Yesterday we had the privilege of visiting the beautiful beach town of Aqaba and snorkeling in the Red Sea. I've never been to a tropical place before, nevermind snorkeling in a coral reef. I still can't believe the things I saw yesterday and feel as if it was all an intensely colorful, surreal dream. We had to leave TTU at 6 in the morning which was a little hard for a night owl like me but I was so excited I barely felt the early hour and the lack of sleep. We drove 3 hours to Aqaba and met the owner of Dive Aqaba--ironically the brother of one of Dr. King's friends. He was very jovial and helpful and soon we were ready to get out on the water. While waiting at the dock I couldn't help but marvel at the vivid teal color of the water and the way it gradually darkened to navy as it got deeper. All of the staff were very kind and helpful, and we enjoyed talking to them and the many international passengers also onboard.
Anyway, to the snorkeling! It took a while to get situated with my flippers, mask, and snorkel, but once everything was in place and I jumped into the refreshing water a whole new world was opened up to me. At the first site we observed an old tank that looked as if it had been at the bottom of the ocean for many, many years. It was teeming with colorful fish that seemed to love the shelter it offered, but had no problem sticking around for us to observe them as well. A couple of us dove down to touch the tank and felt very accomplished. The pressure was painful to our ears but we braved it to say that we had touched an underwater tank. I thought that was cool but it was only the beginning. After swimming a few yards (and at the second site) a world filled with rainbow colors and indescribable shapes was revealed to me. Innumerable different kinds of coral and fish were immediately before my eyes and so close I could touch them. I could barely believe it was real. almost felt as if I was at the aquarium and there was glass between me and the wildlife. I simply swam around in awe for the hour or so we were out and was constantly seeing new creatures. The colors were the most amazing part. Every color imaginable was represented and even some I could never describe in words. I can still see them all and I wished I had an underwater camera but at the same time I didn't because I would be taking pictures of everything! Every shape and size was also represented. There were tiny blue spear-shaped fish in schools that stayed at the top and I delighted in swimming through them and trying to touch them. There were small and medium-sized fish of all shapes and colors that seemed to mostly stick together in schools ranging in size. Then there were big loner fish who seemed to have their own agenda. One of my favorites was what I believe was a parrot fish with bright, fun shades of pink, purple, green, and blue all over its body. It swam in a funny, jerky manner and picked things off of the bottom every so often. The other fish that really struck me were orangy with a greenish metallic tinge to them. They were so beautiful that words don't do them justice at all. You had to be there!
Being on the boat was very relaxing and we were all indescribably happy to shed our long sleeves and pants for bikinis and get some sun! We enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch after snorkeling and of course the good company of the above mentioned staff and passengers. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me and a day I will never forget. It was a perfect exit for our Jordan experience.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
We have made many friends in Irbid. Roula is the wife Dr. Zaidon Al muhasin. She has been incredibly hospitable -- having us for dinner, bringing us a meal, and taking us swimming. Last Friday, Areen, Roula's oldest daughter took us shopping in Amman. It was a day filled with adventure and girl bonding experiences. We walked from the university to the bus station. It was about a 15 minute walk. It only cost 1.7 JD to take a bus to Amman. That is about $2.42 and it takes about an hour to get there. Some things here are so cheap. Everywhere we went people wanted to give us rides but we were very careful to only take marked cabs. I really don't think we were in any danger, it’s just that many people are poor and want to earn money. So once we arrived in Amman we found a couple of taxis to take us to the mall. The neighborhoods in Amman were much grander than anything I have seen yet-- big Mediterranean-style houses with well groomed yards. The mall is similar to an American mall except the food court is way better. It had a ton of choices for both fast food and sit down dining. There are also more souvenir type shops. So after going to the bathroom - incredibly clean-- there are workers who stay in the bathroom around the clock and make sure every stall is clean before you enter it. Next we ate lunch. Over here the big meal is lunch and you have it around 1 or 2 pm. I like the schedule. People often rest when it is really hot and then everyone is out in the evenings. For lunch I had grilled chicken on pita. It was made in front of my eyes over hot coals. After lunch we were energized for shopping. We probably spent a good 5 hours straight shopping. We mostly bought souvenirs. We finished our shopping with some delicious ice cream. I got pistachio. Arene said it was Arabic ice cream. We found cabs to take us back to the bus station. There were no busses going to Irbid so we found 2 cabs that drove us all the way to Irbid. It was 10 JD for each cab—less than 5 dollars a person. There are police at the bus stations who check every cab leaving the bus station. It all seemed relatively safe although when were trying to find the cabs to drive us home we were again approached by many men speaking Arabic and gesturing with their hands. Kaitlyn just jumped into the fray and started pointing at two cab drivers and saying “YOU TAKE US TO IRBID FOR 10 JD, YES?” Sometimes she really surprises me. So we made it home around midnight. It was really a lot of fun.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Picture update!!
