Day #1 Amman, Jordan

Day #1-12/19:

I arrived later in the morning at the Business & Professional Women’s Association-Amman, which is a USAid funded organization. The Executive Director, Mrs. Tharwat Jaber, was very gracious, and we went over some projects that I could assist them with, working on proposals for more funding for them, being a native English speaker, as the proposals for funding being written by a native English speaker may assist them, and also conducting presentations for the underprivileged youth, in how to start a social enterprise, in using social media to promote your business, and in grassroots organizing as potential topics. There would be a language barrier I was told, so working through the translation process would be key to be able to provide these to the youth. I found out also, that the next morning day #2, Mrs. Jaber setup an appointment for me to meet with the team at the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship, to discuss with them some projects to promote social enterprises. I left the BPWA office early as I received a phone call from the assistant to the Director of the Ahilyyah School for Girls, and member of the Jordanian Parliament, inviting me to the school’s yearly Christmas luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel. I will be speaking to the 12^th graders at the Ahilyyah school on Thursday 12/22, so it was a very gracious gesture for Mrs. Najjar to invite me to this luncheon which I attended with my roommate, Rasha, who first introduced me to Mrs. Najjar. There was Arabic singing (I love Arabic music, its so pretty to me), and the teachers of the school got up to dance traditional Arabic dances. I am so touched by the warm culture of the Jordanian people. To extend an invite to me, someone who Mrs. Najjar had just been introduced to, not that long ago, at the hospitality that the Jordanian people show, I think America could learn something about hospitality from the Jordanian culture. Everything is centered around how someone can assist someone else or a guest, or in accommodating others. I was not expecting this, and found this overwhelmingly refreshing. I believe I will miss the warmness of the Jordanian people, and the hospitality that is always exuded. Even visiting family members homes with Rasha, my roommate, I was invited to parties, and get-togethers, and invited out to events, or to dance an Arabic dance at the Girls School Christmas party. Much consideration is shown to others, as a foundation culturally, in which you can’t help but be warmed by, and in having a renewed sense of hope about the world.

The culture makes you feel like everyone somehow knows each other, even in a city with 2 million people, because of the relationships and interaction among people, which is very friendly. We passed by the Jordanian CIA, and the American Embassy today, which takes up 4 blocks, and is fenced, and has armored guards with trucks with machine guns surrounding the whole building. I was enamered with the extent of security around the building and even signs while driving by stated that no photos were allowed of the Embassy. America has a very strong presence in Amman I could see, even with just our Embassy. It even scared me a little to think of having to approach the Embassy for any needs, its very intimidating the way it appears, with armored vehicles and guards with automatic weapons. I would include a picture if I could have taken one. If someone says things about the King, they could be taken to the Jordanian CIA headquarters and questioned, so as we passed the headquarters, our voices were very low. Upon driving into the Four Seasons Hotel, before being allowed to proceed to the hotel entrance and parking, steel tire stoppers were inserted in front of us to block our car, while guards searched Rasha’s car for any bombs in the trunk, and after we were checked only then were we allowed to pass through the gate and the steel stopper was removed. This is when the surrealness of security hit me. I have never been in a car, where it was searched for a bomb before. I had to really comprehend this for a few minutes, as this is something we take for granted in America I believe, as we don’t take these precautions, but in the Middle East, they have to. Especially after the well publicized bomb explosion at a Jordanian hotel a few years ago. We aren’t in Kansas anymore Dorothy…. I learned in speaking with one of Rasha’s relatives, who works for an NGO, that assists prostitutes who are sometimes trafficked, mainly Iraqi, that these women are forced, and threatened to prostitute themselves, and even though it is reported that the Middle East doesn’t have a trafficking problem, it seems that much of it goes undetected or even underreported, because her organization searches these women out, and they find many, and then try to educate them, assist them, and provide them with vocational training to get them out of the situations, while also working with their pimps or madams. I was very intrigued by our conversation and really wanted to see how I could help with this problem too while I was here, perhaps in training the women in sewing skills, as a tool and mechanism to keep them earning a living and out of continued prostitution if they are able to get out.