Who has disturbed my slumber?

Hello Everybody,

Just a small note. Marium's new blog can be found here: http://karachiitis.blogspot.com/. The link on the right has been changed to reflect this. We wish her all the best in these difficult times.

Thanks,
Matt

Are you listening MPAC?

Matt

Hello Good People,

I had a striking, nay stunning, realization the other day which undoubtedly merits sharing with you, the countless loyal readers of this blog. Adel, one of my Arabic teachers here in Cairo, recently had a beautiful baby boy (ma sha Allah!) by the name of Jaleel. When he mentioned the name, I didn't think much of it then, but it was impossible to shake the feeling that I already knew someone by that name.

Now by and large the vast majority of men in Cairo are named Muhammad or Ahmad which makes the phonebook in my cell phone a nightmare. The other day when I sat down for chess, there were 4 Muhammad's, 1 Ahmad, and a Rafeeq. Needless to say, last names are a must in this city. But I digress.

For whatever reason I kept mulling over the name Jaleel, until it hit me. There is only one other person in the world I know with that name: Steven Q. Urkel, star of the 1990's sitcom Family Matters and icon for all those kids who grew up watching TGIF on ABC, was played by Jaleel White.

A follow-up question came to mind. Was Steve Urkel Muslim? A little bit of legitimate research later (read Wikipedia) and the answer turned out to be yes. Who knew?

Perhaps I should prepare a letter to the Muslim Public Affairs Council giving my highest recommendation that Jaleel White become their new spokesman. Such a figure so ingrained in the television consciousness of America is sure to make inroads in inter-religious dialogue. Brilliant!

Thanks for reading.

Scattered Thoughts II: With a Vengeance

Matt

Hello All,

Without further ado here is the second installment of my general reflections on Jordan, a collection of ideas indicative of the level of insight I brought to bear on the Hashemite Kingdom. Please expect more keen observations from my new home in Cairo where my exposure is infinitely greater. But hopefully there's some worthwhile ideas here.

1. I came to the Middle East with the expectation that I would not touch many people. An odd idea, but my limited understanding of Arab society led me to imagine rigid and formal interaction among the people, worlds away from the hugs and kisses of Chile or the Merengue dancing of the Dominican Republic. To a certain extent, I was right. Gender norms prescribe that I not initiate handshakes with women and hugging, at least in public, is frowned upon. But what I did not expect was the way in which men interact. In the taxis, the drivers were constantly touching me, slapping my knee to make a point or touching my hand to express affection. The latter bit, hand holding, is what most surprises me. Men here are constantly walking arm in arm, a confusing sight for an outsider like myself (more thoughts on "the Gay" in the future, al-Gay in Arabic). But it's just a common platonic gesture.


My favorite story about this involves a friend, Mike, who had asked a heavily armed soldier to help him find the local radio station. Without missing a beat, the officer took him by the hand such that the AK-47 was now securely under Mike's arm, and tenderly walked him a block or two in the right direction. How sweet!

2. Returning to the subject of women, I have been curious to investigate the stereotype of veiled women as being docile, an idea easily done away with after meeting any of the incredible women I have been fortunate enough to work and study with over the past few years. But there is nuance and complexity to the gender roles among Arab-Muslims, and so I offer one brief account. Walking around the markets of one of the Palestinian refugee camps, you see plenty of women, shopping for fruit, meats, and other household items. In addition to these domestic purchases, I also noticed a number of women, some wearing the niqab and others the hijab, browsing for slightly more adult items, namely lingerie. On the main thoroughfare, it was a trip to see women in full veil holding up a frilly pink bra in sight of the entire crowd of people. Certainly a challenge to many notions of sexual repression.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap a photo of the lingerie shoppers, but here's a snippet from the world of cutting-edge hijabi fashion.


3. The dome of the mosque, the quintessential design in Islamic architecture, provides an oasis of color in Amman, a much needed respite from the harsh monotone of Jordan’s cityscape. While there are plenty of Carolina blue domes to be found, my personal favorite is just down the block, a deep, inviting purple with two horizontal midnight blue stripes. Just gorgeous. And at night all the minarets are lit up in green, the color of the prophet Muhammad. Where there are no street lamps, the minarets can light the way.