All of us girls organizingand coding the data!
Dr.King working with
the Dean of Education, Dean Yousef Sawalmeh. He was extremely helpful in finalizing our surveys and coordinating the data collection.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Data Collection
Hello Friends!
Today was very exciting for all of us because we finally got to collect some data! We all woke up around 7 a.m. We made our way to Kefah's office around 8 or 8:30 a.m. We had all our questionnaire packets organized and ready to be printed. We went down to the print shop in the basement of the Public Relations building. We created an assembly line where three of us put the questionnaires together (they are several pages each), a very kind man helped straighten the piles out, then finally, one of us stapled the questionnaires together. We put together the questionnaire packets for the women and men, including the open response sections. We did not have the mother's questionnaire packet or either of the Figure Rating Scales ready for today's data collection unfortunately. We will be able to pass out the mother's questionnaire on Sunday. All of the women who agree to participate in our study will be asked to bring home a specfic questionnaire for their mother's to fill out. This will allow us to make generational comparisons.
We got to collect data in four different classrooms. Two of the classes were in the school of arts and two of the classes were in the school of education. We split into two groups while collecting data because we surveyed classrooms that were held at the same time.
It is quite different collecting data in a foreign country. We intentionally smiled at the students and were friendly in order to connect with them across the language barrier. It felt good to get many smiles back. Also, as we thanked the students for thier participation, they seemed just as thankful for the experience. We learned that surveys are not common here. In one of the classrooms, we were told that the students have never filled out a survey for research before.
We celebrated our first day of data collection with a wonderful lunch with Kefah and her nephew. Then we relaxed in our room, and enjoyed our evening with a swim in the women's campus pool and a walk through the city.
The four of us girls are feeling very accomplished as we sit in the living room. We just completed organizing and coding 156 surveys. We are excited to continue our research Sunday morning (Jordan's first business day of the week; tomorrow is the weekend).
We are hoping to head into Amman tomorrow after a good night's sleep!
وداعا,
Ashley, Bonnie, Heidi, and Kaitlyn :)
Today was very exciting for all of us because we finally got to collect some data! We all woke up around 7 a.m. We made our way to Kefah's office around 8 or 8:30 a.m. We had all our questionnaire packets organized and ready to be printed. We went down to the print shop in the basement of the Public Relations building. We created an assembly line where three of us put the questionnaires together (they are several pages each), a very kind man helped straighten the piles out, then finally, one of us stapled the questionnaires together. We put together the questionnaire packets for the women and men, including the open response sections. We did not have the mother's questionnaire packet or either of the Figure Rating Scales ready for today's data collection unfortunately. We will be able to pass out the mother's questionnaire on Sunday. All of the women who agree to participate in our study will be asked to bring home a specfic questionnaire for their mother's to fill out. This will allow us to make generational comparisons.
We got to collect data in four different classrooms. Two of the classes were in the school of arts and two of the classes were in the school of education. We split into two groups while collecting data because we surveyed classrooms that were held at the same time.
It is quite different collecting data in a foreign country. We intentionally smiled at the students and were friendly in order to connect with them across the language barrier. It felt good to get many smiles back. Also, as we thanked the students for thier participation, they seemed just as thankful for the experience. We learned that surveys are not common here. In one of the classrooms, we were told that the students have never filled out a survey for research before.
