Surrealism

I have never experienced anything more surreal than doing class readings on Arab identity and American perceptions of Islam and the Middle East while sitting in Amman watching Al Jazeera's Arabic coverage of the celebrations in Egypt with my Jordanian host family, trying to follow the English language news online, and monitoring both my American and Egyptian friends' reactions on Facebook.  My friends' statuses have included everything from "Does it bother anyone else that the political power in Egypt is now in the hands of the military?" to "The power of the people is beautiful" to"we are the champions!! we are the champions!!! we did everything peacefully! long live EGYPT!!"

What a strange day.

Home Sweet Homestay

 It's been a week since I moved in with my host family and while things haven't exactly been crazy (because I have infinitely more free time than I have ever had at AU), it has definitely been an interesting and somewhat humbling experience thus far.  Tomorrow also marks the end of my first week as a student at the University of Jordan (UJ).  I'm not quite sure how to assemble all of the observations/impressions/reflections that are floating around in my head into something cohesive, so here is a list:

1) My host family is truly wonderful.  My host mom, Bashira, has especially made me feel at home (and never, ever let's me go hungry for more than three minutes at a time).  It is, however, really strange to plop down in someone else's home and try to fit into their existing family dynamics and routine while trying not to commit any cultural faux paux.  I've been in new situations before, whether going to camp or college or what-have-you, but each of those times I've been adapting to a new place along with a group of people who are all going through that same process, so living here is completely different from anything I've done before.

View from my bedroom window on my first night

2) The other thing that makes living here really strange is the language barrier.  While my family members can all speak some degree of English, ranging from a little to practically fluent, they always speak in Arabic unless they are addressing me directly.  This is definitely a plus for learning the language (the reason I'm here after all) but, as one of my American classmates put it, makes it feel like I'm living in a foreign language film without subtitles.  Lots of nodding and smiling has been involved.

3) It is cold here, really cold.  But not in the way Wisconsin winters are cold.  Daytime temperatures are hovering in the mid to high 40s, but it has rained every day since I got here, which make the chill feel more penetrating.  Also, the buildings just aren't heated and insulated as well as they are at home, so I never really warm up.  Being this cold is a very new sensation for me.

More from my bedroom window

4) Jordan is the fourth most water poor country in the world and almost always on the verge of a water crisis, so my eco-friendly tendencies have been in heaven here!  Water is never wasted and all of the newer toilets have really awesome dual-flush settings.  Electricity is also really expensive, so all of the power outlets in my room have little switches to turn them on and off so power doesn't drain out when they aren't being used.  SO COOL.

5) My three-year-old host nephew, Ali, speaks amazing English--probably even better than many three-year-olds in the States--and makes my attempts to communicate in Arabic look like a joke.  Seriously, it's a little depressing.

6) I'm constantly surprised by the way certain aspects of Western consumer culture have permeated society here.  Some friends and I went to City Mall last weekend to pick up some necessities and it was like stepping into any suburban shopping mall in the United States, complete with a Gap, movie theater, and food court.

Three-story KFC ad in City Mall

7) The UJ campus is GORGEOUS.  I didn't know so much green could exist in the Middle East.  The agriculture program even grows food right on campus for the cafeteria.  Going to a school with 35,000 students is definitely a big change from comparatively itty-bitty American University.

Early morning on the UJ campus

So far my classes have been going well.  In addition to taking Arabic (both Modern Standard and dialect), I'm taking two classes called "America and the Arabs" and "Islam in the Modern Context."  I'm really excited because I think the content of these courses will dovetail nicely with my experiences in real-world Amman.  Tomorrow, I get the results of my Arabic placement exam and in sha allah (God willing) I did well enough to stay in the advanced level!

My Two Egyptian Cents

I promise to update about my homestay soon, but I just wanted to throw my two cents into the ring about what's going on in Egypt right now.

It's driving me nuts that so much of the Western media coverage of the protests is focused on US interests and foreign policy.  The fact is that the overwhelming majority of Egyptians are no longer willing to submit to dictatorship and, frankly, they have every right to express that view, especially given that the protests have been largely peaceful (except when the government pays thugs to beat up protesters).  It breaks my heart that so many Americans can't see past some abstract conception of a potentially dangerous democratic Egypt (see article #2 below) and consequently place their unfounded fears above the well-being, free speech, and self-determination of 80 million Egyptians.  Just because we were privileged enough to be born Americans does not give us the right to dictate the lives of everyone else in the world (though I realize that the US government does frequently pull strings abroad).  I got to know dozens of beautiful people in Egypt last summer who did nothing but make me feel welcome in their country and love and accept me despite our differences.  It is a damn shame that those same people would be branded as dangerous by so many Americans simply because they worship Allah.  I'm not saying that democratization will have perfect results, only that a free Egypt is not necessarily an anti-American Egypt.

I have come across two articles that I think are required reading for anyone who wants to understand the situation beyond the standard Western media hype:
1) "2 Detained Reporters Saw Police's Methods," The New York Times--Gives a firsthand account of the terrible way that the Egyptian government is treating its own citizens.  For me, this was enough evidence on its own that Mubarak needs to go. 
2) "Mubarak's Departure Won't Lead to Chaos or Theocracy" Huffington Post--Explains that the foundations for democracy already in place in Egypt and that just because the Muslim Brotherhood is Muslim, does not mean they are terrorists. 

In any case, I just wanted to remind everyone to take a step outside of our American bubble and see things from another point of view.  The world is not as black and white as we would like to think.  I'll update on my Jordanian family and my first day of class soon (maybe even later tonight)!

Gettin' Orientated

I have officially been in Jordan for over 48 hours.  The past couple of days have been mostly filled with orientation seminars, crash dialect courses, and campus tours (aka not very exciting) and Amman has been getting some much needed rain since we got here.  However, we did get to take a break to see a couple of epic landmarks in the old city of Amman--the Citadel and the Roman Amphitheater--and eat our first non-hotel Middle Eastern lunch (mmm, hummus and baba ghanoush).  For whatever reason, I already feel more comfortable here than I did in Egypt.

Me at the Roman Amphitheater!

One of my goals while I'm here is to take at least one photograph every day.  I have tons of pictures of pyramids and mosques from my trip to Alexandria last summer, but I really wish that I had done a better job recording bits of daily life as well.  So here are my first few photos:

Sunday, January 30th--beautiful, snowy Brooklyn before I left

Monday, January 31st--rainy view from my hotel window

Tuesday, February 1st--The Citadel

Wednesday, February 2--bested for 20JD of phone credit by
the only person I know in this country

Tomorrow afternoon I'm meeting and moving in with my homestay family and then classes begin on Sunday.  Moving in with a strange family that presumably speaks only a little English is a bit nerve-wracking, but, lucky for me, my current roommate in the hotel is living right downstairs with my host mother's sister and I somehow managed to get placed in a house where I will have my own bedroom and bathroom, a maid, and some semblance of internet access.  In any case, it will be an adventure!  For now, yahla bye (my new favorite Arab-gleezy expression)!

marhaba 3la al-urdun!

I have officially and safely arrived in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan!  The flight was long and uneventful except that...

BRIAN WILLIAMS (of the NBC Nightly News) was on our plane!!!  Presumably, he was off to cover some of the regional unrest in the Middle East. What a great start to the trip. :)

After we arrived in Amman, there was much getting settled and an hours-long endeavor to try to get our new Jordanian cell phones properly activate including venturing out in a torrential downpour (yes, Jordan does get rain in the winter) to search for a store to buy phone credit.  Orientation begins tomorrow!