Playing dress up

A good friend invited me to his host family's home for a show and tell of some beautifully embroidered, and rather old, traditional bridal outfits. The embroidery and colors act as a map to the region. My gown came from Umm Qays in Northern Jordan

The headpieces are laden with coins, and is a way of displaying the bride's dowry.  This headpiece that I'm wearing has coins dating back to the earlier part of the Ottoman Empire, and weighed at least 10 lbs.  

bsoora! bsoora! (Quick quick)

There is just so much to cover since I last wrote and I don't really have the time at all.

But first thing's first: I see my parents in three days!  They arrive in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and I will cross the border on Thursday to see them.

The reason I don't see them sooner is because I have midterms all this week, and my lovely and oh-so-threatening foos'ha (modern standard Arabic) exam is on Thursday and lord knows I need to do well on that.

Last weekend I went on the program overnight trip to Wadi Rum where we raced jeeps and camels through the desert and all its beauty. The stars at night were spectacular (nothing compares) and I would've spent the whole night on the sands, but the temperature plummets once the sun goes down.  And I raced a camel. That was one of my goals on coming here, and it was realized on Saturday.  Seriously, me and my camel raced for at least a mile, encouraging the others in the train to speed up their camels, but with about a kilometer to go, I paced the last twenty camels and arrived at the camp first. Along with my awesome partner in crime, Desiree (a neighborhood gal), and our wonderfully obliging bedouin, Yousef.

Finally, while on this trip, protests downtown on Friday, which just this past week gained momentum again, went from peaceful to downright ugly. Pro-reform protestors stood on onside of the Dakhlia circle, and supporters of the king stood on the other.  It started on Wednesday and they called themselves the March 24th Shabab (youth) as the pro-reform group mostly consisted of twenty-something year olds. Anyways, long story short, on Friday rocks were thrown from the opposition group (supporting the king) despite calls of peace from the March 24th Shabab, riot police came, water hoses were aimed on the shabab to be dispersed, and people were beaten in the process of evacuation.  One man, aged 56, died from heart failure that was caused from the beatings.  My Political Islam professor was there, and told us about it today. He was very discouraged and disappointed with the governments reaction and what this means for Jordan and state reform.

Rumors that the shabab consisted of Palestinians wanting to create a revolution against the king, or rumors that the Islamists were behind it, are false.  PM Bakhit blamed Islamists for the clash on Friday. However, according to my professor, Islamist groups did not show up the protest until it was well under way. It wasn't their push.  Nor were the shabab mostly Palestinian.

It is disheartening to see the government take such a position against people asking for reform - the same reforms that King Abdullah has been talking about in the past weeks.  This could have been a good opportunity to rally with the people, instead, the pitted the nation against itself.  People are taking sides, spreading rumors and not understanding each other.  Hopefully, people will start a dialogue.  In the meantime it is frustrating to watch - very, very frustrating.

Well, that wasn't as brief as intended. No matter. Now back to the books. :-)

Pictures are coming soon.

Dr. Samira

Perhaps, in my last post I was a debbie downer about my little exposure to the more conservative communities in Jordan. I realized, however, that there is someone who opens her religious world to me every Monday and Wednesday for an hour and a half in my Islam class.

My professor, Dr. Samira Khawaldeh, is a soft spoken, opinionated, and well-versed Muslim, who carries the class through concepts of the Quran and the various interpretations that have gained popularity over the centuries.

This past Friday, Samira took the class all around northern Jordan, hopping from shrine to shrine in order to see the tombs of important figures of Islam.  She asked the ladies to bring a scarf along in case we entered a mosque, but as we were mostly seeing shrines, we didn't have to cover our hair as much. However, at one stop, a boy saw our uncovered hair and started protesting loudly, pointing at us and saying, "Haram!" - forbidden.  Samira, clearly annoyed, went over a gently talked to him. The boy rudely ignored her explanation and kept on complaining loudly until the sheik arrived.  After the sheik informed the boy that Samira was a professor at his university and held two PhD's, the boy quickly left and didn't reappear.

In the bus, Samira tsked at the boy's behavior, called him a hothead, and explained that these young students of shariah think they know something after just starting their studies, and then try to enforce every little thing without understanding the surrounding text or the other verses that provide exceptions.

neighborhood girlies on the class trip at the Hussein mosque

At our last stop, the royal al-Hussein mosque, Samira engaged in a conversation with the muezzin - the one who gives the call to prayer - about the passages concerning marriage and the number of wives a man is allowed.  Afterward, she turned to us and translated the argument, finishing with, "at first he tried to defend the legality of having four wives, but after a little while, he started to see it my way."

