna' be a ballin' project. I'll try to post the final video once it's all finished. All for now, ma salaama.

Back Home from Egypt

Alright, I made it back and I'm alive, so that's all good news on this end. Egypt was amazing, I saw the Pyramids and the Sphinx which were unbelievable, I mean you read about this your entire life but seeing them in person (which are a lot bigger than I imagined) is truly breath-taking. We also visited the Arab League, Alexandria, and many different mosques and sites throughout Cairo. Egypt was beautiful and even though we were busy everyday, we spent every night either at a bar, or disco, or just hung out until early in the morning in the hotel. If there's one thing I learned in Egypt, it's that Cairo never sleeps which is just a blast.

Now the real part, I'll compare Cairo with Amman, the city itself, the people and the overall culture. I'm going to say bluntly that Cairo is so much worse than Amman in nearly every way. This mind you is a bias based off of a phenomenal month and a half in Jordan so far and just a week in Egypt which although was beautiful and an amazing experience with the SIT kids, was brought down by the interaction with the people in many ways. Since Egypt is so touristy, especially Cairo, most Egyptians take this opportunity to heckle, harass, and attempt to rip you off in many ways. Taxi drivers try to charge you twice what you should pay, shop owners make up pathetic stories so that you buy more, and certain men there (not all of them, but many) sexually harass and verbally abuse men, women, children beyond anything you could imagine. Two girls in our program were harassed/abused while we were there; one was chased up the stairs until she made it to our room while the other was actually fingered, and then chased down an alley way with a man's penis out. This is not OK. This is the kind of thing that turns you off about Egypt. Everything in Egypt is cheap, the party scene is awesome, and the scenery is amazing but it's certain people that completely turn you off from all of Egypt. It's sad really because I don't want to view Egypt like this but after living in Jordan for this long and experiencing the culture and it's people, seeing Egypt is kind of a shock. I would compare Jordan and Egypt to the United States and the really sketch part of Mexico. Except I could understand a lot of what Egyptians were saying and I can't speak Spanish. Egypt is far more polluted and the people are a lot harsher there than in Jordan; I mean yes, I am biased but I would also completely recommend Egypt to anybody. It's a beautiful country it's just, this email is a warning and an observation of the short time I experienced in Egypt but that shouldn't change your view of the country or scare you away. I hope this email didn't throw you guys off too much, I still had an unbelievable time in Egypt and I definitely hope to go back someday, but I am also very happy to be back in Jordan with my family and the city I'm used to. You may have also noticed there are no pictures in this blog, that is because I have so many I want to show you so I created a Flickr page to help me out; follow this link to view my favorite pictures from Egypt:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48644224@N08/sets/72157623534172141/

All for now guys, let me know about what you think of my post or if you like my pics. Ma salaama.

Egypt Awaits, And Then Some

Hey, here's just a quick update for you guys as to what's going on. Tomorrow, way too early in the morning, we're heading out to Egypt for a week. We're going to be taking classes while there but we'll also be doing the touristy stuff like seeing the Pyramids, Sphinx, etc. Also, while there, Nick and Marty and I are going to do some filming. We have a final project in Arabic which is due in a few weeks so Nick and I our writing a Rap-Pop song (all in Arabic) and making a music video for it. Marty is our lead cinematographer so since our budget for this film is non-exsistent, we'll just be using my digital camera, quality's pretty good though so I'm not too worried.

