Week Nineteen:
This past few weeks has been busy and full of a lot of activity. Enough has gone on that I’m not entirely sure where to begin… so I guess I’ll try to hit high points and sum up.
I believe my last post was right before Thanksgiving, which seems like forever ago. One of the activities that took up a bit of time over the past weeks was the English class I have been teaching, affiliated with the Jesuit Refugee Service here in Amman. The program period is now over, the graduation ceremony was Thursday afternoon, but the next “semester” is set to begin on January 3rd. For the last few classes that I taught we had some excellent discussions. One class, right on Thanksgiving Day, we spoke about holidays and learned about different family traditions. The next class we spoke about sports, both popular U.S. sports as well as more international sports. I had a fun time trying to explain the rules of American Football, particularly when I had to switch to Arabic for some of the more complex explanations. Finally for my last class, we wrapped up with music. There were some students who knew very much about U.S. music, surprisingly. I also got one class, with the older professionals, engaged in a very serious discussion about a popular singer here in the Middle East named Haifa Wehbie. It turned into a multi-party yelling match, mostly divided along gender lines, yelling as to whether Haifa classified as music or not and why all women hate Haifa (which is not true, of course). It reminded me a lot of the debates about Britney Spears between adults, when I was a younger kid.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time writing, reading, and studying. I believe I’m at about 60 pages of writing for the semester on various issues, but primarily on nuclear energy and diplomacy. Hopefully this will translate into a better time for my Master’s thesis, which is looming and slightly scary (I’m not sure how many pages are expected, but I’ve heard anywhere from 100 to 200).My midterm tests are now, finally, all done, as well, about ¾’s of the way through the semester. Now, it’s just to spend the last few weeks writing, researching, and preparing for my final tests which should start in about three weeks. As long as everything goes well, I should be home for just a short period in mid-January.
Today’s adventures were, to my mind, the most interesting of my recent adventures (as well as the freshest in my memory, naturally). As I’m still living in the American Center for Oriental Research and still predominantly around archeologists, I have a few odd opportunities. Today I was able to help an Australian archeologist with a questionnaire that is part of her research, taking it to a small, very poor town on the southern edge of Amman. The town is thought to have had one of the souqs (markets) of Philadelphia, which was originally a Roman city in or around modern day Amman. It also contains a number of different, cool archeological sites, including a few churches and an old Roman shrine or mausoleum. Residents of the modern town, because the economic situation is not very good, sometimes make direct use of things, such as gates, signs, and fences, brought in by the government for the archeological sites… ie they steal it and use it for their houses. On the one hand, one might get angry that the residents are stealing public property and not caring so much for the sites. On the other, I think it might be possible to find a little sympathy when you see that gate on someone’s front door or the sign serving as another person’s roof. We gave the questionnaire to a number of shopkeepers along the town’s main street, focusing mainly on locals, and trying to stay away from those who might live in Amman proper (though I don’t think we would have found too many). We also were attended to by a large number of curious kids, all wanting to see what we were doing, but a little too shy to ask directly. All in all, it was an awesome experience and I hope to have more, similar opportunities in the coming weeks and months.
I hope you enjoyed this update, and I’ll try to be a little more regular about it over the next few weeks! Thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Week Fifteen:
These past two weeks have been busy with work on papers and tests as I also prepared for and then went on Eid holidays.
Eid al-AdHa, the feast or festival of the sacrifice, is an Islamic celebration that is conducted in the middle of Dhu li-Hajj, the last month of the Islamic calendar. The feast itself is meant to commemorate and honor Abraham’s act of faith in being willing to sacrifice his son at God’s command. As I’ve noted in past blogs, Islam sees itself as a continuation of the message of God from Judaism and Christianity, and thus shares many of the stories and prophets of both religions. The difference in the story of Abraham between Islam and the older two religions is that Islam teaches that Ishmael (Ismail, in Arabic) was the son to be sacrificed. The celebration involves sacrificing a sheep and then sharing the meat with family, relatives, and the poor. Similar to Eid al-Fitr, as I talked about in a previous post, the three days of Eid involve a lot of time with family and relatives (which, in the view of some of my Jordanian Muslim friends, can be a mixed blessing). Dhu li-Hajj is, as noted above, the last month of the Islamic calendar and the month in which pilgrims conduct the Greater Pilgrimage to Mecca, taking part in a three day long ceremony which involves rituals and prayer. This year’s Hajj involved upwards of two million people.
For my part, we had a week off from University, and they decided to cancel our Sunday classes at the last minute, and shift them all to the following Saturday (which is usually the second day of the weekend).To be honest it was a little frustrating getting that news the day before (I would have shown up to class and wondered why no one was around) because I could have made plans earlier; but then I guess that’s kind of how things run at the University sometimes (kind of like the admission process I spoke of in an earlier post). Also, the research center where I’ve been staying was more or less closed for the Eid holidays and pretty much everyone left to travel. Since I didn’t have plans for the first day of the break and since there were still a few people around we decided to have an ACOR dinner party, and I ended up making four pizzas for seven people (different tastes make it tough to accomodate sometimes, but I enjoyed making them anyway).
Quick side note, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before how much I like cooking. Thanks mostly to watching my mom in the kitchen for years, I’ve kind of started to pick up a number of dishes, mostly Italian, that I enjoy sharing with my fellow residents. I also stole my mom’s cookie recipe (please don’t tell her!) and made those as well, though we had a funny incident where someone passing through the residence thought they were up for grabs (despite clear marking indicating otherwise) and took five or six, so we were almost short for the dinner party.
So the rest of Eid I spent traveling around; I went and saw some sites up north that I hadn’t yet had a chance to visit and that many people have told me I have to see. Once again, Rotary connections helped out and I was able to stay with a friend from the Rotary orientation last December; she and her friends, who are studying Arabic, had an extra couch that worked great as a temporary bed. It was great to get a change of scenery and to meet new people, as well as to experience a slightly different culture from Amman. I also got to meet a number of students traveling from Cairo, visiting their friends. It’s fascinating how small the expat student community is here in the Middle East; some of the students from Cairo also happened to know a fellow resident of ACOR in Amman. It always surprises me how small the world gets when you travel around.
The people up north were fun. Their accent was really interesting to listen to, and while I understood most of what was said, it would take me just a split second longer to process it. In general the accent sounded like there was a little bit more air in their mouths and, in all honesty, it was a little bit more effeminate, which tends to be the case in the Syrian- Lebanese dialect as well as the Ammani female dialect (yep, there are male and female dialects here in Amman). I also discovered in myself a sense of pride in my own area’s culture and dialect, which is harsher and tends to be a little more masculine, due to the specifically Bedouin influence. While wandering around with my friend (Noorjahan), we decided to jump on a bus end explore some places that neither of us had been. Unfortunately, most everything was closed due to Eid, but I did get to have an hour long conversation with a ten year old boy on the bus, who liked talking about sports and musicians (particularly one Lebanese-Canadian singer stage-named Massari or "Money"). It reminded me of a similar conversation I had with a ten year old Colombian boy on the plane back from Spain, after graduating from high school (except the Colombian boy was interested in Shakira).
That’s it for this update. Thank you very much for your interest and I hope you enjoyed!
Respectfully,
Brennan
These past two weeks have been busy with work on papers and tests as I also prepared for and then went on Eid holidays.
Eid al-AdHa, the feast or festival of the sacrifice, is an Islamic celebration that is conducted in the middle of Dhu li-Hajj, the last month of the Islamic calendar. The feast itself is meant to commemorate and honor Abraham’s act of faith in being willing to sacrifice his son at God’s command. As I’ve noted in past blogs, Islam sees itself as a continuation of the message of God from Judaism and Christianity, and thus shares many of the stories and prophets of both religions. The difference in the story of Abraham between Islam and the older two religions is that Islam teaches that Ishmael (Ismail, in Arabic) was the son to be sacrificed. The celebration involves sacrificing a sheep and then sharing the meat with family, relatives, and the poor. Similar to Eid al-Fitr, as I talked about in a previous post, the three days of Eid involve a lot of time with family and relatives (which, in the view of some of my Jordanian Muslim friends, can be a mixed blessing). Dhu li-Hajj is, as noted above, the last month of the Islamic calendar and the month in which pilgrims conduct the Greater Pilgrimage to Mecca, taking part in a three day long ceremony which involves rituals and prayer. This year’s Hajj involved upwards of two million people.
For my part, we had a week off from University, and they decided to cancel our Sunday classes at the last minute, and shift them all to the following Saturday (which is usually the second day of the weekend).To be honest it was a little frustrating getting that news the day before (I would have shown up to class and wondered why no one was around) because I could have made plans earlier; but then I guess that’s kind of how things run at the University sometimes (kind of like the admission process I spoke of in an earlier post). Also, the research center where I’ve been staying was more or less closed for the Eid holidays and pretty much everyone left to travel. Since I didn’t have plans for the first day of the break and since there were still a few people around we decided to have an ACOR dinner party, and I ended up making four pizzas for seven people (different tastes make it tough to accomodate sometimes, but I enjoyed making them anyway).
Quick side note, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before how much I like cooking. Thanks mostly to watching my mom in the kitchen for years, I’ve kind of started to pick up a number of dishes, mostly Italian, that I enjoy sharing with my fellow residents. I also stole my mom’s cookie recipe (please don’t tell her!) and made those as well, though we had a funny incident where someone passing through the residence thought they were up for grabs (despite clear marking indicating otherwise) and took five or six, so we were almost short for the dinner party.
