The Islamic Future

Friday morning I left for spring break along with my friend Amanda. We were flying Gulf Air from Amman to Dubai, with a layover in Bahrain. Amanda had slept over the night before (because my host mom is awesome) so we could carpool to the airport together. On our way to the new terminal that had just opened two days prior, I spotted a USA flag, which I thought was incredibly strange. Our taxi driver explained they were flying the US flag because President Obama was flying into Jordan that day.

Our plane left Amman about an hour late so we missed our connection to Dubai in Bahrain. Fortunately, there were 25 passengers on our flight that also missed their connecting flights so they rebooked all of us with little issue. We touched down in Dubai around 8PM and made our way to the hotel. We fell asleep pretty quickly then we checked out in the morning to start our adventure.

We first dropped our bags off at the house we were staying at in Dubai. The parents of one of my classmates from High School live in Dubai and they graciously let us stay in their home. It was absolutely beautiful and we greatly appreciated their hospitality. They were coming back from the US that day so we were even more grateful. After we dropped our bags off, we headed to Mall of the Emirates, which boasts an indoor ski slope. It was also where we were getting picked up for our desert safari later in the afternoon. We walked around the mall, completely in awe of all the stores we had not seen in months. In addition to all the stores and the ski slope, there was an entire arcade/kiddie ride section, where we found a Johnny Rockets. We ate there and finally had real ketchup! It was marvelous. We got real napkins too. It’s funny all the things I didn’t realize I missed as much as I do.

After we finished at the mall, we headed across the road to where we were getting picked up for our desert safari. We had purchased the tour through Groupon and saved a good bit of money. As we were waiting, we met a Turkish man and a German woman who were also waiting. We started talking and explained our plans for the week and the Turkish man said he had been given free bus tickets to Oman that he wasn’t going to use and we could use them. We were a little skeptical, but met up with him the next day, got the tickets, and we used them successfully, which was great. Now back to the safari.

He gave us free bus tickets to Oman!

We were picked up in a bus, drove about an hour out of Dubai and were dropped off in the desert. We were divided into groups of 5-7, got into 4-wheelers and began dune bashing, which was a lot of fun. You ride up and down the dunes, sometimes sliding down hills and feeling like you might die. It was awesome. After a while, we were dropped off at the camp, where we could try sand surfing, camel riding, henna and trying on traditional dress. There was also a belly dancing show and buffet dinner. The first thing we did was sand surfing because that had been the main reason we purchased the Groupon. It’s a lot easier than you might think. The sand really slows you down and it’s not too hard to balance. The night was very enjoyable and we left the desert around 8:30, getting back to Dubai around 9:30.

Since that day had been very eventful, we wanted to take it easy on Sunday so we went to the beach and to the mall. The mom in the house dropped us off at the beach, which was great because it saved us significant time on the metro. Since the sun is so strong, we were only at the beach for a couple hours and both of us were sunburned quite badly. We had Subway for lunch, because we hadn’t eaten it since being in the US, and then we walked past the Dubai Marina area to get to the metro. We got off at Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa stop. Dubai Mall is the largest mall in the world, with a total area of 1,124,000 square meters, and Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world at 2,722 feet. It was quite exhilarating just seeing both.

Dubai Mall was incredible. The first thing I saw walking in was Coldstone Creamery and it only got better from there. The mall has an aquarium, which is three stories tall and holds a Guinness World Record (I’m not sure for what, but there was a sign on the side of the aquarium tank). There is also a movie theater, ice skating rink, fashion district, Arabian Souq (market), a waterfall, several food courts, and electronics section in addition to the normal stores. We visited the mall twice and even the second time we were walking and saw things we hadn’t seen the first time. The mall is immaculately clean, boasts Wifi throughout the entire building, and is organized very well. If you are lost, they have touch screens that direct you from where you are to the store you want (I tried it and it’s amazing technology). I want to give serious props to the marketers who work for stores in that mall because I was very impressed.

Behind me is a waterfall inside the mall!

Right outside the mall is the Khalifa Lake and Burj Khalifa. From 1-2PM and from 6-8PM, the fountains in the lake go off, perfectly timed with music every half hour. We were outside from 6-8 and every show was different. In my opinion, it was much better than the fountains in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Burj Khalifa was spectacular. You can pay 125 dirhams, or $34, to go up to the 142^nd floor of the building. When we looked, the rest of the night and the following day were already sold-out so we decided not to go up. We sat down on a grassy area as the sun set just reading. It was very relaxing. Finally, we decided we were hungry so we went back inside the mall for food. I found Thai food, which I had wanted to eat at least once while we were in Dubai, and Amanda had some pizza. We headed back home to get ready for Monday.

