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Posts in category Jordan
Blogging Alone: Jor-raq-us
Wednesday, November 21st
Greetings from Jor-raq-us, my nickname for our “republic” within ACOR. Harvey, Meaghan, and nearly all of the Iraqis are in Petra today. Unlike summertime, this is a quiet time of year at ACOR.
The rain is falling crisply and loudly against the stone surfaces of ACOR. Now the drops are knocking loudly against my window. It is a good day to be inside working.
ACOR feels like a home away from home. There is a new director and assistant director, but all the other staff members are still here: Cathy, the manager, the short cook and his two tall sons, the librarians. Harvey, Meaghan, the Iraqis, and I are all here, with adjacent rooms and suites so the setting is intimate. The ACOR fellows are in the library and computer room all night so scholarly energy fills the air.
Last summer there were 30 Iraqis, 8 faculty, and Carla. The Iraqis stayed in dorms and we stayed in a hotel across town. Since men and women in the UAE aren’t allowed to stay in the same dorms, we (the faculty) had to stay in a hotel in order to get our work done. This year with 2 faculty, Meaghan, and only 10 Iraqis, it has been much more festive and collegial. The teaching is going well; Harvey and I are a good team. However, this is the first year that we don’t have a translator. Most of the participants understand English well, but every so often I hear someone utter David’s name. David Hirsch is a translator without equal.
In the past I have taught preservation and collection development there. There are special challenges to teaching management, however. So many elements of management are influenced by cultural practices, religious beliefs, and so on. I am trying my best to draw in as much as I can from other cultures.
An added challenge is that we are trying to teach the Iraqis new ways of teaching management to their students. Harvey already told you about the challenges we had trying to apply the case study method to curriculum development. We had a more successful session using two case studies from Library Journal.
But it’s not all work. In the evenings we go shopping. The Middle East is hands-down the most vivacious and entertaing place to shop. Every store holds new items to admire. It’s not just about bargaining. People love to show you their wares. Sometimes they give you coffee or tea. And they always provide entertainment.
As far as I can tell (without speaking Arabic), after three years of shopping in Jordan (2004, 2005, 2007), I would say that the Iraqis are some of the best negotiators around. They certainly know how to wear the Jordanians down. Meaghan and I are the lucky beneficiaries of the Iraqis’ shopping skills.
Last night we had a pizza party at ACOR. David Hirsch’s friend Rajai and his daughter Jude joined us, as they did for my 50th birthday bash here in 2005. Because we were a mixed group, the Iraqis didn’t dance. Therefore, Harvey, Meaghan, and I kindly provided all the entertainment.
Harvey stole the show, though. After we played an hour of Lebanese music he turned on the Bee Gees. To the beat of the Saturday Night Fever sound track, Harvey jumped on one of the dining rooms tables (which is now sagging) then boogied onto the floor. Ten phone cameras went off in unison. We will either become celebrities our we’ll have to go underground. (Now you know how I coined “Jor-raq-us.”)
Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, is our last day of teaching. Back on July 4th, 2005, the ACOR cook prepared hot dogs, hamburgers, and watermelon. Can’t wait to see what he serves up tomorrow. We will be sure to let you know.
In the meantime, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
Michele
Canyon of the Crescent Moon
Well, the canyon is not really in a crescent shape, but Petra is absolutely stunning and somewhat unreal. 10 of us left on a bus at 6:15 this morning for the three hour ride. I had planned to sleep during the bus ride, but it was my first experience in a desert environment so I was awake and looking out the windows most of the way. We passed a camel herd and some shepherds with their goats.
From the entry gate of Petra it’s about a 1km walk through the canyon to where all the really cool stuff begins. From there you can explore more or less at will, and you’re free to walk anywhere in the site. This was surprising, because in America all of these sites would be roped off.
At the Treasury we split into two groups. Some people wanted to explore at a leisurely pace, and a few of us wanted to take the more serious hike up to the Monastery. It wasn’t too difficult a hike, although I was pretty tired from not sleeping well all week (I have a busy head from all that is going on). There were merchants along the route selling Bedoin necklaces and other wares. For a slightly different experience, you can pay for a donkey ride to the top, but I’m the kind of gal who feels that taking the donkey ride isn’t the “real” experience because you don’t have to work for the view. Sharing the small trail with the donkeys was sometimes challenging, but it was impressive to watch how sure-footed they were on the rough terrain.
