A feminist? In Jordan?

With a little encouragement from my grandparents, I've decided it's time for another update.

Today we all attended a lecture (in English) on the Feminist Movement in Jordan by Rula Quawas, a highly intelligent and provocative professor from Jordan University in Amman. Her presentation was interesting, to say the least, and I'd like to share the high-points. As we all know, Jordan, and really all Arab countries, are male-dominated societies. Religion and culture dictate this reality. But why? To be quite honest, until today, I don't know that I have allowed myself to ask the hard questions needed to understand the complex dynamic between men and women in this country. Let's consider a few things before jumping into a more sociological understanding of the current situation for women in Jordan: 1) Women did not gain the right to vote in Jordan until 1972, some 52 years after their counterparts in the West. 2) Because less than 5% of the population here is Christian, society is dominated by Islam. On the ground, this means dealing with Sharia Law, a legal-system completely lacking the involvement of women. Men interpret scripture, make the laws, and prosecute offenders of the law. 3) Save for a very small number, women are not represented in the political system. In most cases, they aren't even allowed to discus political issues; that is to be left to the men with requisite knowledge. And 4) women are considered the"sole custodians of their family's honor." As Prof. Quawas said, quite bluntly, "family honor rests in the daughter's vagina." As shocking as that may be for some of you to hear, it pales in comparison to how shocked I was to hear that word uttered by a native-Jordanian women.

Prof. Quawas explained that Jordan is ruled by a tribal system, which emphasizes family honor above all else. She explained the smallness of Jordanian society, and how much it is affected by what she called "gossip mongerers." I couldn't help but think about the prevalence of gossip and some form of "family honor" in the American South, maybe not so much today, but surely in the recent past. Here, however, these ideas are taken to the extreme. Consider this: The practice of "honor killing" is still in place around the Arab world, in however small a number. Basically, if a woman jeopardizes the family honor by some sexual deviance (sex before marriage, infidelity, etc.), then it is incumbent upon the family to kill the daughter in order to salvage the family name. The practice is antiquated and uncommon, especially in Jordan, but it's legality under Sharia law reflects the idea of women as objects as opposed to thinking individuals who deserve respect of autonomous decision-making. In some cases, women are imprisoned in a last-ditch effort to protect them from their own families, referred to as "administrative detainees." Another atrocious yet much more common act is that of "virginity tests" before marriage. Because of this reality, Prof. Quawas explained, some women travel to other countries to undergo "sexual reconstruction" before they are married.

Speaking more broadly, Prof. Quawas discussed the societal differences between the East and West, and how those ideas help to reinforce gender ideas. In the Arab world, society is much more collectivist, as opposed to the idea of "individualism above all" in Western society. She said, "the idea of self-hood, and even more so of self-love, is almost completely lacking in the female population of Jordan." Prof. Quawas conceded that she has only recently come to the realization that she cannot empower women, but only give them the tools and knowledge to free themselves from society's bonds. "It is just as much about 'un-learning,' than it is about learning" she said.

And perhaps the most enlightening idea in her presentation was that "protection is a conspiracy committed against women" in Jordan and throughout the Arab world. We have been focusing on these issues in all of our Arabic classes the past week or so, and I was struck by something one of my favorite professors (a man) said a few days ago that may shed some light on why this was such a revolutionary idea for me. In one of our classes, he seemed surprised by my emphatic position that women should receive ALL of the same rights as men. So he countered, "but women are weak and can be easily taken advantage of if not protected by the man." The words "weak" and "protection" came up so many times in his explanation, as to stifle debate completely by saying this is just how things are, and how things will always be. It's not that this man is a bigot; not that he doesn't love his wife; not that he thinks women are any less than men... it's simply that society has taught him that women are and will always be dependent upon men to survive in the world. Prof. Quawas gave a brilliant rebuttal to this line of thought, citing the late American civil-rights activist Frederick Douglas who once said, "If we cannot stand up, let us fall down!" If women are always expected to be dependent upon men, then how will they ever grow and learn to live and think for themselves? In my opinion, this is the most important question Jordanian society needs to ask itself. Until then, I fear women will remain second-class citizens.