I'd also like to talk a little bit about relationships and sex here in Jordan if you'd like to bear with me. First off, the seperation between guys and girls is very strict, not so much in the city as much as the Badia, but the line is still there. From what I've seen, this is why men are given such a bad rap here. They cat call, and flirt creepily with strangers because they don't know what else to do, they're always around other guys and the only girls they see are usually in hijabs. If they don't do this, they just end up staring from across the room at a girl for a couple hours. A girl in the program actually rode in a cab where the driver kept staring at her in the rear-view mirror, she was confused by this but later realized he was masturbating. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about, that is truly pathetic and sad to hear about because that says nothing good about certain men here in Jordan. I think this lack of interaction ties into the emotions seen sometimes around here. Men of a certain age who aren't married yet are angered easily; I've seen it in cabs, on the street, etc. This sounds shallow but I think there is a close tie to these uncontrolled emotions and sexual frustration. Most Muslims here don't even kiss before they're engaged and if one has sex before marriage, they're breaking a law which a lot of the time ends in an Honor Killing (usually both the man and the woman but sometimes just the woman). This causes you to fear one of the most basic and animalistic emotions and urges we have. Sex is a necessary and healthy part of life and people here are forced to suppress this powerful urge during the time of their life when it's the strongest. Along with this, dating is non-exsistent; if you do go on a "date" it's along with a few of your friends and a few of her's. Marriage happens quickly here a lot of the time, just a quick meeting or two, then you agree to get married. In Jordan and most Muslim countries, you don't marry the one you love, you learn to love the one you marry. I understand and respect the customs when it comes to relationships here, but I believe people here don't understand how much basic interaction with the opposite sex could make life easier and better. I deeply feel that the physical part of a relationship is as important as the emotional, and here in Jordan, no physicality exsists until after marriage. A lot of men here come of as perverts or as desperate and deprived but who can blame them? I understand what's happening to them, it's happening to the guys in SIT too. If we see a girl without a hijab, we can't help but stare. I'm done for now, this is something that I've been thinking a lot about while here, I'm sorry if this post made you uncomfortable at all but this is an important and prevalent part of Jordanian culture that I feel people should know about.

Jerash

Yesterday, some of the SIT kids took a trip to Jerash, one of the oldest Roman-era cities in the region. Jerash is about 2000 something years old and used to had a population of 30,000 during the Roman era, a good-sized city then and now. We started our day off with checking out all the ruins, the Roman ruins are just sprinkled inside the city itself. There is the main chunk of ruins with a massive theatre, what used to be the city center, and the hippodrome. The hippodrome is where they used to have chariot races, gladiator fights and all that jazz. We saw re-enactments of all of this which was just hilarious, I loved it. Afterwards, we went to the theatre where we heard a bagpiper and drummer play Amazing Grace
(I'm not exactly sure why, but Jordan is the only other country I've seen that has adopted the bagpipe as one of it's main instruments). We were given a little freetime to just roam around the ruins which was great, we got to climb on them and explore around, they don't really keep them as intact as they probably want but it was cool to experience that. After running around Jerash for most of the time, we went to an elk reservation thing, they kept saying gazelles but once we got there, we realized they were just deer, kind of anti-climatic but still a good time. Afterwards, we went to an area close to Jerash where we saw the sunset. Very beautiful. We were kind of rushed the whole time we were in Jerash but it was still a gorgeous city and I had an amazing time. I also bought a painting while I was their for 20 Dinar, about 30 US dollars. It was done by a local artist and sold by his friend in a market we went too, I didn't bargain with him too hard because he was a legit guy but I still knocked the price down 5 Dinar. I usually spend around $100 or less on art pieces whenever I travel so I'm still going to keep my eyes open for another piece since I still have around $70 more in the art fund.
This Friday, we're going to Egypt. I'm sure I'll post before then but I just wanted to let you all know how sweet that's going to be and how excited I am to finally see the pyramids and junk. All for now.

The Lowest Point in the World

So today, all the SIT kids took a field trip to the Dead Sea. We talked for about an hour and a half about the Badia, ate lunch, and then had about 4 and a half hours to just hang out. We were at a resort-esque place with a pool and hookah and right next to it was the beach and the Dead Sea. After lunch, everyone went down to the beach. We could see the West Bank from where we were right across the sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest point in the world attainable by transportation so that's pretty cool. It's a remarkable feeling just floating in the water, at a certain depth, even if you're tall enough, it is impossible to touch the sea floor. You just lay back and you float on the surface of the water, truly unbelievable. If any of you have a chance to go to the Dead Sea, do it. Except here are a few precautions, don't shave before hand, and don't get any of the water close to or in your eyes. Your eyes won't stop burning until you wash them out, I can personally vouch for that. Other than those little hiccups, it was a relaxing time and the sea was breath-taking.