So the rest of Eid I spent traveling around; I went and saw some sites up north that I hadn’t yet had a chance to visit and that many people have told me I have to see. Once again, Rotary connections helped out and I was able to stay with a friend from the Rotary orientation last December; she and her friends, who are studying Arabic, had an extra couch that worked great as a temporary bed. It was great to get a change of scenery and to meet new people, as well as to experience a slightly different culture from Amman. I also got to meet a number of students traveling from Cairo, visiting their friends. It’s fascinating how small the expat student community is here in the Middle East; some of the students from Cairo also happened to know a fellow resident of ACOR in Amman. It always surprises me how small the world gets when you travel around.
The people up north were fun. Their accent was really interesting to listen to, and while I understood most of what was said, it would take me just a split second longer to process it. In general the accent sounded like there was a little bit more air in their mouths and, in all honesty, it was a little bit more effeminate, which tends to be the case in the Syrian- Lebanese dialect as well as the Ammani female dialect (yep, there are male and female dialects here in Amman). I also discovered in myself a sense of pride in my own area’s culture and dialect, which is harsher and tends to be a little more masculine, due to the specifically Bedouin influence. While wandering around with my friend (Noorjahan), we decided to jump on a bus end explore some places that neither of us had been. Unfortunately, most everything was closed due to Eid, but I did get to have an hour long conversation with a ten year old boy on the bus, who liked talking about sports and musicians (particularly one Lebanese-Canadian singer stage-named Massari or "Money"). It reminded me of a similar conversation I had with a ten year old Colombian boy on the plane back from Spain, after graduating from high school (except the Colombian boy was interested in Shakira).
That’s it for this update. Thank you very much for your interest and I hope you enjoyed!
Respectfully,
Brennan
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Week Thirteen:
Once again I skipped a week of posting, and unfortunately I have no excuse except that I let the time get away from me. It seems a little odd that I am on week thirteen of my time here; it doesn’t seem so long. I certainly had enough to write about last week as I had gone out and about with a group of archeologists to a Hellenistic palace, and I did have pictures as each of those archeologists had a camera and kindly shared their photos with me.
Once again I skipped a week of posting, and unfortunately I have no excuse except that I let the time get away from me. It seems a little odd that I am on week thirteen of my time here; it doesn’t seem so long. I certainly had enough to write about last week as I had gone out and about with a group of archeologists to a Hellenistic palace, and I did have pictures as each of those archeologists had a camera and kindly shared their photos with me.
The people who have been around ACOR, the archeological research center that is my home for this year, for the past few weeks and months are just an incredible group. To be honest, it doesn’t do much for my work as a graduate student, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to spend time with such interesting and broadly experienced people. The group is pretty mixed, as far as nationality goess too. There are some Americans doing research for their PhDs. One gentleman was an ordained minister who became interested in the archeology of the region and went back to school; he is now is working night and day on his thesis, waiting for the appearance of “the thesis fairy” to help him in the final stages. There is also a young lady from Maine doing her work on Iron Age glassblowing in the region, and it is fascinating to hear about ancient techniques and how trade, resources, and technology affected the art of glassblowing during that time period. There is a large group of Australians, so many in fact that we joke about the name of the center changing from the American to the Australian Center for Oriental Research. They are a really fun group, with a slightly different perspective on the world. It’s cool to be able to have intelligent conversations about everything from military issues and world politics to generational music and whose generation has the best love songs, all the while joking and laughing. We’re actually planning to grill out (or as someone who likes to give me a hard time for my Americanisms would say, “We’re planning a Barbecue”) sometime this week in celebration of the upcoming ‘Eid al-Adha; I’ll be in charge of the grill.
So I’ve finally found a consistent place to volunteer for a while. I just sort of fell into it, actually through a young (Australian) lady named Rose here at the center who is doing research for her Masters on nationality and women in Jordan. So now I will be helping to teach English on Thursday evenings to three groups of Iraqis, for about an hour for each group. I’m not entirely sure how it all worked out, it kind of happened quickly and without a plan. My friend Rose asked me if I could help put together a lesson plan. Then she asked if I’d like to come along to class and I decided it would be good, seeing it as an opportunity to help out for a class and maybe even give a quick presentation about Rotary. During the first class, I really only served as a back-up, walking around and helping to clarify difficult concepts for people, but I was able to introduce myself, talk about Rotary, and explain Rotary International’s mission of spreading goodwill and understanding. During the second class, I took the content part of the lesson and had a blast going over words and phrases (focusing on political vocabulary and election vocabulary because of the upcoming elections here in Jordan). Finally, during the third period, which was full of older professionals from Iraq, I took the beginning part of the lesson which was actually tougher and made me more nervous than the content part of the lesson. Somewhere in the whirlwind mix class and talking to people, the director of the school came in to check on progress and talk to Rose and she asked if I would be interested in taking Thursday evenings every week. So I agreed and there we go. Now I have a weekly class, just three to four hours a week and I’m teaching English. It should be a lot of fun.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s update! Thank you for your interest.
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Week Eleven:
School is definitely in full swing. I think I may end up writing at least 300 pages of research papers for the various classes and my thesis (though it possibly may end up being more). Honestly, it’s kind of exciting as much as it is daunting. I have had fun reading a lot, particularly some of the classics of international relations and its theory. It’s also been a fascinating experience to hear and start to understand an outside perspective on international relations and even United States foreign policy.
Something I think I’ve neglected to address thus far in my posts is the Embassy and expat social scene. Being someone who enjoys pushing bounds (to a certain extent…) and getting outside the limits of past experiences, I have tried not to spend way too much time in Embassy social events. That’s simply because it would be easy to get comfortable around fellow Americans and speaking English. That said, I have found it interesting to take part in some of the events and parties that go on in and around the U.S. Embassy community.
The first, and most impressive, party I attended was kind of a shock, to be completely honest. I was informed of the event and invited the day before it was held. The invitation I got was by word of mouth, just in passing, and from the sound of it I felt like it would be a small social function for one of the sections at the Embassy (there are multiple sections, such as those for military cooperation, consular affairs, and economic coordination). I asked for a little more information from my former superior in the MAP office and he seemed pretty nonchalant about it as well (“just a nice collared shirt and maybe jeans or something”). So I drive up and the party is absolutely not at all what I was expecting; luckily I had dressed significantly nicer than what I had been advised to wear, and I was very thankful for that. Most of the employees at the Embassy were present along with a significant number of foreign diplomats and important figures from Jordan. Thinking back on the event (and here I’m going to get kind of lame, fair warning) it kind of fits into something from one of my books, Politics Among Nations, where we are pursuing a “prestige policy.” That is, where states sort of look to increase their prestige by diplomatic niceties, shows of military force and prowess, or direct personal exchanges, such as parties.
I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few other events at or around the Embassy, such as a birthday party for two of my superiors (both Army) and most recently a small “Oktoberfest.” I particularly enjoyed the Oktoberfest because, for the most part, things were kept relatively low key and it was fun having some structure to the event while having the freedom to meet others from the American community. In a way the social events serve to keep the American diplomatic and expat community connected. Furthermore, Jordan is promoted as a family friendly post for American diplomats, and such a well-connected community both spreads and substantiates that claim.
To wrap up, I just have to note that while it has been hugely beneficial to have my own car, I have missed the taxi drivers. I try to take good care of my car: cleaning it weekly, waxing it, checking up on the various functions. But last week I hit a wall that I couldn’t touch: broken compressor for the air conditioner. I took it to the shop and they said it would be most of the day, so I decided to go get some work done and come back. Two minutes after getting into a taxi, when the driver realized my Arabic was decent, I was treated to a very excited twenty minute political monologue (about the predominant political topic of the area). It was really well meaning and it was a lot of fun to listen to (though I think I kept my eyes on the road more than he did during the ride). It ended with him declaring, very appropriately, that my mission is “to return to the United States and share my experiences here.” He especially emphasized that I need to express that Americans and Arabs are not so different; everyone just wants to provide a life for themselves and their families. Interesting thought, something to consider.
Hope you enjoyed, thank you for your interest, and I apologize that I’m brutally neglectful of carrying my camera around… I’ll be traveling around this week, so I should be able to add a few pictures next week. يعني إن شاء اللّه
مع الإحترّام,
- برنّن روردا
School is definitely in full swing. I think I may end up writing at least 300 pages of research papers for the various classes and my thesis (though it possibly may end up being more). Honestly, it’s kind of exciting as much as it is daunting. I have had fun reading a lot, particularly some of the classics of international relations and its theory. It’s also been a fascinating experience to hear and start to understand an outside perspective on international relations and even United States foreign policy.
Something I think I’ve neglected to address thus far in my posts is the Embassy and expat social scene. Being someone who enjoys pushing bounds (to a certain extent…) and getting outside the limits of past experiences, I have tried not to spend way too much time in Embassy social events. That’s simply because it would be easy to get comfortable around fellow Americans and speaking English. That said, I have found it interesting to take part in some of the events and parties that go on in and around the U.S. Embassy community.
