Hello,
Today was a kind of unremarkable day. Mahmoud's, my Arabic teacher, brother passed away suddenly this morning. This is sad and I hope he is doing okay. He will be out for the rest of the week.
For our class lecture today, we listened to Doctor Janwad Amani . Dr. Amani is the current Minister of Economic Affairs in Jordan and is a well known Arab Economist. He previously served as the Deputy Prime Minister as well as the Foreign Affairs Minister for Jordan. Personally, I was disappointed by this lecture. I really hoped to be enlightened and to learn more about Economics in Jordan. Dr. Amani seemed to be more interested in being liked than informing us. He dropped names of American Celebrities that he had met as well as continued to bring up how close he was to both King Hussein as well as King Abdullah II. While I did get some great information, it was hard to follow as the lecture kept going on tangents.
What I did walk away with from the lecture was that the Arab Spring is all about "redemption of dignity" whether it be in regards to human rights or high unemployment. According to Dr. Amani, the Jordanian movement is different because the people do not want to change the regime (i.e Throw out the King). This is because of the "benevolence of the king" as well as the King's "Management of the people's demands". I agree that Abdullah II has done a pretty good job with managing demonstrations. By not using violence, like Syria and Egypt, Abdullah has avoided people becoming more upset and willing to use violence.
Something I learned about Economics. Jordan is depended on Egypt for its pipeline which allows Jordan to have gas. Israel also shares this pipeline. When the pipeline was bombed in 2011, Jordan had to rebuild the pipeline. Israel was not really interested in helping since they could just use their own gas or trade elsewhere. As a result, electricity and gas is now much more expensive in Jordan. One of the first sounds I noticed in Jordan was the sound of an ice cream truck. Turns out, it is not an ice cream truck but a truck that goes around the neighborhood selling gas. They recently changed the music to a happier tune to try to make people feel happier when they buy gas. People are unhappy about the price increase, but the pipeline has to be paid for somehow.
Dr. Amani also talked about how Jordan needs to be careful not to turn into a Welfare State. The income tax revenue is not large enough to support the needs of the Jordanian people. As a result, he believes that the government needs to implement austerity measures. He believes that austerity measures can also help to increase trust in the government. In my opinion, the problem is that people are depended on the government for health care and major expenses such as that. With a 17% unemployment rate, if you were to cut federal benefits, people would freak out! While I do believe that cuts are most likely necessary, I just think of the negative reaction Jordanians had to the increase price of gas. I don't think they would stand for major cuts right now.
Here are some links referring to the gas demonstrations.
Gas Protest in Jordan-2012
BBC- Jordan Gas Protests
On a more personal note, I ate at Burger King for lunch today. I don't eat a lot of meat here and was craving a burger like nobody's business. It was good, but definitely better in the US. I will have to try McDonalds at some point.
On another personal note, when riding to school this morning, the taxi driver started speaking to me in German. I was really confused and said in Arabic that I didn't understand. He told me that I look German and thus assumed that even though I am an American, I must known German. I responded no. It is really interesting how Jordanians are able to correctly identify people's ethnic backgrounds. My host mom told me I looked German from the moment I met her and other SIT people have said that their host family guessed their ethnic background spot on. Interesting.
On yet another personal note, after school I went and bought flowers at a pretty flower store, La Mimosa, in Abdoun near my school. Today is my host mother's birthday, so I thought I pick up some flowers. La Mimosa just opened up a few days ago, so it is super nice and the owner is friendly and proud. The store was covered with different Valentine's Day floral arrangements, but I found a nice one that could be appropriate for a birthday. The whole time I was in the store, the owner was right next to me. I think he wanted to be helpful, but I could have used some space. I went to the store yesterday to check it out. I think he was afraid that did not like his flowers or that I thought the price was too high yesterday. Today when I went to pick up a floral arrangement that was similar to what I saw yesterday he told me it was 25JD. Yesterday it was 35JD. I think he gave me a good price because he was afraid I would walk away. Also, the owner kept asking my opinion on the Valentine's Day floral arrangements and wanted to make sure he did it right. Honestly, I think these arrangements were prettier than the ones in the US. They looked very similar, but had a small twist to them. I told him they were all gorgeous. He looked so pleased.
Below is the floral arrangement.
When I went to leave the store, he told me to wait. He wrapped up a few lillys in a pink piece of decorative paper and handed to me as a gift. I think he could tell that I had a rough day and was very tired. The flowers were a very nice gesture and made my day. I really appreciated it :).
Below is the picture of the Lillys.
So if you are ever in Jordan, buy your flowers from La Mimosa in Abdoun Circle in Amman. They are gorgeous and the owner is a sweetheart. I could not find a website to post though. He might not have one yet.