The Badia

So, today, early in the morning, I got a ride back from SabHa (the Badia town I lived in) back to Amman. The Badia was unbelievable. I lived with a man named Shlash who's going to be married in two weeks. He's an English teacher/works on one of his family's five farms (he works with the animals, camels, sheep, goats, etc.). Shlash and his family are in charge of basically all of Northern Badia. Dema, the host coordinator at SIT, is Shalsh's cousin and they used to be engaged (don't tell anyone); that was only a year ago and now Shlash is getting married in two weeks to a woman name Ghadeer. She's very kind and pretty cute, I'm proud of my boy Shlash.
Shlash didn't live in the "traditional" Bedouin style home at all (had a European-style toilet and all) and he didn't dress in a dish-desh, kafia, or sirwal. After I showed him all of my Bedouin get-up, he laughed and said "don't wear that, just be yourself."
The SIT director, Dr. Raed, told us a lot about the Badia but after going there, I noticed the majority of what he said was pretty far off. Friendships, family, etc. are all very close but all the "tradition" wasn't on the surface with clothes and houses, but with relationships and the idea of duty to your family.
Shlash hates being a teacher; not only because the pay is terrible and the hours are bad but because the students (at the all-boy schools) have no motivation. Lives of children here, especially the guys, are completely planned out for them. Since Shlash is the oldest son by about five days (polygamy, it happens), his parents' plan for him consists of staying in SabHa for the rest of his life teaching and farming so that future generations can succeed educationally and financially. The boys in the Badia have no real ambitions, goals, or choice about what to do with their lives because after high school, they have to go back to work on the family farm or business. I went to school with Shlash one day and sat in on one of his classes. After 12 years of studying English, the students didn't know how to say "I want to go to University after high school." I've been studying Arabic for less than two years and I am far better in their language then they are in mine; they're only one or two years younger than me but they just don't care. It's a sad fact I've noticed in the Badia but instead of being seen as a restriction here, it's simply seen as a way of life.
Every night I was there, Shlash's friend, including a guy from Texas who's working there on his own (his name is Loren), came over and hung out: drinking coffee, smoking a lot, and telling juvenile jokes - it was a pretty good time. Speaking of smoking, I smoked about four packs while I was in the Badia (about a pack a day which, I was trying to keep up with Shlash). The reason I smoked so many cigarettes is because it's basically insta-respect while your there. If they see that you smoke, or if they offer and you take it and light up, they smile, nod, and instantly accept you into their culture. If somebody is cautious about you, or think you're a cultural spy or something, and then you start to smoke, they ignore everything they originally thought about you and respect/accept you. My mom did the same thing in Ecuador, it's a necessary part of the culture and I'm glad I embraced it the way I did. In fact, sometimes in the Badia, you just need a cigarette. But after four days of constantly smoking, I'm done with cigarettes, hookah and cigars only from now on.
While I was in the Badia, I saw some pretty remarkable things. I saw Shlash work on breaking (domesticating) a male camel which was frightening, and I also climbed up onto a mountain named Ga'ais where you could see 50 kilometers all around (including a huge chunk of Syria).
I took videos of both of those but since the internet is pretty slow here, I think I'm just going to upload photos for you folks. I also went to a "zoo" with different desert critters and animals. I pet a wolf, pissed off a hyena, and almost got bitten by a snake - easily one of the cooler experiences here in Jordan. I'm going to stop for now, this blog is very long and I apologize for that but I had to try to sum up four days of culture shock and Bedouin experiences. I would appreciate any comments about the culture or my experiences because not only is this blog a public journal for me, but it's a way to open the eyes of Americans to the ways of life here and I would love to here your thoughts. Tomorrow I'll be heading to the Dead Sea for a day so I'll post after that as well, look forward to your comments. All for now, ma salaama.

