My Arabic Still Needs Work

When we were in language class, I remember someone telling me that one measure of being reasonably proficient in a language is "can you explain the electoral college system in that language?"

Today in my Arabic class, I think I discovered (and failed) a new test: can you explain the financial crisis in Arabic? While I had some useful words - interest, Central Bank, investment - I did not have such useful phrases as "mortgage-backed securities" or "treasury bills."

Thankfully they speak English in Trinidad.

First rain!

This weekend it rained for the first time since probably March. The papers said it rained 6 mm and that there were multiple car wrecks as cars slid on the dust+water combination. I recall learning last year that olives get harvested after the first good rain but I do not think this qualifies. You can tell when it will rain in Jordan because it turns cold (by Jordanian standards) - year-round it is warm, dry and sunny and then it will turn cold (like I imagine the feeling of dementors entering a room) and you'll know rain is on the way.

We went to a barbecue yesterday (that was not impacted by the rain) that had several newcomers to the Embassy and the measure of how long one has been in Jordan seemed to be based on had you seen it rain there before.

Books@Cafe Closed!

In other news, our favorite restaurant – which I previously wrote about because it was OPEN during Ramadan – has now been shut down by the government! I think it is just closed for Ramadan but it led to some vigorous blogging that boiled down to “the importance of Ramadan and the cultural divide in Amman between traditional and westernized cultures” vs. a “defense of their ‘tourist restaurant’ license to operate and the goal of diversity and tolerance.”

We are sorry they are closed – we appreciate the ambience of the place, as well as the outstanding pancakes.

Chinese Themed Book Group

Tuesday night was my book club and I have to say our hostess brought the club up a level in terms of hospitality. We read “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” this month – or more accurately we discussed it – I read it independently maybe six months ago. Our group met around iftar time – many of the book group’s members are American women married to Jordanians (whom they met in grad school in the U.S.) – and while I don’t think any of them have converted to Islam they live with families who are fasting and so they fast too.

Our hostess Reem, set a beautiful table with Asian decorations in honor of the Chinese setting of the book and then served delicious Chinese food. Our default for book group is a potluck but several members are ambitious cooks and when they host the food is doubly-delicious. (Last month, similarly we had dinner at a member’s home/vineyard and ate delicious food from her garden.)

While I personally liked rather than loved the book – it turned out to be an outstanding choice for a book group with a lot of areas of discussion – how do people cause pain to themselves (or their children) in the name of beauty or advancement; what kinds of communication can cause misunderstandings and changing roles within a family over a lifetime.

Next month, we are reading a book I recommended Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks – who may be my new favorite author. I also just read March – which is her re-telling of Little Women from the perspective of the father and just ordered “People of the Book.”

I really liked this “diary” entry from Queen Rania in Slate.

Meet my department

My office like Dan's is half-Jordanian and half-American. This weekend we had a small party for a colleague who is about to have a baby. It is Ramadan and so it was a refreshment-free party but it did include a very cool balloon sculpture. There are multiple stores in Jordan that offer balloon sculptures and they can also be delivered by the food delivery service we use for dinner delivery. I'm not sure you can see but there are balloons inside balloons AND flower-shaped balloons. Our neighbor recently received a blue sculpture celebrating the arrival of a boy baby that included a baby-shaped balloon. Do such things exist in the U.S. and I just haven't been luck enough to be a recipient?

My Day of Opposites

Thursday was a great day. I went to a cement factory AND to a fashion show. The cement factory was probably heaven for 5 year old boys as I saw explosions, dump trucks, and bull dozers in action. I got to wear a hard hat, a neon vest, safety goggles, heavy boots and I could justify wearing jeans to work.

Here is how cement is made:
1. You explode the side of a mountain until you have bolder size rocks
2. You crush the rock – you need to use four different kind of rocks in a particular recipe
3. Then the crushed rock in the right combination is heated in a 1500 degree oven
4. The resulting product is cooled and crushed – voila cement.

At one point on the tour we are standing next to the first crusher and a dump truck pulls up to dump a load of limestone into the crusher and the plant manager next to me wisely steps back, which I notice too late and in my enthusiasm to watch tons of limestone falling into a crusher I am covered with dust (and it is Ramadan so I good not quickly gulp water to get the taste of dirt out of my mounth).

That night (after a shower and a change of clothing), I went with a girlfriend and my Arabic teacher Ghadeer and her sister-in-law Looma to a charity fashion show for a deaf school. The fashions started from a Jordanian style – a long dress with a robe and usually some Palestinian-style embroidery but the pieces were done in silks and chiffons and sparkles – so it was not your everyday embroidered dress.

You have two cows joke

I had seen the first part of this joke which I received on email but had never seen the Middle Eastern elements at the end. To explain one of the jokes: Sharjah is another one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (others include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras-Al Kheimah)


SOCIALISM: You have 2 cows and you give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows; the Government takes both and gives you some milk.

