News from Jordan

The Jordan Times continues to provide us with interesting reading and the opportunity to learn more about the country.  Here are a few topics that we have been following.

Smoking: Smoking is frequently in the news, with a typical headline such as “Smoking still a common sight in public areas despite ban”.  I can attest to that.  Even the secretary to the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing smokes at her desk.  Another headline: “Fight against smoking to take centre stage in 2015 – Princess Dina”.  Princess Dina is the director general of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and a strong supporter of anti-smoking campaigns. 

A Typical Sight 

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all pictures taken by Ed Quigley

Under a law passed in 2008, smoking is prohibited in “hospitals, healthcare centers, schools, cinemas, theaters, libraries, museums, public and non-governmental buildings, public transport vehicles, closed playgrounds, lecture halls and any other location to be determined by the health minister”.  Punishment is between one week and one month imprisonment or a JD 15 to 25 ($21 to $35) fine.  In January the Health Ministry proposed increasing the fine to JD 100 ($140).  But in spite of all the restrictions, Jordanians spend JD 500 million ($705 million) on tobacco each year.  Considering cigarettes sell for around $2.50 a pack for Marlboros (and significantly less for local brands), that is a lot of smoking.  Although I have seen a variety of statistics regarding the percent of the population who smoke, a WHO report in 2013 indicates that 50% of men smoke.  Other reports put the number of male smokers at 55%.  Women are typically reported to be about 8 to 10%.  There is also a perception that smoking the argileh (water pipe) is less harmful.  According to the President of the Jordan National Anti-Smoking Society, smoking a single argileh is equal to smoking 15 to 40 cigarettes.  

Women Smoking the Argileh

This picture was taken in Jerash after dinner.  We watched the women come from one of the houses with the argileh, and settle in for a chat and a smoke.

Smoking in cafes is also coming under attack, but one manager of a café that serves argileh told the Jordan Times reporter that “it makes no sense to create a designated area for nonsmokers as the majority of his customers are smokers”.  A restaurant worker said that “you see the no smoking signs everywhere…but nobody cares”.  How right that is.  I have been in a taxi with three no smoking signs, and of course the driver is….smoking.

Woman Smoking the Argileh at a Cafe on Rainbow Street

Enforcement of the smoking is certainly spotty.  In 2014 the Ministry of Health issued “110 tickets and 296 warnings to restaurants, fast-food outlets, shopping malls, hotels, and individuals for violating the smoking ban in public places”.  One person could do that in a week!

Note the Argelih on the Sign

Cigarette smuggling to evade paying the taxes is also an issue.  In December the Customs Department found 152,000 cartons of cigarettes in shipping containers from China.  In November, 147,150 cartons were intercepted, again in containers at the Aqaba Port.  Last May, nine container trucks from Dubai were intercepted, in what was described as “one of the largest smuggling attempts in the history of the Jordan Customs Department”. 

 Smoking Shepherd

Water: Another frequent topic is water theft.  In one of the driest countries in the world, illegal wells and illegal taps into water mains is a common problem.  In one month authorities “dismantled 408 illegal fixtures on water mains and pipes across the Kingdom”.  In the same month, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation also “sealed 26 illegal wells and confiscated 30 drilling rigs”.  They conclude that water theft in Jordan “constitutes 70% of water loss”.  Most of the stolen water is diverted to crops and livestock, often in the Jordan Valley where most of the farming occurs.  In January USAID signed an agreement to provide $30 million to assist in limiting water loss and theft.  Since 2000, the US has provided $700 million to Jordan to improve the water situation.

Medical Tourism: The Private Hospitals Association reported that 250,000 patients came from abroad for treatment in 2014.  In Amman there are 9 hospitals that are accredited by the Joint Commission International (the international arm of the same organization that accredits hospitals in the US).  They estimate that each patient is accompanied by two people and that total revenue from medical tourism is JD 1 billion ($1.4 billion) when medical procedures, accommodations, transportation and other expenses are added in.

Drug Smuggling: There are frequent accounts of the seizure of Captagon pills.  I had never heard of Captagon.  A quick internet search told me why. Captagon is the trademark name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline, which was first produced in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression.  It was banned in most countries by the 1980s as too addictive.  It is almost exclusively used in the Middle East.  In the year from May 2013 to May 2014 the Anti-Narcotics Department in Jordan seized almost 2.5million Captagon pills.  In a two week period in November 2014 they seized 1.13 million Captagon pills.  The incentive to be involved in this elicit trade is high.  In the rich Gulf countries a pill has a street value of JD 7 ($10), while in Jordan it is only worth about JD 1 ($1.40).  Other drug seizures in the 12 month period included 664 kg of hashish, 6719 kg of marijuana, 331 kg of cocaine, 219 kg of heroin, and 24 kg of opium. (1 kilo equals 2.2 pounds.) A total of almost 11,000 people were arrested on drug charges. 

Article 308: Article 308 of the Penal Code states that rapists are spared from punishment or legal prosecution if they marry the victims and stay with them for five years.  HRH Princess Basma says it is the “role of the media to build a unified stand against Article 308 and to raise the level of debate to make it a public opinion issue”.  Egypt and Morocco have both cancelled similar laws in the last few years.  It would be interesting to know if there are other countries that still have similar laws. I have not been able to find any statistics as to how often this occurs.  Hopefully it will not be long until this law is reversed.