Bedouin Time

So, tomorrow morning I'm heading out to live with a Bedouin family in the Badia for four days. I guess it's going to be pretty rustic but I'm pumped to wear my whole Bedouin get up, found out a cool way to tie my kafia too so hopefully my host family will be impressed by that.

I haven't posted many pics lately but I promise I will next week (no internet at my house right now and I can't seem to upload photos at SIT, lot of stuff working against me but I'll figure it out). After the Badia, we'll all be going to the Dead Sea to debrief, I heard we'll be at a really nice part with pools and hookah and a great beach by the Dead Sea so I'm really excited for that too. Today was our Fus-Ha midterm, Fus-Ha is the Arabic in the media and in novels but it is not what is spoken by the people. We study both Fus-Ha and 3meia at SIT, our 3meia test was this last Sunday which was pretty easy but the Fus-Ha test destroyed everyone in the class. It's an extremely difficult part of the language and because the entire class is in Arabic, it's tough sometimes to follow what's going on. Bums me out but my Fus-Ha grade will be nicely balanced out by my 3meia grade so I'm not too worried, just looking forward to roughing it in the Badia for a few days - no showers, no European toilets, lots of animals and outdoors, lots of mansaaf (the traditional dish of Jordan), oh yeah, this is gonna' be fun. You probably won't hear from me until after the Bedouin homestay since there's no real internet connection but no worries, no news is good news.

Soccer and Smokin'

So last night was a great time. A student in the program's host brother arranged a soccer game with the SIT kids and some Arab folk. It was an amazing game; my team won and I scored four of the goals. By no means am I any good at soccer (my goals were either because of an amazing assist by Nick or because the goalie was out of the goal at the time), but I still played pretty well most of the time and it was a blast. After the game, Aamar wanted me to invite all my friends over for hookah. We had about 15 people over at my house smoking and hanging out and everyone who came over said they loved my family and my house. After most people left, Aamar made me put on my dish-desh, kafia, sirwal, and egal, and some of the kids took pictures. I'll be posting some of those up later. If I wasn't so blindingly white, I think I would look like a true Bedouin.

My Arabic is getting a lot better too. I can hold pretty decent conversations with taxi drivers about why I'm here and why I'm learning the Arabic language among other things. I'm also pretty confident with bargaining. Classes are pretty tough, we have midterms this week so that's not going to be very fun but then on Thursday, we head off to our Bedouin homestays. That's going to be about a week (each student with their own family) living in different parts of Jordan in Bedouin villages. Women are going to be doing mainly indoor work and serving the men while the men get to do outdoor work like herding and maybe riding horses and junk. I'm extremely pumped for that and I can't wait to show them my traditional Bedouin garb and my khunjar (the traditional Bedouin knife). The one I bought is really beautiful with a goat horn handle and the artist's signature on the blade itself. I'll be posting once or twice more before I head out but they don't really have internet connection in the desert so you won't be hearing from me for a week or so, just a head's up. All for now, ma salaama.

Friday Market

Alright, I haven't posted in a while so this is gonna be a quick update of the happenings here in Amman. School's going well, I have a whole lot of work this weekend which is not going to be fun but this morning, my host dad and I are gonna meet up with some friends of mine at the Friday Market. While there, we are going to purchase the entire Bedouin get-up for our homestays in the Badia in a week. This will include the kafia and egal (the thing on the head and the band that goes around the thing on the head), the dish-desh, pants, and jacket combo, the special shoes they wear, and if we can find one, a Bedouin knife, just because. All of this will probably cost me about 10 to 20 JD or about 15 to 30 dollars. Unbelievable deals at the markets. Things can be expensive here but that's why I prefer shopping at the markets or sketch parts of town, prices are already really low and you can barter your little heart out. Last night, we went out to a bar and club, danced and had a great time. A guy from a magazine even took our picture at the bar, the name of the magazine translates to "Our Night" so we'll be looking for that issue next month. I'll update you guys again before heading out to the Badia.

