Tag: Jordan

By amberherrle

As everyone is well aware, last week Bashar al Assad's regime carried out chemical weapon attacks on Syria's citizens in the northern province, Ilbid. The US President react swiftly by bombing one of Assad's airfields that is mostly used by Russian military forces. I have had so many friends reaching out to me, asking me what it feels like to be here at this time.

My reactions are not any different here than they would be in the United States. Amman is the same, Jordan is the same. In Amman, I'm only a few hours away from the airfield that was bombed but still, nothing has changed here. That has been the most surprising aspect of all of this. Jordan is so exceptionally peaceful and stable. And that has not changed.

The crisis in Syria has had detrimental effects on the Jordanian population and economy. There are an estimated 2 million Syrian refugees in Jordan. But still, Jordan keeps its doors open.

So when the United States, the same country that has pushed refugees out of the country and demonized these people, bombed a Syrian/Russian airfield I expected Jordanians to be angry. Angry at the United States and angry at the international governing bodies that have failed them. But I have talked with my family, talked with my family's friends and talked with friends. For them, this is no surprise. The US looking for a regime change is not a solution. Jordan will continue to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees. Jordan will continue to welcome new refugees into their economy, into their communities and into the societal fabric of Jordan. Just like they did in the early 2000s after the US invaded Iraq. Just like they have for the last 5 years in response to Assad's barbaric regime.

...continue reading "In reaction to US Missile strikes"

By amberherrle

After visiting Petra, my program took us to the desert. Wadi Rum more closely resembles Mars than it does Earth. It is no wonder that the film, Martian was filmed here. The Sahara offers expansive views of dunes upon dunes upon dunes. But Wadi Rum offers something different. I had heard from so many Jordanian friends that Wadi Rum is their favorite spot in Jordan but I didn’t quite understand. Now I do. Pictures certainly do not do this place justice.

We spent the afternoon driving through the desert, stopping only to race up the sand hills. The pick-up truck beds had been converted into benches that bounced with the dunes. Rolling across the desert, you feel like you are in space. The large mounts above you remind me of drip castles. I would go as far to say that Wadi Rum reminds me of the earth’s day out at the beach. I know, it sounds crazy but everyone in my truck agreed!

Aqaba

Aqaba is the only port in Jordan. This bustling multicultural beach town is a perfect spot for travelers coming to Jordan from Egypt or Israel. In fact, you can see both Egypt and Israel from most points in Aqaba. Our program took us out on a large yacht for the first afternoon we were in Aqaba.

Aqaba sits on the red sea, after driving the boat out about 30 minutes we arrived on the most beautiful reef I have had the pleasure of seeing. The area that we snorkeled in is nick-named the Japanese Garden and it is no wonder why. The beautiful reef is covered in green and blue choral of all shapes. The water was the most beautiful shade of turquoise making visibility ideal.

...continue reading "Wadi Rum, Aqaba and ISP"

By amberherrle

Wow! I am so lucky to have visited Petra this past week. I cannot begin to describe just how beautiful the red sandstone is, and how immaculate the entire landscape is. Petra is one of the new wonders of the world – and it’s NO WONDER why. Despite being over two thousand years old, the site has features that look like they were crafted yesterday.

Driving towards Petra, you are struck by the archaic landscape. Large boulder mounds break the landscape into pieces and the dark red sand looks endless. I would equate the experience with driving into the Flinstones.

After walking through mounds of rock, you eventually come upon al Siq. This 1200-meter-long gorge winds its way through the colorful sandstone. The walls form mosaics, straight lines and images with their colorful displays. You can even see ancient art carved into the stone when you walk through the gorge. One of the more impressive pieces is the life-size carving of a camel and its keeper along the gorge wall. One of my initial remarks was that the gorge looked different every time I walked through it. I was happy every opportunity I had to look back and admire al Siq from a different angle.

When you eventually make your way out of al Siq, you see the treasury. This is the monument that is commonly associated with Petra and Jordan. This large sandstone building stands tall in all of its glory. I was most impressed by the details that can be seen on the treasury. After two thousand years, the treasury has truly withstood the test of time.

...continue reading "Petra! Otherwise known as: the most beautiful place on Earth!"

By amberherrle

I am so excited to finally start the ISP period with SIT. The Independent Study Project is a key component of all SIT programs. Through this independent research, students are able to dive into a niche topic and explore it though field and open source research. I would say that most students on SIT choose the program because of the ISP component.

My project will look at the construction of masculinity in Jordanian society and how this construction contributes to radicalization in Jordan. Specifically, I will be seeking to understand the ways that mothers contribute to this construction.

