Ramadan

This article was in the Jordan Times today. Before I came here, I knew a little about Ramadan, but not much. People fast from sunrise to sunset for a month and eat a big meal to break the fast. That was about it. However, there is so much more to the holiday; I thought that this article might give a small glimpse of that.

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=2171

I spent a while with my classmate and her cousin last night, sitting out on the patio overlooking the outskirts of Amman as the sun set. We talked a lot about Ramadan- I felt comfortable asking questions about it and they were very obliging in answering. I still had this idea (as of last night) that children would be resistent to fasting (since why would one want to give up food?). However, I learned that often little kids want to fast because it's what they see everybody else doing and they want to be included. My friend and her cousin were laughing as they told me about how a lot of little kids will say, "I am fasting!" and really try to, but then sneak into the kitchen and stealthily grab a cookie. Their parents understand this and, when the little kids feel genuinely bad for breaking their fast, say (in so many words), "it's really okay- you tried. God forgives you- don't be upset. It's really okay!" My friend's cousin was saying that it is important to ease children into fasting though over the course of a few Ramadans. For example, the first year, the child might fast only until noon (so no morning snack). The next year, he might just fast on weekends. The third year, he might eat only at school (as well as the big meals with the family at night)- no snacking at home. There's so much more to the culture surrounding Ramadan than I had imagined.

My roommate and I are planning on going grocery shopping after class. Perhaps we will also stop by the sweets shop and pick up some qatayef, then go by the coffee shop and get some ground Turkish coffee. I'm excited about Iftar already.

kuba wa qahwa

I had been worrying that I am in too much of an American bubble to truly benefit from my experience here in Jordan's capital. However, that bubble was pleasantly popped yesterday afternoon when I accompanied a classmate ('A') to her aunt's house (where she is living this year) to make kuba and eat dinner. The three of us (my classmate, another classmate, and I) took a cab to East Amman (which was not *nearly* as bad as it had been made out to be!) to the apartment. Her aunt and uncle spoke very little English, which was a plus as far as I was concerned. Anyway, after sitting around for a bit and chatting, A's uncle came out and showed us how to form the burgul (finely ground, fat-free meat) into hollow cups, put in a spoonful of the filling, close up the kuba, and shape it into a little football. After that, the kuba are deep fried in olive oil, making them slightly crunchy on the outside. Delicious. The process was quite time consuming- I can't imagine making a big batch of kuba (say, for a party) by oneself! However, as the saying goes, many hands make light work. I found the situation almost humorous- A's uncle is (at first sight) an imposing Arab man who speaks strongly and dresses in a thob (the traditional robe for men). However, he was the only one who really knew how to form the kuba, so he hovered around for a bit making sure that we were forming the balls just so, closing them gently and slowly, not too hard. When we ate dinner later and A commented on the decorative crushed mint on top of the lebn wa kheyaar (yogurt & cucumbers), A's aunt jokingly rolled her eyes and said, "your uncle made it." Although quite imposing, A's uncle turned out to be a very nice guy with a sense of humor and a passion for cooking. Overall, the evening was fantastic. I was quite tired by 9pm, in part due to concentrating so much on following the strings of 9aamiiya (colloquial) conversation around me. It was satisfying, though, to have to work hard just for basic social interaction. A's family was so generous and hospitable- truly wonderful people. Plus, I sort of know how to make kuba now! If I had the recipe for the filling, I could do it. Oh! I also learned how to make Arabic coffee (as a note, there is normally cardamom ground into the coffee itself. Excellent indeed.), which is nice because my apartment did come with a coffee pot. Now I just have to go down to Garden Street to the coffee store and get some. Yum.

Ramadan begins tomorrow (well, technically tonight at sunset). I'm excited- it's apparently a lot of fun here in Amman. On the downside, you can't eat or drink in public during the day. However, nights are big. After sundown, families eat a huge meal call the Iftar. After that, people visit with family & friends or go out into the city. Cafes and stores are open late at night; some people sponsor "Mercy Meals," free food set up under tents. Many people put up Ramadan lights, which are like Christmas lights except in the shape of moons & stars (my roommates and I are planning on buying some and putting them up on our balcony). I can't wait!