The bottom of the Burj Khalifa to the left and the fountains

Monday we went to Ferrari World, an amusement park in Abu Dhabi. We left extremely early, walked the 45 minutes to the metro and then took a bus from the Ibn Battuta metro station to Abu Dhabi. It cost us 25Dh ($6.75) each way for the hour and a half drive. We finally got to Ferrari World and it was practically empty. It was great. The only ride that we had to wait for was Formula Rosso, the world’s fastest roller coaster. It takes you from 0-150mph in seconds and you have to wear protective eyewear because if anything gets in your eyes, it can cause serious damage. They even had special hijabs for Muslim women to wear over their hijabs so their hair wouldn’t become exposed during the ride. What was especially interesting about Ferrari World was that it was entirely indoors. Only the two roller coasters and one other ride were outside. We surmised that since it gets so hot here, it’s better for everything to be indoors so they can gain more business. After our long day, we finally made it back to Dubai and stopped at the Ibn Battuta Mall for a late dinner. The Ibn Battuta Mall was huge, with a Chinese Hall, India Hall, Egypt Hall, Persian Hall, and two food courts. Overall it was a tiring but fulfilling day.

At Ferrari World

Chinese Hall at the Ibn Battuta Mall

Tuesday, our last day in Dubai, we decided to a. sleep in and b. check out Old Dubai and some of the more historical aspects. We attempted to find the mosque that was supposedly the third largest in the world, but were unsuccessful. However we did find the Gold Souq, Spice Souq, rode across the Dubai creek in a wooden boat, and made it to the Dubai Museum, which was really interesting. The museum had everything from 5000 B.C. when the area was first settled to the 2000s. The Dubai we know today is relatively new. In the 1950s, the population was only 59,000 but by the 70s and 80s it had increased to 207,000. They didn’t discover oil until 1968 and that was when they were able to really start building and expanding the city.

I titled this post “The Islamic Future” because that’s what the city feels like. The future aspect: It is entirely man-made and the perfect blend of city and nature. The metro is impeccable, with trains coming consistently every 4 to 5 minutes. We never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a train, no matter where we were or the hour of the day. The entire city is tax-free, which means everyone is richer because there’s no income tax (except, of course, for US citizens). Emiratis (the natives of UAE) only make up 17% of the population, although they control the government. Dubai is a city where an Emirati drives his million-dollar car to school and it is common to have a Porsche. English is widely spoken, but you will also hear Arabic and Hindi. Dubai has a very large Indian population because it has a close proximity to India and a better standard of living (at least according to the mother in the home we stayed at). There is very little crime and everyone is very friendly. We weren’t stared at or cat-called and I felt perfectly at ease wearing shorts or a bikini on a public beach.

Their Metro.

The Islamic part: Dubai is a very Islamic city. The moment we left the airport and walked outside, we saw a “Women’s standing area” and a “Men’s standing area.” All of the malls had prayer rooms, separate for women and men. The metro had a separate car for women and children, if you wished to sit there. The metro buses even had separate areas. The vast majority of Muslim women there wore the full Muslim garment, not just the hijab. Overall, Dubai was a wonderful experience and I would definitely go there again, although probably not during the summer.  

Random Stories and the Countdown to Spring Break

Spring Break starts Friday and I can't wait to go to Dubai and sit on the beach and wear shorts!

Random Stories:

1) This week, I learned why the gym closes when the machines are being serviced. It's because men service the machines and none of the women can work out because their hair would be uncovered or they might be wearing a t-shirt. When they serviced the machines this week, the area was blocked off but I asked to go in and it was a few westerners with one Jordanian who was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I was perfectly fine in my spandex capris and spandex top but the trainers in the gym were wearing their hijabs because men were present.

2) It mid-terms week so I took a midterm Sunday morning only to get it back Tuesday with a -_- face on it. As my professor handed it back, he announced that I did terribly and I must not have studied. I told him I did study and he said I must not have studied well. In front of the whole class. I was very frustrated, especially after seeing my grade - B+. And unfortunately, that's pretty normal for Jordanians. The will tell you whether you're fat, ugly, stupid, whatever. One of the host moms of a student in the program told my friend she was too tall to be pretty. Just another cultural lesson. 