Coincidentally, the very same color illuminates our local ATM at night. Fitting since it charges no withdrawal fee.



4. The call to prayer. There is nothing quite like it in all the world. When the imam begins to recite Allahu Akbar, people turn off the radio, cell phones are silenced, and, impossibly, taxi driver honk a little less. The entire city slows down just a bit as reverence for the prayer is observed. It is a constant reminder of the powerful religiosity in the lives of so many people here. And even though its message is not directed towards me, I cannot ignore its beauty. Five times a day, a stirring reminder of exactly where I am.


Other photos...

Market in a refugee camp.

Roman Columns.

Thanks for reading.

A Request

Matt

Hello good people. I write today with a simple request for book recommendations for my time here in Egypt. My roommate, Amr, works at the American University of Cairo's library and he has offered to check out books for me to read. Ideas in relevant topics like Mubarak, Nasser, Sadat, political Islam, Arab history and Arab literature are certainly welcome. Beyond the regional and religious reading, my other current interests include nationalism, Black Power, Henry Kissinger, and US foreign policy. There are also plans to read works by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ayn Rand, Sayyid Qutb, George Packer and Olivier Roy. Also, I should probably read something about Thebes or Alexander the Great. A progressive education has left me in the dark in all that ancient jazz.

Feel free to post in the comment section or email me. Comments would be great, though, so other people can benefit from your advice.

Many thanks.

Still Alive

Matt

Hello all. Sorry for the extended silence, but there has been much transition recently and precious little time to spend at the computer. Work with FINCA in Jordan finished up well with the completion of a few projects and another visit or two to the Palestinian refugee camps. After a brief visit to Petra, a contender for one of the New Seven Wonders of the World (deservedly so), my travels took me to Cairo where I have just finished my first week of classes at the International Language Institute, a wonderfully professional outfit. With 5.5 hours of class time per day (all in Arabic) and couple hours of homework, the academic frenzy has begun again.

Rock formation in Petra

Cairo is a remarkable place with tons of energy and blaring music and traffic and just about everything else you could ever ask for in a large urban center (including the only subway on the continent of Africa). The cafe culture is refreshing, with men playing card and backgammon every day until the early morning hours, reliably smoking sheesha and drinking a cup of tea. I have invested in a chess set so I can meet these men, practice my Arabic, and relive the unfettered glory of my days as a competitive chess player. Swoon ladies, swoon.

As I adjust to a new life in Cairo, I will begin to write more frequently. Currently a piece about Hamas and Fatah is in the works and I still owe you the second half of "Scattered Thoughts from Jordan." Thank you for your patience with this.

Lastly, it is with great pleasure that I inaugurate a new feature here at Tar Heel Travelers. Please allow me to introduce "Globalization At Its Finest", an ongoing photo-documentary project which highlights the rapid pace of technological, cultural and economic integration happening around our world. All the authors are invited to share photos around this theme and you at home are welcome to send photos which we can publish here. The first entry:

Cell phone call on the way to work.

Thanks for reading. Check back soon.

Scattered Thoughts

Matthew Garza

Hello All,

Belatedly I realized that I was not as thorough in introducing myself as I should have been, so here goes. Sophomore year is over and my longest stay outside the country has begun. The original plan was to spend all my time in Egypt (July-December), but then Sam and Sarah (of Tar Heel Travelers fame) invited me to come and stay with them in Jordan for the month of June. So on a whim I bought the early ticket and here I am! The plan thus far has been to spend some time pseudo-interning with FINCA, the microfinance organization where I interned last summer. Their Jordan office is still in the development phase, but should be completely operational by October. Exciting work with an exciting organization. And in less than two weeks time I will be on a plane to Cairo where I will begin formal language study, perform some terrorism research, and explore other opportunities.

This post ran a little long, so the second installment will appear in the next few days. Enjoy.

1. It is easy to distinguish between the real Jordanian patriots and those who are simply along for the ride. How you ask? The prominence with which they display the flag. But we’re not talking about some sissy American magnet or a token bumper sticker. No, patriotism here approaches a whole new level. The Jordanian who loves his king more than himself will affix the Jordanian flag to the dashboard of his car with the point firmly directed at his face. What better way to affirm love of country than by risking near-certain death every time you start that engine? And seatbelts? They laugh at the thought of it. If you’re not prepared to impale yourself with a slight tap of the brakes, well then I hear Syria has some cheap real estate.


