Hello Everyone!
Well, sadly my Jordanian journey is coming to an end but I still have 2 weeks left after the 10 day Eid holiday! I am spending Eid in Paris and my flight is tonight, but I still have a few hours so I thought I would write a new blog post discussing the elections that caused us to have a day off on Tuesday!
You might be thinking to yourself what I thought when I first heard about the elections: Why would there be elections if there is a King?? Well, in Jordan the government is structured with a King and Parliament. The King is obviously not elected but born into the royal family just like in England or Sweden. But, people run for seats on Parliament. So, this Tuesday the elections occurred - but, just like in the States, the process began quite a while ago.
Probably a month and a half ago I was on my way to golf when I first noticed hundreds of posters with big faces and arabic writing on them. I began to recognize certain faces which appeared on poser after poster. Then, about 3 weeks ago while driving back from golf one day we saw a man talking to a very large gathering of people in a tent-like public area with lights. I was told that he was running for a seat Parliament and therefore he was speaking to the people - just like a stop on the campaign trail in America.
But, although the campaign process is somewhat similar to the American process, the system of voting is quite different. For one thing, the reason that there is a new election for Parliament is because the people of Jordan were seemingly not happy with the Parliament and therefore a new Parliament was wanted. So, some 700 people ran on Tuesday for 120 seats on Parliament. Even some family members of kids in the King's community ran! This year was different than previous elections in Jordan though, because in the past most people voted for the person running from their tribe. Because Jordan was originally a tribal culture, it is very focused on family. So if someone from your family was running you had to vote for them - even if they may not have been the best candidate. But now Jordan has broken out of that box and people are more free to vote for whomever they want, although you must be inside of Jordan to vote because there are no absentee ballots.
However, 2 political parties boycotted the Parliamentary elections because they felt that they were merely charades and that they didn't really control anything, and only 30% of people who are eligible actually voted. This is the main difference between the American elections and Jordanian elections. Here there is not much passion or fire behind the campaign trail and the notion of everyone voting and therefore having a say in their country. But, since 70% of the Jordanian population is under the age of 20 perhaps the notion of voting will change over the next several years.
The date that was picked for the Election Day was also a strategic move by the Jordanian government. Tuesday was the 5th anniversary of the Amman bombings, so the government wanted to try and replace the thoughts of that with election day.
I will try to blog from Paris, and I hope all is well back on the home front!
Kat
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Chicken and Rice and Everything Nice!
Hello Friends, Family, and anyone else reading this blog!
I cannot believe that I have already been here for a month! Time has begun to really fly, and I am loving Jordan. Since I have now been here for quite a while, I have gotten used to the different customs and traditions here and I feel (and fear) that I have been somewhat misrepresenting my current school. Even though everything that I have said is entirely true, I have not been quite fair in sharing all of the the mumtaz (excellent) things that have been going on over here! I have even developed a soft spot in my heart for the differences in discipline and uniform :)
Last week I had my first hip-hop class which was actually really fun! When I got to the dance studio, they were already practicing and everyone looked really professional and into it. For that reason, I thought to myself, "oh gosh, what on earth did I get myself into..."
But no worries, all of the girls are super nice and jokey, and the instructor is really cool! He has his own dance group which is going to audition for the Arab version of Britain's got Talent, or The X Factor. We are currently working on a routine that is really fun and can go with many different songs and beats.
Golf is challenging, although my shots are getting longer by the week! My french is also being improved and tested since the golf instructor only speaks French and Arabic! That makes it really fun - and I have learned many new vocabulary words.
Just like at Castilleja, King's has regular assemblies and speakers. Alansbo3 Almaddee (last week) the actor, Rob Campbell came and spoke to us about how he became a full time actor and talked about some of his favorite roles that he has played. This was particularly interesting for the kids who are in the school play because this year they are putting on 'The Crucible,' and Mr. Campbell has been in that play before.
My classes are getting more and more interesting now that the review part of the year is finished, and today I had 2 tests and an oral french presentation that took up the entire class period! (Casti style :))
Arabic is actually going really well also! I now know 8 letters, and many conversational things. My teacher is pretty awesome and he teaches us really useful phrases.
Even the lunches seem to be improving! Today we had this AMAZING cupcake thingie... oh my gosh, it was so delicious! I am also becoming obsessed with the laban (yogurt) here as well as these wonderful pita sandwiches that everybody makes. What you do is you take a pita, put some sliced meat and some cheese inside it, and then put it in the Panini maker. Oh my goodness, it is so unbelievably good! All of you must try it immediately!
