Last night I was in a meeting with an UNRWA colleague listening to the imam in the mosque down the street. I was asking my friend to see if Eid al Fitr would be today or tomorrow. Because the Islamic calendar is based on a lunar system, it depends on the Islamic courts to look at the moon and decide when the holy month of Ramadan ends and when Eid al Fitr begins. Apparently it wasn’t last night, though from looking around Amman you wouldn’t know it. Shops are closed, people have made their way out of town for the long weekend, schools and government offices are closed. It feels like New York City on a hot summer weekend when everyone has taken flight for the beaches. I think we’ll know for sure once we hear the fireworks go off…hopefully in a few hours.
The week has been slow in some ways, I’ve been trying to get back into the rhythm of Amman. At first this meant that I had all kinds of meetings an appointments to cram in before Eid, but then my body decided it would take control of the situation and slow me down. It happened at 2 AM a few nights ago. I got up to go to the bathroom and as I was getting back into bed, in the dark, my right knee hit the wooden bed frame and my knee cap popped out and locked on the side. This hasn’t happened for many years, but when it used to happen it would only take a few seconds to pop it back in. This time the knee cap camped out on the side for a good 30-40 minutes. It was excrutiating and I coudln’t move at all. I eventually decided to call Alain, the Fulbright director, much as I hated to wake him up. He was on his way to pick me up and take me to the emergency room when I managed to pop it back in. Fortunately, he had not yet left his home. The rest of the week has been spent meeting with orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists rather than educators. But I’m doing much better, despite the fact that the doctors said no yoga for the next 2 weeks. UGH!
I did manage to make a few contacts this week despite the injury. I cracked through another layer of the Ministry of Education’s bureaucracy. I’ve been trying to get a meeting with the people there for over a month so that I can conduct some research into the Jordanian textbooks in use since 1967. I think I finally made it through the appropriate channels. I also composed yet another email to the new UNRWA director here to try to continue my research in the UNRWA schools. Just when you think you’ve tackled another layer of the bureaucracy yet another one pops up. Insha’allah I’m finished with these logistical activities and can begin to do archival and experiential research.
And I had my last Ramadan iftar in an unexpected setting. A friend invited me to a conference hosted by the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center. Apparently there was an entire conference that went along with this event, but I was only able to attend the dinner. It was interesting to meet the mostly Christian and Muslim people involved with this organization. There was one Jewish woman from New York who spoke at the event, but I’m not sure why; although I didn’t hear her speech it seems that she was not interested in interfaith dialogue but rather interested in admonishing Muslims. I asked her for a copy of her speech because I’m curious as to what she said that aroused this response.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be an exciting week without visitors! My friend Sahar visited me from Birzeit this week en route to Beirut. She brought a couple of friends with her, another American and one from Germany. I had wanted to spend some time showing them around the city, but they were delayed with all kinds of border issues. They were supposed to arrive via Malak Hussein Bridge at around lunch time and instead they arrived around 8:30 PM via Shekih Hussein Bridge in the north. Not a fun day to say the least. Insha’allah Sahar will spend another day on her way back through at the end of Eid.
Salam–
