Singing by Manawel

This week went very quickly as usual. The office was very busy with students who are hastily trying to send out last minute items to colleges, or just now submitting applications. I printed out countless supporting documents to applications this week, including transcripts from all four years, letters of recommendations, Common App supplements, and then organizing them to then ship to various universities around the world. 

I feel like I am finally getting closer to the the staff, Junior Fellows, and students here at the school. Now that I know them all a little better, there seems like there is more to talk about which is very nice. Another positive to this week was the new table rotation. Faculty, including Junior Fellows, work as the head of a lunch table a few times a week. As the head we are supposed to initiate conversations, and get to know the students on a more personal level. The last table that I sat with were painfully silent. None of them were friends with each other, did not have any interest in becoming friends, and had zero interest in talking to, or let alone one another. I tried so many times to start even simple conversations, like “what are you doing this weekend?” to which one or two of them would simply look up at me, and then join the rest of the table in looking down, and pushing around their food with their silver wear. 

Now, the new table is a huge improvement, they still are shy around me, and do not talk to me much, unless I ask them something, but they at least talk to each other, and are friends which is so much better than the last table, where we all sat silent for half an hour. 

The week ended quickly, and soon it was Thursday night, and time to relax. Thursday night I went out to Madaba with two other Junior Fellows to hang out. We went to our usual café and stayed there for a while, making conversation with some very friendly Jordanian men who were very excited to meet some foreigners (Madaba does not get a tone of tourists). The café closed at 9, so instead of going home we decided to walk around the town. After more than a half hour of wondering the streets, we made our way back to the same café, but noticed there there was a restaurant still opened, and seemed busy right next to it, on the second and third floor. The sing read “Don’t Miss: Every Night – The Best Food - Best Prices - Best Songs – With The Singer: Manawel”. Since we had no other plans, we decided to give the place a shot. We walked down between two building to the entrance, up and exposed staircase, where a man opened a lard glass door for us, into a lounge area. A well dressed woman then directed us up a small curvy stair, that opened up into a third floor dining room. The room was low-lit, with with windows overlooking the main street, and the ceiling had exposed dark wood beams. There were multi-colored disco lights spinning around a table-less portion of the room where Manawel was surrounded by speakers and standing behind two keyboards singing upbeat Arab songs, and the three of us were the only ones who could not sing along. Manawel was a middle-aged man, with greased back, black hair, and had a casual suit on, he had one hand on the keyboard playing notes, while the other was on the keyboard above, playing beats and sound effects. The music was extremely loud, making conversation difficult, but making the whole night all the more perfect. Groups of young adults, and med were sitting at the tables around us filling the room with smoke. After twenty minutes or so, Manawel played what appeared to be a very popular song because everyone joined in on cue and a group of five or six men stood up and headed to to the area in front of Manawel. The men held hands, and the two on the end spun beads in the air, and they began to dubke, which is a traditional Middle Eastern dance. We stayed there for a few hours, enjoying the music, and watching groups of people dancing. 

View from the top of Mt. Nebo

  The next morning I woke up, and had a driver from the school take me around to a few of the tourist spots in Madaba that I had not yet seen. Our first stop was to Mount Nebo, famous for where Moses is said to have stood upon, and seen the promise land. It was about a twenty minute drive, and a less than a ten minute walk up to the top. About half way I stopped to look around, and a tourist police waived for me to come towards his direction. He told me that he could give me a tour, and I declined, but he insisted that he only wanted to show the right direction. He told me facts that I either already knew, or could have found out on my own, he managed to sway a group of Nigerian tourists into taking the tour with him, even letting them know that I was his “sidekick”. At the end of the “tour” he told us that the was a “bid” for the tour, and it was 5JD. Annoyed that I let myself get talked into having him walk me around just to make some money, I gave him a few Dinars so that I could enjoy the view in peace. 