The people here, both at King's and throughout Jordan have been so friendly and welcoming, that I am really starting to feel at home. Assdiqaee (my friends - basically everyone at King's) are just super nice, and they even humor me by letting me try out using (and typically pronouncing horribly wrong) Arabic words, as well as riding around on a scooter that one of my friends bought! Btw, I am so getting one next weekend! Although the weekends are rather empty, this weekend I did some community service and volunteered at Rwwad, a education center in downtown Amman. I helped an 8th grade boy with his English homework, and it really gave me a new sense of how difficult English is, and how lucky I am to be a native speaker! There was also a class of adults who were learning English as a second language so we sat in on part of their class, which was interesting since they were learning some things (although they were much more advanced) that I am currently learning in Arabic. Some of the Arabic speaking kids who went also read Arabic books to the younger kids and helped them with reading skills. It was a really amazing experience and I will certainly be going back later on in the term!
I am sorry that I have not been writing very frequently, but I will try and up the number of blogs that I write per week. I have just been busy with activities and hanging out with friends, and I have neglected my blogging duties :) I miss all of you and I will try to write again soon!
Kat
I cannot believe that I have already been here for a month! Time has begun to really fly, and I am loving Jordan. Since I have now been here for quite a while, I have gotten used to the different customs and traditions here and I feel (and fear) that I have been somewhat misrepresenting my current school. Even though everything that I have said is entirely true, I have not been quite fair in sharing all of the the mumtaz (excellent) things that have been going on over here! I have even developed a soft spot in my heart for the differences in discipline and uniform :)
Last week I had my first hip-hop class which was actually really fun! When I got to the dance studio, they were already practicing and everyone looked really professional and into it. For that reason, I thought to myself, "oh gosh, what on earth did I get myself into..."
But no worries, all of the girls are super nice and jokey, and the instructor is really cool! He has his own dance group which is going to audition for the Arab version of Britain's got Talent, or The X Factor. We are currently working on a routine that is really fun and can go with many different songs and beats.
Golf is challenging, although my shots are getting longer by the week! My french is also being improved and tested since the golf instructor only speaks French and Arabic! That makes it really fun - and I have learned many new vocabulary words.
Just like at Castilleja, King's has regular assemblies and speakers. Alansbo3 Almaddee (last week) the actor, Rob Campbell came and spoke to us about how he became a full time actor and talked about some of his favorite roles that he has played. This was particularly interesting for the kids who are in the school play because this year they are putting on 'The Crucible,' and Mr. Campbell has been in that play before.
My classes are getting more and more interesting now that the review part of the year is finished, and today I had 2 tests and an oral french presentation that took up the entire class period! (Casti style :))
Arabic is actually going really well also! I now know 8 letters, and many conversational things. My teacher is pretty awesome and he teaches us really useful phrases.
Even the lunches seem to be improving! Today we had this AMAZING cupcake thingie... oh my gosh, it was so delicious! I am also becoming obsessed with the laban (yogurt) here as well as these wonderful pita sandwiches that everybody makes. What you do is you take a pita, put some sliced meat and some cheese inside it, and then put it in the Panini maker. Oh my goodness, it is so unbelievably good! All of you must try it immediately!
The people here, both at King's and throughout Jordan have been so friendly and welcoming, that I am really starting to feel at home. Assdiqaee (my friends - basically everyone at King's) are just super nice, and they even humor me by letting me try out using (and typically pronouncing horribly wrong) Arabic words, as well as riding around on a scooter that one of my friends bought! Btw, I am so getting one next weekend! Although the weekends are rather empty, this weekend I did some community service and volunteered at Rwwad, a education center in downtown Amman. I helped an 8th grade boy with his English homework, and it really gave me a new sense of how difficult English is, and how lucky I am to be a native speaker! There was also a class of adults who were learning English as a second language so we sat in on part of their class, which was interesting since they were learning some things (although they were much more advanced) that I am currently learning in Arabic. Some of the Arabic speaking kids who went also read Arabic books to the younger kids and helped them with reading skills. It was a really amazing experience and I will certainly be going back later on in the term!
I am sorry that I have not been writing very frequently, but I will try and up the number of blogs that I write per week. I have just been busy with activities and hanging out with friends, and I have neglected my blogging duties :) I miss all of you and I will try to write again soon!