Allah and Your Hands

Sorry, I know I just posted but I have to do another one after finding out what I did tonight. I saw this artwork in my family's house and they said it was the 99 different names of Allah. They then explained to me how it's in all in our hands. Let me explain.

Look at your left hand, if you have younger hands, you'll have to look closer since the lines aren't as defined but you should see (with your thumb up) an upside-down "V" and a single line, "I." The symbols should look like this: ٨١. This is the number 81 in Arabic numerals. Now look at your right hand, thumb up, and you should see a single line "I" followed by the upside-down "V" again (just the opposite of the left hand, clearly). The symbols should look like this: ١٨. This is the number 18 in Arabic numerals. If you add up 81 and 18, the number you come up with is 99, the 99 names of Allah. I thought this was so cool, remarkable how somebody connected Islam with human hands so closely. But wait, there's more. Each of your fingers and your thumb has two lines splitting them into three sections each. With 15 sections on each hand, you get 30, and then you add three onto the 30 (because that's how many sections are on each finger) and you get 33. On the Islamic equivalent of rosary beads, there are 33 beads on the band. I'm not sure if you'll be as surprised and amazed by this as I was and I hope I explained it well but I just thought that was very interesting, it got me very excited and I had to share it.

Salt

So I haven't posted in a while and I just want to let you all know, if you don't see a post for a while, it's OK; it just means nothing new or crazy has happened. Because I'm studying abroad, it's not really a vacation, I mean I take trips every now and then but not everyday. I promise, whenever something sweet or harmful happens or I feel like venting about something, you'll find a post.
Anyway, today a bunch of the SIT kids took a trip up to Salt. Salt is the oldest city in Jordan and one of the oldest in the Middle East region as a whole (probably making it one of the oldest in the world). Very cool city; we went to a few museums and junk and just explored the town. I took an obtrusive amount of photos because it was so beautiful. I'll put a few up in this post for you guys. After exploring a little bit, we visited the first school of Jordan, then we bumped into some kids playing soccer and we joined in. We didn't do too shabby but by "kids", I mean grown men who've probably been playing soccer since they were in the womb, quick buggers, really tough to play with them but we scored a goal or two. We then watched the sunset over the border of West Bank and Jordan while sipping on some tea. We got back around 6:30 or so and then I took a taxi back to my homestay. I tried a dish tonight that was phenomenal; it's called faseekh. Basically, it's really old fish that has just been sitting in salt for one year, then they take it out and put it in warm water until the majority of salt is washed away. That stuff wakes you up, it was delicious. All for now, thanks for reading.

Hijabs and Hospitality

This post is gonna' be a little longer, just a heads up. I'm going to talk a little bit about my family and the majority of Arabic people in general. I had a great time with my family tonight. We talked about a bunch of different things over hookah, I'm getting a lot better at Arabic with this family. We spoke about religion and I told them how much I respect them for being devout Muslims and what that means. I found out the mother is 5 months pregnant as well, she'll find out the sex of the kid this weekend (I told her if it's a boy, they should name it Luke, they thought I was joking, I think it's a strong name, whatever, I'm not bitter). Also, Siwar dressed in traditional Arab clothing and recited some of the Quran for me, could be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

The picture you see is her in her outfit, she's too young to wear a hijab all the time, women usually choose to start wearing them at the age of 10 or so. And yes, it's actually the woman's choice in most Arab countries whether to wear a hijab or not, that's a misinterpretation by most people in America - many Americans believe that it's seen as unequal treatment towards women but usually they just choose to do it because they respect themselves and don't want to be harassed by men. I learned that wearing a hijab doesn't make you any more or less of a devout Muslim either, many times there will be members of the same immediate family with some women wearing a hijab and some not. Interesting stuff.

