Wedding in Les Sables d'Olonne

Marie and I had decided before I left for Amman this summer that we would get married in September; the paperwork and arrangements were our concern and we didn't know if we would have time to complete the process when I returned to France in mid August. I had to visit the US Embassy in Paris, complete an interview at the city hall, get documents translated, and make legal arrangements. Not a terribly lengthy process, but it did require me to miss the first week of class in NY.

It was a beautiful, short, sweet civil ceremony yesterday followed by a walk on the beach front, an apéritif in her parents garden, a tour of a salt marsh and second apéritif, and a great dinner; all activities that I wish my U.S. family and friends could have seen, but hoping that they can catch up on when we have a more grandiose church ceremony at the local Cathédrale Notre Dame next June and after which, Marie and I can give the boot to our current long distance predicament.

I've just returned to NYC approaching midnight and long to get on a return flight to Paris tomorrow. Long distance relationships are terribly difficult (al-Hamdullah for Skype) and further compounded in New York by the romance you see at restaurants, on the street, and indiscriminate locations throughout the city at all hours, but particularly on weekend nights as you're walking home from the gym or library. Hopefully, divine intervention will step into make time pass quickly, extend breaks and holidays, and lower international airline prices. We can all hope. Tu me manques, mon amour.

Quote of the Week

"The life of our city is rich in poetic and marvelous subjects. We are enveloped and steeped as though in an atmosphere of the marvelous; but we do not notice it."
-19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire

Mont Saint-Michel

(Mont Saint Michel at dusk.)

(Marie and a statue of Saint Michel.)

In addition to Omaha Beach, Marie and I spent several hours at Mont Saint Michel. Regarded as one of the top tourist destinations in France, it did not disappoint. A beautiful, island-of-sorts with an old monastery and a now well developed tourist industry. More soon... Marie and I are both relaxing on the beach in Les Sables and running around, completing errands.

Omaha Beach and the D-Day Museum

Quote of the Week

(Marie on the beach in Morocco 2007.)

"Surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy."
-Louis Bogen

From the Apartment Window: Villers Sur Mer

(Looking out on the L'ile aux Oiseaux. Note the small boat).

Marie's new home on the English Channel (in French: la manche, "the sleeve") is a beautiful place. Just 200 km from England, the water here is colder, calmer, but seems no more saltier than the Atlantic. I tried to put up a brief fight when I first arrived that this is really part of the Atlantic, but was properly quieted.

With a summer population of more than 30,000, activities and masses have abruptly ended following last weekends last weekend of the season. Info on Villers and Marie's office of Tourism can be found here.

International Stories in Contemporary Morsels

Here's Marc Lynch on 10 recent notable stories at his foreign policy blog. Now in France, I'm really having to take in news in brief from aggregate, condensed sources. Overall, like everyone (ok..maybe most), the older I get with more responsibilities (work, education, etc), a serious relationship, and all of life's other extras, the less time I have for domestic and international news. I'm having to increasingly rely on Google reader and two to three blogs for my information. Come back to me oh so sweet time...

Haut Monde, Harrison Ford, and the 35th American Film Festival in Deauville

(The famous wrapped umbrellas of Deauville).

Marie and I visited Deauville and Trouville. Blasé in name-only, these small communities are the hot spot for Parisians who want a seaside getaway only 2.5 hours away. Deauville is the top tier, Rodeo Drive like location for the wealthy, while Trouville is its working class neighbor. Marie and I enjoyed walking the streets of both and could only stare at the bling in Deauville.

On Friday, Deauville celebrates the 35th annual American Film Festival. The Guest of honor this year includes Harrison Ford. Other notables include Andy Garcia, Robin Wright Penn, the Zucker directors, and several prominent french directors. Too bad we'll miss it; we'll be on our way to the famous D-Day beaches and southwest to Les Sables d'Olonne beginning Friday.

Quote of the Week

“In my hotel room that night, I thought - as I still do - of the moral principles she instilled in me: never to harm a living creature; throughout my life, to place the poor, the humble, the meek of this world above all others; never to forget those who were slighted or neglected or who had suffered injustice, because it was they who, above all others, deserved our love and respect, in Iceland or anywhere in the world. I spent my entire childhood in an environment in which the mighty of the earth had no place outside story books and dreams. Love of, and respect for, the humble routine of everyday life and its creatures was the only moral commandment which carried conviction when I was a child.”