The first, and most impressive, party I attended was kind of a shock, to be completely honest. I was informed of the event and invited the day before it was held. The invitation I got was by word of mouth, just in passing, and from the sound of it I felt like it would be a small social function for one of the sections at the Embassy (there are multiple sections, such as those for military cooperation, consular affairs, and economic coordination). I asked for a little more information from my former superior in the MAP office and he seemed pretty nonchalant about it as well (“just a nice collared shirt and maybe jeans or something”). So I drive up and the party is absolutely not at all what I was expecting; luckily I had dressed significantly nicer than what I had been advised to wear, and I was very thankful for that. Most of the employees at the Embassy were present along with a significant number of foreign diplomats and important figures from Jordan. Thinking back on the event (and here I’m going to get kind of lame, fair warning) it kind of fits into something from one of my books, Politics Among Nations, where we are pursuing a “prestige policy.” That is, where states sort of look to increase their prestige by diplomatic niceties, shows of military force and prowess, or direct personal exchanges, such as parties.
I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few other events at or around the Embassy, such as a birthday party for two of my superiors (both Army) and most recently a small “Oktoberfest.” I particularly enjoyed the Oktoberfest because, for the most part, things were kept relatively low key and it was fun having some structure to the event while having the freedom to meet others from the American community. In a way the social events serve to keep the American diplomatic and expat community connected. Furthermore, Jordan is promoted as a family friendly post for American diplomats, and such a well-connected community both spreads and substantiates that claim.
To wrap up, I just have to note that while it has been hugely beneficial to have my own car, I have missed the taxi drivers. I try to take good care of my car: cleaning it weekly, waxing it, checking up on the various functions. But last week I hit a wall that I couldn’t touch: broken compressor for the air conditioner. I took it to the shop and they said it would be most of the day, so I decided to go get some work done and come back. Two minutes after getting into a taxi, when the driver realized my Arabic was decent, I was treated to a very excited twenty minute political monologue (about the predominant political topic of the area). It was really well meaning and it was a lot of fun to listen to (though I think I kept my eyes on the road more than he did during the ride). It ended with him declaring, very appropriately, that my mission is “to return to the United States and share my experiences here.” He especially emphasized that I need to express that Americans and Arabs are not so different; everyone just wants to provide a life for themselves and their families. Interesting thought, something to consider.
Hope you enjoyed, thank you for your interest, and I apologize that I’m brutally neglectful of carrying my camera around… I’ll be traveling around this week, so I should be able to add a few pictures next week. يعني إن شاء اللّه
مع الإحترّام,
- برنّن روردا
Monday, October 18, 2010
Week Ten:
Well I skipped a couple weeks, and I apologize for that. You know when you put something off and then the time seems to exponentially grow? I’m afraid that problem, along with a fear of being repetitive, stood between me and updates to the blog.
Another impediment to writing in the blog is fear of what I might find myself wanting to write about: politics. As I’m surrounded by politics and political discussions in class and in my studies, politics necessarily becomes a central theme in my life. Always I'm surrouded by discussions of America’s role in the world, the issue of Iran, or the ever present Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (which has been passionately debated in literally every single one of my lessons thus far). For better or worse, being a person who is enthralled by questions of politics both in studies and in practice, I basically can’t get a break from it because in addition to my classes I tend to fill my personal time looking at political news or reading books about politics. That disclaimer out of the way, I think I’ve found an outlet in that Jordan is currently having parliamentary elections and it has been a fascinating experience to be around to watch the process in the run up to those elections.
Before the beginning of the race, there was a lot of controversy regarding the electoral districts and electoral laws, particularly focused around the issue of candidacy and registration. As some background, Jordan has flirted with “Democratization” for a number of decades, starting under the late King Hussein (Allah yarhamhu, a phrase said in remembrance and respect for a person who has passed). Throughout the Democratization process, Jordan has had to keep a delicate balance between political, social, and economic development. Often, in the interest of keeping that balance, political development has had to take a back seat and has even been reversed to some extent; this has caused some political unrest and has led to the accusation by some regional scholars of dishonesty on the part of the monarchy. The moderate Islamist party, the Islamic Action Front, which has historical and organizational links to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, nearly decided not to participate in these elections due to what they felt were unfair restrictions and unfair electoral districts.
In the end, it seems that the stand-off right before the race passed and the race has begun. The change in the atmosphere in Amman was immediate, literally overnight, if only because the streets were lined with campaign posters and signs as soon as candidates could start their campaigns. Some candidates have banners hung across streets, with their name and a short catch phrase written in very artfully done Arabic. When I go to the Embassy to exercise or check up on mail I drive down a street through a wealthier part of town that is just lined with posters, somewhat reminiscent of our own political campaigns. Also,in trying to pay attention to local news, it seems there are two key issues for Jordanian democratic politics. The first is definitely enhancing confidence in the political system and getting people to actually vote; some in Jordan feel it doesn’t matter because no matter the result of the election, the King will remain as head of state and the true backbone of the regime (note: regime is not a bad word, it simply means the system of distribution of power within a state, thus the United States’ regime is generally known as a “democratic regime,” while Jordan’s might be characterized as primarily “authoritarian”).
The other fundamental issue is the role of Jordan’s tribes, and their rights with regard to candidacy. If you’ve ever gotten a chance to read the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, or see the movie Lawrence of Arabia, then you may have a window into the importance of tribe connections, particularly in Jordan where they are recognized political identities. Overall, I’m excited to see what happens at the end of the race and to see how Jordanians ultimately feel about the result.
Oh, and almost forgot, I'm also excited to see the result of our own elections, particularly our local ones, as I sent in my absentee ballot about two weeks ago. It's always a good feeling, especially when you're half way around the world. I also have to thank my Grandmother and Mother for their willingness to discuss some of the current issues in Oak Ridge and in Tennessee, their insights were very helpful in helping me to understand some of the more obscure questions (i.e. changes in the charter).
I hope you enjoyed the update, and as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Well I skipped a couple weeks, and I apologize for that. You know when you put something off and then the time seems to exponentially grow? I’m afraid that problem, along with a fear of being repetitive, stood between me and updates to the blog.
Another impediment to writing in the blog is fear of what I might find myself wanting to write about: politics. As I’m surrounded by politics and political discussions in class and in my studies, politics necessarily becomes a central theme in my life. Always I'm surrouded by discussions of America’s role in the world, the issue of Iran, or the ever present Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (which has been passionately debated in literally every single one of my lessons thus far). For better or worse, being a person who is enthralled by questions of politics both in studies and in practice, I basically can’t get a break from it because in addition to my classes I tend to fill my personal time looking at political news or reading books about politics. That disclaimer out of the way, I think I’ve found an outlet in that Jordan is currently having parliamentary elections and it has been a fascinating experience to be around to watch the process in the run up to those elections.
Before the beginning of the race, there was a lot of controversy regarding the electoral districts and electoral laws, particularly focused around the issue of candidacy and registration. As some background, Jordan has flirted with “Democratization” for a number of decades, starting under the late King Hussein (Allah yarhamhu, a phrase said in remembrance and respect for a person who has passed). Throughout the Democratization process, Jordan has had to keep a delicate balance between political, social, and economic development. Often, in the interest of keeping that balance, political development has had to take a back seat and has even been reversed to some extent; this has caused some political unrest and has led to the accusation by some regional scholars of dishonesty on the part of the monarchy. The moderate Islamist party, the Islamic Action Front, which has historical and organizational links to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, nearly decided not to participate in these elections due to what they felt were unfair restrictions and unfair electoral districts.
In the end, it seems that the stand-off right before the race passed and the race has begun. The change in the atmosphere in Amman was immediate, literally overnight, if only because the streets were lined with campaign posters and signs as soon as candidates could start their campaigns. Some candidates have banners hung across streets, with their name and a short catch phrase written in very artfully done Arabic. When I go to the Embassy to exercise or check up on mail I drive down a street through a wealthier part of town that is just lined with posters, somewhat reminiscent of our own political campaigns. Also,in trying to pay attention to local news, it seems there are two key issues for Jordanian democratic politics. The first is definitely enhancing confidence in the political system and getting people to actually vote; some in Jordan feel it doesn’t matter because no matter the result of the election, the King will remain as head of state and the true backbone of the regime (note: regime is not a bad word, it simply means the system of distribution of power within a state, thus the United States’ regime is generally known as a “democratic regime,” while Jordan’s might be characterized as primarily “authoritarian”).
The other fundamental issue is the role of Jordan’s tribes, and their rights with regard to candidacy. If you’ve ever gotten a chance to read the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, or see the movie Lawrence of Arabia, then you may have a window into the importance of tribe connections, particularly in Jordan where they are recognized political identities. Overall, I’m excited to see what happens at the end of the race and to see how Jordanians ultimately feel about the result.
Oh, and almost forgot, I'm also excited to see the result of our own elections, particularly our local ones, as I sent in my absentee ballot about two weeks ago. It's always a good feeling, especially when you're half way around the world. I also have to thank my Grandmother and Mother for their willingness to discuss some of the current issues in Oak Ridge and in Tennessee, their insights were very helpful in helping me to understand some of the more obscure questions (i.e. changes in the charter).
I hope you enjoyed the update, and as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Monday, September 27, 2010
Week Eight:
This past week was full of firsts.
I had my first Master’s degree class on Sunday evening, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 8 p.m. It’s a long three hours for one class, though the professor did show up about 25 or 30 minutes late, so it actually didn’t start until 5:30. It was encouraging that the professor did have a written syllabus for us, along with required textbooks and useful websites. That said, I believe academic standards and endeavors here will be a little different from my previous experience.
On Monday afternoon, I had my first official Rotary club presentation. I presented along with two other Rotary Ambassadorial scholars here in Jordan to the Amman West club, which meets for lunch on Monday afternoons. It was an awesome experience and all of the members were very welcoming, very talkative, and very interested in each of our stories.
