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.