As our time here in Jordan grows short, my thoughts are frequently of Boston and Maine, and Curry College and the position that I will begin next month. I have been assured by my friends in Boston that the snow is really gone so I have booked our tickets. It is also a time for reflection on the experience of being a Fulbright Scholar in Jordan and the many experiences that Ed and I have had since we arrived last August. In about ten days we will go to Austria for a two week vacation, then back to Amman for ten days before we leave for home.
My two research projects are well under way. Although they may not be completed before I
leave, the ease of communication will make data analysis and manuscript writing
no different than if I was working with a colleague across campus. I am particularly interested in the results
of the qualitative study on men in nursing.
While it is not replicating my dissertation work on men in nursing, my
US study has informed our questions.
Jordan is unique in that male nurses comprise a very significant
percentage of all nurses.
A few weeks ago I attended the two day Jordanian Nursing Council’s
biennial conference in Amman. As is usual
at nursing events, Princess Muna gave opening remarks. At the morning coffee break, I headed out to
join the crowds gathering at the tables loaded with trays of sweets (no fruit
trays here). A middle-aged man beckoned
to me to follow him. Me? Really? He nodded yes and started to push through the
crowd. I followed. The next thing I knew, I was in a private
reception with the Princess and nursing leaders and the featured speakers. Since everyone was snapping pictures with
Princess Muna, I whipped out my tablet and handed it to someone. Of course the picture isn’t up to Ed’s
quality standards, but it is not likely that I will be meeting many more royals,
so here it is.
With Her Royal Highness Princess Muna
The combination of only women in the professional writing class and the
individual consultation with students regarding their writing has resulted in
more opportunities to get to know the students as people, not just
students. Three of them are in the
military (two majors and one colonel). I
have been shown cell phone photos of children and husbands. Two of them have shown me a picture of
themselves without their hijab. I would
never recognize them if they took off their scarf. Both have long beautiful hair. I don’t think that I will ever really
understand wearing the long coat dresses and completely hidden hair, especially
when the queen does not even cover her hair with a loose scarf.
We have made a few excursions to minor tourist sites in Amman. In particular the Royal Automobile Museum in
King Hussein Park was interesting. Established
by King Abdullah after the death of his father, it contains many vehicles with
a royal connection. King Hussein was
crazy about motorcycles and fast cars. In
addition to the vehicles, there are excellent descriptions of historic
occasions where they were used.
Amman from the Citadel
The Fulbright Ladies (a scholar, a scholar’s wife and me) have enjoyed
a few visits to hammams (Turkish baths), although I had to curtail my visits
for a couple months due to a cracked rib. I didn’t think that the vigorous
scrubbing and massage was conducive to healing.
These outings are a pure delight.
They include time in a whirlpool and in a steam room where we are served
delicious pomegranate juice. Sometimes
we have a full body treatment with Dead Sea salt or a facial with Dead Sea mud
and of course the scrubbing that leaves you tingling. The massage uses fragrant oils. Then some relaxing with mint tea and we float
off to lunch. Pure luxury. We plan one more outing before we leave
(Insha’Allah).
Next week the Fulbright Commission will have a good-bye dinner for the
scholars, doctoral students, and English teaching assistants. While we have had some pot-lucks at one of
the scholar’s apartments, this will be a formal dinner and will include the
staff of the Fulbright House. They have
taken good care of us and we are grateful for their support and concern. A few days after the dinner, Alain, the head
of the Fulbright Commission in Jordan, will be heading off to Washington to
meet the next group of Fulbrighters at the pre-departure orientation. And the process of educational exchange
continues.
The Promised Land from Mount Nebo
As we prepare to leave there are some things that I wonder about:
- Will Jordanians ever stop throwing trash?
- Will Jordanians ever actually obey traffic laws?
- Will any of my University of Jordan colleagues
come to Boston? Perhaps as
Fulbright Scholars to a US university.
- Will I lose the five+ pounds that I gained
drinking mint tea loaded with sugar and eating k’naffy (shredded wheat,
filled with goat’s cheese and covered in honey), barazik (thin sesame
cookies) and other Jordanian sweets?
- Will I miss being called Dr. Susan?
And here are a few more news flashes from the English language Jordan
Times:
·
In a survey conducted by Yale University Council on Middle East
Studies, 60 to 90% of Jordanian respondents rated wasta (using personal and
family connections) as essential for obtaining a government job. (April 21,
2015)
·
Jordanians spend JD 508 million ($716.3 million) on tobacco annually. The number of male smokers aged 13 to 15 decreased
from 17.4% to 17.3%, but exposure to passive smoke in public places has
increased from 53.6% to 65.4%. (It did not give the years that were being
compared.) This is in a country of 6.5
million people with about one third aged 15 and under. (April 17-18, 2015)
·
Issues related to food safety continue to make the news.
o
April 30: 1.5 tonnes of expired snack food destroyed by Zarqa
municipality staff (a tonne is 2200 pounds)
o
April 22: Five tonnes of watermelon destroyed for not meeting standards
– white inside and not ripe
o
April 22: Guest worker caught selling kebab made out of discarded
chicken leftovers. He confessed to
selling 30 sandwiches a day, but they were cheap, only JD .5 (70
cents). The chicken scraps were
collected from dumpsters and meat stores.
o
April 20:
Zarqa bakery caught reusing stale bread to make new loaves. An official noted that violations in bakeries
are quite common in Zarqa (about 15 miles east of Amman). They also destroyed “hundreds of tonnes of
food items that were found unfit for human consumption in 2014”.
We
are looking forward to bacon and eggs (pork is not available here except in a
couple places and then very expensive), selecting a bottle of wine from Ed’s
wine cellar for dinner, seeing the ocean, and of course seeing our
friends. Oh yes, and opening 10 months
of mail, including our Christmas cards. Our
conversations frequently turn to where we will have our first restaurant meal. Should it be bacon and eggs at Becky’s in
Portland, a ham sandwich at the Big Top in Brunswick, or Chinese at the
Yenching in Harvard Square? I have
already made a date with my buddy from Curry for a meal at Takara in
Canton.
Watch for Camels on the Road
We Don't Expect to See Any Camels in Maine
We
will put away our well-thumbed Rough Guide to Jordan, and return to our
Boston and Maine life. Thank you for
reading our blog and for your emails.
You helped us to feel connected while we have been so far away.