I hope you found some of that as enlightening as I did. In other news, we have our first round of tests this week. Wish me luck! Also, we'll be taking our first trip this weekend. On the schedule is Mount Nebo, Jesus' baptism site on the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea. We visited these sights last year, but I'm excited to go again and take a few more pictures this time.

Hope all is well in the States. Missing everyone, as always. Until later...

Salaam,

-Alex

Second Week Is Almost Over?!

It's hard to believe, but tomorrow we will finish up with our second week of classes. My apologies to those of you who are more interested in my blog posts than others (i.e. my family), I just haven't really felt the need to update it too often considering how uneventful things have been here on the front-end of the trip. They will surely get more exciting, and when that time comes you will hear every detail of my adventures.

I have established a pretty good routine. It's so nice having an apartment with a kitchen and washing machine. As crazy as it may sound, when things get boring I very much enjoy being able to clean up, wash clothes, cook, etc. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but while I'm here it's definitely the truth.

On Monday a few of us got out and threw the frisbee around, one of my favorite things to do back in the States. I, of course, forgot my disk at home, but luckily one of the guys here plays for the Ultimate Team at Ole Miss and brought his along. We also had a University dinner last night to welcome all of us in the Arabic as a Foreign Language Program at Yarmouk. There are a lot more people here than last year. It's pretty cool being a veteran of the program; people seem to look up to us, and it's nice being able to show the new students around Irbid. I am amazed at how much I remember from last year.

In my free time, I have been reading a lot and watching a lot of pirated DVDs. I finished up with Carl Sagan's sci-fi novel "Contact" and was actually really glad to be done with it. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but for a large part of the book I had no idea what was going on; a lot of science and math talk, and if you know me, you know that's not my strong point by any means. Now I've started "The Help" and haven't been able to put it down. I love how it's set in Jackson because I can picture everything perfectly. I also have found a new favorite T.V. series:"Modern Family". If you don't watch this show, you should. It literally makes me laugh out loud hysterically.

Off to finish up with some homework, then maybe grab some food. Hope all is well in the States, I miss everyone but time is flying by. I'll be home before I know it.

Until Later,

-Alex

Early Mornings

It's 6 a.m. in Jordan and I can't sleep. I guess I'm still jet lagged... everyday around 5 in the afternoon I succumb to the urge to nap, and sometimes I don't wake up until morning; that happened yesterday. Maybe if I can resist for one day and wait until a normal hour to sleep I'll get back on schedule, but for now I'll just have to deal with the weird hours. It gives me some quiet time alone in the morning, which is much appreciated.

Today will be our third day of classes. Our program this summer is a bit different than last year, and I like it so much better. The best change? No grammar! We are focusing more on dialect, speaking, and listening. These are the areas where I'm best, and I also think they are so much more beneficial than reading or writing. At the end of the day, fluency comes down to one's ability to communicate with real people. I already can tell that this summer is not only going to be easier, but also more beneficial. All of us who attended the program last summer (Matt, Cullen, Antonia, Bobby Joe, and I) plus two of the new students (Chase and Byron) placed into level-four, the highest level the language center offers. Our professors are great, too.

I'm having some difficulty uploading my pictures from Cairo, but I promise I didn't forget and will get those on here as soon as possible.

Salaam,

-Alex

Irbid

Back to Irbid, once again. I'm way too tired to give a complete update right now but wanted to let everyone know that I made it to my final destination for the next two months. Cairo was awesome, despite a few mishaps, and I'll try and upload a few pictures tomorrow from the pyramids and such.

We're living in student apartments this year and they're simply amazing, definitely an upgrade from our hotel last year. We have a full kitchen, washing machine, t.v. and extensive cable package, hot water, and wifi! I'm living with my buddies Matt and Cullen and we're all in agreement that it's nice to have a place we can call our own. We went and got some groceries today and are already planning "family meals" with the rest of the group.

