"Will you ride a camel?"

On Sunday August 24th, 2008, I will leave the U.S. behind for three and half months and arrive the following day - or the sixteenth century by Islamic calendar reckoning - in Amman, capital city of Jordan. But as Amr Diab (think of an Arab Ricky Martin) croons in my headphones and I browse the internet for pictures of the residential district where I'll be living, I can say with surety that Amman is decidedly 21st Century - despite the backward Middle East we Americans too often imagine (perhaps from too many desert bedsheet epics and news media barrage of Orientalist tropes like mysterious veiled Muslim women, tent dwellers, camel-herders, and terrorists).

I thought I'd tackle the top five frequently asked questions (FAQ) in this first post, mainly as a way to distract myself from a bad case of pre-departure nerves:

1. Where is Jordan? "That's a river...right?" Funny how people said the same thing about my somewhat obscure college, Sewanee - "That's a river, right?" For those of you still wondering but too ashamed to ask, please see the Jordan article in the CIA World Factbook linked to the right of this post.

2. Will you have to wear a burqa/veil/headdress/scarf/sheet...thing? The burqa is akin to the Afghani chadri, though it has been adopted in other Islamic traditions, and is not definitive Arab garb as has been popularized in the media. It is only one response to hijab, the command for men and women to dress modestly. For non-Muslims such as myself, donning a head scarf is necessary for visiting holy sites and mosques. Should I feel that it would serve as a sign of respect for my host family and culture, in addition to the intended demonstration of commitment to modesty, I will be glad to cover all but my face and hands. Besides, as I learned in China, my blonde hair is a novelty, and people will stare. A lot.

3 Can you speak Arabic? Not really....o.k., no. I can write it (advantageously, as a left-hander, as Arabic reads from right-to-left) and say enough phrases to be laughed at. This should make things interesting.

4. What will you study? Obviously, Arabic, in addition to history, culture, and field methods for my Independent Study Project, tenatively to live with bedouin (ISP -more to come later).

5. Will you ride a camel? Oh yes.


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