Til next time,
Natalie
Today was a kind of unremarkable day. Mahmoud's, my Arabic teacher, brother passed away suddenly this morning. This is sad and I hope he is doing okay. He will be out for the rest of the week.
For our class lecture today, we listened to Doctor Janwad Amani . Dr. Amani is the current Minister of Economic Affairs in Jordan and is a well known Arab Economist. He previously served as the Deputy Prime Minister as well as the Foreign Affairs Minister for Jordan. Personally, I was disappointed by this lecture. I really hoped to be enlightened and to learn more about Economics in Jordan. Dr. Amani seemed to be more interested in being liked than informing us. He dropped names of American Celebrities that he had met as well as continued to bring up how close he was to both King Hussein as well as King Abdullah II. While I did get some great information, it was hard to follow as the lecture kept going on tangents.
What I did walk away with from the lecture was that the Arab Spring is all about "redemption of dignity" whether it be in regards to human rights or high unemployment. According to Dr. Amani, the Jordanian movement is different because the people do not want to change the regime (i.e Throw out the King). This is because of the "benevolence of the king" as well as the King's "Management of the people's demands". I agree that Abdullah II has done a pretty good job with managing demonstrations. By not using violence, like Syria and Egypt, Abdullah has avoided people becoming more upset and willing to use violence.
Something I learned about Economics. Jordan is depended on Egypt for its pipeline which allows Jordan to have gas. Israel also shares this pipeline. When the pipeline was bombed in 2011, Jordan had to rebuild the pipeline. Israel was not really interested in helping since they could just use their own gas or trade elsewhere. As a result, electricity and gas is now much more expensive in Jordan. One of the first sounds I noticed in Jordan was the sound of an ice cream truck. Turns out, it is not an ice cream truck but a truck that goes around the neighborhood selling gas. They recently changed the music to a happier tune to try to make people feel happier when they buy gas. People are unhappy about the price increase, but the pipeline has to be paid for somehow.
Dr. Amani also talked about how Jordan needs to be careful not to turn into a Welfare State. The income tax revenue is not large enough to support the needs of the Jordanian people. As a result, he believes that the government needs to implement austerity measures. He believes that austerity measures can also help to increase trust in the government. In my opinion, the problem is that people are depended on the government for health care and major expenses such as that. With a 17% unemployment rate, if you were to cut federal benefits, people would freak out! While I do believe that cuts are most likely necessary, I just think of the negative reaction Jordanians had to the increase price of gas. I don't think they would stand for major cuts right now.
Here are some links referring to the gas demonstrations.
Gas Protest in Jordan-2012
BBC- Jordan Gas Protests
 |
| SIT group with Dr. Almani |
On a more personal note, I ate at Burger King for lunch today. I don't eat a lot of meat here and was craving a burger like nobody's business. It was good, but definitely better in the US. I will have to try McDonalds at some point.
On another personal note, when riding to school this morning, the taxi driver started speaking to me in German. I was really confused and said in Arabic that I didn't understand. He told me that I look German and thus assumed that even though I am an American, I must known German. I responded no. It is really interesting how Jordanians are able to correctly identify people's ethnic backgrounds. My host mom told me I looked German from the moment I met her and other SIT people have said that their host family guessed their ethnic background spot on. Interesting.
On yet another personal note, after school I went and bought flowers at a pretty flower store, La Mimosa, in Abdoun near my school. Today is my host mother's birthday, so I thought I pick up some flowers. La Mimosa just opened up a few days ago, so it is super nice and the owner is friendly and proud. The store was covered with different Valentine's Day floral arrangements, but I found a nice one that could be appropriate for a birthday. The whole time I was in the store, the owner was right next to me. I think he wanted to be helpful, but I could have used some space. I went to the store yesterday to check it out. I think he was afraid that did not like his flowers or that I thought the price was too high yesterday. Today when I went to pick up a floral arrangement that was similar to what I saw yesterday he told me it was 25JD. Yesterday it was 35JD. I think he gave me a good price because he was afraid I would walk away. Also, the owner kept asking my opinion on the Valentine's Day floral arrangements and wanted to make sure he did it right. Honestly, I think these arrangements were prettier than the ones in the US. They looked very similar, but had a small twist to them. I told him they were all gorgeous. He looked so pleased.
Below is the floral arrangement.
 |
| Orange roses, lillys and a small amount of Orchids. |
When I went to leave the store, he told me to wait. He wrapped up a few lillys in a pink piece of decorative paper and handed to me as a gift. I think he could tell that I had a rough day and was very tired. The flowers were a very nice gesture and made my day. I really appreciated it :).
Below is the picture of the Lillys.
 |
| My wonderful Lillys. |
So if you are ever in Jordan, buy your flowers from La Mimosa in Abdoun Circle in Amman. They are gorgeous and the owner is a sweetheart. I could not find a website to post though. He might not have one yet.
Til next time,
Natalie
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