Osama in Utah, Final Exams, and Tom's causing more trouble.

Sunday, January 26--From Tom:

Osama: Our good friend Osama flew to Utah last week. He will connect with Bobbie and Chris Coray, and has been introduced to many others. Some of you will probably meet him. His business is designing, making and selling wonderful mosaics. Because of the Syrian conflict, tourism is down to 10% of what it was. There used to be over 30 tour buses a day going through and it is down to one or two. His large shop is just a few miles east of Mount Nebo.

Osama is hoping to develop interest in his mosaics, decorated ostrich eggs, inlaid furniture, etc in Utah. These art pieces are absolutely incredible. Because of his relationship with LDS people, he has learned about the Tree of Life in Lehi's Dream. He had already been creating what was called the Madaba Tree, an ancient icon depicting a tree laden with fruit and he just added the Rod of Iron, Mist of Darkness and Great and Spacious Building. Brent and Margaret are getting the one pictured below.

It's comprised of many thousands of tiny stone pieces cut and glued in place. We watch the craftsman and it's amazing to see his precision. It seems he can choose, cut, glue and place several per minute and they never look up. It truly is an art. Madaba is an international center for Mosaic work, an ancient craft that they have kept alive for at least 2,000 years.

Osama's mosaic of the Tree of Life

We have invited Needham Jewelry in Logan to meet Osama and he will also be meeting with Deseret Book and BYU. Chris Coray tells me he will take Osama ice fishing. I hope he survives. They don't do much of that in Jordan.

Finally Finals: Yea!! Final Exams are the next two weeks and then we have two weeks off. I'm giving one tomorrow that will blow their minds. I may coach them another few days and then give it. It's sometimes so hard to have them grasp the concepts. First, they are not very good in English and second, they are young and somewhat immature. Most have never worked ( Rich families and high unemployment ) so it's hard to teach them principles of Professional Practice. But they are fun to teach and coming along. Ronna will be glad to not have Remedial English anymore. They don't know enough English for Ronna to teach them and they are absent a lot. It's driven Ronna nuts…or is it nutsier? She will just have English Communications I but four sections of it next semester.

I helped teach Ronna's Comm II class the Principals of Business Writing. For an exam I composed a business letter ( from Peter Rabbit to Mr. McGregor ) and we cut it into pieces. They had to try to piece it together again. None of them could do it but they had a lot of fun.

Reprimands: Oh, oh..!!! There are some strange educational standards here that both Ronna and I experienced. Some parents, usually rich and influential, were learning that their children were not doing well in school. So they called the Administration, who called the Deans, who called in the Faculty. i witnessed our Dean giving our Faculty a tongue lashing. Of course it was in Arabic, but the body language was clear. Somehow we are supposed to rescue students who don't show up for class, don't turn in their assignments and generally don't care. I don't think it was handled well and I heard from both sides. I would have done things differently, but then…..

Because of the severe storm in December a week of school was cancelled. Then, of course, Ronna and I had our trip planned to Dead Sea, Aqaba and Petra and we went. With a day notice, classes were reinstated for a Saturday with all Faculty to show up. Ronna and I were bobbing in the Dead Sea. Actually, nearly all faculty didn't show up and it caused an uproar. "Off with their heads"said the President. The one faculty member in Ronna's college that did show up had no students anyway. But that didn't matter. It's the form that counts. So it was a tough week.

I actually think I've done a pretty good job reaching out to the troubled students. Malek hardly speaks any English so he's having problems. I told the Dean, who told me to "flunk him". Instead I spent special time with him and told him I cared for him and wanted him to succeed. He has gone from doing work in the 20s to nearly 90's and hasn't missed. He comes in extra time and calls me for questions. It's actually been very gratifying. See below.

Malek, my vastly improved student.

New Hampshire Study Program: I have been put in charge of arranging for my students to travel to New Hampshire this summer for a Study Abroad and Internship Program. There are a lot of details and red tape and late night phone calls to New Hampshire, but I have been building value with the Dean in arranging for this.

He now wants me to recruit new faculty, recruit new exchange programs, recruit new students from Jordan. I'm also teaching a course this Spring called the Psychology of Design. Yes, you are right. I don't know anything about that, but I'm learning quickly. I didn't know anything about what I taught this Fall Semester either and the students have all signed up again to work with me. So something is working.

Tom's Causing Trouble Again: I went to see Dr. Nasri, the Vice President over "everything". I asked him if I could review the Master Plan for the campus. He gave me a set of prints and asked me to return them.

A few days later, I went back in, having studied and made notes. He wanted my reaction and I said I would write up a response. So I did and will probably see him tomorrow. There are a lot of things that need to change. Who knows how receptive they will be.