NAZISM:You have 2 cows. The Government takes both and shoots you.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION:You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, Government hires you a consultant to analyze why the cow dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION:You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

A BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.

LEBANON SYSTEM:You have two cows. One is owned by Syria and the other is controlled by the government.

EGYPT SYSTEM:You have two cows. Both vote for Mubarak.

DUBAI SYSTEM:You have two cows. You create a website for them and advertise them in all magazines. You create a ' Cow City ' or ' Milk Village ' for them. You sell off their milk before the cows have even been milked to both legit and shady investors who hope to re -sell the non-existent milk for a 100% profit in two years time. You bring Tiger Woods to milk the cow first to attract media attention.

SHARJAH SYSTEM:You have two cows. You sell them to an investor in Dubai. The cows get stuck in traffic between Sharjah to Dubai and die. You have zero cows now,
but someone in Dubai is willing to sell them back to you.

ABU DHABI SYSTEM: You have two cows. So what? We have Oil !!!

Changing Traffic Patterns

Ramadan changes traffic dramatically. In the morning going to work, traffic is a little lighter than average. Then there is a mad rush to get home at 2 pm when the government offices close. Traffic is then light when we are heading home. Finally, there is another rush of traffic right before iftar (meal which breaks fast) as people drive quickly (after a day of not eating and smoking) to make it to the meal (being hosted at a cousin's house, etc) on time. Iftar is a meal that begins on time. The during iftar (which today begins at 6:57) the roads are empty - emptier than they are at any time of day on any day of the year.

Captain Abu Raed update

I read in the paper this weekend that Captain Abu Raed will be nominated by Jordan as its entrant in the Oscars best foreign language film category. In the article, the Royal Film Commission mentioned the many excellent Jordanian films it had to choose among - but to be honest I think there are just two feature-length films this year (and indeed ever) - I don't think you can nominate shorts for the category. We hope it wins - but I have to admit that the last two foreign language winners: Counterfeiters and Lives of Others were both better than Captain Abu Raed.

Collaborative filtering is the feature on Netflix (and Amazon, Tivo and elsewhere) that calculates what other movies you will like. Today when I went to Netflix to add some movies about Trinidad the headline was

We think you will enjoy: The Rape of Europa ... perhaps "enjoy" is the wrong word.

Ramadan Speakeasy

So far this Ramadan has been easier than last Ramadan – mostly because we have some experience under out belt.

First for work, I have learned that Ramadan is a great time to work on projects for DC (a city not celebrating Ramadan) and it is a good time to schedule meetings with Christians here. Jordan is about 6% Christian and one can typically tell a person’s religion by their last name – so for me this month I will meet with lots of Khourys, Hananias and Fakhourys.

For weekends, we now know which restaurants are open during Ramadan, including one of our favorites: Books@Cafe. A small number of restaurants are allowed to be open during Ramadan but they can’t look open. On Friday, we had Books@Cafe’s famous Friday breakfast – it is enormous and Dan and I split one - $9 (the price went up recently) gets you toast, an omelette, pancakes, mankeesh (a cheese filled pastry like a calzone), fruit salad, juice and coffee. When we arrived at the restaurant, all of the blinds were drawn and the two balconies were closed but if you walked into their courtyard, there was a small sign (in English) on the door saying they were open. It felt like going to a speakeasy – they can’t advertise they are open, they have to be subtle about it (last year there was a protest over McDonalds which had gotten government permission to run its delivery service), and we don’t think they can serve alcohol.

Name our next post in 10 clues...

1. It is illegal to curse in public and American travelers are warned about the law in the State Department travel warning. It is also illegal for civilians to wear camouflage clothing.

2. Top exports: petroleum and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol.

3. Population: 1 million

4. Size: slightly smaller than Delaware

5. 12 months a year, the average high temperature is in the 80s and the average low temperature is in the 70s.

And just when you thought we were going to Bahrain, some clues that prove we aren’t:

6. It’s the home of Angostura Bitters – the magical ingredient that transforms a glass of champagne with a sugar cube in it into a champagne cocktail

7. Soca and calypso music started here, as did the Limbo.

8. Among its current international disputes is the right of Barbadian fisherman to catch flying fish in its waters.

9. They are very proud of their Carnival celebration – which requires the full year for preparation and results in a two-day holiday for everyone.

10. From their tourism website: the village of Buccoo on the country’s smaller island can be described as the goat and crab racing capital of the world. During the Easter holidays specially trained goats sprint towards the finish line followed by jockeys clutching long ropes. In the crab race, jockeys attempt to prod the stubborn crustaceans towards the finish line. But there is no glory for the winning crabs, just a place in a pot of spicy curry sauce.

Yes, we are going to Trinidad and Tobago!