An unexpected side benefit of presenting with other scholars was that it was also very interesting to learn about each of them. One, Laura Kalb, is from a club in the East Phoenix Rotary region (yes, apparently the eastern half of Phoenix, Arizona, has its own entire region). She grew up in Maryland, graduated from a small undergraduate university in Pennsylvania, and then spent six years working for a non-governmental organization in Phoenix, helping primarily with refugees from Somalia. She is here in Jordan also for a year and is studying in the Conflict Resolution program at the University, actually in a couple of my classes as well. My other colleague, Ben Woodman, is from Kentucky. Ben got his undergrad degree from a small school in Kentucky but then went on to get a Master’s degree from Princeton. He also did a year abroad, studying at the American University in Cairo. Along with his studies, he has also spent quite a bit of time working for the Department of Defense as a Middle East political analyst. He was here representing a club from Washington D.C., where he had been living, but unfortunately and to my dismay, he’s had to cut short his scholarship and return to the U.S. to take up a job with the Treasury department, working in their Middle East division on finances and particularly Extremist Islamist financing (he hopes). For my presentation, I focused pretty heavily on our region of East Tennessee, the City of Oak Ridge, and on the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, including information and pictures regarding the club’s major projects and programs.
Another first was the first rain of the season. It seemed really strange and out of place to find the day overcast and drizzly. It was kind of a nice break to see some variety in the weather, but it also added a new aspect to driving conditions, which are hazardous enough as it is, to say the least. That said, apparently the fact that we have had only one rain so far, this late into September, is odd. Following along on the weather line, I experienced my first (and second) dust storm. Dust storms, or tozz (with a short “o”), are pretty uncommon for this time of year in Jordan. This one rolled in similar to a khamsiiniat (“50’s”) wind, which is a period of roughly fifty days in late Spring and early Summer where the winds bring up dust from the South. The experience was not what I had imagined off a dust storm. I had a mental image of high winds and blowing sand; rather, this was similar to fog but with a brownish-yellowish hue, and it smelled like a construction site where someone has been cutting tile. Unfortunately, the storm drifted in while I was in class and I had decided to walk to school that night, so I got to see the various shades of brownish-yellow for a mile and a half walk back to ACOR (where I’m staying).
Other adventures for the week included meeting and debating with a Danish professor (whose lectures I got to attend in place of two separate classes, for the same professor). It was fascinating being able to hear his lectures, which were about the European Union and its relationship with the Mediterranean (such as Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, etc.). I also spent time with one of his students, a Bosnian-Danish guy, who was very cool to talk to and a lot of fun to hang out with, particularly because he had experience in the Danish military. And finally, I got to hang out with my friend Khalid once again; as always that was enlightening and an excellent opportunity to practice my Arabic.
This coming week, I’m looking to start on a number of different projects, including research for classes, research for my thesis, and possibly getting involved in a regular volunteering project. So insha’ Allah khair!
I hope you enjoyed the update and, as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
This past week was full of firsts.
I had my first Master’s degree class on Sunday evening, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 8 p.m. It’s a long three hours for one class, though the professor did show up about 25 or 30 minutes late, so it actually didn’t start until 5:30. It was encouraging that the professor did have a written syllabus for us, along with required textbooks and useful websites. That said, I believe academic standards and endeavors here will be a little different from my previous experience.
On Monday afternoon, I had my first official Rotary club presentation. I presented along with two other Rotary Ambassadorial scholars here in Jordan to the Amman West club, which meets for lunch on Monday afternoons. It was an awesome experience and all of the members were very welcoming, very talkative, and very interested in each of our stories.
An unexpected side benefit of presenting with other scholars was that it was also very interesting to learn about each of them. One, Laura Kalb, is from a club in the East Phoenix Rotary region (yes, apparently the eastern half of Phoenix, Arizona, has its own entire region). She grew up in Maryland, graduated from a small undergraduate university in Pennsylvania, and then spent six years working for a non-governmental organization in Phoenix, helping primarily with refugees from Somalia. She is here in Jordan also for a year and is studying in the Conflict Resolution program at the University, actually in a couple of my classes as well. My other colleague, Ben Woodman, is from Kentucky. Ben got his undergrad degree from a small school in Kentucky but then went on to get a Master’s degree from Princeton. He also did a year abroad, studying at the American University in Cairo. Along with his studies, he has also spent quite a bit of time working for the Department of Defense as a Middle East political analyst. He was here representing a club from Washington D.C., where he had been living, but unfortunately and to my dismay, he’s had to cut short his scholarship and return to the U.S. to take up a job with the Treasury department, working in their Middle East division on finances and particularly Extremist Islamist financing (he hopes). For my presentation, I focused pretty heavily on our region of East Tennessee, the City of Oak Ridge, and on the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, including information and pictures regarding the club’s major projects and programs.
Another first was the first rain of the season. It seemed really strange and out of place to find the day overcast and drizzly. It was kind of a nice break to see some variety in the weather, but it also added a new aspect to driving conditions, which are hazardous enough as it is, to say the least. That said, apparently the fact that we have had only one rain so far, this late into September, is odd. Following along on the weather line, I experienced my first (and second) dust storm. Dust storms, or tozz (with a short “o”), are pretty uncommon for this time of year in Jordan. This one rolled in similar to a khamsiiniat (“50’s”) wind, which is a period of roughly fifty days in late Spring and early Summer where the winds bring up dust from the South. The experience was not what I had imagined off a dust storm. I had a mental image of high winds and blowing sand; rather, this was similar to fog but with a brownish-yellowish hue, and it smelled like a construction site where someone has been cutting tile. Unfortunately, the storm drifted in while I was in class and I had decided to walk to school that night, so I got to see the various shades of brownish-yellow for a mile and a half walk back to ACOR (where I’m staying).
Other adventures for the week included meeting and debating with a Danish professor (whose lectures I got to attend in place of two separate classes, for the same professor). It was fascinating being able to hear his lectures, which were about the European Union and its relationship with the Mediterranean (such as Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, etc.). I also spent time with one of his students, a Bosnian-Danish guy, who was very cool to talk to and a lot of fun to hang out with, particularly because he had experience in the Danish military. And finally, I got to hang out with my friend Khalid once again; as always that was enlightening and an excellent opportunity to practice my Arabic.
This coming week, I’m looking to start on a number of different projects, including research for classes, research for my thesis, and possibly getting involved in a regular volunteering project. So insha’ Allah khair!
I hope you enjoyed the update and, as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Week Seven:
Considering it’s the middle of the week, I feel like I’m way behind on this post. This weekend was particularly busy and with the start of classes, somehow I have managed to fill my days to the brim, often with last minute plans that go pretty late. That’s one cultural note, the tendency to stay out late at cafés doesn’t really end with Ramadan; things often stay that way year around.
So last week was my final week at the Embassy, working in the MAP (Military Assistance Program) office. It was definitely an educational time working in the Embassy, but honestly, I’m glad to be starting classes now and glad to be able to branch out and work closer with Rotary here in Amman. Most of the week at the Embassy was given to tying up my project and saying thank you to the people who helped me navigate some of the difficulties of establishing myself here in Jordan. I also took advantage of the decrease in my responsibilities to take one day to help out an archeologist living here at ACOR, and drive him down to a dig site to do inventory on the summer’s dig collection. Having a car, which I’m authorized to have, being connected to the military, is it allows a lot of freedom, as well as gives me the opportunity to help others out with transportation. It was also lucky that I came along to the dig site because the inventory ended up being more intensive than had originally been planned; at one point I ended up crawling through a window just to access the pottery. Overall, it was a very informative trip and I learned a lot about the world of archeology, which is pretty diverse and can actually be very demanding.
This weekend, as I mentioned, was also very busy. At the last minute I jumped on with a group going to a famous “eco-tourism” site called Wadi Mujib. Wadi Mujib is essentially a canyon cut into the Jordanian landscape by a river. The government of Jordan has recognized the inherent environmental value of this unique area and thus has sought to preserve its character, while still offering the opportunity for tourists and Jordanians alike to explore its beauty. So the area is now protected under a nature area reserve system, with this one naturally being called the Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve. The park has a primary entrance and there are a number of guided tours that take hikers through the mountains in the area as well as through the river itself. My group took the route that goes up (very steeply!) from the Dead Sea, into the mountains, travels along a path through what looks almost like a lunar landscape, and then drops down into the Wadi itself. Then the path takes you along and into the river. The river isn’t very deep, but it can be fast moving (and sometimes dangerous). Finally, our route culminated in a rappel down a waterfall, which was very cool. On a side note, if you’re ever wondering between a grocery bag and a waterfall who will win in a fight, I’d recommend betting on the waterfall… unfortunately I bet the opposite way and now my poor Jordanian cellphone has had to pay the price. I have yet to get a new one because I’m still in mourning for the last one.
The next day (again last minute) I jumped on with a group holding an end of the summer party for a group of Iraqi refugee children. The children had spent the summer with a program, doing art projects, music, and learning English. The kids’ ages varied between as young as 3 and as old as 14. The group that organized the party is run by an American lady named Sasha Crowe and an Iraqi gentleman named Ghazwan. The party itself was fascinating to see because it put in stark relief the many things we share and some of the differences across our cultures. A difference, for example, was that the party was opened with a short section from the Qur’an, read by one of the students. It was impressive to watch because recitation of the Qur’an (or iqra’) requires study, training, and practice, due to linguistic differences between Qur’anic Arabic and spoken Arabic, and due to the poetic construction of the Qur’an. Despite the difference in that it was a Qur’an being used to open the meeting, it did remind me of many gatherings in the U.S., which are often opened with a prayer. The kids were fun to watch because they were just typical kids, playing games, some dancing to music, and getting their faces painted. They all got prizes at the end, for their artwork and for staying with the program. It was fun to watch the parents too, because it was so like a social gathering at a school open house, with kids running around and parents socializing, some keeping an eye on their kids and some not (as tends to happen at open houses). Overall, it was a really good experience and I’m glad to have been able to take part.
