Arrival of the fittest!!

Well, we are now in Amman – have been for about 7 days – and it has been quite amazing to say the least!! Getting here was totally fine – we showed up in plenty of time to catch the flight; though I protested the need to be as early as we were, the new extension of the Vancouver airport in the International departures and arrivals area is truly amazing, and showcases an indoor river oasis leading to the most impressive salt water tank I have ever seen – even better than Pulau Putri in Indonesia (My family knows this is saying a lot… ok, actually, maybe it is almost equivalent to the fish tank restaurant with transparent dance floor…)!!

The first flight was Air Canada, and it was actually much better than we expected. The food was good and the seats were comfortable – only one screaming baby on the flight though, and it was right beside us. The stop in Heathrow was uneventful, and the arrival in Jordan was as scheduled… for us anyways. My bag decided not to show up for days. Apparently, a Jordanian woman mistakenly grabbed it from the baggage area – I KNEW I should have plastered that thing with Canadian flags!! Getting it back 4 days later was another adventure in itself – thank god my work had a driver to dispatch with me…

The difficulty of registering the lost bag, and the time it took, would not have been so bad had we not had to go to AIESEC MC’s apartment tired and needing a shower at midnight, only to find the apartment that was to be arranged for us was going to be a few days… Generously, we were offered lodging and some leftover towels and shampoo from previous interns to tide us over in whispers while everyone else slept, and my apprehension of arriving at the office the next morning in jeans was not as grave as it could have been, as I was not the only one wearing them! Office dress here is much more casual (if you factor in being fully covered, what you are wearing isn’t as important as where you are wearing it).

I hadn’t expected to start work so soon, but I was given the option of getting adjusted for a few days while missing a conference, so I decided I wanted to hit the ground running (and not sit around to lament the loss of my bag). Plus, I figured I would leave all the groundwork to Dan, and just profit off of his discoveries when it came time to shop and eat dinner!! The conference I went to was at Le Royal Hotel, a 5 star affair, with the best buffet lunch I have ever had! Truly, the food here is simple yet delicious – lots of humus and pita, fava bean paste… olive oil, lime salad, mint tea… its all so good! The conference was on violence against women, and as far as I can tell, is an annual affair.

To offer a background on what I am doing and who I am working for, I invite you to visit www.johud.org.jo (the major organization that is responsible for development in Jordan) and www.zenid.org.jo (the section of the organization I am working for), both initiatives of Princess Basma’s of Jordan. Undeniably, if you want some inspirational women figures in your life, check out the websites of Princess Basma and Queeen Rania of Jordan – the work they do is amazing, and Queen Rania was the first winner of the YouTube visionary award due to her work dispelling myths of Islamic women.

We didn’t have phones for the first few days, which was a challenge in trying to organize the whereabouts of my bag, me giving my bank card to Dan with the wrong pin and freezing it inadvertently, and trying to get accommodation arranged… all on ‘Arabic Time’, which is it’s own challenge in itself! Of course, the first day Dan got arrested and was held at the police station for 3 hours while we had a meeting to secure the place… he was taking a picture of a sunset, which apparently was too close to a military base, right near the apartment building. It was one of the first times I think his Australianness wasn’t a get out of jail free card! Sometimes its things like this which give us a new appreciation for communication… In Jordan too, everyone has mobile and satellite tv – land lines and cable are an evolutionary hiccup many managed to avoid in their rapid development. There is even a company here that can give you wireless internet without a line into the residence, but we are unsure yet if we can shoulder the expense. The McDonalds right down the road has a row of free flat screen computers that make it easy to stop in and use them without buying a big Mac! Being close to the university means we live right up from fast food row – pizza hut, dominos, burger king, McDonalds, Popeye’s chicken and even subway are all present in multiple forms here.

The week ends on Thursday, and was fairly uneventful save the orientation, trying to remember peoples names, the conference, being introduced to the local transportation systems (I prefer cabs with my broken Arabic still!), and my growing jetlag that was catching up to me, so Dan and I skipped a planned trip to Petra by AIESECers to explore Amman (and sleep in! The bus to Petra left at 7am) instead. We went to the Citadel (pictured above), and amazing display of history atop one of the 7 peaks of Amman. An Aside: look at the Jordanian flag – 7 points of the star = 7 peaks in Amman = 7 hills necessary for most roman cities to be built…  The citadel and the Roman amphitheater we visited below it are staggering relics of the largest superpower many centuries ago, and the artifacts in the accompanying museums are also stunning when you consider the dates behind them. Actually, on Jully 22^nd Obama spoke at the Citadel in his campaign for presidency! I think he was just checking things out for me in advance . We’re close like that.

Looking out onto Amman you can see the hills are like a cubist dream – each building is a block made of creamy white sandstone, and all of the buildings together reflect the light like mirrors, creating a wash of brilliance in the shapes of leggo on the hillsides, heightened by the dawn and dusk. The juxtaposition of the monochromatic buildings only heighten the beauty of the sunrises and sunsets here. It is now getting colder; winter is coming. It snows approx. 4-5 times a year here – not the warm paradise I was hoping for to escape our Canadian winters! At least its not raining…..

Saturday was a trip to Mecca mall – a MASSIVE mall here that houses every brand name you can think of. Yes, Adrienne, it is safe to visit – they have MAC and ZARA! The best place to do the big shop is Carrefour, a European equivalent of Superstore. Now, we feel very settled in an apartment very close to the University of Jordan – actually, in the same building as the other AIESECers we stayed with the first few nights, so it is easy to not feel alone or disconnected. I will post pictures of our place – it reminds me very much of Indonesia, with a garden that surrounds us, a back door with a wind tunnel that dries clothes on the line faster than a clothes dryer, and a very cute kitchen and ornately decorated living room, all with marble floors. We have 400 satellite channels, but only 10 are English, one of which is BBC where we are keeping up on the happenings in Thailand and India… does anyone else remember when I was entertaining the idea of going to Thailand and Pakistan (where the Mumbai terrorists are presumed to have come from….) – I think I made the right choice!! There are three room and two bathrooms, all furnished right down to beautiful master suite and ornate teacups!

Well, I think this is enough for now, especially as I am supposed to be working very hard at my desk. Another masters student (a Jordanian women’s studies major) just started today, so I am no longer the newest person! Of course, she speaks Arabic so she understands way more of what’s going on than I do, but I am still the Canadian novelty… especially when it comes to teaching me Arabic words in exchange for English lessons.

Will write more soon…. Miss you all lots J xo L