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