June 7

Today was our second weekend day in Jordan, and we used it to prepare for next week’s interviews and explore more of Amman. After a morning of emailing new contacts, transcribing interviews, and typing up notes and reflections from last week’s meetings we split up into groups and headed into different parts of the city. Piyali, Alex B, and I started our afternoon off with lunch at Mataam al-Hashaam, a popular local restaurant with killer humus and foul (beans). The mint tea was excellent as well, and it was a good opportunity to eat in a local setting common for most Jordanians. Next, we walked to the Citadel, a hill towering over the rest of Amman with ruins stretching from the Middle Ages to the Umayyad period. The most impressive structure, in my opinion, was the Umayyad palace towards the center of the hill. It was truly stunning and beautiful to walk inside and look up into the dome at the top of the building. Before leaving, we sat on the edge of the hill and took advantage of the beautiful view of Amman. Since all three of us are in the Iraqi refugees subtopic, we chatted about what we’ve learned so far and what questions we still have. Specifically, we discussed the need to understand the Palestinian issue in Jordan, and the impact the Palestinian refugee issue has had on Jordan’s response to refugees. This is something we had considered before coming to Amman, but is a larger factor in our research that we initially expected. We are really looking forward to some upcoming meetings, including one tomorrow with Save the Children director Dennis Walto, which will hopefully answer some of our questions and inspire new ones.

Next, we walked down from the hill towards a local café in downtown Amman. The walk was roundabout and took about half an hour, during which we were able to see more the city. Several teenagers saw Piyali’s camera and called us over to take a picture of them. This happened to me a few times when I was in Yemen last summer as well, and both then and now I find it a fun way to interact a bit with people I wouldn’t otherwise. We arrived at the café and enjoyed some tea while talking more about what we’ve learned here, as well as the differences in the education we are receiving at our respective institutions. Good conversations like this are one of the things I like most about ALLIES—the way it brings people together

We finished up our day with mensaf, a dish of lamb over a bed of rice, at a Palestinian restaurant in downtown Amman. At dinner, Alex impressed both of us with his ability to consume bis-bis (very spicy) pepper without so much as a tear or sip of water. Our conversation continued through dinner, until we took a cab back to our apartment where we reconnected with the rest of the group and prepared interview questions and plans for the next day.

In addition to Save the Children, tomorrow the group is meeting with Mr. Mohammed Abu Rumman, a journalist at the Jordan Times. We are really looking forward to meeting such a prominent figure in Jordanian journalism, and the meeting should prove particularly useful to the groups studying political reform and Jordanian-Iraqi bilateral relations.