I also wanted to talk a little bit about the hospitality here. I've traveled a good amount, Jordan is my 16th country, and I've stayed with multiple host families in different countries and if I've noticed any one trend among them, it's the kindness shown to complete strangers unmatched in the States. My host family and the host families of the SIT students almost seem to be too nice and too polite, almost militaristic kindness, but it's genuine. If the world truly acted like their religions teach, we'd be perfect. I don't even mean relying on religion to figure out how to act, but just doing what is right. People laugh at the "Golden Rule" but they don't understand what it can truly do for the world. Americans have so much to learn from a lot of Middle Eastern people in showing others just the basics in kindness to one's fellow man. It saddens me sometimes to be American in foreign countries because of how we're perceived, it makes me even sadder to realize that a lot of the time, they're spot on. The cliche American is rude and self-indulged and to tell you the truth, a lot of Americans fit that stereotype. Kindness, basic kindness, that's what people need to work on in the world. America isn't the greatest country in the world, in all honesty, the people in the States aren't any different or better than others elsewhere (actually, I'm not that big a fan of a lot of them). Once we get that thought out of our heads, I think maybe, we'll be able to work our way to a more peaceful and hospitable future. Sorry about my little rant but it's hard to avoid the hospitality here and it gets me a little riled up. I promise the next post will be a little more light-hearted.

Arabic Names

Probably one of the cooler things I've noticed while here is the names. Every single Arabic name means something. It's interesting to figure out what people's names mean, Khoolud for example means eternity or something like that. I have two host siblings as well, one is the prettiest little 5-year old girl named Siwar and the other is a young boy named Nayef. Nayef means tall; when the mother was trying to explain it to me, she just pointed at me and then pointed up, I got the picture. Siwar means bracelet which fits so well, easily the cutest little Arab girl in the world. Also, Lukes (close enough to my name) means flashlight so I got that going for me. Everything is still going swankily so nothing too much to report here, ma salaama.

Good Day

Alright, yesterday was a long day but it was a good one. I moved to my new host family yesterday and they're very cool. Susan didn't seem too happy with me but I don't really mind because this new family is more what I was looking for. They are a Muslim family and they have a pretty nice home, it's about 15 minutes away from the SIT building but that's not bad at all. The dad is a cop who works at the king's palace so we only live a few blocks away from there and we can see the massive Jordanian flag from our house. Also, the dad smokes like a chimney, no joke. I counted between 17 and 20 cigarettes and an entire hookah on his own from the time I met him, to when I went to bed; he just always has one in his hand. That's a little ridiculous. The family is all around fun too, they hardly speak any English but we all laughed and joked around multiple times last night; with Susan, it was just so awkward and all we watched was cartoons, not the greatest experience. The lack of English is perfect for me though, I'm going to learn a lot more now, I'm whipping out my English-Arabic dictionary at least twice every few minutes. Amaar, my new host dad, took me to an wedding after-party last night as well. It was insane. So much smoke and food and dancing (more just the women dancing and the men staring on creepily, but dancing nonetheless). It was great to hear the live Arabic music blasting and watch the bride and groom dance in a traditional style, very cool.

I had my first day of real school yesterday as well. It went well and I got into level 3 of 4 for Arabic which is what I was shooting for so I'm happy about that. A lot of yesterday was telling us about what we are going to be doing this year and I am just all around excited to get started - papers that actually interest me, lectures (that actually interest me), and a whole lot of Arabic.

Gas Trucks and Gun Shots

Today is Saturday and according to an email we received a few days ago, this is the day the Jordanian Ministry of Education releases interim results of the high-school exam. "Families throughout Amman often celebrate when the results are announced, and for some the celebration is exuberant. Groups of young adults may drive around in cars blowing horns, and some individuals may shoot into the air. The direct threat is minimal, but traffic can be congested. Please do not be surprised if you hear shooting." I was woken up by the shooting and honking and that's when I realized, Jordanians have a little different way of celebrating - Americans have a nice, quiet meal at the local Olive Garden, and Jordanians honk and shoot into the air. I don't mind it at all, it's kind of fun to see how the guns are being used in a more celebratory way.
Another interesting sound I hear every morning is the Gas Truck. Similar to an ice cream truck in the US, the Gas Truck drives around playing obnoxious music until men and women run out to buy some fuel. The Gas Trucks slowly, with their emergency lights on and the music blaring, drive around different neighborhoods until they make their sales. It's an interesting concept but people need their gas.

