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Dispatch from Amman (July 7, 2005)

Filed under GSLIS Administrative
Posted by GSLIS, July 07, 2005
View all posts for July 2005

July 7, 2005: Dispatch from Amman — from Michele Cloonan Dean, Simmons GSLIS

Amman is a twentieth century city with traces of antiquity in its Roman theater, Umayyad Palace, and archaeological museum. Unlike such cities as Cairo or Rome, there are no 17th, 18th, and 19th-century buildings to bridge the old and the new. Amman has the vegetation of California: olive trees, grapes, mock oranges, and cypress trees. And cats, lots of wild cats foraging through dumpsters.

The calls to prayer, the many minarets, the hustle and bustle, and the late-night-life, are constant reminders that this is the Middle East, a place with its own traditions, contradictions, mysteries, and intrigues. You see few Americans here.

There are 17 Iraqis here to take our courses. We met several of them last year, so it was like old-home week on Monday the 4th. ACOR is a research center with dormitories. The place is lovely; a wonderful place to study and, in the evenings, to Socialize. Yesterday, the 6th, was preservation day. John Dean, my one-time boss, was the instructor. He has also worked with Pat Oyler in Vietnam. He is an internationally known conservator and preservation librarian, and he developed training materials for Middle Eastern libraries under the same NEH-grant program, “Rescuing Iraq’s Treasures,” as our project.

After class, Harvey Varnet, Shayee Khanaka (another team-member-translator-teacher), and I walked to a market. We Purchased spices, fruit, and teas. On our way home, walking down hill, and close to ACOR, I was the victim of a drive-by purse-snatcher! The force of the strike sent me reeling, but not to the ground. I lost some cash, a couple of credit cards, but nothing else. I cursed myself mightily…. How could I be so stupid; I have been traveling the world since I was 14. Still, it could have been much worse. I didn’t lose my passport or ticket. And I was clever enough to photocopy my credit cards before I left. Still—no one likes to be a fool. And I’ll remember to be less careless next time.

I quickly put this incident in perspective. After all, the Iraqis Risked their lives by traveling across Iraq to take our courses.

I was invited to the party of some of our female students. (The men and women do not socialize with each other.) The party quickly put the purse-snatching out of my mind. Some of the women brought delicious food from Baghdad, and they created a feast using an ACOR kitchenette. I especially loved the salad laced with fresh mint leaves, and the sweet coffee flavored with cardamom. We laughed and I learned many new jokes. Shayee, it turns out, collects jokes, and she shared many with our hostesses.

As I write this it is 4am on Thursday morning, July 7th. The sonorous call to prayer is ending at the mosque up the hill. As Amman becomes silent, I turn out my lamp.

— M.

To read additional Dispatches from Amman, please see http://my.simmons.edu/gslis/resources/publications/index.shtml.