Skyrocketing Popularity

I arrive in the country and American popularity goes up! I arrived in Jordan on Tuesday. On Wednesday the Pew Global Attitudes survey reported that 20% of Jordanians think favorably of the United States. Yes, that 20% is among the lowest in the world BUT it is up from 15% in 2006. Imagine how much it will grow once I have been here a full year!

People who studied statistics may want to write snarky comments about causality and correlation.

Last summer, when Dan and I were reading up on countries in order to submit our list of preferred destinations, Jordan ranked high because of its proximity to destinations we wanted to visit (Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, et al) but also because it had sushi and Starbucks. Last night we got to have Amman’s best sushi and it was good – not great but good. Pam our friend in Bogota says that Colombian sushi is frequently mayonnaise-filled – so this was way-better than that – it was indeed fish+seasoned rice. We were joined by Dan’s A-100 classmate Corey who is in town from Baghdad for a conference. He amused us greatly with anecdotes of life in the green zone – which apparently is a sushi-free zone.

Vote for Petra

Some charity in Europe has created a New Seven Wonders contest to honor and help protect our world's manmade treasures, especially in light of the Buddha destructions in Afghanistan. Petra is in the final 21. You have 15 more days to vote for your favorites (Taj mahal, Stonehenge, Eiffel Tower, Petra, etc.)

Jordan's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities thanks you.

First Camel Sighting

I arrived last night. Multiple people today at work have expressed surprise that my bags also arrived and told horror stories of Air France. Indeed my two-hour layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport was barely enough time to get between my two flights. The bus system at Charles deGaulle made me wistful for the moving rooms at Dulles.

Dan met me at the airport and on the drive to our apartment I saw my first camel! It and its owner were walking along the edge of the highway. I mentioned this to the ambassador this morning in my attempt to make small talk and he said that there are numerous “Camel Crossing” signs that are commonly stolen by tourists.

I had a day of paperwork and tomorrow is a day of reading about Jordan. I think one of the ironies of work is that when you start a new job – you have time to read and think big thoughts but because you are new you don’t know what to read nor think and then later when you’d like nothing more than a day of reading there is never time.

This afternoon a coffee was scheduled with Asst. Secretary Something or Other. I and a colleague walked over to the ambassador’s house (site of coffee) and were told that it had been canceled. My colleague knows the ambassadors’ two cooks who were there dis-assembling the now cancelled coffee and they urged us in to drink coffee and eat cookies in the reception hall, which we did happily. I also got to see the ambassador’s industrial kitchen which was really cool – it looked like he was having salad and seafood for dinner. Lesson learned: become friendly with the cooks!

p.s. it is worth noting that Dan has been here 3 weeks and has not seen a camel nor did he see mine.

Out of Gaza

Three dozen Palestinian-Americans crossed the border from the West Bank into Jordan this afternoon aboard a bus chartered by the US Government. This morning they were in Gaza. For the last week, many of them have not slept at all, because of the spike in Fatah-Hamas violence. Many fear an Israeli crackdown is just around the corner. Foreign governments are taking this opportunity to get their citizens out of Gaza. Without foreign intervention, these people would be unable to flee Gaza. They are otherwise penned in by Israeli emergency measures, with only one exit, the Erez Crossing.

The US evacuates its citizens out of harm's way whenever possible. What is remarkable about today's evacuation is that I was the officer responsible for shepherding the evacuees from the Israeli border to the safe haven of Amman. I stayed on the Jordanian border the entire time and was never in harm's way. In fact, we passed some time browsing the Duty Free. Some Swedish-Palestinians asked me if I was their consular representative, but I did not take offense to this racial profiling.

These are a few of my favorite things

I've spent the last month trying to re-visit my very favorite places and eat my very favorite things in DC. In no real order...

Favorite sushi - Sushi Taro - Spices would deliver to our house so while most of the sushi we ate came from there - when we walked the 8 blocks to Sushi Taro we were reminded of the difference between good and great sushi

Favorite pizza - Pizza Paradiso - this tiny restaurant is nearly always mobbed so Dan and I grabbed an evening when we were both out of class early

Favorite cocktails - I love the creativity of those at Tallulah (along with their "amuse yourself" mini-appetizers) - Megan agrees that Tallulah is one of her favorite Virginia restaurants - and if I were being charitable that Tallulah is a favorite restaurant and not just a "favorite for Virginia"

Favorite fondue - last night Justin, Jim, Holly and I went out for fondue at Melting Pot and may have settled on cheddar as our favorite of the evening. I tried to restrain myself slightly so I only felt like I had half-over eaten and not completely overeaten - although that last chocolate dipped strawberry was nearly as good as the first.

Favorite Stores - ties between Home Rule for hip housewares and Paper Source for craft supplies for people who don't do crafts.

Welcome to Madaba

I visited Madaba just before closing time. After a quick stop to see the famous 6th-century mosaic map in St. George's church, I made a straight shot for the Archaeological Museum. According to the posted hours, the museum had closed half an hour ago.


Using my poor Arabic, I pretended I was unaware of this problem. The guide quickly deduced I was not a native speaker. When I conceded that I was American, he lit up and insisted that I take the tour for free. The dusty winds had obscured the tile floors. Nobody was looking, so he grabbed a bottle of Windex and sprayed the dust off some of the 1500-year-old mosaics.