That’s pretty much it for now. I hope this entry was fun and informative, and as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Considering it’s the middle of the week, I feel like I’m way behind on this post. This weekend was particularly busy and with the start of classes, somehow I have managed to fill my days to the brim, often with last minute plans that go pretty late. That’s one cultural note, the tendency to stay out late at cafés doesn’t really end with Ramadan; things often stay that way year around.
So last week was my final week at the Embassy, working in the MAP (Military Assistance Program) office. It was definitely an educational time working in the Embassy, but honestly, I’m glad to be starting classes now and glad to be able to branch out and work closer with Rotary here in Amman. Most of the week at the Embassy was given to tying up my project and saying thank you to the people who helped me navigate some of the difficulties of establishing myself here in Jordan. I also took advantage of the decrease in my responsibilities to take one day to help out an archeologist living here at ACOR, and drive him down to a dig site to do inventory on the summer’s dig collection. Having a car, which I’m authorized to have, being connected to the military, is it allows a lot of freedom, as well as gives me the opportunity to help others out with transportation. It was also lucky that I came along to the dig site because the inventory ended up being more intensive than had originally been planned; at one point I ended up crawling through a window just to access the pottery. Overall, it was a very informative trip and I learned a lot about the world of archeology, which is pretty diverse and can actually be very demanding.
This weekend, as I mentioned, was also very busy. At the last minute I jumped on with a group going to a famous “eco-tourism” site called Wadi Mujib. Wadi Mujib is essentially a canyon cut into the Jordanian landscape by a river. The government of Jordan has recognized the inherent environmental value of this unique area and thus has sought to preserve its character, while still offering the opportunity for tourists and Jordanians alike to explore its beauty. So the area is now protected under a nature area reserve system, with this one naturally being called the Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve. The park has a primary entrance and there are a number of guided tours that take hikers through the mountains in the area as well as through the river itself. My group took the route that goes up (very steeply!) from the Dead Sea, into the mountains, travels along a path through what looks almost like a lunar landscape, and then drops down into the Wadi itself. Then the path takes you along and into the river. The river isn’t very deep, but it can be fast moving (and sometimes dangerous). Finally, our route culminated in a rappel down a waterfall, which was very cool. On a side note, if you’re ever wondering between a grocery bag and a waterfall who will win in a fight, I’d recommend betting on the waterfall… unfortunately I bet the opposite way and now my poor Jordanian cellphone has had to pay the price. I have yet to get a new one because I’m still in mourning for the last one.
The next day (again last minute) I jumped on with a group holding an end of the summer party for a group of Iraqi refugee children. The children had spent the summer with a program, doing art projects, music, and learning English. The kids’ ages varied between as young as 3 and as old as 14. The group that organized the party is run by an American lady named Sasha Crowe and an Iraqi gentleman named Ghazwan. The party itself was fascinating to see because it put in stark relief the many things we share and some of the differences across our cultures. A difference, for example, was that the party was opened with a short section from the Qur’an, read by one of the students. It was impressive to watch because recitation of the Qur’an (or iqra’) requires study, training, and practice, due to linguistic differences between Qur’anic Arabic and spoken Arabic, and due to the poetic construction of the Qur’an. Despite the difference in that it was a Qur’an being used to open the meeting, it did remind me of many gatherings in the U.S., which are often opened with a prayer. The kids were fun to watch because they were just typical kids, playing games, some dancing to music, and getting their faces painted. They all got prizes at the end, for their artwork and for staying with the program. It was fun to watch the parents too, because it was so like a social gathering at a school open house, with kids running around and parents socializing, some keeping an eye on their kids and some not (as tends to happen at open houses). Overall, it was a really good experience and I’m glad to have been able to take part.
That’s pretty much it for now. I hope this entry was fun and informative, and as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Monday, September 13, 2010
Week Six:
As many might have heard, the holy month of Ramadan is now past and yesterday was the last official day of ‘Eid al-Fitr, the celebration for the end of the fast. Doing the fast was an experience but I can definitely say I was glad when the end of the month came around; not eating or drinking makes it difficult to be motivated to do anything during the day. With Labor Day and ‘Eid back to back, it was a very short week at the Embassy, and a lot of people take advantage of the slow time to take their vacations, so it was very slow at times as well. As classes begin on the 19th of September, my time at the Embassy will become more and more limited and I may take some time to explore a little more around Jordan.
Just as a quick update, this weekend I went with a coworker (an Army Reserve Captain) and a group of his friends up on a hike through one of the wadis that comes off of the Dead Sea. A wadi is basically a canyon cut into the desert by water, though it’s also used to describe a valley as well. The hike was fun and the wadi had a surprising amount of greenery, even now towards the end of summer. There were numerous opportunities to climb and explore and even swim some. The view from the campsite was incredible, and despite the heat, the air was extremely clear even across the Dead Sea, and we could easily see into the West Bank (as well as the lights of Jerusalem at night). One bit of advice for hiking and camping in the desert: bring lots of water AND a method to purify more, if need be. I’ll let readers read into that advice what they would like … Overall, the trip was great; a good group of people, a good place to see, and a great new experience.
The majority of this week’s post I’d actually prefer to focus not on what I’ve been up to, but rather tell about my new friend Khalid, who I met at the beginning of this week. He’s a colleague of another friend, with whom I may end up training and hopefully boxing in the near future. Khalid is one of those people who strengthen my belief that people from different parts of the world are not as different as they might seem through the television or newspapers. I had the opportunity to go and hang out with Khalid last night for a few hours, and reflecting back, it was a truly incredible conversation.
Khalid is 26 years old. He is from a Palestinian family but he himself was born in Jordan, in one of the refugee camps nearby to Amman. He finished his studies at a small university four years ago, with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. He’s a pretty devout Muslim, but not overbearing, he’s just willing to talk about his faith if someone else asks. Since graduating, he’s been teaching third and fourth grade at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)* School in his refugee camp, focusing particularly on teaching English. Khalid is self-admittedly addicted to the internet. He’s a pretty outgoing guy so he’ll be on Facebook meeting people and even on English phone-call sites so he can practice speaking English. Unfortunately, as many know, people who are kind hearted and outgoing at the same time can sometimes be taken advantage of, which seems to be Khalid’s problem. It sounded like he’d had online trouble from with everything from “fishing” to viruses to an online love that essentially stood him up.
In talking to Khalid for a few hours, a lot of things came out pretty quickly and to be honest it became somewhat apparent that, as nice of a guy as Khalid is, he may be struggling with depression in the truest sense of the word. As a school teacher for UNRWA he makes a decent salary, particularly for his age, but he’s disheartened because as soon as he became employed he started footing the bill for his younger brother to study. Once his younger brother graduated (he’s now employed as a radiologist), Khalid picked up the bill for his younger sister to study nursing and the younger brother refuses to help support her because apparently she is not “good at studies.” So Khalid has literally spent every extra cent on his siblings’ educations; he admitted, somewhat sadly, that he feels trapped and like he’s working for nothing, especially now that his younger brother is using his extra money for fun and travel, while he, Khalid, is stuck on the refugee camp. Listening to that story, I could only hope that I would have the heart and generosity to help pay my little brother’s education, should he need it, and to maintain that strength of character despite the disheartening situation with his brother.
Khalid also asked me at one point to explain “The American Dream.” I was a little taken aback by the question at first, but decided to run with it. After explaining and then discussing it for a while, he nodded and said “Yes, I have this, the American Dream.” Unfortunately, I can’t honestly say that the American Dream is very welcome in many parts of the world, including Jordan. As a Palestinian, despite being born in Jordan, Khalid does not have all of the same rights as an East Bank Jordanian, particularly with regard to employment and professions. Just as an example, in an unrelated discussion Khalid admitted he had always wanted to serve in the Jordanian army because he liked the clean-cut look of the uniforms and the thought of training. He didn’t say it, though I knew it was in the back of his mind, but being of Palestinian origin, Khalid can’t serve in the army. And as odd as it might sound, Jordan is one of the best countries in the region for Palestinian rights, even offering the majority citizenship. So ultimately, Khalid can succeed if he works hard and has it in himself to do so, but I fear his birthplace (a refugee camp) and the Palestinian aspect of his identity may always be a limit to him here in Jordan.
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I could definitely write more about my conversation with Khalid, but I’m my post might be running a little overlong. Tonight I will be going with Khalid to his home for dinner; his mother invited me in a brief phone conversation. So we’ll see how that goes and I’ll hopefully have more stories to tell next week.
I hope you enjoyed and as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
*Note, Palestinian refugees are not considered the same as other international refugees and thus UNHCR, the primary organization for international refugees, does not deal with them.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Week Five:
I realize I’m a little late with this post; since it was Labor Day weekend, I tried to make good use of the day off, so I hope I can be forgiven. I also already typed this post, but unfortunately forgot to send it to myself from the Embassy computer (oops); oh well, draft two, new and improved.
