Adjusting.

 

I have now completed week two of this grand adventure. Although in some ways it feels like I have been gone months and at other times I realize that I have just now begun to scratch the surface of massive, complicated and beautiful country. The longer I stay here the more baffled and confused I become.  When things seem to be stranger than fiction in this city all you can say is well, “It’s Jordan.” I have come to realize the interesting mixtures of stereotypical hyper-western style malls residing next to the King Hussein’s Royal Mosque and rolling hills of olive trees and multi-million dollar mansions. A city that has been concurrently occupied by people for over 3,000 years and has grown from 20,000 in 1910 to a city of over 2.6 million as of today. I find it interesting grappling with a city that is at the same time grappling with itself. I find it fascinating to be a 20 year old struggling to find my own identity in a country that is also struggling to find its own identity in light of recent crisis in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt. What does it mean to be a Jordanian?

As many people are warned when traveling abroad that eventually the honeymoon phase with a new place comes to an end. For some it is weeks and for others it is days. It can be swift crack or a slow crumble and it has been interesting to see it happen all around me on this trip. For me it was this week, but it was not really mentally struggling with this place but my body. My body has actually begun to reject the place that I am currently living. Something that in time will pass and can be fixed by medicine and an augmented diet. I find when at home that when my body begins to shut down it is time for a change. Here there is only room for growth and change and it was physical way of reminding me to focus on what the task at hand is, can I handle living here? As my body struggles through adjusting to a different diet, I can struggle through the mental questions of how I feel living here. 

Besides the more metaphysical and physical aspects of living in this city I have done some amazing things here. Spending evenings in outdoor cafes watching the world cup. The smells of tea and mint mixing with arghilea (affectionately called Hubbly Bubbly) and cigarette smoke infused with diesel and petrol. The call to prayer ringing softly through the valleys of the city and a hush falling upon the city as evening arrives before people come out from their homes to visit with family and shop into the night. We had an amazing day climbing Mount Nebo where Moses pointed down to the hills of Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley to the Promised Land. Before riding down through the mountains of Western Jordan to the Dead Sea and lying by the sea in the heat. Combine that with cab rides each morning and afternoon through thick traffic with no rules, over hills and traffic circles with no limits. Spending long nights with out host family drinking coffee and talking about beliefs, the future, life here, and so much more. Our host mother, Dzovieg, has truly welcomed us into her heart and I could not be happier that she has become part of my experience here.

Last night we spent a beautiful evening at Café 56 overlooking the Old Belad part of the city. With lights being strung up around the city and fireworks booming in the distance for the start of Ramadan this weekend. The city is preparing for a beautiful celebration of patience and faith. The soccer game played softly in the background as we sat drinking lemon and mint juice. I think that the most profound thing about this city is not the places but the people. For as complicated of a place it is, I learn so much from our cab drivers, owners of cafes, people on the streets, and neighbors about what it means to call oneself a Jordanian.

Some of the most interesting people are the people within our program, 41 students from the United States and Britain who are all studying Arabic for wide and varied reasons. I find it fascinating to hear how all these 20 year olds have arrived in Amman at this point in their life. And I have to ask myself sometimes, how did I end up here? Is this where I could see myself being? And as my body begins to fully adjust to this lifestyle and midterms wrap up in combination with the start of Ramadan I will leave you, with these parting thoughts…

Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts (and mind) may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind.
- Al Hajj 22:46

One way ticket...

آهلاً وسهلاً من الآزدن
(Hello from Jordan!)

This city is humbling. In one week I have come to realize that I could live here for years and never be able to fully grasp the complexities of this city. When standing looking out over the city you see hills and valleys full of buildings as far as the eye can see. The original city was built on the seven hills of Amman. As you stand looking from the Citadel, which was the original center of the city, you can see hills and valleys full of people, buildings, and life. It is amazing that people have been living on this land for over 3,000 years. The architecture of the city is a modern testament to the moral that the victor always writes the history of a place. There are mixtures of Ottoman, Roman, Greek, and British influence in a strange clash of culture and sense of place. Within these places the people represent the entire world. The city of Amman is the way it is today because throughout history it has both been taken over and has taken in those who have no where else to go. Currently the city and the entire country is swelling because of the ongoing crisis in Syria with over 1 million refugees coming over the border so far. The city has also swelled in the past due to Iraqi refugees and Palestinian refugees over the past 60 years. All these aspects from the architecture to the influence of empires to the influx of refugees and what it means to be a Jordanian and what it means to be from the city of Amman make this city hard to grapple with.

            The physical city is just as complex as the people and culture within it, because of its complex history of refugees there is not a lot of city planning. The city was more built to suite the needs of the people at the time and then afterwards adjusted around what was already built. The city looks similar to a bowl of linguini that has been tossed around several times. This patchwork of roads is all laid down upon land that looks similar to the hills of San Francisco. As someone not at all familiar with the city it is quiet terrifying to hear that the people within Amman do not actually use street names. In order to navigate the city you must know the traffic circle number that you want to go to and also understand the surrounding landmarks enough to direct the driver to end up where you need to be. As someone who is used to addresses and street names and am personally a huge fan of maps this has definitely been an adjustment.