And a little trivia: There are 119,000 engineers in Jordan.  This equates to 1 in every 65 Jordanians.  But if you only consider adults, it equates to 1 in 35.  Not surprisingly, there is unemployment among engineers.  Women are well represented in the field, constituting 25% of the total number.

So that’s the news for today.

Traveling in Greece and Cyprus

Our final exam was administered and graded, our course grades were submitted and my syllabus for the next semester (Professional Writing for the doctoral students) was almost finished. We were packed and ready to go for a three week holiday in Greece and Cyprus. But a major winter storm was coming to Jordan. The government announced that schools would close; the all-important Tawjihi (national exams) would be cancelled. Banks and government offices would be closed. It snowed in Amman. There must have been three inches of slush. Looking out our front window, the usually busy street was deserted. The newspaper was not published (or at least it was not delivered). And…our flight to Greece was cancelled. So Ed spent the day rebooking our hotel room in Athens and changing the date for the rental car, and I drank tea and grumbled.

But on Friday January 9th we got on the big bird and flew to Athens. Our first stop after we picked up the rental car was a huge electronics store where we bought a GPS. It costs less to buy one than the rental company wanted to charge to use one. It has the maps for both Greece and Cyprus.

Athens was great. Although it is a city of 3.8 million, it does not feel crowded. An excellent subway system and good bus service (and high taxes on cars and very expensive gas [over $6 per gallon]) helps to eliminate much of the traffic. Also, motorcycles are popular and drivers seem to think that the rules apply to them and driving at a moderate speed is normal. We thoroughly enjoyed being away from the traffic chaos of Amman. The hop on/hop off bus got us to the sights and we wandered the Plaka neighborhood with its small cafes and bars. The food was excellent and having a bottle of good wine with a meal felt like pure luxury.

Fish Market in Athens

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Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

After a few days we headed off into the countryside, first to Delphi where we consulted the Oracle. Then into the middle of the country.  While most people that I know who have been to Greece, rave about the islands, we had decided that we would skip them this time as winter storms and reduced schedules might make it difficult to visit the islands.  As it turned out, we had beautiful weather, with only one partial day of rain.  However, inland Greece did not disappoint.  We spent a whole day visiting the monasteries of Meteora.  They were built on the top of rock pinnacles in the 14^th century.  Today six are still in use; two of those are occupied by nuns.  They are in beautiful repair and offer stunning views of the countryside.

Monastery in Meteora

Two of the Meteora Monasteries

Another Monastery

While the mountains in Greece were beautiful, it was the coastal towns and cities that were special.  We took the ferry to Corfu, mostly for the fun of being on a boat.  Fresh shrimp at a small restaurant right on the harbor in a fishing village – what could be better than this?  We arrived in Patras on the first night of a month long carnival.  It seemed as if everyone in this small city was wandering the pedestrian street or sitting in a café watching the world go by.  The cog railroad up a narrow gorge in the northern Peloponnese was fun too.

Greek Village

Greece

Then on to Cyprus for ten days.  Cyprus is still divided into the North (Turkish) part and the South (Greek) part.  Travel between the two sectors is not difficult; finding the location of the checkpoint can be difficult.  In Nicosia (also called Lefkosia, Lefkosa) there is a pedestrian only crossing.  We were only about one block away when I inquired about the location from a shopkeeper.  She pretended not to know what I was talking about.  It is clear that it will not be a united island any time soon.

Turkish and Turkish Cypriot Flags

A (very) little bit of history.  The problems in Cyprus go way back, and there are many sides to the story.  Post World War II the Greek majority on the island promoted the concept of enosis, or unification with Greece. This movement was also linked to an anti-colonial movement to rid the island of British rule.  In 1960 the Republic of Cyprus was born.  The British maintained two sovereign bases on the island (and continue to do so).  The two communities never really were united and by the mid-1960s the UN was involved in an attempt to keep the peace between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot factions.  In 1974 there was a coup and what is referred to (by some) as a Turkish invasion.  Today the two portions of the island are divided by the Attila Line (also known as the Green Line) and the demilitarized zone is patrolled by the UN.  Talking to people on either side, we had the feeling that the events of 1974 are still clearly influencing their thoughts.  Today, Cyprus (the South or Greek part) belongs to the European Union and uses the Euro as their currency while the Turkish portion uses the Turkish lira.  The Turkish portion is not recognized by any country other than Turkey.

The South has a heavy British and Russian tourist influence, although with the Russian economy, they are likely to see less Russians this year.  In Pafos there are many signs for full English breakfast and there are pubs galore with cider on tap.  It would seem that with the mild weather January would be an ideal time for the British to be in Cyprus, but we repeatedly heard that January is a slow month, tourism picks up around Easter.  While some areas are overbuilt with vacation homes and apartment hotels, inland is either mountainous or agricultural.  Driving through the Troodos Mountains on a Sunday afternoon, we were surprised to find crowds, even tour buses, because they had snow at the elevation.  It was clear that the snow was a novelty.  On the Turkish side of the island, we really enjoyed the ancient city of Famagusta (also called Gazimagusa; no wonder our GPS was struggling to find itself at times).  One of my favorite buildings there was a church, built around 1300, that was converted into a mosque – in the early 1500s.

Church that Became a Mosque

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  Meteora won as the most interesting place that we visited, and the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Napfoli took the prize for nicest hotel and best breakfast.  The view looking over the harbor from our balcony on a sunny mild January day was, as they say in the Master Card ads, “priceless”.

So now we are back in Amman and another semester has begun. 

Lighthouse in Cyprus