Last week was another experience with bureaucracy, this time within the University itself. Go figure that one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do so far was pay! After being formally enrolled as a student at the University, I then had to register with the International Studies department and with my specific classes. That in itself took a day of walking around and talking to different people, all of whom were very friendly and helpful. I tried to pay that day, as well; however, I guess that was a little ambitious because once I arrived at the Registration finance office, I was told that I had been misdirected and I had to pay at the bank. The bank, unfortunately, was not open until about 1pm, and I had to go to work. So the next day I returned and tried to pay, and the hurdle became the fact that I was trying to pay with a check. It didn’t seem to make much sense to me that one would pay cash for such a large payment, however apparently that’s how it’s often done. But once I’d started with the check, they would not let me stop and I ended being sent to the main University finance office to be told that it was no problem, I would simply have to pay a small international transfer fee. By the end of that process, due to the Ramadan work schedule, the Registration finance office had already closed its doors for the weekend, so I was unable to turn in my record of payment. On returning yesterday, Sunday, I was then told by the Registration office that they needed the original copy of the transfer statement from the bank (of which I only had a copy, stamped and signed). I returned to the bank, a little frustrated at this point, and was then sent again to the main finance office of the University, where they finally took pity on me and completed the process themselves. In the end, I handed that office my record of payment and they printed a copy of my class schedule: I was good to go, though I felt a little like a ping pong ball (I forgot to mention that each of these offices is a good half mile to a mile apart).
This weekend I decided to check out the Amman art scene. This city is often surprising in its profusion of cultural exhibitions and shows, in particular with the number of art galleries. The galleries are generally privately owned, but often enjoy the patronage of either the Royal family or other influential members of Jordanian society, such as the Honorable MRS. Mayor of the town of Jerash. One of the more famous of these galleries is called Darat Funun (House of Art) and is run by a private foundation called the Khalid Shoman Foundation. The gallery tends to house more modern art styles and the stated goal of the foundation is to promote the spread of Art, Architecture, and Archeology in pursuit of a future “Renaissance in the Arab World.” Another, smaller gallery, Jacaranda Images, also geared towards more modern arts, had a special exhibit of a local artist who overlays multiple photographs in order to “generate a complex range of emotions through contrast.” This particular exhibition was entitled “Memories of War and Love” and seemed to aim to demonstrate the human impact of violence and conflict.
For Sunday night I invited one of my former teachers out to iftar at a restaurant near downtown Amman, to catch up and in order to practice speaking good Arabic (because he is painstakingly particular about good grammar, pronunciation, and word usage!). The iftar was fun and it was good to catch up, but the real adventure came afterwards, when he took me along to his favorite hangout, at a café called “Maqhaa Sahafa” (Journalism Café, named for the multiple newspaper companies nearby). This experience was part of a bigger cultural activity known as sahar, which is essentially spending time with friends and family late into the night, talking, telling stories, and playing games. The café itself is essentially a hole in the wall, almost literally, but the clientele was obviously very consistent, as all of the patron’s knew all of the waiters by name (often nickname) and vice versa. Very few of the patrons I saw actually gave any of the waiters an order, rather they would simply say what amounted to “the usual” and within a few minutes they would often have a coffee or tea and be puffing on an arguilah (the large water pipe commonly and sadly known as a hookah in the U.S.). After about three hours of hanging out there, I now know how to play taawila (backgammon, which is originally a Turkish game) and shatha (a card game) and my understanding of dialect is hopefully just a little better.
That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
I realize I’m a little late with this post; since it was Labor Day weekend, I tried to make good use of the day off, so I hope I can be forgiven. I also already typed this post, but unfortunately forgot to send it to myself from the Embassy computer (oops); oh well, draft two, new and improved.
Last week was another experience with bureaucracy, this time within the University itself. Go figure that one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do so far was pay! After being formally enrolled as a student at the University, I then had to register with the International Studies department and with my specific classes. That in itself took a day of walking around and talking to different people, all of whom were very friendly and helpful. I tried to pay that day, as well; however, I guess that was a little ambitious because once I arrived at the Registration finance office, I was told that I had been misdirected and I had to pay at the bank. The bank, unfortunately, was not open until about 1pm, and I had to go to work. So the next day I returned and tried to pay, and the hurdle became the fact that I was trying to pay with a check. It didn’t seem to make much sense to me that one would pay cash for such a large payment, however apparently that’s how it’s often done. But once I’d started with the check, they would not let me stop and I ended being sent to the main University finance office to be told that it was no problem, I would simply have to pay a small international transfer fee. By the end of that process, due to the Ramadan work schedule, the Registration finance office had already closed its doors for the weekend, so I was unable to turn in my record of payment. On returning yesterday, Sunday, I was then told by the Registration office that they needed the original copy of the transfer statement from the bank (of which I only had a copy, stamped and signed). I returned to the bank, a little frustrated at this point, and was then sent again to the main finance office of the University, where they finally took pity on me and completed the process themselves. In the end, I handed that office my record of payment and they printed a copy of my class schedule: I was good to go, though I felt a little like a ping pong ball (I forgot to mention that each of these offices is a good half mile to a mile apart).
This weekend I decided to check out the Amman art scene. This city is often surprising in its profusion of cultural exhibitions and shows, in particular with the number of art galleries. The galleries are generally privately owned, but often enjoy the patronage of either the Royal family or other influential members of Jordanian society, such as the Honorable MRS. Mayor of the town of Jerash. One of the more famous of these galleries is called Darat Funun (House of Art) and is run by a private foundation called the Khalid Shoman Foundation. The gallery tends to house more modern art styles and the stated goal of the foundation is to promote the spread of Art, Architecture, and Archeology in pursuit of a future “Renaissance in the Arab World.” Another, smaller gallery, Jacaranda Images, also geared towards more modern arts, had a special exhibit of a local artist who overlays multiple photographs in order to “generate a complex range of emotions through contrast.” This particular exhibition was entitled “Memories of War and Love” and seemed to aim to demonstrate the human impact of violence and conflict.
For Sunday night I invited one of my former teachers out to iftar at a restaurant near downtown Amman, to catch up and in order to practice speaking good Arabic (because he is painstakingly particular about good grammar, pronunciation, and word usage!). The iftar was fun and it was good to catch up, but the real adventure came afterwards, when he took me along to his favorite hangout, at a café called “Maqhaa Sahafa” (Journalism Café, named for the multiple newspaper companies nearby). This experience was part of a bigger cultural activity known as sahar, which is essentially spending time with friends and family late into the night, talking, telling stories, and playing games. The café itself is essentially a hole in the wall, almost literally, but the clientele was obviously very consistent, as all of the patron’s knew all of the waiters by name (often nickname) and vice versa. Very few of the patrons I saw actually gave any of the waiters an order, rather they would simply say what amounted to “the usual” and within a few minutes they would often have a coffee or tea and be puffing on an arguilah (the large water pipe commonly and sadly known as a hookah in the U.S.). After about three hours of hanging out there, I now know how to play taawila (backgammon, which is originally a Turkish game) and shatha (a card game) and my understanding of dialect is hopefully just a little better.
That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Week Four
This past week was spent in numerous Jordanian government offices, getting blue stamps and blue signatures. I took a day to go to the University, a few weeks ago, and found that, while I was assured acceptance, in order to formally and fully register, I had to provide a number of certified documents. Foremost among those documents were my high school transcript, high school diploma, university transcript, and university diploma. In talking to another military student studying here in Jordan (an Olmstead scholar from the Air Force), he had run into the same issue, however it had taken him three months to complete the process. Needless to say, I did not have three months, and that was not good news.
The first stage was for all of those documents to be provided to a company called AMIDEAST which essentially contracts with the Jordanian government to verify the authenticity of documents brought by American students. The company has two addresses, one a regular mail, and the other a courier address. In order to avoid mail mix-ups and assure speedy delivery (which had been an issue for my aforementioned colleague) I frantically requested copies of all four documents be sent to both addresses. I have to mention on a side note here how incredible the Oak Ridge High School is, and in particular the registrar, Ms. Sandra Bentley, for dealing with my bizarre requests and for literally writing a letter substituting as a high school diploma. With the help of the Oak Ridge High School and my awesome mother who put the required documents in express mail, my high school documents were squared away and approved by AMIDEAST within about a week and a half.
The next step, I was told, was to get an equivalency for a Jordan-wide standardized test called “Tawjihi.” For this test, think SAT except that it literally defines the rest of your life in what jobs you are able to pursue, and you can only take it once. It tests solely based on memorization, mainly of Arabic grammar rules, some scientific formulas, some mathematical formulas, and the texts of a few major poets. On the other hand, it has no critical response mechanism and does not test critical thinking in any way shape or form: you will not see a graph on this test, nor will you see an excerpt from a story or article. When I arrived at the testing directorate to apply for an equivalency, I was informed that because I had not taken seven SAT II subject tests, I first had to receive an equivalency from the Ministry of Higher Education, proving that I had completed college level studies before they would qualify me for… college level studies.
About a week later, my transcript from West Point had arrived, but my diploma hadn’t and it looked like it might be a while. So I basically did the same as with the High School diploma: an official, signed letter stating that I did indeed graduate from West Point. That brought me up the Ministry of Higher Education, and I almost got through (so close) but then someone objected to the letter and wanted the actual diploma. Having anticipated some problems before coming to Jordan I had taken a picture of my diploma, hoping that I wouldn’t have to resort to using it, however at that juncture, it seemed like it might be worth a shot. So the next day, I returned, was taken to an assistant of the ministry’s general director, showed him my transcript and the picture, and he promptly asked his assistants where the problem was. So I spent the rest of that day wandering from office to office, receiving stamps and signatures, and was able to conclude the work day (which ends at 2:30 for the month of Ramadan) with bringing my Ministry signed and sealed recommendation to the University. At that point, all I had left to do was to return to be qualified as a high school graduate. In a similar process, I was able to receive a high school graduate and tawjihi test equivalency. Ultimate result: I am now officially a student of Jordan University.