I think I must come back to see Petra again on another trip. It is enormous, and we only had time to see a very small piece today. At night the pathways are light with candles, and there are singers and performances in front of the Treasury. Dr. Harvey tells me that this is quite an experience, and you feel like you’re a traveler on the frankinsense route.
Everyone fell asleep almost right away on the bus ride home, and after we stopped for tea at the halfway point the ladies played us some Arabic music on their cell phones and then sang for us. Back at ACOR now relaxing, hoping for a restful night before the last day of workshop.
Change “R” Us!! (from Harvey)
20 November 2007 – Tuesday
Hi from Harvey at 6:40 pm. We have had another good and long day with the Iraqis. We started the day with having them teach us about the case study method. This is an effective technique for placing students into situations that are pseudo-real. We outlined the approach yesterday and wanted them to experience it. We gave each group a different case, both of which indirectly dealt with change and the impact of technology on our profession. They did an excellent job at case analysis and I think found the technique something they might use.
Michele spent some time talking about research vs. assessment and the great challenges of teaching the former to BA and MA students. With the emphasis being on assessment in the USA and Canada, M felt theyd benefit by hearing about the situation as it shifts emphasis in LIS graduate school programs.
We re-did the curriculum exercise after lunch and frankly (my own opinion) it didnt go all that well. One sub-goal of mine is to get them to think beyond what they know. This is hard-going any time, but seems especially so with our Iraqi colleagues. They were given a slightly different scenario today, but they just did very minor tweaks on what they had designed yesterday. What was good about the repeat exercise was the post-presentation discussion that outlined some of the differences they have among themselves with regard to some aspects of curriculum. This is normal and healthy discussion for us in the west, but it is not normal in the Middle East. Usually, senior people dominate such discussions and junior faculty doesnt rebut their seniors. Today was different and that was encouraging.
Tonight we are planning an in-building pizza party (some are now off shopping before the gathering). Weve got a boombox, Arabic and western music, and well see how loose this gang can get? Tomorrow we are off to Petra, one of the worlds great sites. I was able to get ACOR to organize a bus trip down. It will be a long day but I think theyll find Petra as fascinating as I do I hope so, anyway. We depart at 6 a.m., hence the pizza party tonight and inshallah a good nights sleep. We are able to use tomorrow this way because, at their suggestion, weve gone much longer the past two days with our sessions. This is what negotiations are all about win win, I think.
We all seem to get along quite well another plus. M & M and I work well together. Meaghan is very adaptable and I think thoroughly enjoying the experience. She makes excellent contributions to the discussions, and she is super efficient at getting things organized for our presentations and discussions. It also certainly helps that we have dealt with some of those here three times now theres a kind of personal and professional familiarity that breaks barriers down quickly. Michele is really in her element during these sessions it shows in how she works with them and in her positive body language.
Chula = Troublemaker
The gentlemen from Basrah have arrived, which means all 10 people made it to the training. Hurray!
The atmosphere is very fun and playful. One of our favorite words is chula or troublemaker. Yesterday the participants were split into two groups for a curriculum development exercise, and the two universities they made up were Lala and Chula.
Last night I went shopping with two of the ladies – we walked around one of the downtown areas and shopped like crazy. Once you start, it’s hard to stop – everything is so cheap. I was watching the ladies bargain and wishing that I could understand Arabic and learn their techniques – they are ruthless! Everything is negotiable in shops, even if it has a pricetag. We got an excellent deal in one store because the owners are Iraqi, and they were glad to do a favor for other Iraqis. We shopped and shopped and shopped, and then we went to a falafel stand. I asked the guy making the falafel if I could take his picture,* and he gave me a fresh piece to sample, right out of the frier. It was delicious. We took our wraps to a juice cafe and had “juice cocktails” (no alcohol, more like a smoothie) while we ate. When we got back we showed everyone our purchases and there was a lot of oohing and aahing.
Tonight we’re eating in, listening to music, and generally hanging around. I have my iPod loaded with all kinds of music to share, and I know the Iraqis have some Middle Eastern music to play for us. We’re ordering dinner from Pizza Hut, believe it or not. I’ve also spotted McDonald’s (no surprise), BK, Popeyes, Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Subway, and even Gloria Jean’s Coffee. Very weird.
Wednesday we’re all going to Petra for some sightseeing – those of you familiar with my love for the Indiana Jones movies can imagine how excited I am for this. The American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR), where we’re staying and having all the classes, is actually a home base for archaeologists. People stay here for months at a time working on excavation projects. Talking to all the people working on field projects only heightens my enthusiasm!
*I’ll be posting some pictures soon, I promise!