Aspects of ISP

1. Choosing your topic - when you apply to SIT, you propose a topic for your research, but most of us are doing a totally different topic than we applied with. With that being said, I am extremely grateful that we did have to apply with a topic because it gets you thinking about what possible topics for your country and program theme are.

2. Finding an advisor - when I have an advisor, I will let you know all my tips on finding an advisor! For now, I would say start early and seek out actual experts in the field your studying. It sounds basic but a lot of students end up with people who generally know what they are talking about for their research topic, but they aren't able to provide students with the most adequate resources.

3. Meet with experts - One of the best things I did was reach out to every author of every article I read. Yes - I cold called, cold-linkedin and even searched endlessly for email addresses so I could send cold emails. And guess what? I got two great interviews with experts in this field! And these interviews have helped me tremendously in creating a great topic.

...continue reading "Preparing for my ISP"

By amberherrle

Differences between the UAE and Jordan

Food

From my experience there, Emirati food is vastly different than the food that you'll find in the Levant and Jordan. For example, I ate about 10 different types of breads while at the Prince's house that were all "traditional Emirati". In Jordan, you're hard pressed to find something outside of pita and pita with thyme on it.

Dress

As I mentioned in my last post, the dress varies from emirate to emirate but notable one of the biggest differences in Gulf attire is that men wear Kandoras which are long white robes that tend to have a tassel towards the collar. This tassel has interesting cultural roots - it was originally used be nomadic peoples to swish away the bad smells that came from camels when they were riding from place to place. The men would dip the tassle in perfume and then when they needed to get camel-smell away, they would simply wave the tassel in front of their face.

From what I saw, abayas and hijab were more common among women in the UAE than in Jordan. While Dubai is clearly the outlier, in the other emirates most women were hijab and many women wore abayas with hijab. Abayas are beautiful black shear robes that you wear over other clothing. Typically, abayas will have intricate designs and patterns on them.

...continue reading "More of the UAE"

By amberherrle

I have taken Arabic every semester since I've been at GW, the language has provided me with some of the most challenging moments in college and some of the most uplifting moments. By most studies, Arabic is one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. Studying in Jordan, I sometimes get stuck on the nuances of Arabic that make it so difficult to learn. But, I wanted to share with you some of the beautiful, and cool aspects of Arabic that make the challenge of learning the language so worth it.

Roots - every word in Arabic has a three letter root. So no matter if you want to say, "exacerbate" or "we" or "pomegranate", there will only be 3 letters that make up the root and then those root letters are put into forms to create the word. So, take for instance the word "to study". The root of "to study" is د ر س  . And so if you just put those three letters together you would have the verb "to study" but if you add a shadda above the "r" sound, you get the verb that means to make someone study (ie: to teach) درّس. For every root of a verb, there are 10 forms that you can put the word into to create more words. Although, not every variation of roots have an appropriate verb for every form.

On the same note, you can use roots to create active and passive participles. So you can essentially add vowel sounds (or adjust vowel sounds) and add an "m" to roots to create new words. So the word for author comes from the root letters which form the word "to writer". All you have to do is adjust the vowels to turn "to write" into "author".

I think that it's really fascinating to look at the way a language is built and the components of language that combine to create complex grammar concepts and dialogues. I hope I'm not boring you too much, but if I am - I'm done now!

...continue reading "!عربى"

By amberherrle

I have now been in Jordan for about a month and a half and I couldn't be happier with my experience. Before studying abroad, I was unsure if I was making the right academic decision, as going to Jordan would mean take a full course-load my senior year. With that being said, I think that living in the Middle East is essential to being a Middle East Studies major and I can't imagine my curriculum without it!

I wanted to take some time to write about a typical week for me so that other students going on SIT might get some idea of what their days would look like.

Sunday is the first day of the work week here which means that I have to be at my first class by 9am. I study Arabic with a 30 minute break from 9-12 and then I will go to the grocery store to pick up my groceries for the week. After lunch, we typically have a thematic seminar class. During our thematic seminar, we have guest speakers talk to us about a specific topic. The topic usually relates to the module subject that week. For perspective, this week the subject is Women in Islam.

After class I will go to a cafe or go straight home to spend time with my host family. Dinner is eaten on the floor and most typically done while watching TV - how can I object to that?

We used to watch Arab Idol on Sunday nights but now we watch Arab Idol ru-runs. Arab Idol is potentially the most popular TV show in Jordan, and every student on our program watches it with our family. I was extremely curious to find out what was going to happen when Arab Idol ended but to my surprise, we just watch re-runs of Arab Idol on the nights that we used to watch it.

