Fun Facts and FAQs, Part II: Is the Scene Safe?

Now, I present you all with an excerpt from the conversation I had with my grandmother when I told her I was going to Jordan:
Me: "Grandma, I'm going to Jordan in the Fall."
Grandma: (after much laughter) "You're stupid."

Thanks, Grandma, I appreciate your bluntness!

She may have been blunt, but my grandmother's comment wasn't completely unwarranted. First, she was joking, she doesn't actually think I'm stupid (I think). Second, considering the news that reaches the U.S. from the Middle East these days, it's no wonder if someone thinks I'm stupid or crazy for going over there. Anyone reading this (from the United States, anyway) can't deny that they wouldn't be just a bit scared about going to Jordan, considering the political turmoil in the Middle East right now. This touches on a Jordan study abroad FAQ: Is Jordan safe? Legitimate question, complicated answer. I guess the answer is "relatively." That's the word CIEE seems to prefer anyway. The woman that gave us an online presentation tried to compare the safety of Amman to the safety of Portland, Maine. I'm not sure I quite buy that, but I get her point. Terrorism happens everywhere, guys. The U.S., Europe, Africa, the Middle East, etc. Look at the riots in London--not terrorism, but not exactly what you would call "safe," either. I recommend checking out http://english.aljazeera.net/, al-Jazeera's English news site for more information on what's going on in the Middle East, specifically Syria and Libya. The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) and the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) are also good sources.

Some more questions I've gotten:

1. Will you have to wear a headscarf/veil/burqa?
Short answer: No. Many Muslim women in Jordan (I would hazard a guess at most) do wear head coverings of some kind, but the veil is pretty rare, and burqas are non-existent in Jordan (in fact, that's the case in most of the Middle East. They exist in Afghanistan and to a lesser extent Pakistan and India; that's about it). But I am not a Muslim, nor a Jordanian, therefore I'm not expected to wear any covering of any kind, except (likely) a headscarf if I choose to enter a mosque (which I probably will). That said, Jordanian clothing is much, much more conservative and modest than what we're used to here in the U.S. Shorts are a major no-no. Also, they like to be classy. No PJs or sweats in class; designer jeans and business suits are expected. Dressing for heat as well as style in Jordan. Oofta, sounds complicated.

2. Will you be eating monkey brains?
This question came from my dad. I'm pretty sure it was joke. Pretty sure. The answer is no. Wrong Indiana Jones movie, Dad.

3. Why are you going?

 Um...this:

That is why. That is Petra ('nuff said)--1/1,000,000th of the reason that I am going to Jordan. Also this:

Above is Wadi Rum, one of Jordan's most famous desert valleys. Also, the first picture of Jordan that I saw before making my decision:

This is Amman, the capital city of Jordan. The denseness of the buildings in this picture is just so, indescribably cool to me. I can't explain it, but I definitely had an "I want to go to there" moment when I saw this picture. And just one more picture, possibly the biggest reason I'm going to Jordan:

I do not know what this means. I don't know if it's a word, a phrase, or it could even possibly not mean anything. I ripped it off of Google Images. This is a problem if I want to study the Middle East, Islam, or Arab culture in general (which I do) and actually make a career out of it (which I do). I need to learn Arabic and CIEE is going to help me do it. I am setting myself a goal of learning how to say "I'm full now, no more please" by the end of the first month. I hear Jordanians serve their guests huge portions!

There will be so much more to say when I get to Jordan, but I wanted to get some of the informational stuff out of the way so that when I get there, I can fill up this blog with "I saw the place where Jesus lost his sandals today" or "I explored a desert castle, here are some pictures" and other adventures. Next time I update, I will be typing from Amman!


NOTE: Two months later, looking back at some old posts and I see this one. The Arabic word above? Yeah, it says "Arabii" (Arabic). Wow, it's bizarre that I couldn't read something that simple two months ago.

Fun Facts and FAQs, Part I: Maps!

Okay, so the background information and FAQs are going to come in two parts here, or no one would read this entry. First, I want to give people a sense of the region, since I've noticed that not very many people can identify most Middle Eastern countries on a map. It's a difficult place to locate, because although technically, a majority of the Middle East is a part of the continent of Asia, some of it is in Europe, and some of it is in Africa, and culturally it's very unique. So, here's a map:

Finding a decent map of the Middle East on Google is actually surprisingly difficult--mostly because the "Middle East" doesn't always consist of the same countries. I picked this one because it includes Afghanistan and Pakistan, my primary areas of interest. Unfortunately, this map does not include the West Bank/Palestine--if it were on the map, it'd be wedged between Israel and Jordan.

