May you live in interesting times...

WARNING: Long post ahead, so I will put a lot of pictures in to remedy the boredom.

The title of this post (allegedly) comes from an ancient Chinese curse, that I may or may not be a victim of.

LO PAN!

I happen to be in the middle of a region that is under constant international scrutiny and near-constant political movement. Due to the increase in twitter hashtags and CNN coverage of Jordan and its neighbors, I think it's time for a lesson in media skepticism for the readers at home!

Apparently Brian Williams shot a report in my neighborhood the other day...

I've been getting a lot of emails and Skype calls worrying for my safety. While the sentiment is appreciated, Jordan is FINE! I won't be protecting my neighborhood with home-made weapons anytime soon.

Unlike some of my friends in Cairo had to do...

The American news networks are exaggerating the story for whatever reason. Like I have said before, King Abdullah is pretty much universally adored here. He's also fairly fond of his people, as well.

See?

In response to the increased regional tension and calls for reform, the King dismissed the Prime Minister, which American reporters took as the first of the seven seals being broken in Revelation.

OH MY GOD! JORDAN IS NEXT!

Former PM Samir Rifai had an impossible charge when he took office years ago: Cut spending, increase taxes, and balance Jordan's budget. And he tried. Prices went up as subsidies were cut, taxes increased, and several spending projects were slashed in order to battle Jordan's deficit and square their economy for the long haul.

What a jerk.

Prices in Jordan for gasoline, food, and alcohol are currently about the same as prices in Chicago. But, the average wage for Jordanians is between $300-500 a month. So, price increases dramatically effect people here.

Like this.

So, the new PM will bring back the subsidies, which the Jordanian people like (for now). Unemployment is still a hot-button issue, but with lower prices, no one will be asking for heads on stakes (for a while).

The King has also: met with the Islamist faction in Jordan to discuss election law reform, flew every Jordanian stuck in Egypt home at his own expense, and began giving out money in poor areas in Jordan.

He's like Daddy Warbucks, Richard the Lionheart, and Robin Hood all rolled into one!

Also, keep in mind: While protests are occurring in the region, they don't cross borders easily. Jordan is in a completely different situation than Egypt, Tunisia, etc. If there were protests in Canada, would anyone in the U.S. care?

Even when there ARE protests IN the U.S., no one cares.

So, for the record, short of someone lighting themself on fire, Jordan should be relatively calm for at least the next few months.

Unless Israel does something stupid.

What would the Bangles say?

And after that exhale...I just wanted to share this:

Can't help but think about it.

Jordan in the Asia Cup

Sorry this was a little late, I've been busy almost every day for the last few weeks...

Anyway, for those uncaring about international soccer tournaments, the Asia Cup has been going on for the last month. Jordan has had quite the impressive showing, especially after drawing a group with Japan (favored to win it all), Syria, and Saudi Arabia. All solid squads.

Jordan went 2-0-1. Every night Jordan didn't lose, the streets of Amman were packed with cars full of young Jordanians blasting music, honking horns, and waving flags.

J-O-R! D-A-N!

After my little romp with Team USA two years ago, I knew that Jordan playing in the Asia Cup was going be a big deal.

I made the students in my conversational English class rate all the teams in the Asia cup on a scale from 1 to 10, giving reasons why they thought each team deserved their rating. India was voted the worst, Jordan garnered a 5.5/10, and Iraq, Iran, Japan, and South Korea were voted to be the most likely to be the Final Four.

This hard lookin' sonuvabitch was a major factor in Jordan's success.

So, the fact that Jordan came out second in their group and moved to the quarter-finals was a huge deal. So huge, in fact, even after Jordan lost to Uzbekistan 2-1, Jordanians still partied anyway...

And also, demonstrated against unemployment and elections.

I didn't really get it, I thought there would be either utter heartbreak or riots. After some reflection, however, driving around acting like lunatics seemed the appropriate response. Like most things here, without a Jordanian explaining things to me, I can't always figure out the motivation behind the public's reaction to events.

Childrens birthday party....?

Mabrook (Congratulations) to Jordan. Hopefully one day, we'll see them in the World Cup.

What a nice picture.

A Saving Grace

I learned something today.

There is one thing that, no matter what, makes me feel like I'm at home, anywhere in the world.

Dick Whitman.

Holy F#%$, I forgot all my arabic.

Post to follow...

12/31/10 Update: Ok, so it's not as bad as I thought. When I got off the plane, no one understood any of my attempted gibberish at all, which was, needless to say, depressing and scary. But, after a few days, Jordanians been striking up conversations with me that are more along the lines of "Where are you from?" and "I have family in Missouri," than "Are you stupid?"

I'm not dumb! I just haven't been here in two years!

Amman is more or less the same. Some new restaurants have opened, and some old ones closed. Everyone still uses unleaded gasoline and looks angry all the time. I have already found the Amman version of Bucktown (which is where I'm looking into living), and I landed a gig teaching conversational English twelve hours a week at a language academy near the University of Jordan. Not bad for three days in the Hashemite Kingdom!

This is more like what I was doing in Chicago after getting back...

I'm gonna be looking at apartments over the next few days. If anything interesting happens, I'll put it on here. But probably not.

Either way, Happy New Years!

I'll see something way less beautiful eight hours before you guys. Bittersweet.