Kat
Saturday, October 2, 2010
King's Academy Week 2
Well, I have pretty much finished settling into my routine here at King's although I am still figuring out how things work, as well as how to work the system here :)
Lots of things at King's can been changed or can be slid by, especially if parents get involved! But, one thing that most people cannot get around though are the rules, discipline and uniform. I have been told many times over the past few weeks how crazy last year was and what happened. Apparently over 25 kids were expelled, and the main problems were uniform and showing up to class. At King's there is a lot of discipline, but it doesn't rub off very well. There are many semi pointless disciplinary actions, but none that really work. For example; the uniform at King's consists of a blazer, oxford shirt, tie, and kaki pants. In each class, the teacher must give the students permission to remove their blazer before said blazer is taken off, and yet when children shout out answers or talk back to the teacher nothing is done about it.
The uniform is a main sticking point at King's and forcing kids to stay in dress code is an issue. Boys must always have their shirts tucked in and all students must have their tie tied. Last week however, was a polo week! A polo week only occurs if the weather is unusually hot. Everybody loves polo weeks because it means that instead of the oxford, tie, and blazer, students only have to wear one of the King's Academy polos with their pants. The polos also do not need to be tucked in - which causes great happiness among the male population :)
As I said, a major problem last year was that kids simply did not show up to class. This is one thing that I really do not understand - especially for boarders. Because, I mean, what else is there to do? Really, there is almost nothing else to do. Kids are not permitted to leave campus (and there is only one exit which is gated and always has guards) and the only other options are the library, student union, or their dorm rooms. The other thing that kids skipped was lunch. This on the other hand, I completely understand.
Lunch at King's is very different from lunch at Castilleja. In fact, most (or all) meals at King's are worse than Castilleja lunches (although we are really spoiled at Casti since the food is so amazing), but that is not the only difference. At King's, lunches Sunday through Thursday are served by students, and each student and teacher is assigned to a table. This means, that you are not permitted to sit with your friends, and if you are very unlucky, then you will be the waiter. Waiters are randomly chosen students who are forced to bring the food to the table, clear the dishes, bring the dessert, and put everything back by the kitchen. And they must perform these tasks every day for 3 weeks. I am hoping that since I am here for such a short period of time, that I will not have to be a waiter - at least I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Another new thing that started this week was co-curricular activities. My major co-curricular which meets after school 3 times per week is golf. Lets just say that golf in Jordan is very different than golf in California. The golf course, for instance. Like most things in Jordan, the golf course is brown. There is no grass, except for the artificial turf mats at the driving range! I am hoping that the lack of grass will help me get better at dealing with sand traps and things, but I am not sure yet! My minor co-curricular is hip-hop, and that should be very interesting. It only meets once per week, but most of you know about my totally rad (not) dancing moves. Since I am a severely bad dancer, we will have to see how that goes!
My classes are going well, although I still do not have nearly the amount of homework that I typically have at Castilleja. When I tell the kids here that we start our homework around 4:00 pm and don't finish until past 10:00, they are shocked. Which, is understandable, seeing that the homework here can be completed in 2 hours :)
I miss you all and will write again soon!
Kat
Lots of things at King's can been changed or can be slid by, especially if parents get involved! But, one thing that most people cannot get around though are the rules, discipline and uniform. I have been told many times over the past few weeks how crazy last year was and what happened. Apparently over 25 kids were expelled, and the main problems were uniform and showing up to class. At King's there is a lot of discipline, but it doesn't rub off very well. There are many semi pointless disciplinary actions, but none that really work. For example; the uniform at King's consists of a blazer, oxford shirt, tie, and kaki pants. In each class, the teacher must give the students permission to remove their blazer before said blazer is taken off, and yet when children shout out answers or talk back to the teacher nothing is done about it.
The uniform is a main sticking point at King's and forcing kids to stay in dress code is an issue. Boys must always have their shirts tucked in and all students must have their tie tied. Last week however, was a polo week! A polo week only occurs if the weather is unusually hot. Everybody loves polo weeks because it means that instead of the oxford, tie, and blazer, students only have to wear one of the King's Academy polos with their pants. The polos also do not need to be tucked in - which causes great happiness among the male population :)
As I said, a major problem last year was that kids simply did not show up to class. This is one thing that I really do not understand - especially for boarders. Because, I mean, what else is there to do? Really, there is almost nothing else to do. Kids are not permitted to leave campus (and there is only one exit which is gated and always has guards) and the only other options are the library, student union, or their dorm rooms. The other thing that kids skipped was lunch. This on the other hand, I completely understand.