Mt. Nebo Museum

       The view from Mt. Nebo is gorgeous. It’s endless miles of low sloping beige mountains, and some greenery. The day was sandy and cloudy, though I was told that on a clear day one can see Jerusalem, the Jordan River, and Jericho. After walking around the mountain a bit, I headed back to the car, and went to a mosaic shop since Madaba is famous for its mosaics, where the workers shoed me how they make the mosaics, and then tried to have me buy the mosaics. My last stop was that old orthodox church at the center of town. The church is small, with a lot of gold, and byzantine style paintings, but the true beauty of the church was the floors. Though the church is only a couple hundred years old, it was built on top of the remains of an ancient Byzantine church, and they kept the original mosaic floors. Much of the floor eroded over the years, but the remaining tiles were sectioned off to prevent further destruction. The mosaics are very famous, and are a map of ancient Jerusalem. That night we took a bus to City Mall, a large mall in downtown Amman, stayed there for a bit and then went out to dinner to a very swanky asian restaurant downtown. 

This weekend I was glued to the news. Although Jordan is very stable, it’s slightly scary to think that there are revolutions, protests and riots happening everywhere around me. Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, and some have started elsewhere, however, I can’t help but think about what an exciting, and monumental time this is to be  in the Middle East. I’m stuck in the middle of what could be a huge social and political movement in the region, which could quickly domino to many other countries, it’s all fascinating. 

Al-Balad

         The work week here can get very boring. I work 8:00–4:00, I have lunch duty 3 times a week at 12:00, then from 4:30–6:00 I  supervise a co-curricular art activity for students, and then have dinner at 6:00. After dinner we usually hang out in the common area, and then study Arabic. To keep things from getting too monotonous, sometimes through out the week we go grocery shopping, or meet up with other staff members to hang out on campus after dinner. 

the market

The weeks are a bit frustrating because I don’t have any chances to leave the campus to experience Jordan, however, every once in a while I experience what a true Middle Eastern moment, even in the midst of so many Americans. I cannot even begin to fully describe what a magical, almost surreal moment it is when I am walking on the campus on a dark, cold, windy night during the night prayer. The prayer is broadcasted from the religious center on the edge of campus, but not very loudly, only loud enough so that when the wind carries it to my ears it becomes a faint melodic whisper. Walking alone in the dark and trying to focus on the prayer through the cool wind is truly beautiful.

The weekend did not come soon enough, however finally on Thursday night I left the campus along with the other Junior Fellows. Together we all went to the small town outside of campus, Madaba. We went to the same place that I went the last time I was there, a small restaurant. We spent our night eating, talking, people watching, and getting watched (foreigners really stick out in a town that small). Friday was not particularly exciting, I ate breakfast with friends and teachers, finally finished my book, and relaxed.

Saturday was the best day of the week. That morning I took a school shuttle to al-Balad, which is the local name for the old, commercial district of Amman. It is the original, oldest part of the city. It’s very raw, but beautiful at the same time unfinished sidewalks, grand mosques, dusty streets, tiny shops set up in dim alleyways, crowds of pedestrians, and lines of speeding traffic, with few, if any stop lights. Our first stop was one that I had been hearing about for sometime on campus now, a small store where they sold thousands of bootleg movies, this was a very fun experience. I then walked through the small streets, and into an outdoor market tightly squeezed between two buildings covered with drapes and tarps to keep the sun out, it was just the place that you would hope to find in Jordan. After working through a maze of people, and vendors yelling what goods they are selling, the road led us to one of the main mosques. It fairly simple and broad, with towering, intricate minarets on either side. 

the mosque

a street in the old city

Our last stop for the day was for food. We went to this small outdoor restaurant that is a very popular spot for people at the school. For about 6 JD, we got a plate of hummus, falafel, this bean and olive oil dip, tomatoes, pita bread, the sweetest tea I’ve ever had, and a coke, it was all so delicious, and perfect. 

We headed back to the school after a few hours, just enough time to grab a new book from the library, and rest up before the week ahead. 

Amman

Today I finally went to Amman. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I absolutely loved my time there. We went to a very hip part of town, walked around, shopped, and went to a very cool cafe. Below are a few of my favorite pictures that I took.

Week one

My first week at the King’s Academy is complete! So far it has been wonderful. The weather is in the mid 40’s, sunny with strong winds, the food in the dining hall isn’t too bad, and Jordanians are extremely kind and welcoming. This week I started on what will be my typical schedule for the next four months. I started my internship at the University Counseling department, and it’s been great so far. I work with in a very busy office with five, very nice women, on a variety of projects. I’ve created files for students, filed papers, edited students college essays, worked on college stuff for my self, and even got to practice a bit of Arabic with the the people in the office. On top of everyone being super nice, there is even a man who works in the building that brings trays of coffee for us throughout the day, and if you know me, you know how much I love coffee, even though it’s Nescafe, which is not very good, but does the trick (the other option is to drink Turkish coffee which is never going to happen again, I got a huge caffeine buzz, and the coffee hurt my throat and stomach).