Interesting Jordan Fact #1: In Jordan, Israel/Palestine is referred to as simply "The Holy Land." This seems to be primarily for political reasons, so that Jordan doesn't anger anyone by using politically charged names. Jordan is a pretty PC country--it has good relationships with Arab countries within the Middle East, and keeps up good relations with the U.S. and the UK. Although it's kinda mad at Syria right now.

Zooming in....

That's where I'm going! Jordan! I'll be in the capital city, Amman, and I'm hoping to travel to Petra and Aqaba, and even more places that I don't even know about yet.

Interesting Fact #2: Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. Jordan gained its independence from Britain in 1946 and has had four kings since then. The king is in charge of appointing the Prime Minister as well as the cabinet--which he recently re-organized due to protests over corruption. Peaceful demonstrations have been occurring in the capital city, Amman, every Friday since at least January, mainly over economic concerns, since Jordan (like basically every other country in the world) is suffering a recession at the moment. As far as I'm aware though, unlike some of their neighbors, Jordanians are mostly content with the way the government works right now. There have been some calls for democracy, but nothing like the discontent and turmoil happening in Syria. 

Now, zooming in EVEN MORE.... 

Amman! I didn't include a map here for a reason. There are really no good maps of Amman; there's not much point. I'll see if this is the case when I get there, but according to the program coordinator, locals give directions based on landmarks rather than streets or intersections (yes, my kind of directions!) I don't know how true this is, but in an online orientation meeting, we were told a story about the area of Amman colloquially referred to as "Gardens." It's called Gardens because 20 or 30 years ago there was a restaurant in the area called Gardens, and there wasn't much else there. So if you were going to that part of  town, it was because you were going to Gardens. The restaurant doesn't exist anymore, but the area is still called Gardens.

Interesting fact #3: While under Macedonian rule, Amman was called Philadelphia. Also, sometimes it snows there. I'm really, really happy about this since I'm a little worried about the Jordanian heat factor.

Next, all about safety and a little bit on why I'm going to Jordan.

I'm going to Jordan! (...in ~three weeks)

So, hi. I'm Meg, I'm flying out to study abroad in Amman, Jordan in less than a month, and this is my travel blog. Unfortunately, I don't leave for some time, so the blog post you are about to read has almost nothing to do with Jordan and a lot to do with FEELINGS. Be warned, I like to talk about feelings and I have a lot of 'em right now.

I don't set out for Jordan until September 4th, but I feel like I'm in a state of limbo right now, so I'm starting up this blog early so that I can get started on something study-abroad-related. At the moment, I'm kind of feeling left behind. It's stupid, I know--I'm the one getting on a plane going to the Middle East in less than three weeks. But Sam left for England today, my brother just left for college, my sisters are getting ready to go back to school,  and Beloiters are trickling back onto campus... I have to admit, a pretty big part of me really, really wants to pack up my car and go with them. Or, hop on a plane to Lancaster and tromp around England with Sam. Either one, really. On the other hand, I really am excited about Jordan. Really. I totally am. Just not right this second. 

Right now, I actually kind of feel like Joss Whedon has entered my brain (this makes sense, no really). I'm just so nervous about Jordan because I've become convinced that because I'm so happy here, something in my life is going to go wrong any minute. Seriously guys, we're talking Willow and Tara get back together and then Tara dies kind of Joss Whedon badness here. Of course, this is because my life is just that AWESOME (Tara and Willow combined with Buffy's mom getting better kind of awesome). I mean, really--I'm a very lucky/privileged college student with great friends, a wonderful boyfriend, and I'm about to set out on an Indiana Jones-level adventure. It doesn't really get much better than this. 

Jordan is going to be amazing and I'm so excited about it. I can't wait to have a whole semester to focus on the Middle East--it's really easy to get distracted in Beloit, so I think this semester's going to be great for me. I'm still really anxious about it though, and I have periodic freak-outs that seem to increase in intensity the closer I get to September, so I appreciate any advice or communication from anyone reading this blog (BSFFAs, Beloiters, Minnesotans, family, whoever). Most importantly, keep me posted on what's going on here in the States! I don't want to be too confused/isolated when I come home in December.

Up next: Some background on Jordan, what I'm going to be doing there, and all about how I don't have to wear a burqa (really, people have asked me about that).