So here's a quick update on the family situation. Dema came over and had to talk to Susan about me leaving, they gave me the choice of whether I wanted to stay or not and Dema and I both agree it would be best if I left. I figured out the reason Susan took in two students is because they get paid to host, so Susan was trying to get more money for hosting two. She's very kind but it's kind of weird to figure out your being used to earn some money. So, I'll be moving out tomorrow to my new host family, Dema will be calling me later today to tell me about them, I'm hoping these ones have wireless too. I'm also hoping my new host family has heat, I had to buy a jacket last night, I thought this was the Middle East, what's that all about? The picture is the view from my room in Susan's apartment.

First Photos

Here are a couple photos, as promised. One is the SIT building where we have our classes and the others are just some photos of Amman. I haven't been taking a lot of photos since I'm trying to figure out the city a little bit but I'll be taking more and more as I go.

Sketch

I just got to my host family today and they're really cool. Bashar and Susan are the parents and they have two daughters, Hala and Sarah; Hala is six and Sarah is four. When Dema (the host family coordinator in the program) told me about my family, they told me Sarah was paralyzed. Once I got here, I realized she's not paralyzed because she can move around and make sounds; but she is just unable to crawl, walk, or speak. There is another student here (I'll get to that later) who told me that Sarah most likely didn't get enough oxygen as a baby, therefore, her development was severely stunted. It's a very nice apartment but we're all crowded into one room right now with a space heater because it's so cold. We're pretty high up so I have a great view from my room, they also have wireless internet which is simply fantastic.
The reason I named this post "Sketch" is because my host family didn't tell SIT that they were hosting another student from a different program. His name is Casey and he's a cool guy but I am supposed to be with a host family on my own. Sarah and Bashar told me not to tell SIT but I called the director and told him what was going on,; they were disappointed with the family and said they would move me to a different family on Saturday or Sunday. I'm bummed that I'm going to be leaving but I feel like I would get a more immersed and realistic experience if it was just me and an Arabic family.
The picture I posted is a panorama I created of a little bit of downtown Amman, it turned out really well so click on the photo to see it a little better.

First Days

These first couple days have been great. I've eaten a lot of good food and experienced a lot of culture already. Last night, a few of us went to the "Rouge Pup," pretty sure it was supposed to be "Rouge Pub" but I don't judge. The hookah was fantastic but the beer was 8 JD for one can (roughly $12) so I'm not going to be drinking a lot while I'm here. Since its an Islam culture, the alcohol is pretty sparse and therefore, expensive.

Today, we had our first drop off. That's where we get an assignment to find a couple things in town and figure out what they do. Our team was in charge of finding JARA which is a residential association with a photo gallery of old Amman and a cafe, and Wild Jordan, an organization in charge of eco-tourism and nature reserves in Jordan. It was really cool to talk to people and take taxis on our own, it's a rough but useful way to learn Arabic and the layout of Amman. After we did our assignment, my team went to an Egyptian restaurant and had some fateer, a phenomenal dish that kind of reminded me of an Arabic pizza. We also met two Peace Corps volunteers at the restaurant and got their information so they can tell us about some hot spots in Amman.

Amman is basically a massive clump of buildings on a bunch of hills but it's beautiful from the right angles. I'll be posting some pictures soon, no worries. Tomorrow's the day we're moving to our host family; I'll let you know how they are, I'm pretty sure their in a wealthier part of town so maybe I'll get some free wireless which would be sweeeeet. That's it for now.

Arrival

I made it safely to Jordan tonight and all the kids I've met are pretty cool. I guess I'm pretty much the only sophomore in the program other than a couple girls (but their graduating after their junior year so that doesn't really count). My flights were fairly uneventful other than a couple rude and chubby folks but what are ya gonna' do?

We'll be moving in with our host families Thursday afternoon so I'm pumped to meet them. I don't have too much to say I guess but I know we have a lot of really sweet things planned so I'm looking forward to those; I'll keep you guys updated as much as I can.