2. The work week begins on Sunday and continues through to Thursday. Friday is the day when all the shops close up and people head to mosque for Jumua', the Friday sermon from the mosque leader. Saturday is a second day of rest for some, but many Jordanians work a six-day week. I am in the former category at FINCA. It’s exciting to get off work on Thursday. That is until the harsh reality of Saturday night sets in. Work on Sunday?! Oy…

3. Satellite TV has arrived in a big way throughout the Middle East. Governments which seek to control the flow of information inside their country now face a barrage of 200 channels in every home. And that’s just the standard package. Outlets like Al-Jazeera, often the victim of unfounded criticism in the US, are just as disliked by the establishment here. Extensive and oftentimes quality reporting on issues pertinent to the region is helping bring information to the people. Furthermore, every house and apartment looks capable of commanding NORAD from the couch. Technology marches on.



As a small side note, several countries have their own channel. So you can tune in to Kuwait, Bahrain, or Saudi TV when Euro ’96 is on repeat. Curiously enough, the Sudan channel tends to play a lot of cartoons. Guess there isn’t much to report on over there.

4. Photos of King Abdullah II are not mandatory items for the household or office, but people hang them regardless. Upon first inspection, it does not appear that these photos are ploys to improve business or brighten the store front. In conversations thus far, everyone seems to genuinely like him. So as you parade down the street, the king is to be found dressed in fatigues, an air force uniform, or a sharp, tailored suit. A limited edition portrait, found in the KFC near my office, features his highness with the wife and kids at home.


That's all for now. Check back soon for more updates.

Middle East Movement

Matthew Garza

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported on the massive Iraqi refugee situation here in Jordan. Most estimates put the population at somewhere between 700,000 and 1 million people who have fled the rages of war across the eastern border, all the more remarkable considering this country’s entire population is 5.8 million. In Jordan, it is common that they face challenges of poverty and discrimination (remember that colloquial dialects make different Arabs easily recognizable). One of many unfortunate consequences of the recent war in Iraq.

The magnitude of the Iraqi refugee population here is shocking at first, but this story is sadly all too common throughout the history of Jordan. Fully 65 percent of Jordanians are Palestinian, and while not all of them are refugees (Jordan has had several programs to grant citizenship to Palestinians in the past), the second half of the 20^th century has seen several massive influxes of Palestinians seeking asylum. Following the creation of Israel in 1948, Jordanian troops took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank after which 100,000 Palestinians fleeing to the kingdom doubled the population. When Israel captured these lands in the 1967 Six Day War, another 350,000 found their across the border. Finally, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait forced 500,000 people working in the Gulf to flee to Jordan, a significant number of which were Palestinian. All in all, some 700,000 Palestinians have arrived in Jordan over the last fifty years.

Recently I took part in a FINCA-sponsored expedition to look for office space close to the people who will receive our loans. Naturally we spent time exploring the refugee camps (largely located on the outer limits of the capital city), but these camps do not quite conform to images I have seen of refugees in Sudan and Tanzania. No tents. No huts. No endless food lines for the World Food Programme. The camps here look strikingly like many other neighborhoods in Amman with their own apartments, commercial buildings, and schools. I guess refugees settle down after a half century or so away from home. The catch is, refugees cannot own land in Jordan. They are forced to rent and thus suffer from a lack of capital (no loans against the home). Also, the children do not attend schools with other Jordanians. The UN operates its own school system for refugees here in Amman. And these are just two of countless structural disadvantages of being a refugee in Jordan.

Living life as second-class citizens, Palestinian refugees can find solace in one recent success. There are two soccer clubs here in Jordan: Faisaly, supported predominantly by Jordanians, and Wahadat, a team based in one of Amman’s larger refugee camps, a perfect athletic complement to mirror the societal divisions. Last Wednesday Wahadat took glory in the most recent meeting of these cross-town rivals and the streets went wild. A small victory in an otherwise trying existence. Don’t be surprised if an Iraqi team springs up in the next few years.

.....

As a small extension of this post, check out this article from the New York Times about the Iraqi refugee population in Syria and their role in the burgeoning Middle East sex trade.