I arrived in Amman around noon yesterday and spent the day waiting for everyone else to arrive before our pick up at 10:00 p.m. It was a long day in the airport, but as most of you know, I can sleep just about anywhere at anytime so was able to catch some shut eye. It was also nice to catch up with Antonia while we were waiting around.

Our first meal in Jordan was delicious. We stopped by a local restaurant and were treated to all of the things I missed the most: fire-baked flat bread, hummus, ful, chicken shwarma, falafel, and tea. I've missed the food more than anything so took the liberty of stuffing my face. When we finally got back to Irbid around 2:00 a.m. (it took an hour longer than usual due to the festivities surrounding Jordanian Independence Day yesterday) we got unpacked and settled in our new place, then headed straight to our favorite internet cafe "Qasabji" to skype with a few people back home. I don't know if it was the best idea but being so late my roommates and I decided to just stay awake until our meeting at 9 a.m. this morning. I'm starting to regret that decision just about now, can hardly keep my eyes open. The plan is to make it a few more hours, then pass out until morning. We have a big day tomorrow as we'll be taking our placement exam so I want to get a good night's sleep.

Until Later,

-Alex

Jordan, Part II

It's that time again. Despite my experience last summer, and my firm decision on those last difficult days in Jordan to never return, I've arrived safely in Cairo, Egypt for a week long vacation before my summer program begins at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan.

Along with a few of my fellow classmates, we have decided to do things differently this year. For me, that means forcing myself to experience as much of Arab culture in Jordan as possible; it will be my goal to make myself uncomfortable by using as little English in country as possible. It's really the only practical way to do things. If I've decided to learn this language, as I have, then I must capitalize on the opportunity that has been given to me. Pure and simple. I won't make any promises that you won't hear me bitch and complain, I'll only say that I hope it's apparent in my posts throughout the summer that I am happy to be learning.

People sometimes ask, "Why Arabic?" and I think this may be a good place for me to answer that questions, once and for all. This was never in the plan, that's what I should make clear right up front. I have no personal connection to the Middle East or it's people or the language they speak. I couldn't have told you what Arabic even looked like four years ago. It's not the best story, and I could probably exaggerate to make it sound more epic, but I really just happened upon my decision to study one the hardest languages in the world. As a sophomore liberal arts major without any language credit, it was between the most popular language at Ole Miss, Spanish, or Arabic as part of the first program at Ole Miss funded through the new Center for Intelligence and Security Studies. For me the choice was easy, I wanted a challenge. And here I am, three long years later, in the Middle East for the second time. I'm as shocked as anyone, to be honest. It's been a long journey and I know it is just getting started, but I am determined to reach some sort of fluency in this language as soon as possible.

My travel experience on the way over went off without a hitch, and I arrived in Cairo around 3:00 p.m. local time yesterday. As a reminder for those who want to contact me, or those of you that I want to contact, we are 8 hours ahead here so let's try and plan accordingly. My friend and classmate back at Ole Miss, Amina, is hosting me in the city. She has lived here all her life, attending the American school where her mom teaches and directs the aquatics program. Amina is helping her coach this summer, and I actually joined them at the pool today to help Amina's friend out with the kid's program. I even got a few laps in after that, which was really nice.

I am staying in a family apartment and it is so nice! Air conditioning, hot water, kitchen, all the amenities I might need. I couldn't imagine a better set-up for my short time here in Cairo. Over lunch today, I think Amina and I will discuss my options in terms of seeing all that I can in the next few days. On the list right now: Giza and the pyramids; Felucca ride on the Nile; Tahrir Square and the Cairo Museum; The Cairo Jazz Club; The Citadel; shopping in one of the famous bazaars (markets); and visiting 26th of July Street (because that's my birthday). All of this is subject to change and who knows how much I will get done. For now, though, I am happy and contempt to be experiencing Cairo from a native's perspective.

I miss everyone already and will keep you updated as much as possible.

Salaam,

-Skander