For example, there is no bookstore, you can't find the Library or Clinic, there are no signs or directions, there are walls and walkways everywhere but many of them are dead end. There is no clear walkway arterial so it's frustrating until you get used to it (much like finding your way around Madaba or Amman). They have spent millions on elaborate gateway entry systems but have no money for projectors or quality furniture. 

I hope my ideas will be used or at least looked at. They are not accustomed to having open dialogue on issues like this, yet in the American system, these things are openly reviewed. The process of decision making, contracting and management is totally different than in the US. In Jordan they hire their cousins for whatever they need. It's a well established pattern and I'm not sure I will have any effect but I'll try. 

Who's getting this??----We would like to hear from whoever is getting this blog. We're not sure who gets it. So send us an email and let us know. Best response is tjensen@archnexus.com or just comment on this blog. Also, if you have questions or would like us to comment on something of particular interest to you, please let us know. We plan to visit Israel in March or April. We also will be visited by the Pope in May, but he's just visiting Amman to focus on the poor and refugees. I respect him for that. 

Our weather is getting up into the 60's in the daytime. Very nice. The house is still cold because of the concrete walls, but we're shivering less. I've gotten used to living with hot water bottles, 5-6 layers of clothing and carrying space heaters around with us. Soon it will be too hot again…..I can only hope. 

Love to you all!!

Ahh….Luxury on the Dead Sea---(posted late)

Sunset at pool over the Dead Sea

Monday, Dec 30th--From Tom: ( Note--somehow this didn't get connected to the internet on time and precedes the post on Petra and Wadi Rum. sorry)

The Dead Sea Resorts are to Jordan what Park City is to Utah: an island of luxurious pleasure in a sea of scarcity. What a contrast! We took two nights at the Movenpick Resort, a 5-star, international, Swiss- owned resort located in a cluster of other 5-star hotels at the northend of the Dead Sea. Marriott and Hilton are there and others are being built. The attraction is the Dead Sea mud and salt for health spas and a very peaceful setting at about 1400 ft below sea level, so it's a lot warmer than its surroundings.

In the midst of this barren desert, filled with tent clusters of Bedouins, lies an extravagant village of western-style resorts on a mammoth scale, all sprawling down the hillside to the beach on the Dead Sea. What struck us immediately was the attention to detail and high quality in every aspect. We have been living in Madaba, where no one really cares about how something looks or if it functions, where no one notices if trash and debris is lying around, and then we come into a Swiss resort where everything is done perfectly. The design takes its clue from the traditional fortress architecture of the Crusaders: stone villages in lush oases of lush vegetation…meandering paths between bubbling streams and tall palm trees... many picturesque vistas of the Dead Sea and Israel's West Bank beyond. At night, we believed we could see the lights of Jerusalem and it's surrounding communities. 

We  booked a Salt Rub and Mud Pack Spa treatment which gave us access to the nine or ten pools of various descriptions. There were salt pools of various temperature and salinity, huge jacuzzi-like pools with many nooks and crannies for the bubble machine to sooth away the aches and pains. There were many "infinity pools" that seemed to have no edge and fall off the cliff into the Dead Sea. Most of them offered the unlimited vista of the sea and the shoreline of Israel beyond. Always there were attendants helping to put on a robe or give a fresh towel. What a contrast! What a relief! 

One of the Infinity Pools from the Dead Sea Spa

Movenpick architecture taking clues from Crusader fortresses

Tommy the Mud Turtle

Surfing in the Dead Sea

Tom doing the backstroke to Israel (Cori-Japan coastline in the distance;)

Ronna's impressions: After swimming and soaking and being salted, I walked down with Tom to the shore of the Dead Sea, but was not inclined to join him in his float. The salt/water is absolutely disgusting (I tasted a salt crystal from my massage)!!! Heaven forbid you should get any in your eyes or mouth. In addition, it is difficult to get into the water because there is no beach,  just sharp rocks with minerals clinging to their surfaces. I passed. I took pictures. I listened to the quiet and felt the solitude and the words of description from the Jordan tour book played in my mind: the peace and tranquility you feel here was hard-won.  Always reminders of where we are.

I cannot imagine coming here in the summer months. It is absolutely perfect weather right now. The Dead Sea does not produce the "salty smell" you recognize when near the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. There is a slight metallic smell if anything, but not like anything I know. The sand and earth is coppery and mango-orange.  While I watched and waited at the edge of the Sea, a hundred black-hued birds soared and swooped in a circular formation above the hotel. Today is sunny and the sky is the color of Paul Newman's eyes. I think I am going to change my color scheme to orange and blue. Meanwhile, soft meows mingled from the many cats wandering the premises. They nestle in any of a thousand nooks and seem to say, "Don't you wish you were as content and pampered as I am?" Ah, yes. 