We celebrated our first day of data collection with a wonderful lunch with Kefah and her nephew. Then we relaxed in our room, and enjoyed our evening with a swim in the women's campus pool and a walk through the city.
The four of us girls are feeling very accomplished as we sit in the living room. We just completed organizing and coding 156 surveys. We are excited to continue our research Sunday morning (Jordan's first business day of the week; tomorrow is the weekend).
We are hoping to head into Amman tomorrow after a good night's sleep!
وداعا,
Ashley, Bonnie, Heidi, and Kaitlyn :)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Beginning to Feel at Home in Irbid
Well this morning was our first time waking up in Irbid, well rested from our travels yesterday to Yarmouk University. The drive was a fascinating three hours, as we witnessed the change in the plant life from brown to green, and shifts in architectural style. At some points along the way we would see Bedouin tents, small family homes, and clusters of towering apartment buildings, all within the same mile. The drive also offered all of us the opportunity to turn to our personal journals to record all of our adventures.
We were all in awe at the size and beauty of Yarmouk University campus. It was unlike any place we had yet seen in Jordan, seeming like a small city in itself. Some of the buildings have large curved staircases up to their main entrance- the library here in particular is a beautiful building. We were amazed at how many students were out walking around campus, and noticed that here it is acceptable for women to wear their hair uncovered if they should choose.
We were received well and were taken out for a nice lunch. Afterwards we met with the president of the university, Dr. Sultan, to discuss the itinerary for our research. It was expressed that Bridgewater State College is like family here, and we were made to feel very welcome. It was exciting to meet Dr. Sultan, and to feel the excitement about our visit. We were also invited to a special dinner for the campus on Monday, and made plans to meet in the morning to create a research schedule.
After our meeting, Kefah, a very important administrator who is helping us here, treated us to ice cream. We went to the most modern and attractive McDonald's I have ever seen!! She has been very nice, not only helping us to coordinate meetings with the right individuals, but also helping us to settle comfortably into our apartment here. When we returned to our flat, we organized the surveys to be well prepared for the morning's appointment- and then we took an evening walk through campus and down the main street here. Everything is open 24 hours on this street, and it is lit up with various shops and restaurants- not to mention the sidewalk vendors! We bought some laundering supplies before heading back for a good night's sleep.
It was a great feeling to wake up this morning knowing that we could really begin serious work on our research. After a hummus breakfast in the campus cafeteria, we had a meeting with Dean Yousef to introduce ourselves and our research. The morning was extremely productive, with the paper copies of our Arabic surveys going through a final edit. We have just received and email with the original files so that we can make our changes in the morning, and print. Almost ready to go!! Tomorrow should be a very exciting day at Yarmouk!! --Bonnie
We were all in awe at the size and beauty of Yarmouk University campus. It was unlike any place we had yet seen in Jordan, seeming like a small city in itself. Some of the buildings have large curved staircases up to their main entrance- the library here in particular is a beautiful building. We were amazed at how many students were out walking around campus, and noticed that here it is acceptable for women to wear their hair uncovered if they should choose.
We were received well and were taken out for a nice lunch. Afterwards we met with the president of the university, Dr. Sultan, to discuss the itinerary for our research. It was expressed that Bridgewater State College is like family here, and we were made to feel very welcome. It was exciting to meet Dr. Sultan, and to feel the excitement about our visit. We were also invited to a special dinner for the campus on Monday, and made plans to meet in the morning to create a research schedule.
After our meeting, Kefah, a very important administrator who is helping us here, treated us to ice cream. We went to the most modern and attractive McDonald's I have ever seen!! She has been very nice, not only helping us to coordinate meetings with the right individuals, but also helping us to settle comfortably into our apartment here. When we returned to our flat, we organized the surveys to be well prepared for the morning's appointment- and then we took an evening walk through campus and down the main street here. Everything is open 24 hours on this street, and it is lit up with various shops and restaurants- not to mention the sidewalk vendors! We bought some laundering supplies before heading back for a good night's sleep.
