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Monday, July 19, 2010
The Things I Do To Avoid Work
Well, I may not be able to keep up with those elementary school kids as they zip around the mall, but I am getting closer to at least moving under my own power...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Chicken and Rice with an Arab Army
Since the end of February I have been spending at least a few days a week with a Jordanian Special Forces Battalion. It's been very interesting, from a military culture perspective, to interact with the officers and become 'part of the unit', so to speak. I don't really contribute anything, and my requests for information are probably frustrating and distracting, but I have really appreciated the welcome that I have received there.
This time with them has given me a very interseting perspective onto culture, both military and Arab. It's allowed me to witness things like:
This time with them has given me a very interseting perspective onto culture, both military and Arab. It's allowed me to witness things like:
- Bathrooms - there don't appear to be many, and no one else seems to need to use them, even though we drink copious amounts of coffee and tea throughout the day. I am duly impressed by the expanded Jordanian bladder.
- Lunch is eaten at 2 p.m., even though everyone is obviously hungry by about 11:00. Instead of simply moving up their lunch time, they snarf down snack cakes and chocolate, staving off hunger until later. I understand that 'culturally' you eat lunch in the early afternoon, but if your body is craving food earlier, why not adjust?
- When we do finally finish the work day and sit down to lunch, all of the officers sit eat together at the officer's club. Afterward, many of them will sit and chat in the lounge, drinking tea and eating fruit. I really appreciate the feeling of camaraderie and togetherness that this formalized method of lunch provides.
- The food is universally delicious, and a variation on the theme of 'chicken and rice'. There is always a piece of chicken, a large helping of rice, and some sort of small vegetable salad or beans. One of the side dishes will either be prepared with yogurt or liquid, to better moisten the chicken and rice. I find that these meals are the highlight of my day.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
No Sleep Til Aqaba!
Well, it's over. This past weekend nine crazy people and I ran from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea as part of the Dead2Red Ultra Marathon. It was 242 kilometers along the Dead Sea Highway, finishing in Tala Bay, just outside of the city of Aqaba. Our team finished 16th out of 26, in a time of 19 hours, 31 minutes, 43 seconds. Beginning at 4pm on Thursday, we finally crossed the finish at just after 11:30 on Friday morning.
It was an awesome experience, often quite surreal as we ran through the night passing and repassing the same teams multiple times. I was often locked in a epic struggle with 'The Bus' (literally a bus...a team rented a huge tour bus for the run) and 'Bandana Guy', having to overtake them over and over each leg that I ran. (We did eventually pass them for good sometime in the wee hours of the morning).
Now I'm home, sore, achy, and just feeling that my entire system is a bit 'off'. Totally glad that I did it, though.
It was an awesome experience, often quite surreal as we ran through the night passing and repassing the same teams multiple times. I was often locked in a epic struggle with 'The Bus' (literally a bus...a team rented a huge tour bus for the run) and 'Bandana Guy', having to overtake them over and over each leg that I ran. (We did eventually pass them for good sometime in the wee hours of the morning).
Now I'm home, sore, achy, and just feeling that my entire system is a bit 'off'. Totally glad that I did it, though.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Thoughts on Six Months in Jordan
Well, I am officially past the halfway point of my tour here in Jordan. Six months isn't long enough to really get to know a place, especially when you live with one foot in the American Bubble of the Embassy community, but I thought that I'd reflect on some things that have struck me while I'm here:
Food - all very delicious, all very similar. No matter what you call it, it's really just variations on rice and chicken. Maybe it's a chicken leg on the rice, maybe it's chicken pieces in the rice, maybe it's chicken and rice with yogurt on the side...any way you slice it, it's chicken and rice.
Weather - Amman has unexpectedly cold weather, and the houses are not insulated. Now, this would make sense if there was a very short duration of winter, but it's been cold here since sometime in November, and it's not supposed to really warm up again until April. Call me crazy, but when that much of your year is cold, a little insulation might make sense.