Lunch at King's is very different from lunch at Castilleja. In fact, most (or all) meals at King's are worse than Castilleja lunches (although we are really spoiled at Casti since the food is so amazing), but that is not the only difference. At King's, lunches Sunday through Thursday are served by students, and each student and teacher is assigned to a table. This means, that you are not permitted to sit with your friends, and if you are very unlucky, then you will be the waiter. Waiters are randomly chosen students who are forced to bring the food to the table, clear the dishes, bring the dessert, and put everything back by the kitchen. And they must perform these tasks every day for 3 weeks. I am hoping that since I am here for such a short period of time, that I will not have to be a waiter - at least I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Another new thing that started this week was co-curricular activities. My major co-curricular which meets after school 3 times per week is golf. Lets just say that golf in Jordan is very different than golf in California. The golf course, for instance. Like most things in Jordan, the golf course is brown. There is no grass, except for the artificial turf mats at the driving range! I am hoping that the lack of grass will help me get better at dealing with sand traps and things, but I am not sure yet! My minor co-curricular is hip-hop, and that should be very interesting. It only meets once per week, but most of you know about my totally rad (not) dancing moves. Since I am a severely bad dancer, we will have to see how that goes!
My classes are going well, although I still do not have nearly the amount of homework that I typically have at Castilleja. When I tell the kids here that we start our homework around 4:00 pm and don't finish until past 10:00, they are shocked. Which, is understandable, seeing that the homework here can be completed in 2 hours :)
I miss you all and will write again soon!
Kat
Saturday, September 25, 2010
1st week at Kings Academy
Well, this first week at Kings been about as hectic as possible! It is only my second Saturday in Jordan, but I am already seeing all of the differences between Jordan and California, as well as between Kings Academy and Castilleja.
Jordan Time. We learned about Jordan time the first day at Kings. We were in my new dorm room just moving around furniture, and making it more homey when one of the legs of my bed fell off. OK then... I thought, we can just put it into the correct place and then have maintenance come and fix it. No big deal. But then, of course, another leg fell off as well. So, my Mom and I were left standing there with a completely demolished bed wondering how on earth other girls completed this feat. We quickly glanced around the dorm and everyone else was happily moving furniture with no problems, some of them without help! So, its just us I suppose. We finally bit the bullet and asked one of the older girls on my hall to help us out and she called maintenance for us. Ah thank goodness, they should be here soon.... hours go by... hopefully I won't have to sleep on the floor.... please?? Finally the maintenance folks arrived and expertly screwed on new legs, while also helping us with a very problematic fan, (but that is a whole different story).
Another example of Jordan time is the fact that it took the scheduling office aproximately 1.5 weeks to finally fix my schedule which was completely wrong! It still isn't quite fixed but since I was first placed in a high level of Arabic, (rather than Arabic 1) I'd say we have come a long way.
My favorite class so far is the American Presidency. I know, I know, an American Presidency class in Jordan? What? But it is a 1 term course that is all about the road to presidency and it is taught by a Professor at Columbia University who lives in NYC. It's pretty cool, and when we make and observant or intelligent remark, he tosses a pice of candy to us! Arabic 1 is also pretty awesome, and I know the days of the week, how to say door, and window and a few other words! My teacher is Mr. Yahya and I think that he thinks we are weird outcasts. My class is made up of all Americans and one kid from Saudi. The other day we told Mr. Yahya that we all wanted Arabic names. So, Mr. Yahya told one girl named Isabel that her name in Arabic was simply Isabel (just said really fast). It took us about 20 minutes to explain what we meant and then he told a boy named Henry that his Arabic name would be Sammi. He couldn't understand why we were laughing until we explained that a) Sammi is a girl's name in America and b) we wanted names like Achmed or Hussein. We finally got it sorted out, and my Arabic name is now Rania.
As well as learning in my classes I have also learned many things about Kings, Jordan, and the surrounding area. At Kings, all of the kids are very nice, and welcoming although there is a lot of punishment and discipline that must be done because many of the kids have never had that before, and can be rather disruptive. From the other students I have learned:
1. That in the first and second years of the school, the only way that the children could walk on the grass rather than the pathways is if they frolicked. The headmaster's wife would stand in her office which had an expansive view of one of the many grassy areas and she would yell out "frolic!!" if the students were simply walking on the grass.
2. Kings Academy was built to look really nice, not to be practical. So it is basically a pain to walk anywhere. For example most kids often cut across the iceplants that are on the hill in front of my dorm because otherwise one must go down this long ramp, and who has that kind of time? :)
3. Most kids are weekday borders so they go home on the weekend. So, on my hallway there are only 4 people here this weekend, making the school seem like an abandoned graveyard or something. Although, many of the teachers are still here and I still haven't gotten over the fact that yesterday I saw one of my teachers working out at the gym and today I asked my English teacher a question during breakfast, but that's boarding school for you!