It was a great feeling to wake up this morning knowing that we could really begin serious work on our research. After a hummus breakfast in the campus cafeteria, we had a meeting with Dean Yousef to introduce ourselves and our research. The morning was extremely productive, with the paper copies of our Arabic surveys going through a final edit. We have just received and email with the original files so that we can make our changes in the morning, and print. Almost ready to go!! Tomorrow should be a very exciting day at Yarmouk!! --Bonnie
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Food is Unreal
I constantly find myself marveling at how scrumptious all of the food here is. I figured since I keep commenting on it and all of the unique flavors I might as well write a blog entry! It's not like only a couple things are good at each meal, everything is good. More than good. Delicious! Or "zakee" (I'm not sure if that's the right spelling so someone Jordanian help me out! I couldn't find it on Google) to be culturally correct. Every day I keep thinking "oh there will be something that's not as good today" but there never is. It is top quality and usually extremely fresh and homemade. Tonight we had the privilege of eating with the family of a Jordanian woman named Rasha who is currently studying at BSC. Her mother is a phenomenal cook and being very hungry from the long day we had and swimming the Dead Sea, I was more than happy to dig in to the numerous dishes in front of us. The abundance of food here is amazing. Usually in the U.S. we'll have one main course and then a few side dishes. Here there are several main courses and many side dishes! It's so hard to decide what to eat the most of because everything is equally as good. I love the use of unusual ingredients to bring out unique flavors. Cinnamon seems to be very popular and was used on the fish at Buthina's house. It was amazing! I never would have thought of putting cinnamon on fish or any kind of meat and I'm not even that big of a fish fan but I had absolutely no problem eating 2 pieces. I noticed cinnamon again on the chicken and rice we had for lunch today. I also love the parsley and mint used in the chopped salads here. I think I could live off of those salads. There are often bits of lemon thrown in that add a great tangy flavor and crunch, not to mention healthiness. During one of our many phenomenal lunches at TTU we enjoyed "zahtar," a blend of ground sesame seeds, powdered sumac, and thyme used for dipping. I couldn't believe how good it was with some olive oil and pita bread. And finally I love the pickles here. I've always been a huge pickle fan and also a fan of anything unusual and with a kick. I'm not exactly sure what they use in the pickling process but I know that it's super yummy and unlike anything I've ever had. They're almost a mix of dill and bread and butter but leaning more toward the dill side. Amazing! I've been so spoiled with the cuisine here I think I'll start expecting high-end restaurant quality meals all the time now!
Mansef, the traditional Jordanian meal and the delicious fruit we had at Buthina's. It's always so fresh and ripe here!
Mansef, the traditional Jordanian meal and the delicious fruit we had at Buthina's. It's always so fresh and ripe here!
Time Flies!
Ashley is definitely right. Our stay is going by sooo quickly! We've already been gone a whole week and I feel like I just got here! There has been so much to do everyday that I definitely feel like we are making the most of our trip. Unfortunately because of the issues with data collection at TTU we will have to move to Yarmouk in the morning. We're definitely all very excited to visit their university and actually begin our research, but it's heartbreaking to have to leave all our new friends so soon! Today was a good way to end our stay in Tafila though. We began our day with lunch with Khalil at the university at 2 (we're still having an issue adjusting to the time change and getting up on time.... well I am at least!). As always the food was delicious. I'm a vegetarian and I greatly appreciate how accomodating everyone has been. In the U.S. it's usually a hassle going out to eat because there are never many, if any vegetarian options, but the people of Tafila have made sure that I never go hungry! After lunch we picked up Rahel and headed to Karak to visit the castle and do some shopping. The castle was gorgeous and we climbed all the way up to highest point! Wafa(I think that's how you spell her name? If not I'm very sorry!) was our guide today and she was extremely protective of us, so we were completely safe while climbing up and down. My favorite event of the day definitely was visiting the Dead Sea. I had been looking forward to this since I found out we were going to Jordan. We got there just as the sun was setting so the water and sky were absolutely beautiful! Getting down to the water from the road was a bit of an adventure but luckily no one fell or was hurt, suprisingly enough since no one was wearing proper footwear for such a hike. The water was nice and warm and the feeling of floating, regardless of whether you wanted to or not, was quite unique! Heidi made the mistake of submerging herself in the water, causing her eyes to burn. Needless to say I made sure I kept my head above water for the remainder of our swim. We ended our day with an amazing dinner at the home of Rasha's family. We met Rasha back in the U.S. and she graciously offered for us to visit her home during our stay. It's too bad that she wasn't able to be there as well, we all greatly enjoyed spending time with her. Her family was extremely welcoming and prepared quite a feast for us! I was going to describe my favorite food but I can't even decide since they were all so delicious! Khalil also came to the dinner which pleased us all. I think we all agree we're going to miss him while we're in Yarmouk! He has been so helpful, making sure we had everything and anything we could possibly need as quickly as possible. He's definitely a large part of the reason we have felt so welcome in Jordan! Well I suppose I should go start packing and head to bed! Less than 8 hours till moving time!