Petra and Wadi Rum

January 12, 2014--From Tom:

WADI RUM: On our grand tour of southern Jordan we decided, after staying in Aqaba, to visit Wadi Rum and Petra, two of the most famous and visited sites in Jordan. We were not disappointed.

Wadi Rum- with the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" on the left

Bedouins taking tourists for a ride into Wadi Rum--it used to be on camel

Wadi Rum--famous for T.E Lawrence and Lawrence of Arabia. It's an enchanted setting. 

This is so vast and enchanted that you can't just see it in an hour. We plan to come back and spent a few days getting into it. The Bedouins, mostly nomadic tribes in the area, have found a good livelihood in being guides and tour operators. They know the desert and have established campsites and trails. One of the favorites for visitors is to go with the Bedouins on a multi-day tour and sleep in Bedouin tents and have them cook traditional meals. I want to do this but Ronna is not convinced yet.

This area was made famous in the adventures of T.E. Lawrence, the British military leader who assisted the Arabs in the successful revolt which overthrew the Ottoman rule in the area in 1916-1918. It's also been the setting for numerous films.

The youth of our little branch of the church went here for their youth conference. They were so enthusiastic in how amazing the land was, especially at night when they could climb the sand dunes in the moonlight and see the panorama of the stars in the night sky against the rugged cliffs. It is hundreds of miles from any significant light pollution from cities. We'll be back, never mind the scorpions!

PETRA: Petra is the ancient home of an extinct civilization known as the Nabateans who had a trading empire from about 580 BC to somewhere about 500 AD. They were not conquerors but master traders. They first thrived when the Israelites were taken into bondage by the Babylonians in 586 BC and left a power vacuum in the area. The Edomites moved into the land of Israel and the Nabateans grew in power. They were at the crossroads of the trading routes between Europe and the lands of Persia and Arabia. So the Nabateans grew wealthy charging a toll and resupplying the caravans. While their influence was vast, their capital, Petra, prospered because they controlled the water supply in the desert. They built reservoirs, conduits and diversions and sold the water.

What is interesting is that the water supply, known as Wadi Musa, is translated as the Spring of Moses and is believed to be the site where Moses struck his rod into the rock and water gushed forth. It's also the site of Mt. Hor, where Aaron is believed to be buried. The Greeks and Romans had influence and control at various times.

Petra from the east at sunset

Access to Petra is through Siq, or slot canyon, a mile long and sometimes 9 ft wide. Much like southern Utah

Petra was hidden from world for over 1000 years, until 1812

First view of Treasury from Siq

The Treasury at Petra--carved out of solid rock cliff 

The Treasury at Petra--view emerging from Siq

One of many camels, donkeys and horses offered to weary tourists. Total walk was about 7 miles and my legs were dead but we have allergies to these creatures.

Petra imitates the ancient Greek and Roman temple architecture in exacting detail but is carved out of the rock cliffs. Some have deteriorated due to earthquakes, erosion and now tourism. The Petra site is a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site and named as one of the 28 things you must see before you die. I almost died there. Our walk down, down, down the narrow Siq, around the ancient city and then back again was about 7 miles. We were offered, pleaded and  cajoled by the Bedouins to ride their camel, donkey or horse but felt we'd have allergic reactions. 

To get to Petra, we had to cross a mountain range and drive along a narrow, winding road at it's precipice. It would have been scary enough, but it was very foggy and the temperature was close to freezing and the roads were becoming icy. There were piles of snow along the sides, but we made it. 

Our hotel in Wadi Musa ( Spring of Moses) was a big mistake. Les Maison, was a dive. Terrible shower that didn't fit, horrible TV, ill fitting sheets, and being NEW YEARS EVE, we had the hooka band rocking and rolling in Arabic Swing until the wee hours--right next to our room. So we just played Scrabble and threw bedbugs at each other all night. 

ALMOST DIVORCE: Ronna had a great fear of heights, especially while driving. On our road home we had to drive  through Wadi Mujib, a 4,300 ft deep gorge which enters the Dead Sea from the east. Our road had numerous switchbacks as it descended the cliffs on the south. I had taken some pictures and it was freakin Ronna out something horrible. I like to hang off the cliff and hold on with one hand while taking a picture with the other. Ronna is grabbing her stomach on the floor. It was all manageable until we were almost to the top of the switchbacks on the north. As we came around the bend I saw one more overlook and made a sudden sharp turn across the highway onto the edge of the cliff. With the car perched on the edge of a 4,000 ft high cliff and almost no guardrail, Ronna lost it and said some "harsh" words. I took the photo and had silence for a day or two until I apologized. ( She will give her version in the near future )

 On the edge of Wadi Mujib North Rim--over 4,000 ft deep