3) I continue to be fed too much. Last Friday my family had a BBQ and I was fed so much food. I had 2 chicken kabobs, 2 meat kabobs, a pita bread that was filled with meat and grilled, eggplant, and tabbouleh. I was so stuffed. Even on a normal day-to-day basis I am offered a lot of food. I generally eat a small dinner and Lama, the maid, keeps telling me to "Eat, eat!" I tried to explain that although all the food is delicious, there's just simply too much. Especially because I know after dinner there will be some sort of dessert plus tea and maybe other sweets depending on the company. Since extended family is over quite a bit, I can always count on some type of food being offered around 8 or 9pm in addition to normal dinner. 

Towards the end of the meal at the BBQ

4) I went on an adventure last Friday to Al-Mafraq. My friend Steven, who's host family is related to mine, invited me to go stargazing or something of the sort with his peer tutor. So we met up and got tickets (discounted for students) to some planetarium thing. I'm still not sure what it was exactly, but I think we were supposed to be seeing a comet. As it happens, the bus to take all the students failed to show up so we went in cars after getting our refund. I was with Steven, his peer tutor, and two other guys who were friends of the peer tutor. The vast majority of the students were male and I was feeling a little uncomfortable because it's very unusual in Jordan for a girl to be hanging out with a bunch of guys (even though there were about four other girls). So we started driving and about an hour in I start to see signs for the Syrian border. At the same time, I had the thought that the landscape (which was barren) would be perfect if you needed to get rid of a dead body. About 30 seconds after I thought this, what should come up in our headlights? A random guy with a shovel. I felt quite nervous. Finally, we got to our destination and it's a huge party. Everybody and their brother was sitting, talking, smoking argeela and having a good time. I ended up having a wonderful time and was very glad I went. 

Al-Mufraq - it was packed.

Handstand perfectly aligned with the Jordanian flag!

 Lanterns

5) Last Saturday there was a program trip to Ajloun, north of Amman. We toured the Ajloun Castle, went hiking in the Ajloun nature reserve, saw a soap factory (factory is a loose term), learned about calligraphy and ate a wonderful lunch. It was a nice break from the city and a great time.

The view from the top of the castle

Soap from the soap factory

Hiking in the Ajloun Nature Reserve 

Calligraphy

6) I had class at a cafe last week and I had to take a taxi to get there. We get to 2nd Circle (I needed to go to 1st Circle) and my taxi driver asks me if I want to get out there because there's too much traffic to drive me all the way. It was 80+ degrees and my walk from 2nd Circle would've been at least 20-30 minutes to get to the cafe. I told him no. I was just so surprised that he even asked me that. I was paying him to drive me to my destination, not 2/3 of the way there.

Halfway There...

So in a couple days I will officially have been here two months and have two months to go! We're going into mid-term season, and spring break is in two weeks. I had my first mid-term last week and it went pretty well, in sha allah. Now onto this past week's happenings:

 1) As some of you may know already, I had to switch host families. My previous host family stole money from me. When I confronted them about it my host father reimbursed me for the amount I was missing and said "Taline (my younger sister) must have taken it by accident because it was in a bag" which didn't make sense because it was in my purse which was in my zipped backpack. Then, later in the day, my host dad asked if I could "keep it just between us." So I didn't feel comfortable living with them anymore since the trust was gone.

Some pictures from the new house:

My new bedroom. It's pretty simple. I have a desk, a bed, and that last closet section. There's another bed in the room as well, off to the right of my bed.

We have a garden! We have apple trees, grape vines, and all sorts of flowers. Not too much is in bloom right now but in April it's supposed to be better. There is also a swing that will hopefully be set up when it warms up. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but there are grape vines all around the structure above your head. I can't wait until everything is blooming. I think I'll be studying more outside once it's nicer.

I've nicknamed this room The Parlor. It seems to only be used when we have a lot of company over (aka we haven't used it yet). As you can see, it's very ornate and European.

The move was great and I love my new host family. My host mom is 65 and just came back from the US about two weeks ago. She had been there for four months having open heart surgery. Her husband passed away about two years ago and her youngest son (who is about 40) lives at home with us. We also have a maid who's treated like family and is great. She 25 and has been here for 4 years. She showed me all around the house and area. They keep asking me if I'm happy and if I like it here, which I think is touching. The house itself is much nicer than my previous home too. I actually have warm water when I wash my hands in the bathroom!!! (Some of the simple joys in life) The house is also much closer to the University of Jordan. I can walk to the South Gate (which I'll do twice a week when I have class) in about 15 minutes. It takes me about 40 minutes to walk to the gym or North Gate, which I did both yesterday and today but I think usually I'll just take a taxi.