Hospitality
It is amazing how many places we have visited in the short time we have been here. I think these three weeks are going to go by very quickly. I think my favorite thing about Jordan is the people. Everyone we have met or come in contact with has been so friendly, so accomodating, and so helpful. My second favorite thing about Jordan is the landscape. I never imagined a place so beautiful. I've never been to the desert before and had not expected as many plants and such a rolling landscape. One moment you are at a very low altitude looking up at all of Jordan's beauty, and then before you know it, you are looking straight down at where you had been. My camera had a horrible accident yesterday and is now broken, but I did get to save the pictures that I had taken. Heidi posted some pictures already of the landscape, so I thought I would show you all what our rooms look like at TTU
I really like staying here. I feel very safe and very comfortable. Everyone at TTU has been so helpful. They even went out of thier way to make sure we had internet as soon as possible. This has been an amazing adventure so far!
with love,
Ashley
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Jordan is Beautiful
We've done so many amazing things and met so many cool people I don't even know where to start! They've been keeping us very busy every day so it's hard to find time to connect with loved ones back home while also uploading pictures and writing in our journals. For some reason I can't upload large numbers of pictures to Facebook (Dr. King is having the same problem but Ashley and Kaitlyn are not and Bonnie doesn't have Facebook) so I have to use the simple uploader which can only upload 5 at a time and takes quite a while here. Yet I'm slowly but surely getting them on.
So far we've been treated with the utmost respect and practically waited on for everything. We've enjoyed much delicious food and the good company of many men and finally some women yesterday at Buthina's. I really enjoyed our visit yesterday and find her family extremely friendly and honest. Her nieces and nephews are very beautiful; they have such big brown eyes and long eyelashes!
I hope we get to spend some more time with them. A couple of us made a little mishap that we had actually read about but forgotten. In Jordanian culture, when a guest admires a specific item in a host's home the host is obliged to give it to the guest and if they do not it reflects badly on them. I told them that I loved the 3 wooden elephant statues sitting on a ledge in their home, and Buthina promptly said "if you like them you can take them" to which I responded with several adamant "no's."
She didn't speak of it again because I think she thought that I wouldn't have known (even though I did and realized my mistake immediately afterwards!) and it didn't seem like anyone else had noticed. Later in the night we all complimented her beautiful sandals as well and she again offered them up. It's so hard t0 remember not to compliment things when I'm so used to always speaking up when I like someone's clothing or possessions. I make it a point to do that since I love it when people do it to me. But this is just one of the many customs that show how generous and selfless their culture is. As Dr. King mentioned we all donned headscarves for a while and each of us was given an Arabic name by Buthina's mother. Mine is Ammerr, meaning moon. I believe she thought my blue eyes looked like moons. I'm very happy with it because I've always felt an affinity for the sky and love nighttime. Also the moon and star is the Islamic holy symbol so I feel very honored. I asked her brother Tarek if he could write it in Arabic and he did along with my real name. I was pumped! It was definitely a well-spent day.
