Dateline: Amman
The English language Jordan Times is delivered to our apartment six days a week.  To avail of home delivery we had to pay JD 100 ($140) in cash for a year – in advance.  Without fail it is in our paper box each morning – all 16 pages.  It contains an abundance of Middle East news as well as world news and two pages of editorials.  There are very few ads.  Last week there was even a picture of the heavy snowstorm in my hometown of Buffalo.  The Royal Family is very active in national and international affairs and many days there is at least one picture of King Abdullah or Queen Rania on page one above the fold.  I have never seen a picture of Queen Rania with a hajib (head scarf). 

Picture of King Abdullah near Rainbow Street

(click on pictures to enlarge them)

Some of the topics that we have been following with interest include:
Festive firing: As of October 30, the Public Security Department reported that 3 people have been killed and 41 injured so far this year as a result of festive firing.  One of those injured was an anti-festive firing advocate, who was hit by a stray bullet in September.  His campaign, called “Do Not Kill My Happiness” attempts to raise awareness of the dangers related to shooting during celebrations.  Festive shootings involve firing into the air during weddings and other celebrations.  Seems to me that firecrackers would be safer.

Old Woman in Souk (Market)

Population information: Another topic of interest to me is population and health statistics.  We have read that 70% of Jordanians are under 30 years of age and that those over age 60 account for only 5.2% of the population.  Probably it is a good thing that there are so few elders here as The Global Age Watch index of 96 countries ranks Jordan as one of the 10 worst places to grow old.  They share the bottom 10 places with Zambia, Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Malawi. The good news is that the press is free to report this type of news.

 

 

Old Man

 



 Old Man Drinking Tea

Traffic Accidents: In the column called “at a glance” there are frequently small items about traffic accidents.  Headlines such as ’10 injured in Zarqa road accident’, ‘18 injured in traffic accident’, ‘ two people die, three injured in traffic accident’, and our all-time favorite ‘725 accidents reported in Irbid last week’.  This last item went on to inform that these accidents “resulted in 17 deaths and 657 injuries”.  Irbid governorate (like a county) is about a million population.  The Public Security Department reported that more than 142,000 traffic accidents took place in the Kingdom last year, resulting in 694 fatalities”.  This actually was a better year than the average as there were 7,869 people killed in traffic accidents over the last decade, which would be an average of 787 per year.  To put it in perspective, Massachusetts has about the same population and in 2012 there were 349 traffic fatalities.  Even more notable is that Jordan is a country where alcohol is not commonly consumed so presumably most accidents did not involve drunk driving.

 

Car Parts Outside an Insurance Company Office Building: Is this their idea of street art?

Stop Signs are Merely a Suggestion

The University of Jordan: There have been a number of articles about student protests against tuition increases.  The increases only applied to newly admitted students.  After the increase, Masters program credits are between JD 150 to 230 ($211 to $324) and PhD credits cost JD 180 to 250 ($254 to $352).  Undergraduate tuition is JD 1,128 ($1590) per year.  University officials say that there is a 27% deficit in the budget.  On a more positive note, according to the QS World University Ranking  UJ is only 8 points away from breaking into the top 500 universities in the world.  UJ professors have published around 840 scientific papers over the past academic year.  The article noted that the university “awards professors and instructors who conduct [and publish] research financial incentives”.  According to my colleagues in the Faculty of Nursing, the author of a research study published in a specific list of journals (the ISI list) receives JD 700 ($1000).

Women’s Issues: The government recently announced that the children of Jordanian women married to foreigners would be given new privileges.  However, the Prime Minister also indicated that citizenship for the offspring was out of the question, “now or in the future”.  While women are not allowed to pass on their citizenship to spouses and children, men who marry foreign women can do so.  The new privileges include free high school education if the mother has resided in Jordan for 5 years.  If the offspring have a residency permit they will be allowed to obtain a driver’s license for passenger cars. 

Women’s Issues 2: The secular legal age for marriage for both male and female is 18.  However, Sharia (religious) judges have the discretion to allow girls younger than 18 to marry with the consent of the father.  As a result, 13% of marriages involve a girl younger than 18.

Street Litter

Littering: In the first nine months of this year, the Greater Amman Municipality reported almost 52,000 litter violations.  Most of these were for throwing trash from vehicles.  The municipality has ten camera equipped cars that roam the streets recording littering from cars.  These photos are transmitted to the Traffic Department.  Littering is punishable by a JD 20 ($28) fine.  From our observation, they have a long way to go to improve the litter situation.

Princess Muna: Princess Muna is the mother of the current king, Abdullah.  Recently she received the President’s Special Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for her lifetime support of nursing.  On a personal note, recently I was introduced to her when she attended a meeting at the university.  We chatted for a few minutes about Sigma Theta Tau International, the honor society for nursing and the class that I am teaching this semester.  I have never met a princess before.

Some Trivia: The most common name for boys in 2013 was Mohammad, with almost 11,000 baby boys given that name.  Mohammad is believed to be the most common name in the world, with an estimated 150 million men and boys bearing that name.

So, you can see that our JD 100 investment has been worthwhile.  But I have to say, I am looking forward to the first Sunday that we are back in New England and I can sit out on the deck with the Boston Globe – the magazine section, travel, arts, book reviews….