Language - I was really proud of my Arabic at the end of DLI, but after living in the Middle East, my language skills have gotten worse. It's a symptom of self-inflicted choices, I know, but it's disheartening when you can come to a foreign country and actually lose your language. I can understand how illegal immigrants in the US can never learn English. On a daily basis, I use little to no Arabic. Without the structure and pressure of DLI, I find it hard to maintain my language through self study. Also, after studying the local dialect with a private tutor for about four months, I still feel like I'm unable to speak at even a childish level
People - Almost to a man, Jordanians have been friendly and welcoming, wherever we meet them. They are always astounded that they have met an American who speaks Arabic (no matter how badly), even more so that we speak even a little dialect. They are always very complementary of our language and genuinely pleased that we find Jordan so agreeable. Truly, if there is ever going to be understanding between America and the Middle East, it has to start on the individual level.
Services - We live in one of, if not the, wealthiest section of Amman, and by extension, the entire country. I often forget that Jordan is still one of the poorest countries in the world. Two things that I never give a second thought to in America - water and Internet - have recently become huge headaches for me.
For over two months we have been battling spotty, inconsistent internet service. We had nearly six months without issues before now. Multiple phone calls with the company, both from myself and our housing office at the Embassy, yielded a single service rep who 'repaired the lines'. Of course, this didn't solve the problem on a permanent basis, and I find myself plugging and unplugging the modem many times over the course of the day, just to get it working for five minutes.
Water-wise, the past two mornings we have awoken to empty faucets in the house. Since our office receives our utility bills as part of a greater Embassy roll up, I can quickly compare our water usage to the American community at large - and we are one of the lightest water users. This means that we can't be draining the tank on our house, therefore the problem lies with the water pump, despite it being 'repaired' two months ago.
These things certainly aren't showstoppers for us, but if these are the conditions in the wealthiest area of town, I can only imagine how much worse the poor areas have it.
Food - all very delicious, all very similar. No matter what you call it, it's really just variations on rice and chicken. Maybe it's a chicken leg on the rice, maybe it's chicken pieces in the rice, maybe it's chicken and rice with yogurt on the side...any way you slice it, it's chicken and rice.
Weather - Amman has unexpectedly cold weather, and the houses are not insulated. Now, this would make sense if there was a very short duration of winter, but it's been cold here since sometime in November, and it's not supposed to really warm up again until April. Call me crazy, but when that much of your year is cold, a little insulation might make sense.
Language - I was really proud of my Arabic at the end of DLI, but after living in the Middle East, my language skills have gotten worse. It's a symptom of self-inflicted choices, I know, but it's disheartening when you can come to a foreign country and actually lose your language. I can understand how illegal immigrants in the US can never learn English. On a daily basis, I use little to no Arabic. Without the structure and pressure of DLI, I find it hard to maintain my language through self study. Also, after studying the local dialect with a private tutor for about four months, I still feel like I'm unable to speak at even a childish level
People - Almost to a man, Jordanians have been friendly and welcoming, wherever we meet them. They are always astounded that they have met an American who speaks Arabic (no matter how badly), even more so that we speak even a little dialect. They are always very complementary of our language and genuinely pleased that we find Jordan so agreeable. Truly, if there is ever going to be understanding between America and the Middle East, it has to start on the individual level.
Services - We live in one of, if not the, wealthiest section of Amman, and by extension, the entire country. I often forget that Jordan is still one of the poorest countries in the world. Two things that I never give a second thought to in America - water and Internet - have recently become huge headaches for me.
For over two months we have been battling spotty, inconsistent internet service. We had nearly six months without issues before now. Multiple phone calls with the company, both from myself and our housing office at the Embassy, yielded a single service rep who 'repaired the lines'. Of course, this didn't solve the problem on a permanent basis, and I find myself plugging and unplugging the modem many times over the course of the day, just to get it working for five minutes.
Water-wise, the past two mornings we have awoken to empty faucets in the house. Since our office receives our utility bills as part of a greater Embassy roll up, I can quickly compare our water usage to the American community at large - and we are one of the lightest water users. This means that we can't be draining the tank on our house, therefore the problem lies with the water pump, despite it being 'repaired' two months ago.
These things certainly aren't showstoppers for us, but if these are the conditions in the wealthiest area of town, I can only imagine how much worse the poor areas have it.
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