Yesterday (Friday) I went and explored the cities of Salt and Fuheis. While there wasn’t way too much to do or see, there were some small, unique places to go. The pictures are from those cities respectively.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s entry, and as always, thank you for your interest!
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Week Three
Week Three:
This week was kind of the grind week. The first few days were difficult due to a combination of Ramadan fasting and little sleep. In addition to the Jordanian friends I’ve been making, I also became close with a group of students studying under the State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship and living in the same research establishment in which I am currently living. They left on Tuesday, of course making the last three days extremely important for last minute Jordan experiences and late nights at coffee shops with friends. I was very sad to see them go, and the building is definitely much quieter without them, though I do have to admit I was relieved to get some sleep on Tuesday evening before iftar (the meal to break the daily Ramadan fast).
The big excitement of the week was yesterday actually. I rented a car and went south to explore the area around a small city called Madaba. Madaba is an old, predominantly Christian city, situated on the plains south of Amman. It has a long history experiencing an ebb and flow in importance, depending on regional political dynamics, until the reign of the Ottoman Turks, when Madaba and all of what is now Jordan saw a general decline in everything from economics and development to culture and learning. It was originally a Moabite city and is mentioned in the Old Testament, in Joshua and in Numbers. Under the Byzantines, Madaba was an important Bishopric and it remained so under the Umayyad Caliphate through the 7th and the 8th Centuries. The city is best known for its mosaics which go back to the Greek and Roman eras; the most famous of these Mosaics is in the Church of Saint George (also known as the Church of the Map), depicting the eastern Mediterranean world and in particular many of the sites holy to the three major monotheistic religions.
Before I went into the town itself, I decided to head even further south by about 30 kilometers and explore the old fortress of Mukawwir, which sits on top of a prominent hill near the Dead Sea. The fortress was also once a Moabite settlement and is also mentioned in the Old Testament as a site captured by the Israelites when the Moabite King refused them passage through his territory. The fortress is most known for being the site of John the Baptist’s beheading, for which there is a memorial (both Muslim and Christian because John, or Yahiya in Arabic, is a Muslim prophet as well). I was really the only person out and about because the temperature here has been hovering around 105 degrees Fahrenheit, making the trek up to the top of the fortress nice and refreshing. On top, the fortress was amazing. Being sort of wired for the military, I couldn’t help but try to imagine assaulting a place with such incredible natural defenses: it would be a logistical and tactical nightmare. After checking out the fortress, a small goat path down the opposite side seemed to be calling my name, so I decided to see what it wanted. About a mile later I ended up on top of another mountain overlooking the Dead Sea from which I could see a good portion of the Jordanian bank and even, despite the haze of millions of liters of evaporating water, could see the West Bank relatively clearly.
On returning to Madaba, I was able to meet up with an old friend from my semester abroad who lives not far from The Church of Saint George. She led me around Madaba a little and then we went to Mount Nebo, where Moses is said to have died after seeing the Promised Land. After returning from Mount Nebo, I met up with Dr. Nizar Qbilat, another friend and my teacher from semester abroad, who took me to meet his family (very extended family) and to hang out at one of the rivers. I was pretty surprised to find that the area was actually very green, with bright wildflowers, and a large group of people swimming.
After dropping off Dr. Nizar, it was time for iftar and for me to return to Amman. And that was my adventure for the week. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for your interest.
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Week Two:
It’s the end of my second full week here in Jordan and different experiences are all over the place, so much so that I’m not quite sure what to focus on. First I have to mention that I’ve made a few Rotary contacts; one is a scholar who will be studying here this year as well, two are club members, from two separate clubs here in Amman, and finally, the last is an outgoing teacher who was teaching a summer class and who also happens to be a professor and friend of mine from West Point. Running into her has been very helpful because she’s been here for a few months and has a few contacts in the other Rotary clubs here in Amman. The world just keeps getting smaller.
I also made it to a Rotary meeting at the beginning of the week, along with the other two Rotary Ambassadors. While we were unable to to speak, it was a fascinating experience to see and hear the speaker, who was a Doctor of Nuclear Health Physics as well as a businessman. His talk was about the impact of the world economy on the domestic economic situation in Jordan. I was surprised that I managed to pick up about half of what he was saying, despite the complexity of the topic and my lack of familiarity with economic terms in Arabic. His underlying argument was that Jordan was insulated from a lot of the real effects of the global recession but Jordan had still seen a slow-down of economic growth mainly due to perceptions and fears, both within and without the country.
The big thing here in Jordan now is Ramadan; the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer during the day and family time during the night. The day starts very early, at around 3:30 a.m. or so, to take "suHoor," a pre-dawn meal that prepares the “faster” for the day both with food and with water. Then they call the dawn "adhan" at 4:30 a.m. signifying the start of the day. Some visitors to Jordan express frustration at this early morning adhan because it makes it difficult to sleep, but I think if you get past that aspect and actually listen, then it’s really peaceful and calming. Then for the rest of the day no food, water, or any of the little things like smoking or coffee (I guess the coffee would be obvious, but I felt it needed emphasis due to the special regard I give it). That lasts until around 7:30 p.m. when the "iftar" prayer is called, signifying that the day has ended and it’s time to break the fast.
So as you can probably imagine, this has a pretty big impact on all aspects of life. The experience is a little different for everyone, and everyone finds their own specific difficulty. For many it’s the cigarettes; before Ramadan they might be smoking one or two packs a day and then they suddenly go cold turkey. Those people say they’re usually sitting there before iftar with a glass of water in one hand and a cigarette in the other, just waiting for the athan. It also has a big impact on productivity at work; people are often tired, and sometimes even cranky (on a side note, dealing with bureaucracy during Ramadan is not fun for this reason, trust me). The duty day tends to end around 2:30 p.m. for people to go home and sleep and be with their family, so rush hour tends to pick up around 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Luckily, I’m not leaving work until around 6 or 6:30 anyway, so by that time most people are home. Traffic picks up again around 8:30 p.m., once people having taken iftar, either to go to the local Masjid (mosque) if they’re a more devout family, or to go out and be with friends at a local coffee shop. Those spending time with friends will often stay out until 2 a.m. or even later, then waking up late and maybe taking a nap during the day. Sleep during the day definitely makes the time pass much much faster.
Non-Muslims are not expected to observe the fast, however they are socially expected to show respect for those who are fasting by refraining from eating, drinking, or smoking in public. I figured I’d try to go the whole way though, just for the experience: 30 days. I can definitely attest to the difficulty of not having water, especially when you’re trying to stay active. The other real difficulty for me was the coffee. My decision to do the fast kind of came at about 11:30 p.m. the night before Ramadan started, otherwise I might have slowed down the coffee consumption a few days prior. Unfortunately it didn’t work out like that, so I paid for it at work the next two days. And while I didn’t want to use sleep as a crutch, I have to admit that I’ve definitely slept in very late this weekend and felt a little guilty about it (I think staying out late both nights may have had an impact as well though).
The great thing about Ramadan, according to many of my friends, is the family aspect. Iftar is a family event and it’s time where no one is expected to do anything but be together, even if for just an hour.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. Thank you for your interest! شكرا جزيلا !
-Brennan
It’s the end of my second full week here in Jordan and different experiences are all over the place, so much so that I’m not quite sure what to focus on. First I have to mention that I’ve made a few Rotary contacts; one is a scholar who will be studying here this year as well, two are club members, from two separate clubs here in Amman, and finally, the last is an outgoing teacher who was teaching a summer class and who also happens to be a professor and friend of mine from West Point. Running into her has been very helpful because she’s been here for a few months and has a few contacts in the other Rotary clubs here in Amman. The world just keeps getting smaller.
I also made it to a Rotary meeting at the beginning of the week, along with the other two Rotary Ambassadors. While we were unable to to speak, it was a fascinating experience to see and hear the speaker, who was a Doctor of Nuclear Health Physics as well as a businessman. His talk was about the impact of the world economy on the domestic economic situation in Jordan. I was surprised that I managed to pick up about half of what he was saying, despite the complexity of the topic and my lack of familiarity with economic terms in Arabic. His underlying argument was that Jordan was insulated from a lot of the real effects of the global recession but Jordan had still seen a slow-down of economic growth mainly due to perceptions and fears, both within and without the country.
The big thing here in Jordan now is Ramadan; the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer during the day and family time during the night. The day starts very early, at around 3:30 a.m. or so, to take "suHoor," a pre-dawn meal that prepares the “faster” for the day both with food and with water. Then they call the dawn "adhan" at 4:30 a.m. signifying the start of the day. Some visitors to Jordan express frustration at this early morning adhan because it makes it difficult to sleep, but I think if you get past that aspect and actually listen, then it’s really peaceful and calming. Then for the rest of the day no food, water, or any of the little things like smoking or coffee (I guess the coffee would be obvious, but I felt it needed emphasis due to the special regard I give it). That lasts until around 7:30 p.m. when the "iftar" prayer is called, signifying that the day has ended and it’s time to break the fast.