2) For lunch, I usually go to this small falafel place close to the CIEE center, because I can get a falafel sandwich for 40 qirsh (about 60 cents). Since I go so frequently, I sometimes get a free sandwich or half off. However, this past week, the guy who runs it kissed me as he handed me my sandwich (I turned my head so it was on the cheek). He looks to be about 50-60, but I know he has a young son about 4 so he could be younger and just be graying early. And I don't know if he kissed me just because I go there often and that seems like an Jordanian thing to do to someone who's daughter-like. However, I found it weird and am probably not going to go back. At least for a while.

3) We watched Braveheart in class this past week. It was in Arabic so we couldn't understand all of it but I suspect I might like the movie better if I saw it again in English. The one thing I did not like about the movie were the scenes that were deleted because they were not deemed "appropriate" for Jordanian audiences. Here, sexual abuse is more widely accepted than sex itself. As such, they cut out a sex scene between two married people, but left in the scene where the British soldier tries to rape a girl. I was appalled.

4) I booked my spring break trip! I will be going to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muskat (Oman) and Bahrain with my friend Amanda. Surprisingly, it was one of the cheapest options (hotel and flight cost $500) compared to Istanbul, which is where the majority of our program is going for Spring Break. I'm excited. Two weeks!

5) Arab Idol began last night. It uses the same music as American Idol, same concept, same everything. Except instead of getting a ticket to Hollywood, you get a ticket to Beirut, Lebanon. However, I was a bit disappointed with the auditions. In my opinion, the auditions, at least in the US, are the best part. You have the really good and fantastic people but you also have the really terrible people who think they're awesome. There was none of that on Arab Idol. In every single audition they showed on tv, the person got a ticket to Beirut! Also, I learned that I can't tell the difference between good and bad singers when they're singing in Arabic.

That's all for now. I need to go write more of my research paper - I'm only five pages in (out of twenty). 

Birthdays and Disability Accessibility in Amman

So life in Amman has been going pretty normal. I go to class, I hang out in Gloria Jeans (a good coffee shop to study except they recently changed their Internet so you have to buy something in order to get a specific username and password for the internet and it's only valid for an hour), and then I go home.

Well this past weekend I got celebrate my younger sister's birthday - 9 years old!

My Invitation

Now, I Googled Fit 'n Fun to see what it was and everyone said it was an indoor kids gym. That is a severe exaggeration and wishful thinking. When someone says indoor kids gym, I think of climbing structures, foam pit, trampoline, or giant structure like they have at McDonald's. And maybe a large open area to run around, kick a ball, etc. That was not the case.

When we walked in, I first saw two rows of computers. The small area next to that had children's sized exercise equipment - mini treadmills, presses, bikes - but they were all old or not functioning. After that small area was a fake store where someone can pretend to be the cashier and everyone else can buy fake chicken and fake bananas and you can check out with a fake cash register. Then there was a videogame screen set up with wheel and drums. One of the kids played Need for Speed during the party. The rest of the area, maybe 20'x20' MAX had a slide, a ball pit the size of a baby pool, and a small climbing structure. There was also a separate room that had a disco ball and loud music playing (I think I heard Gangam Style by Psy a total of 20 times by the end of the two hour party).

The Computers - two rows about 10 total

The kids exercise area - mini treadmills, presses etc.

The "gym" part.

The Dance Room

I was quite disappointed. Granted, it wasn't my party and my younger sister had a blast so that's all that matters, but I was definitely expecting something different. Fit 'n Fun reminded me of my preschool, minus the computers and video games. In my opinion, I thought it was more appropriate for kids 2-6. Luckily, most of the kids in attendance were cousins within that age range. But my sister's friends, who are her age, were too old. One of the girls I saw exited out the Barbie Princess game set up on the computers and logged on to her Facebook instead. Also, about 4 of the families there had help who stayed with the children in the playing areas while the mothers sat and chatted. Overall, it was an interesting experience.



Now to change topics completely, I wanted to write about disabilities and Amman.

Something I began to notice as the rest of Jordan started classes (they started 2-3 weeks after us) at UJ, was the accessibility of the school for people with disabilities. I've seen maybe two blind people and a handful of people in wheelchairs. Now I know that disabilities are not only physical but I began to take notice of how easy or difficult it would be for someone even with crutches to get around. It would be hard. Some of the buildings don't have easily visible ramps and the ones that do aren't always the best. There's one ramp to go to the building that has The Village, UJ's equivalent to EaglesNest and that ramp is awful. There isn't actually a way to get in the building itself because there's a step that is impossible if someone's in a wheelchair. I can't even imagine how hard life must be if you are in a wheelchair in Amman. I have yet to find a bus that's even wheelchair accessible. Something to ponder.