...continue reading "A Typical Day in Jordan"

By amberherrle

Differences between the UAE and Jordan

Food

From my experience there, Emirati food is vastly different than the food that you'll find in the Levant and Jordan. For example, I ate about 10 different types of breads while at the Prince's house that were all "traditional Emirati". In Jordan, you're hard pressed to find something outside of pita and pita with thyme on it.

Dress

As I mentioned in my last post, the dress varies from emirate to emirate but notable one of the biggest differences in Gulf attire is that men wear Kandoras which are long white robes that tend to have a tassel towards the collar. This tassel has interesting cultural roots - it was originally used be nomadic peoples to swish away the bad smells that came from camels when they were riding from place to place. The men would dip the tassle in perfume and then when they needed to get camel-smell away, they would simply wave the tassel in front of their face.

From what I saw, abayas and hijab were more common among women in the UAE than in Jordan. While Dubai is clearly the outlier, in the other emirates most women were hijab and many women wore abayas with hijab. Abayas are beautiful black shear robes that you wear over other clothing. Typically, abayas will have intricate designs and patterns on them.

Things to do in Dubai

As the commercial capital of the UAE and potentially the world, there's a slim chance that you've never heard of it. The souring skyscrapers and beaches make Dubai a perfect destination for tourists and great home for international headquarters. Here's what I did in Dubai and what I loved about my time there.

...continue reading "The UAE: continued"

By amberherrle

SIT programs provide students with educational excursions relevant to the topic of their study abroad program. Our educational excursion is a trip to the United Arab Emirates. As a Middle East Studies major, I've learned a lot about the unique state and I was extremely excited to come here. To be fair - I wasn't expecting much but was looking forward to seeing everything I learned in my classes in real life. The United Arab Emirates has surpassed my expectations on so many levels and I am so happy to be here.

A little bit of history/context about the emirates: The United Arab Emirates consists of 7 Emirates which came together in 1971. Each Emirate has a strong national identity, a royal family and a variety of laws and traditions that separate it from the others. For instance, while drinking alcohol might be legal and a commonplace in Dubai, alcohol is illegal in Sharjah. Further, the age of legal consumption varies from emirate to emirate.

Another example is the style of dress - the traditional garb varies from Emirate to emirate. While these two examples are extremely simple and relatively small, it gives you an idea of the range in differences between the emirates. Interestingly, when Emiratis introduce themselves, they are known for introducing themselves as "state-ian, Emirati", rather than "Emirati, from X state". This small tidbit of knowledge provides great context into national identity in the UAE.

One of the best parts about SIT in Jordan is that the program has a variety of connections throughout the country. These connections mean that our lectures are given by former minsters and heads of state and here in the UAE we were hosted by the sheikh (like a prince) for a few days. The Sheikh is a part of the royal family of Ajman, an emirate about 50 minutes from Dubai.

...continue reading "Sleeping at the Palace"

By amberherrle

Last Thursday my program took us on an excursion and our first stop was the baptism site. A mere one hour drive from Amman, just along the Jordan river, you can visit the spot where archeologists and theologists believe that Jesus was baptized. Walking to the site, you walk down a trail that, as so many of these college-educated young people put it "really feels like all the stuff you read in the bible". Yes, it does.

The Jordan river today looks different than the Jordan river that Jesus was baptized in; the baptism site is about a 10 minute walk from the river.

The baptism site was newly excavated to reveal an intricate pool and water system from 1 AD (yes, you read that right.). Most interesting to me was that almost every Christian denomination was constructing or has constructed a church in this area of the Jordan valley. A 360 picture taken from the Baptism site would reveal a Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist, and a Presbyterian church. It was pretty amazing to think of what Christmas Eve must look and sound like from this sacred place.

Walking away from the Baptism Site, you'll arrive at the Jordan River. I had expected a vast and strong river but the Jordan River at the point closest to the baptism site is a mere 20 feet wide.

This came as a surprise to me - we were on the Jordanian side of the river and the opposite side revealed the West Bank, just a quick breast-stroke away (don't worry mom and dad, I didn't try it). I struggled to understand the political and social implications of my presence in this sacred spot. In the picture above, you can see the infrastructural differences on the sides. On the Jordanian side, a noninvasive dock lets you dip your feet into the Jordanian water or relax on the wood benches a few feet away. On the other side, an expansive and elaborate tourism office sits with a series of steps to get into the river.

...continue reading "The Dead Sea"