So as you can probably imagine, this has a pretty big impact on all aspects of life. The experience is a little different for everyone, and everyone finds their own specific difficulty. For many it’s the cigarettes; before Ramadan they might be smoking one or two packs a day and then they suddenly go cold turkey. Those people say they’re usually sitting there before iftar with a glass of water in one hand and a cigarette in the other, just waiting for the athan. It also has a big impact on productivity at work; people are often tired, and sometimes even cranky (on a side note, dealing with bureaucracy during Ramadan is not fun for this reason, trust me). The duty day tends to end around 2:30 p.m. for people to go home and sleep and be with their family, so rush hour tends to pick up around 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Luckily, I’m not leaving work until around 6 or 6:30 anyway, so by that time most people are home. Traffic picks up again around 8:30 p.m., once people having taken iftar, either to go to the local Masjid (mosque) if they’re a more devout family, or to go out and be with friends at a local coffee shop. Those spending time with friends will often stay out until 2 a.m. or even later, then waking up late and maybe taking a nap during the day. Sleep during the day definitely makes the time pass much much faster.
Non-Muslims are not expected to observe the fast, however they are socially expected to show respect for those who are fasting by refraining from eating, drinking, or smoking in public. I figured I’d try to go the whole way though, just for the experience: 30 days. I can definitely attest to the difficulty of not having water, especially when you’re trying to stay active. The other real difficulty for me was the coffee. My decision to do the fast kind of came at about 11:30 p.m. the night before Ramadan started, otherwise I might have slowed down the coffee consumption a few days prior. Unfortunately it didn’t work out like that, so I paid for it at work the next two days. And while I didn’t want to use sleep as a crutch, I have to admit that I’ve definitely slept in very late this weekend and felt a little guilty about it (I think staying out late both nights may have had an impact as well though).
The great thing about Ramadan, according to many of my friends, is the family aspect. Iftar is a family event and it’s time where no one is expected to do anything but be together, even if for just an hour.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. Thank you for your interest! شكرا جزيلا !
-Brennan
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Week One
(Picture from Jerash ruins; this aspiring tour guide's name was Ahmed)
Week One:
It’s the end of my first full week here in Jordan, and working in the US Embassy in Amman. I am already learning a lot about US military relations with the Jordanian government and how much support the US gives to the development of Jordanian forces. The Jordanian government, in turn, supports the US diplomatic efforts in the region and its military efforts in Afghanistan. People here at the Embassy often start their days late but then go late into the night because of the seven hour time difference between here and the US: they often tend to work with the Jordanians in the morning and then work with their US counterparts in the afternoon. It makes for an interesting day, but often rewarding because you can often see the fruits to your labor and the gradual development of a project as it heads toward completion.
On Wednesday evening I was able to tag along with a small group of students that are studying at ACOR, the research center in which I live. We went out to East Amman, where many Iraqi refugees have taken up residence since 2003, and held a class in a private residence on English for a group of young Iraqi men, ranging from age 8 to 18. I had the good fortune to work with one of the younger students who ended up being extremely bright, making my job easier, and giving me a chance to practice more complicated speech in Arabic alongside the complexity of the English (the topic was “Banks”). Everyone at the residence was incredibly welcoming and friendly, everyone rose up to great each of us and introduce himself, and none of the guests were left standing. That, as a side note, is arguably the greatest cultural value here in the Middle East: hospitality, particularly in Arab culture.
Over the weekend, I accompanied an Air Force Captain to Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman/ Hellenistic towns in the region. We had almost made it to the site when a young gentleman traveling with his family decided to make a left hand turn from the middle lane, right into our path of travel. Unfortunately, in stark contrast to the extensive hospitality in the Middle East, driving skill is not in much abundance, and while there are traffic rules, they are rarely followed and enforced even less. Luckily the accident had been off of a red light, so we didn’t yet have much speed and we only dented the rear side door. I immediately got out (being in the passenger seat), as did the gentleman, and I asked if everyone in his car was okay. I think taking a few seconds for courtesies did help prevent any possible tension that might have occurred. To make a long story short, the police were nearby and had seen the accident. They took us all to the police station, began filing the report (which, being in a very small town, meant that every officer in the station made it his business to help), and asked us questions ranging from insurance coverage to political views and our opinion of Jordan. After finishing the report, the police declared the other gentleman was at fault, making him a little angry, but after some argument he ultimately acceded. He went off to notify his insurance company, and the police took us to another little office to harass us with extremely sweet tea and imploring us to honor them by coming to their houses for dinner. I think we received three or four separate invitations, and even more phone numbers with orders to call if we are ever in the area. That was really the highlight of the day; having been to Jerash in the past, I was really there for the benefit of the Air Force Captain who had not yet had a chance to visit any of Jordan’s popular sites.
Today (Sunday, and the first day of the work week) I will attend my first Rotary meeting and hopefully get a chance to introduce myself and my home. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve brought here, just as I’m sharing what I’m learning here through this blog. As an added bonus, I’m interested in renting an apartment for the rest of the year, I met with the owner yesterday, and we discovered our mutual connection through Rotary… It just so happens that he is a Rotarian here in Amman. Small world.
Thank you for your interest and I hope you enjoyed the update.
Brennan
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Arrival and first few days
Hello,
This is the first post of the blog, so I'll kind of lay out the plan as it stands at the moment.
I am a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar studying in Amman, Jordan. I will be studying at the University of Jordan for one year, aiming to attain a Masters in Diplomacy Studies. I graduated from the United States Military Academy about two months ago, receiving a Bachelors of Science with majors in Arabic Language and Middle East Foreign Area Studies. I also received a commission as a Second Lieutenant after graduation and am currently attached to the U.S. Army Student Detachment, which tracks Army students. My specific path is in existence essentially to allow graduates who owe service time to take advantage of graduate scholarships and then return to complete their training, bringing a unique skillset to enrich the Army’s arsenal. That’s the argument anyway, and I hope I can live up to that expectation.
My Rotary mission is an extension of Rotary International’s overall mission to promote peace, education, health, and goodwill around the world. My obligation is to make a number of presentations about my home district, 6870 in East Tennessee, to Rotary clubs and other groups here in Jordan. I hope to do a lot more than that though by serving my host community in more direct ways, most likely by supporting the local Rotary club’s endeavors. The second, but no less important, aspect of my mission is to return to East Tennessee and share my experiences at home. I look at both sides of that mission as one of the best things any individual traveler can do: demonstrate and express the good things that both societies share, knowing that the things that make us different are not necessarily bad, and in the end we’re all human.
So for my first few days here I explored some. I visited the American Embassy, where I will be working until classes start in September, and began to in-process there. My job will be to work in an office that directs military cooperation and training between the United States and Jordanian Armies. The U.S. has a strong relationship with the Jordanian government and a strong relationship with its military, thus we conduct a lot of cooperative exercises and I will be serving to support those exercises.
The Jordanian weekend is Friday and Saturday, so for Friday, I decided to wander around town and visit some of the cultural events that were going on. I was able to visit a weekly “souq” or market in an older part of the city after which I made my way down to the old Roman Amphitheatre in downtown Amman (wasat al-balad) to watch a United Nations sponsored celebration of Jordan’s cultural diversity, which is formidable even to U.S. standards. I took some pictures and videos of the event, so I will try to post those soon. I will continue and elaborate on many of the things I have mentioned thus far in later posts. As for now, I hope you have enjoyed reading and I thank you for your interest.
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
This is the first post of the blog, so I'll kind of lay out the plan as it stands at the moment.
I am a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar studying in Amman, Jordan. I will be studying at the University of Jordan for one year, aiming to attain a Masters in Diplomacy Studies. I graduated from the United States Military Academy about two months ago, receiving a Bachelors of Science with majors in Arabic Language and Middle East Foreign Area Studies. I also received a commission as a Second Lieutenant after graduation and am currently attached to the U.S. Army Student Detachment, which tracks Army students. My specific path is in existence essentially to allow graduates who owe service time to take advantage of graduate scholarships and then return to complete their training, bringing a unique skillset to enrich the Army’s arsenal. That’s the argument anyway, and I hope I can live up to that expectation.
My Rotary mission is an extension of Rotary International’s overall mission to promote peace, education, health, and goodwill around the world. My obligation is to make a number of presentations about my home district, 6870 in East Tennessee, to Rotary clubs and other groups here in Jordan. I hope to do a lot more than that though by serving my host community in more direct ways, most likely by supporting the local Rotary club’s endeavors. The second, but no less important, aspect of my mission is to return to East Tennessee and share my experiences at home. I look at both sides of that mission as one of the best things any individual traveler can do: demonstrate and express the good things that both societies share, knowing that the things that make us different are not necessarily bad, and in the end we’re all human.
So for my first few days here I explored some. I visited the American Embassy, where I will be working until classes start in September, and began to in-process there. My job will be to work in an office that directs military cooperation and training between the United States and Jordanian Armies. The U.S. has a strong relationship with the Jordanian government and a strong relationship with its military, thus we conduct a lot of cooperative exercises and I will be serving to support those exercises.
The Jordanian weekend is Friday and Saturday, so for Friday, I decided to wander around town and visit some of the cultural events that were going on. I was able to visit a weekly “souq” or market in an older part of the city after which I made my way down to the old Roman Amphitheatre in downtown Amman (wasat al-balad) to watch a United Nations sponsored celebration of Jordan’s cultural diversity, which is formidable even to U.S. standards. I took some pictures and videos of the event, so I will try to post those soon. I will continue and elaborate on many of the things I have mentioned thus far in later posts. As for now, I hope you have enjoyed reading and I thank you for your interest.
Respectfully,
Brennan Roorda
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