4. NEVER go to Petra in September or even in October, or you will die. One of the trips this weekend was to Petra, and I was warned that it would be absolutely boiling there. Because of this, I will most likely wait and go in November, since it will apparently be much cooler then.
5. Scheduling here is super bizarre. Our school days are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the weekend is Friday and Saturday. We have school from 8:05 to 3:50 and then a break until 4:30. After that we have co-curricular which is a required activity where everyone picks a minor and a major co-curricular per term. Those end at 6:30 and then we have dinner. After dinner we can do whatever we want until 8:00. From 8:00 to 10:00 we have required study time. Then from 10:00 - 10:30 we can get ready for bed and you cannot leave your room after 10:30.
As you can probably tell, there are lots of rules here, and I haven't even brought up the uniform! But that will have to wait for the next blog post. I hope that everyone is doing well on the other side of the world, and that you enjoy my little tidbits of information!
Kat
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Salaamu Aleikum from Amman
Whew...
Well, after 2 plane rides, and several cars we have finally arrived in Amman. While driving into the city from the airport, I noticed how little had changed since March - even though we are in a totally different season! Today, we settled into our hotel, and then did some exploring! We first got some wonderful Sharwma at a tiny shack right down the road from the hotel. This place was recommended by our driver as the best Sharwma in all of Jordan. After walking for about 2 hours after the Sharwma, I came to some conclusions about the city of Amman itself:
1. Even in the nice parts of Amman that we were in, the shops are crumbling and the signs are in poorer repair. All of these little details remind me that even in commercial areas, Amman has a special character and charm to it.
2. Arabic. Oh my goodness. When one travels to a European country like France or Italy, things aren't completely, totally, drastically different. On the signs the alphabet is the same, and one can often pick out words. In Jordan, it couldn't be more different. When I see written Arabic it really just looks like squiggly lines. The letters could mean almost anything! I could be looking at a clothing shop, grocery store, embassy, or office. I am currently completely lost with Arabic but hopefully that will get slightly better once my Arabic classes begin at school.
Spending time in Amman has been a really interesting and eye opening experience. It has taught me how regular people in Jordan live as well as the staggering differences between the United States and Jordan. I hope that these connections and realizations will continue, and that I will soon have some even vague idea of what signs are saying in Amman!
Kat
Well, after 2 plane rides, and several cars we have finally arrived in Amman. While driving into the city from the airport, I noticed how little had changed since March - even though we are in a totally different season! Today, we settled into our hotel, and then did some exploring! We first got some wonderful Sharwma at a tiny shack right down the road from the hotel. This place was recommended by our driver as the best Sharwma in all of Jordan. After walking for about 2 hours after the Sharwma, I came to some conclusions about the city of Amman itself:
1. Even in the nice parts of Amman that we were in, the shops are crumbling and the signs are in poorer repair. All of these little details remind me that even in commercial areas, Amman has a special character and charm to it.
2. Arabic. Oh my goodness. When one travels to a European country like France or Italy, things aren't completely, totally, drastically different. On the signs the alphabet is the same, and one can often pick out words. In Jordan, it couldn't be more different. When I see written Arabic it really just looks like squiggly lines. The letters could mean almost anything! I could be looking at a clothing shop, grocery store, embassy, or office. I am currently completely lost with Arabic but hopefully that will get slightly better once my Arabic classes begin at school.
Spending time in Amman has been a really interesting and eye opening experience. It has taught me how regular people in Jordan live as well as the staggering differences between the United States and Jordan. I hope that these connections and realizations will continue, and that I will soon have some even vague idea of what signs are saying in Amman!
Kat
Thursday, August 26, 2010
About my blog
Hello!
As most of you who are reading this blog know, I am Kat and I will be spending the next 2.5 months in Jordan. No, not the middle school, the country :). I will be attending a boarding school, (the Prince of Jordan is there as well, ohlala) just south of the capital, Amman. This blog will be a place for me to talk about my experiences and what is happening on the other side of the globe. I hope that all of you enjoy my blog, and hearing about what I am up to. But don't worry, I'm not just disappearing, I'll be back in January and super excited for Global Week.
Kat
As most of you who are reading this blog know, I am Kat and I will be spending the next 2.5 months in Jordan. No, not the middle school, the country :). I will be attending a boarding school, (the Prince of Jordan is there as well, ohlala) just south of the capital, Amman. This blog will be a place for me to talk about my experiences and what is happening on the other side of the globe. I hope that all of you enjoy my blog, and hearing about what I am up to. But don't worry, I'm not just disappearing, I'll be back in January and super excited for Global Week.
Kat
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