Every day has been so eventful and fun that it would probably take a book to explain everything here. In a nutshell we've been to a couple restaurants all with delicious food and good people (even when we eat at TTU it seems like we're in a restaurant because the food is so good), witnessed the ceremony Dr. King blogged about, visited the guest house and gift shop of the Dana wildlife reserve, obviously visited with Buthina's family, and today we went to a stunning hot spring bath called Affra and were able to soak in privacy and so were able to wear bathing suits which felt great! It was definitely a bit hot for me and took some getting used to but it felt good to get wet on such a hot day and the water's healing properties have definitely helped some skin things I have. After the baths we went to a very special waterfall and ate some luscious watermelon. It was perfect after the hot sun and hot baths. We got the impression that it was not a place tourists would know about. And finally after that we were graciously hosted by a bedouin family and were allowed to take many photos of and with their goats, sheep, camels, and horses and I got the privilege of riding a horse. Afterwards we enjoyed some tasty homemade bread dipped in fresh goat milk. I am loving the food here SO much! So basically I could go on and on and on about the above events but in the interest of time and saving you readers some verbose blog entries, I'll quit while I'm (hopefully!) ahead. They say a picture is worth a thousand words anyway so here's a few. The first one is at the ceremony, the second is the view from the Dana guest house, the third is the hot springs and the fourth is a camel at the bedouin camp.
Ala-kayre (good night) குட் நைட்,
Heidi
So far we've been treated with the utmost respect and practically waited on for everything. We've enjoyed much delicious food and the good company of many men and finally some women yesterday at Buthina's. I really enjoyed our visit yesterday and find her family extremely friendly and honest. Her nieces and nephews are very beautiful; they have such big brown eyes and long eyelashes!
Every day has been so eventful and fun that it would probably take a book to explain everything here. In a nutshell we've been to a couple restaurants all with delicious food and good people (even when we eat at TTU it seems like we're in a restaurant because the food is so good), witnessed the ceremony Dr. King blogged about, visited the guest house and gift shop of the Dana wildlife reserve, obviously visited with Buthina's family, and today we went to a stunning hot spring bath called Affra and were able to soak in privacy and so were able to wear bathing suits which felt great! It was definitely a bit hot for me and took some getting used to but it felt good to get wet on such a hot day and the water's healing properties have definitely helped some skin things I have. After the baths we went to a very special waterfall and ate some luscious watermelon. It was perfect after the hot sun and hot baths. We got the impression that it was not a place tourists would know about. And finally after that we were graciously hosted by a bedouin family and were allowed to take many photos of and with their goats, sheep, camels, and horses and I got the privilege of riding a horse. Afterwards we enjoyed some tasty homemade bread dipped in fresh goat milk. I am loving the food here SO much! So basically I could go on and on and on about the above events but in the interest of time and saving you readers some verbose blog entries, I'll quit while I'm (hopefully!) ahead. They say a picture is worth a thousand words anyway so here's a few. The first one is at the ceremony, the second is the view from the Dana guest house, the third is the hot springs and the fourth is a camel at the bedouin camp.
Ala-kayre (good night) குட் நைட்,
Heidi
Visit with Buthina's Family
Yesterday we spent the day with Buthina’s lovely family. It was very relaxing. We arrived about 2 pm and first admired her family’s lovely home. The building that contains the home is on a busy street in Tefila but you would never know it as the back of the building where the family has their home has a beautiful view of the mountains. You can see all the way to the Dead Sea. The patio area is multi-level with beautiful plants, a terrace with grape vines, benches, and even some chickens. Cats also can be spotted roaming about. Children were flying kites a little farther off in an olive tree grove. Once we had a chance to take some of this in, we sat in the living room and met Buthina’s family members. Her mother is an incredible woman who emanates strength, wisdom, and grace. Buthina has eight sisters, two brothers, and 24 nieces and nephews. The women wear head scarves in public but the dress in the home is much more casual. We drank some tea during the introductions. Next we had a tremendous meal. Similar to the mansef there was a huge platter filled with rice, chicken, cauliflower, and almonds. There was also a pan full of delicious fish in a tomato sauce, yogurt, pita bread, stuffed grape leaves, pickles, and a cucumber tomato salad. They loved to continuously fill our plates. After lunch we had coffee and talked more and then came a huge assortment of fruit including some of the best tasting watermelon I have had in a long time. Next we moved outside on the patio. We saw more of the garden, played a clapping game, drank tea, and talked more. Buthina asked if we would each like to experience wearing a head scarf and we readily agreed (photo below). We took lots of photos and then went in to show Buthina’s mother and brother Tarek. Tarek and his mother came up with Arabic names for us. My name was Ameera. It means princess. Tarek also wrote the student’s names in Arabic for them. After that we sat and talked more and ate more fruit. Towards the end of the evening Buthina’s mother wanted to talk politics with us. She asked me my opinion of George W. Bush, Barack O’Bama, and the war in Iraq. We shared very similar views on Bush. It was clear she was very interested in my views on political issues like how come Bush was elected two times. There was a lot of laughter as we tried to improve our Arabic and they tried to improve their English. Needless to say their English was much better than our Arabic. We ended our visit around 10 pm. Upon leaving we gave kisses Arabic style -- one kiss on one cheek and two kisses on the other cheek. During the visit I also had a chance to talk on the phone with Jabbar back in the states. He is really working hard to ensure that we are able to complete our research. Shukran Jabbar!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
We are here!