Now I am off to another classmate's extended family's house for lunch (i.e. an early dinner). More later.

ahlan wa sahlan!

It has been about a week now and Amman continues to be fantastic. I spent the first few days in a hotel for orientation and now live in an apartment with two roommates. The apartment itself is quite spacious and in a lovely neighborhood. I am within walking distance of a supermarket, internet cafes, restaurants, etc, although everyone takes taxis anyway (which are very inexpensive here), so transportation is not an issue. Jordanians are some of the most generous, hospitable people I've ever met. This is the kind of place where if you're walking around and ask for directions, someone will often offer to take you there himself. It is the kind of place where relationships are paramount; if you can build a connection with someone, things happen. Admittedly, this can be frustrating from an American point of view, since American society favors equal opportunity, everyone abiding by the same set of rules with less regard for social connections, and so forth. Here, if you know someone who knows someone in the internet company, you are likely to get DSL installed faster. I'm realizing already that it is not a better or worse system than in the U.S.- it's just different. Jordanians, who grow up understanding the importance of being part of a large social network, all play by the same set of their rules, and so the system still works. Moreover, since people are so social and willing to help, it is very easy to make friends. As our director was explaining, this social system of building relationships and asking favors (and getting them in return) is called wasta. In a sense, society seems to favor the emotional (relationships, bonding) over the unemotional (rules on paper, like in the US).

This became apparent to me during a cab ride yesterday. When I got in, I spoke to the driver in Arabic. He could tell that I was a foreigner, although I told him that I spoke Italian (since often it is assumed that foreigners speak English and so cab drivers will revert to that, but I wanted to practice). Under the assumption that I didn't speak English, we conversed solely in Arabic (albeit roughly). We discussed the beauty and difficulty of the Arabic language, the character of Amman, and so on. It was quite a pleasant conversation, even if I didn't always have the words for what I wanted to convey. At the end of the cab ride, having established this mutual connection, he refused to let me pay. Although this kind of thing (not paying) is not common, it does demonstrate how actions here are taken, it seems, on a more interpersonal level.

Time now to go explore the university for a bit before class, perhaps get some coffee. Ciao, amici.

Falafel and Fuddruckers

Ahlan wa sahlan! I've finally reached Amman. Except for the trickiness of navigating the Boston airport, the trip here went quite smoothly. I was exhausted by the end of it and thus slept very soundly the first night. Jet lag set in a day or two later, but I would consider myself adjusted now.
As I write this, I am sitting on the floor of my bedroom beside the open balcony door, where it is coolest. It has been reaching the 90s during the day here, but nighttime is considerably cooler and there is always a pleasant breeze which rustles the palm tree beside the balcony. The heat is not nearly as bad as back home since here we don’t have to deal with humidity, but cool evenings are appreciated nonetheless.
Amman can be aptly described as a city in between the east and the west. On the one hand, street vendors sell cheap (but delicious!) shawerma and the pita bread sold in even the big supermarkets is always hot and fresh because it has just been baked in the store. On the other hand, these are some of the American restaurants in Amman: Quizno’s, Subway, McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Applebee’s, Bennigan’s, Fuddruckers, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Popeye’s. Driving into the city from the airport, we saw a huge billboard advertising the new LG Chocolate cell phone- very snazzy, urban. However, we also saw many people having dinner picnics- they set out chairs in the dirt under the scrawny pine trees by the side of the road. In this way, it is difficult to characterize Amman as any one type of city. In some respects, it is becoming more traditional- for example, more women are choosing to wear hijab (the mode of dress that includes the head scarf) than in years past. In other respects, less traditional- it is possible to find dance clubs, complete with alcohol, techno music, and Western styles of dress. While watching “The Italian Job” today on satellite TV, my roommates and I had to wait until the call to prayer from the local mosque was finished to hear the movie’s dialogue. Waiting for the call to prayer to finish already seems perfectly normal, though stopping to think about it yields one of those "oh my gosh- I'm in the Middle East!!" moments.

All for now, more later.