There are much better pictures of St. George's here.

Tea and cakes at the jail

"Shay!", the warden commands. The receptionist disappears for a few minutes to brew thick, coffee-ish tea as I sit awkwardly in his office, as Al Jazeera plays loudly in the corner. We are not alone. Another jail official sits silently, and my colleague - a native Jordanian woman - facilitates some small talk. (The warden speaks no English)

This country is beautiful, I tell him. Have you seen Petra yet?, he asks. No, your jail is the first thing he wanted to see, my colleague adds.

Tea is served. More waiting. When there is so little conversation, it is harder to seize the lull and move on to the business at hand. Today, it's all lull.

Previous visits were quicker, apparently. The Consular Officers before me were female, and were not invited to sit for tea. When Americans are arrested overseas, they are entitled to periodic visits from a Consular Officer. We do not bail you out, or pressure foreign governments to release you. We simply want to know where you are, and ensure that you are not treated worse than everyone else.

After finally meeting with the American prisoner, we sit for another tea with the first warden, and then go to the women's facility. Another warden, another tea. This time, there are sweets.

There has not been an American female arrest in years, so it's the first time a US Consular Officer has visited.

In fact, there is some commotion during my entrance and exit as the female staff jostle each other in order to get a good look at me. For a brief moment, I am an international celebrity.

Car en route

At this point our furniture, half my clothes, Dan and now our car are all en route to Jordan. I am still in Virginia. The car was picked up today and after some bureaucratic anxiety - we schedule for 2-4pm they say they will be there between 11-1pm - our blue Saturn is now on a flat bed truck.

It's next stop will be Baltimore where it will go in a container and then onto a boat to Aqaba. Aqaba is Jordan's port town (and if you look at a map it looks like when the British and French were drawing Middle Eastern maps in 1919 they made Jordan funny-shaped so that it wouldn't be landlocked.

Most of our stuff is also traveling via boat to Jordan. Some stuff is supposed to arrive more quickly via air but it too needs to pass through customs so it doesn't arrive as quickly as you'd think stuff on an airplane should.

A few early photos

The oven that wouldn't spark









First grocery trip a success!










Views from the deck.

Where the streets have no name

Day 1 of work completed successfully. Boss was surprised to see me in office before 8:00am and made it clear I wasn't expected to remember anything she said. Much of the day spent filling forms and getting logged in.

High point of day: getting through to Duffy and telling her I arrived safely.

2nd highest point of day: discovering my government-issued cell phone in Amman is a BlackBerry! (In fact, this posting is actually coming to you from said device).

Thursday is the last day of workweek here, and is celebrated beside the embassy pool with an all-night steak feast, complete with mashed potatoes, cigars and beer, all of which I managed to keep away from my suit, miraculously. After I was caught nodding off at the table (it was 9:30pm after all!), my sponsor drove me home.

The drive home is a curious thing here, as I still have no idea how to get myself home. My 2 gracious sponsors know where I live - they stocked my kitchen before I even arrived. But streets here are ungridded and unnamed. Today (Friday), after so generously driving me to Carrfour's for groceries, clothes hangers, and an electric razor, even my sponsor needed an extra lap around the neighborhood to find the correct route.

There is a restaurant delivery service (think "Take Out Taxi") whose specialty is figuring out where folks live. The first order is a long, drawn out ordeal and something of a leap of faith, but once you're in their system, you'll willingly pay the extra $2 to avoid the hassle again.

This is truly the first time since high school that I've felt so disadvantaged by not having a car. People here say the best way to learn your way around is to get in your car and get yourself lost - something you just can't do in a cab. And it's unwise to take a cab somewhere if you can't get yourself home again!

I'm Still in Arlington

Dan as he wrote has arrived safetly in Amman - alhamdilila (Arabic for "thanks be to God" which ends a lot of sentences). I'm still in Arlington but have moved from the Westin to the Booths. Living with the Booths has meant much companionship and a chance to read a lot of kids books - I loved one called The Daddy Mountain but storybook versions of Shrek 3 are far less charming.

I am down to two more weeks of classes. I have an hour of Arabic in the morning and then 7 hours of "how to do my job" training each day. My job seems to be go to meetings, take notes, write up reports and then drop everything if someone important is in town (president, VP, Sec. Rice, Senators, Congressmen, etc.) This happens a lot - not just because people want to see Petra where the Indiana Jones movie was set - but because Jordan is a lovely stopping point (with a 4 Seasons hotel) on the way to Baghdad (which does not have a 4 Seasons hotel).

Arrived in Amman, safe but sleepy

Arrival at Queen Alia International Airport was flawless, thanks to nice embassy people who meet me and whisk me through Customs. After arriving at apartment, I receive very thorough briefing on all apartment amenities, but after I am left alone, I realize I do not understand how to turn on oven to heat casserole left by very nice embassy people. Too groggy to seek help, I settle for bachelor's dinner: 1 energy bar + 1 beer. But first, before dinner, I fry my electric razor by not switching it to high voltage. Thank heavens, after first day of work today, embassy will have weekly steak night. I will report back on whether I pulled off the suit + tie + unshaven look...