We have arrived safely in Tafila. For the first couple of days I did not have internet access in my room so it has taken me a while to post a blog. The weather has been great – bright and hot during the day and cool at night. As I am typing this in my quarters at Tafila Technical University (TTU) a light breeze is wafting through my open window carrying with it some amazing Arabic music. There are also sporadic bursts of fireworks. The last two days have been quite eventful. Today we went to a ceremony where we witnessed several traditional dances all performed by men donning knives and swords. The dance performances were accompanied by music produced by musicians playing traditional instruments. After the ceremony we were invited to a lunch where we ate mansef with our hands. Mansef is made primarily of rice and meat. A yogurt-based soup is poured over it so that you can glom the rice into balls in your hand and then push it into your mouth with your thumb. The meat is sheep and you just basically pull it off the bones with your fingers. It was quite delicious and a fun experience. Next we were taken to the Dana Wildlife Preserve. It is a beautiful place with a very deep canyon or gorge. The landscape here is really something. There are dramatic changes in elevation here that make driving here like riding a roller coaster which is okay because I like riding on roller coasters. Oh and did I mention the beautiful sunsets? Just incredible. The people are very gracious and welcoming. I cannot tell you how many times I heard “Welcome to Jordan” today. It really does feel as if you are in another world though. Almost all of the women wear headscarves and we have little interaction with them. For example, there was only one woman at the ceremony. Everywhere we go we are accompanied by men and served by men. I haven’t seen any women working outside of the university.
The only disappointment thus far has been the data collection. The president of TTU changed his mind about letting us collect data from the students. We are still planning on collecting data at Yarmouk University and we may be able to obtain a community sample here in Tafilah. Even though we have yet to conduct any research the students and I are certainly broadening our horizons.
The only disappointment thus far has been the data collection. The president of TTU changed his mind about letting us collect data from the students. We are still planning on collecting data at Yarmouk University and we may be able to obtain a community sample here in Tafilah. Even though we have yet to conduct any research the students and I are certainly broadening our horizons.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
We're leaving tomorrow!!
Hey guys,
I just wanted to express my excitement at the fact that we're finally going! It seems like it's been a long time coming and we're actually taking off for Amman tomorrow night at 9:30. I'm in the process of packing everything right now and I still have a few last-minute things to figure out but I'm feeling pretty good. I definitely feel ready--at least as ready as I'll ever be! A lot of work has gone into preparing for this trip and now it will finally all pay off. Not that there won't be plenty more to do once we come home... But anyway the next time you hear from me I'll be in Jordan!
Ma assalaameh (good bye),
Heidi
I just wanted to express my excitement at the fact that we're finally going! It seems like it's been a long time coming and we're actually taking off for Amman tomorrow night at 9:30. I'm in the process of packing everything right now and I still have a few last-minute things to figure out but I'm feeling pretty good. I definitely feel ready--at least as ready as I'll ever be! A lot of work has gone into preparing for this trip and now it will finally all pay off. Not that there won't be plenty more to do once we come home... But anyway the next time you hear from me I'll be in Jordan!
Ma assalaameh (good bye),
Heidi
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