            This city is also full of paradoxes. The stark contrast between buildings and ruins that have been here for more than a thousand years and skyscrapers that rest on top of hills that throw shadows across whole valleys within the city is both beautiful and fascinating. If looking south from the old city center you can see a skyline dotted with cranes and skyscrapers that all point towards the new city being built everyday to accommodate the more than 2 million people that live in this city. With the annual summer water storage there are some who cannot afford to take long enough showers and buy drinking water while houses next to them can afford to spray the sidewalks down with water to remove dust. The paradoxes between religion and practice, between wealth and poverty, and between my own expectations and reality are stark to say the least.
            I have quickly come to realize that the people within this city is what I will remember the most from my host family, to my roommate, the students in the program, and the people of Amman. I have begun to cherish ever interaction in Arabic and in English as a learning moment. My roommates name is Tyler and is from Texas and is in Army ROTC at Boston University. Our host family is full of warm loving people who have gladly welcomed us into their home. The Arakelian family is an Armenian Christian family, the mother is from Lebanon and the Father is from East Jerusalem. Our host mother’s name is Dzoveig and our host Fathers name is Garo. They have two children, Nataly who is 20 and studying Accounting at Princess Sumaya University in Amman and Chris who is 18 and currently taking Tawjehe or the equivalent of placement exams for university. Our family speaks Armenia, Turkish, Arabic and our host mom speaks French also. They have a beautiful apartment in the Shmesani neighborhood in West Amman that sits on top of a hill overlooking the Wadi Abdoun area. We live close to a public park for children that very beautiful. There are several other American students in the neighborhood who are here studying and working while also living with host families.
            Every morning we get up at 7:00 AM and eat eggs that our host father makes us. We then walk outside and hail a taxi at the nearest traffic circle and try to explain how to get to Amideast, which as explained earlier can be quiet difficult. We finally arrive at the beautiful 5 story white Amideast building in Wadi Abdoun or the Valley of Abdoun. We go to class from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM and then again from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, in my class there are 8 kids and we represent, Michigan State, Michigan, Yale, George Washington, Carleton, and Boston College. Our classes are extremely hard but that is the goal of intensive Arabic classes.
            I feel that there are so many more things that need to be said about this city but they are all escaping me right now and so therefore I have to go and leave with what I have already said. I have included other pictures below

 Until next time   
  مع السلام

So it begins...

Here it goes, I have never blogged before, and so I ask you to bear with me as I shake off the writing shackles put on by purely academic expressions of myself. I struggle with where to start this type of open ended message and I guess I can begin with hello or, أهلاً وسهلاً, in Arabic. This trip is a way of saying hello to a whole new part of my life, a welcoming of sorts, into not only upper level classes but into who I want to be. Friends, family, classmates and colleagues always wonder how I ended up where I am today, holding a ticket to Jordan in one hand and an Arabic book in the other. It has been a long winding journey of 5 years to reach this point. Involving a trip to Israel and the Occupied Territories, hosting Palestinian youth in my home and my community, traveling back to New Orleans to work with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American on understanding areas around the world that are under extreme distress from walls and occupation. It has involved a stint with Air force ROTC and many long hard hours struggling to understand where my life is heading. Yet, here I am preparing to leave for 9 weeks to immerse myself in a land I can only attempt to understand. I have learned so much about who I am and who I want to become over the past 5 years all seeming to lead to this moment. 

I understand that I am just one of thousands of university students around the world who are all off jet setting around the world and doing truly amazing things. I am proud to be part of these ranks of young men and women who are striving to understand more about the world we all live in. Understanding what it means to a part of this new globalized world while also understanding how much our homelands have such an effect on our actions and futures. I hope to learn and grow during these next 9 weeks. They will not be easy and I don't want them to be. I want to be pushed to understand my own beliefs as much as coming to understand others. Beyond religion and language there are things that fundamentally make us different and yet seemingly similar. Just as many have gone before to go out and better understand themselves and others here is my time to go and be a part of this world. 

It seems I have gotten the feelings out of the way and now down to business. I will be living with a family in the city of Amman and attending classes provided by Amideast. Amideast is a non-profit that focuses on Middle Eastern and United States relations as well as education abroad program for students from both regions. I will be taking 301 and 302 level Arabic courses and completing my minor in the language. I will be communicating strictly through email at jones.r.harrison@gmail.com as well as this blog you are currently reading. I plan on taking several trips including to Petra, Wadi Rum, and hopefully back to Jerusalem. 

I cannot wait to start this adventure and I am glad for the people who are reading this will get to come along for the ride. With that I leave you for now!

شكرا جزيلا ومع السلامة
(Thank you very much and goodbye!)