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

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

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

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