This is how she is.  Her religion poses no conflict for her. She only sees people take it and misconstrue it to fit their own agendas.  She simply says that they do not choose to read the Quran fully, but take what they want from it.  If they were true scholars of Islam, she says, they will not try to make these claims about the religion. From issues such as the veil (which she wears), to Islamists, marriage, science, and history, she has confidence in her answers and smiles at the confusion of others before humbly "showing" them the truth.

Playing fair

I've realized that my exposure to Jordanian thoughts and opinions, is rather limited to one group of individuals who are relatively liberal in their thinking.

First of all, there is my family - practicing Muslims, they have defined their faith by embracing the modern context.  My host mom and host sister are not veiled, my host mom owns a hair salon, and my host dad tells me that, unlike most other men, he doesn't see it as a shame to cook.  They welcome the idea of living in a pluralist society with a mixture of religions, and are frustrated with the radical Islamists who capture the headlines.

Then there are my Jordanian friends, many of whom are guys my age or older, and the only reason I can hang out with them is because they are more liberal, or aren't very religious.  I am friends with a group of about six Jordanian girls who are conservative, but our time together is limited to our breaks between classes.

When I have conversations with these people, often times I agree with them.  I would like to post some of the things my host sister says about the idea of education and marriage, or my friends' thoughts on the political and societal impact of religion - but these would not fairly assess the opinion of Jordanians.  Most importantly, I do not feel like I have the right to analyze or critique a society because I can't  do that without there naturally being a comparison in my head between here and the states.  Not until I am part of this place can I try to fairly make social observations.

Here vs. there: defining democracy

Cries for democracy, reform, a renaissance for Egypt... this must be a good sign concerning future relations for United States and Isreal with this region, sah?  Not so fast. The people in the streets of Cairo are united in their mission to establish democracy.  In addition, most of those people are united in their opinion towards Israel and what is viewed as the occupation of Palestine.  Egyptians are also very critical of the United States unfaltering support of Israel and the continued occupation of Iraq.  Let's not be mistaken, democracy is the order of the day.  But to be true to its definition, if the people are to be fairly represented, the opinion of the majority will not naturally align itself with that of the U.S. or Israel.

Is this cause for concern? It depends. If the situation magnificently ends up being a democratic state that gives the Egyptian people fair elections and equality for all, the U.S. will find itself without the loyalty of Egypt, enjoyed during the reign of Mubarak.  Perhaps now, we need to be honest about our professed support of democracy.  This is what I hear from Arabs: that the U.S. is a realist nation through and through, acting in its self interest without a fault. It is clear with whom the U.S. is allied, and the Arab people have chosen a side as well, and it isn't with the States.  They are unhappy with our regional policy... and very unhappy with Israel.

So what does America want? Democracy for all as long as the democracy represents people supportive of us?  If that is not possible, would we rather just pay off one person with all the power and not have to worry whether the people agree or not? 

That is how people here see it.  They ask me these questions.  They want to know: is this how American politics work? Is this the beauty of being the top dog? Does America think it can write its own rules concerning global politics and not care whether people agree or not?

People are putting their lives at risk to finally have their voice heard.  Blood is spilled for democracy.  If it is obtained, it will be their democracy, not ours.

a few blurbs about some things

Marhaba! I'm sorry about my last post - it was a little pessimistic.  Politics never end here, and even as a political science major, I get a little tired of it from time to time.  Silly me for thinking that I could get a break from it in my religion class.

So let's talk about the next biggest thing in the news: Muhenat is engaged to Nihal.  If you happen to watch the soap "Forbidden Love" as every other Jordanian family does, this news would garner a few gasps.  Soap operas are very popular, most coming from Egypt, Turkey or Lebanon.  "Forbidden Love" is Turkish and involves a typical plot of an affair, dramatic cover ups, and dirty glances between the women.  And a little incest, but between cousins, it's okay.  It is very popular and to be honest, I love the new cocktail dresses for dinner each night. 

Last weekend I went with several girls to the southern port city of Aqaba and spent a day and a half on the beach in the balmy 80 degree weather.  It was wonderful to sit on the beach in February on the weekend, despite every cab ride being an argument in which I lost each time.

In case some of you are reading headlines, and even the articles attached to them (I'm a headline browser myself), you will have noticed the continued rallies in Jordan.  About 6,000 gathered on Friday calling for constitutional monarchy, with pressure on the king to reduce his absolute authority over the state.  But the character of the rallies is peaceful and with support from security forces.

Attention here is on Libya, with the common description for Gadafi being, "Magnoon!" (crazy).  Keep a look out for developments there - the International Criminal Court is beginning an investigation on the crimes committed by the military against the protestors.

Cote-d'Ivoire is seeing some violent clashes.  I have not read up on it, so I have not much to report other than that at least 6 women were shot dead while participating in a protest.  Security forces are becoming increasingly aggressive in their support of the incumbent leader.

What is with the military and security? It will never reflect well for the current leader and will only attract international criticism.