Welcome, welcome, welcome

Matt Garza

Ahlan wa Sahlan! Welcome to the first of what will hopefully be many substantial entries about life and study in the Middle East. I write today from Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where I have spent the last 36 hours or so. The people here are beautiful, but due to gender division the women don't talk to me so it's more or less like the United States. No culture shock whatsoever.

There is little to be said at the moment as I am still working to orient myself, but some introductions are in order. Check out the Q+A below for some information about this blog (credit is due to the incomparable Susannah Nitz-Gund for this idea).

Q: Who are you people?
A: We represent a small group of students from UNC-Chapel Hill who come from various religious, political, and geographical backgrounds. Although we are bring various kinds of knowledge and experience to our writing and travels, we are united by a deep-seated love and respect for the Middle East and the Arabic language. If nothing else, we believe there is much to be learned from our time spent traveling.

There are several people who will share their thoughts and stories here. It is best if I let the others speak for themselves. They are expert in their own plans. Personally, I am traveling for language study. Arabic is a central piece of my life, and I expect that much of my personal and professional experiences in the future will revolve around Arabic and the Arabic-speaking world. My time will be split between Jordan (one month) and Egypt (six months), all in an effort to improve my skills with the language. But, in sha Allah, I will find time to relax and take photographs. Expect to find the better ones posted on our blog.

Q: I've heard that even though you studied Arabic in school, you cannot understand the people there. Is this true?
A: In many ways yes. There are two kinds of Arabic: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and the colloquial forms found throughout the Arabic-speaking world. MSA is the formal language which unites Arabic speakers and Muslims around the world. It is the language of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, as well as public addresses, radio, and TV news like Al-Jazeera. Given its religious and political prominence, Arabic-speakers hold MSA in high regard. Much respect is given to those who can master its overwhelming complexity and beauty. This is the language which has existed for thousands and thousands of years and which I have studied for the past two. Unfortunately, no one actually speaks it.

People speak a local dialect which is a variant of the original MSA. As is the case with any ancient language, as time passes it develops local iterations which can, in time, become incomprehensible from the original language. The Arabic in the Levant region (more or less Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan) is closest to MSA. I am able to pick up a good deal of what I hear, and the Jordanians can struggle through my MSA. So, for example, a Jordanian and a Syrian can hang out, smoke some shisha, and make plans with one another. But if you're from Morocco, no one outside the country will understand you. Also, everyone tends to understand Egyptian Arabic. This is because its movies and music are popular throughout the region (quick fact: Cairo operates the fourth-largest movie industry in the world, behind the US, India, and Hong Kong) and because of its political prominence in the region. Egypt is in many ways at the heart of the Arab World.

Q: Is it safe there for an American? Are you packing a Canadian flag? Don't they hate our freedom?
A: It is easy to caricature the region based on reports from Iraq, but this is a mistake. Egypt is not Iraq and Jordan is not Ramallah. The places where we will travel are safe and pleasant for all travelers. In my Lonely Planet guide, the author spoke of witnessing a protest in Iran where people shouted "Death to America" and similar mantras. He, a blond-haired man from Britain, described two guys who peeled off from the crowd, approached him, and asked how he liked Iran and whether he would like to have tea with them.

The larger point, though, is that most people are not collecting in the streets. They are doing what people do the world over: going to work, raising kids, and voting on American Idol (Arabian Idol in this part of the world; democracy in action). People can easily distinguish between a government and its citizens. So while they might enjoy talking about the administration, I am rarely confused with George Bush.

On the plane ride over, I sat next to a Palestinian man who thankfully engaged me in conversation. As I always do (and as everyone tells me not to) I steered the conversation towards politics, asked him who he voted for (Fatah it turns out) and what he thought about Israel and the US. He spoke of "the occupation" and how it was as though he was living in a jail given restrictions on his movement. He had little praise for the US, but at the end of the flight he offered me his phone number and told me to call if I had any questions about Jordan. Note: He lives in Jerusalem. Interesting folks...

That should do it for the first post. Please check back frequently as we share our experiences. Also, if you have any thoughts/ideas/suggestions, please share them in the comment section. I would like to know that more than just my mom is reading this blog. Many thanks for visiting.