King's Academy

This week I also started my classes. I am taking an introductory Arabic course four times a week which is good so far, except the issue is that the class started over a month ago, so I have quite a lot of catching up to do! Also, twice a week, all of the Junior Fellows go to a Middle Eastern history seminar, which has been very interesting so far. On top of my internship and classes, I also have to help with academic support one night a week, and tutor students in different subjects. I am doing the language night, and was expecting to help with French and maybe English, but apparently the students do not read the schedule, and I got four students who wanted help with Chemistry. 

Although I have enjoyed my first week, before last night, I was been a bit frustrated that I have not left the campus the whole time. Although the campus is nice, and the people are great, it’s extremely western, and it hasn’t really felt like I even left America really. However last night, I finally got to go out since it was the weekend (the weekend here is Friday, Saturday). Along with two other Junior Fellows, we took a taxi to the town outside the campus. I finally felt like I was in Jordan! Madaba is a very authentic Middle Eastern town, known for its Greek Orthodox, and Byzantine era Churches, and it’s famous Byzantine mosaics. The narrow streets, crazy drivers, what appear to be old ruins, shops, little restaurants, people staring at the Americans, and quite possibly the most delicious smelling bakery on earth, all add to its authenticity. The three of us walked around for a while, took pictures, and then we went to this little tea and food place in the center of town. Inside, it was just the kind of little restaurant that you would hope to find in the Middle East; the walls were lined with built-in sofas, tiled floors, stone walls, and low ceilings draped with fabric. I had a fantastic night, but that was only the first night of the weekend, tonight, I am off to Amman...

p.s. I will be sure to post many many more pictures once I go out more!

Getting there

You’re always strong until you see someone else cry. Leaving Columbus was not particularly easy, though boarding the plane was not hard to do. I waived goodbye to my family an obnoxious amount of times, and felt anxious when I ever I turned around to look back. I can’t really describe my feelings when I boarded the plane, I just felt calm, or at least tried to appear that way, though when the plane began its descent into Minneapolis, an overwhelming sense of excitement took over, and I felt that my adventure had truly begun. My layover was brief, and I soon boarded the plane to Paris. 

I sat next to a very nice middle-aged couple from India heading to Bangalore. The flight was longer than expected, 9 hours. I did not sleep for a moment, I never do on planes. I arrived to Charles DeGaul at 12 am our time, and 7 am their time. I had a six hour layover. Paris is grey and raining, not really the weather I pictured for my journey, and looking at the rain was making me all the more tired. 

My Parisian breakfast 

After exploring the airport for a few hours, it was time to board the plane to Jordan. Queen Alia Airport was not as grand as I expected it to be. When I was in line to exchange my currency in JD a woman, who I thought worked for the airport said she could just do it all for me, which at first sounded great, but then I got scared that they were trying to scam me. However after waiting 30 minutes for them to get my visa, I ended up only paying them 20 extra for getting my visa, bags and passport stamped. When I got out of security I met Omar, the driver that was sent from the Kings Academy to pick me up at the airport. Although he spoke little english, and as of right now I speak no Arabic, we still managed to communicate. 

The first thing I noticed when I stepped out of the airport and into the street was the smell, and how I felt like I was in Europe. The drive to the academy wasn’t too long. What struck me, was that we would drive on a highway, and you would see a city in the distance, however, between the highway and the city was just barren land, with some mansions randomly places along the highway.

We finally reached the gates of the academy, and the guard let us in. We drove up a large road lined with palm trees, and I was dropped off in front of one of the buildings to wait for Chriss to take me to the dorms. The campus is beautiful. You can definitely tell that it was modeled after a New England boarding school, however the  buildings have many elements of Middle Eastern architecture, which surprisingly mix very well. 

So, I have reached my destination, I finally have internet, and I am waiting for the adventure to begin.