Spring 2017 Language and Culture Amman Newsletter I

Biblical Jordan Trip 

            Close your eyes and picture your favorite childhood novel. Was it Harry Potter? The Chronicles of Narnia? Lord of the Rings? How badly did you want to visit Hogwarts? Narnia? Middle Earth? I know they were all places I would have given almost anything to visit. Now imagine that you get to visit the ruins of what remains of those forbidden lands. It would be surreal, awesome, and overall incredibly exciting. This past week I had a similar, and yet subdued experience. Our CIEE program took a weekend trip to visit Biblical Jordan. As someone who was raised Catholic and still practices today it was surreal to get to visit such infamous places as Mount Nebo, Mkawar, and the Baptism Site of Jesus. These are all places that I have grown up hearing about in Sunday School as a child and through High School. They were spoken of as places of long ago, so I never really considered that people could visit them. That is until I began looking into things to do in Jordan.

            The site that was most surreal and significant for me was visiting the Baptism Site. It was where over 2000 years ago Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. It is significant to Christians because it signifies the beginning of Jesus’ ministry work (preforming miracles), and initiates the rite of Baptism. For me, though, it is momentous because it is one of the few places that it is known, that Jesus actually was. What made the visit really special was that I could tell that the rest of my fellow CIEE peers understood the significance of the location regardless of their own faith or spirituality. It was nice to have a pensive moment and let the reality of where we were sink in.

Beyond the religious significance of the trip for me personally I really enjoyed being able to relax and get to know the other students in CIEE better and not in our typical classroom setting. As well as, the absolutely stunning views that are Jordan.

Emily Pellegrino

Ohio State University

King Abdullah I Mosque visit 

It was one of those funny moments in which two different parts of life overlap. Last week in Islam in the Modern Context, we talked about Islamic art. Coincidentally, two days later I got to experience Islamic art with fresh knowledge of its theories, meaning, and design when we visited the King Abdullah I Mosque. It reminded me of the reason why I am here. Two months ago, I was comfortably listening to lectures on Middle Eastern history in my California classroom and now I'm hailing taxis on the busy streets of the capital of Jordan. There's value in learning about a culture in a classroom, but so much value is added to that knowledge when you go out and experience that culture. Looking up at the dome of the main prayer room, I thought about a quote from my readings for class by Seyyed Hossein Nasr: "the spiritual world was reflected in the sensible world not through various iconic forms but through geometry and rhythm through arabesques and calligraphy which reflect directly the worlds above and ultimately the supernal sun of Divine Unity."

Sarah Wise-Leach

Point Loma Nazarene University

Salt City Visit 

On February 18^th, Elena’s Modern History of the Middle East class as well as Mjriam’s Seminar on Israel-Palestine’s class came together for a trip to As-Salt, Jordan’s first capital. Although Salt is only about 45 minutes from Amman, the trip started early, around 8:45am, in front of Gloria Jean’s. Fortunately, we were given falafel and juice as a consolation for the early start. Our first stop happened to be former Prime Minister Wasfi Eltall’s house, halfway between Amman and Salt. We were first greeted by a path leading to the house lined with grass, the first sign of nature that many of us hadn’t seen in a while. The path lead to a “Car House” in which housed a beautiful, old Jaguar that belonged to the former Prime Minister.  The tour comprised of Wasfi Eltall’s house and the many accomplishments he had whilst he was in office. With the tour completed, we hauled onto the bus for Salt.

Once in Salt, we met our guide, an architect named Baian who works in Salt, in an old house converted into an office. Our first stop was Khader church, or St. George’s church, where both Muslims and Christians are welcome to pray. A small cave at the back of the church allows one to write down wishes and prayers and throw them into the cave. Each church we visited was unique and beautifully constructed. For some, it was comforting to have a piece of home in a still new and relatively foreign country. Time was taken to light candles, bow one’s head in a quick prayer, or silently take in the stained glass windows and various representations. After our church tour, we were taken to an old house that had been converted into a museum that conveyed what life was like in Salt during that time. Our trip ended with a filling lunch and a quick nap on the bus on our way back to Amman.

Ayesha Ghorpade

Colgate University