-Halldór Laxness, Nobel Lecture 1955

Les Sables to Villers Sur Mer

After arriving in France a week ago, missing my north-bound train in Paris, spending the night drinking with Marie's brother, catching a morning train, heading with Marie two days later back to Paris, the Les Sables d'Olonne for 3 days, then back across country 5 hours to Villers- we're understandably tired.

Marie's new residence in the North, Villers Sur Mer, seems like a pleasant little tourist community. I look forward to being here the next week. With our visit to Les Sables, it was great to see her family: parents, sister returned from Germany, brother and girlfriend captaining a yacht in the Caribbean, and 7 year old nephew visiting said father from Seychelles. We drank, we drank coffee, ate well, and spent limited time on the beach.

Below is an earlier photo in Les Sables of a community band serenading someone in the city center. Above is from an adjacent street to Marie's house, where a straight shot of 100 yards will have you firmly on the beach and in close proximity to the Bar des Fleurs.

A We Society: A Favorite Aspect of Arab Culture

One of my favorite parts of Jordan, Morocco, and elsewhere and a culture strength of the MENA region is the Arab cultural and lingustic emphasis on "we,” whereas in the US and Europe people more often refer to things in terms of “I.”

"We" talk fills up a room and I rarely have felt lonely during my 2+ years in Morocco and during my current stay in Jordan. I can't say the same for life in New York. I love the city (or at least often) for its incessant action, energy, and crowds, but the issue lies in that so much of people's activities are done alone. Other people are your natural environment much like flora, fauna, and the landscape and if not attune, you begin to tune them out as such. Some of the side effects of urban density/suburban sprawl/US transitory living patterns are outlined in books like "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community," but I'm more interested how the linguistic emphasis on "we" historically in tribes in North Africa, the Levant, and the larger East affects current behavior.

Of note, if I had backed out of the above photo, you would notice that outside of this large gathering of men, few other people were swimming along the Beirut coast (setting aside the fact that there's few attractive public places to swim). In western culture, we look for isolated places where a small group of friends/family can find privacy. Just as with my experience along the coast in Morocco, Arab beach-goers congregate towards each other. This quality and its expansion into all areas of interaction is something for which I admire... epitomized by the two friends lying back, arm-in-arm in the water.

Quote of the Week

“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”

-Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

Border Crossings: 400 km in 10 hours

(At the Syrian border, heading to Jordan. President Bashar al-Assad and his father, former president Hafez al-Assad wish you safe travels).

What excess! Beirut to Amman in a GMC suburban taxi with leather interior. No, I don't mean the transit, but the travel. 3 border crossings. 2 exit fees and 1 entrance. 10 hours for a journey that would take 4 hours without borders. It doesn't help that I'm traveling back in high season and at the worst time. I should have traveled in the middle of the night, finally shedding myself of old Peace Corps security restrictions.

At the Microphone Bar

To close off my sojourn in Beirut, Eli and I finished my last night at a local dive bar, name forgotten. It was fantastic. It was last call. With local flavor and an elder bartender, Eli showed me the aluminum microphones on the ceiling and said the Syrian's were still listening. In truth, the bar was around the corner from a former Syrian surveillance/intelligence center and the owner and co. had added them as a local touch.

Ice Cream and Fisticuffs

In the midst of the renowned Souk al-Hamidieh in the old city of Damascus is the equally acclaimed Bakdash ice cream parlour. Hearing about it on the 1st Syria go-around, it prefaced my return trip and Ashleigh and I were not disappointed with good ice cream and genteel service.

Most interesting was the staff's interest, as shown above, on the pictured tv and an earlier backroom fistfight between two employees. They played this continuously with no sound while we elbowed for ice cream; 2 co-workers yelling, then one throwing a hook, the other putting the first in a headlock, and both falling to the floor. Rewind. Replay. It was not the most interesting clip, but with such interest by the staff, it was one of those things you study more intensely out of the belief you missed something.

The Best Souk in Town

Souk al-Hamidieh in the old district of Damascus is physically one of the best bazaars I've walked through in my short travels in the MENA region. It's expansive- 15 meters wide, 2 stories high, and extends for some distance. It's old- first built in 1780. Best of all- natural lighting leaks through high off windows to light the walkway just enough. The shops are nice, but are mostly the same as globalization has made Indian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Brazilian, Malaysian, Egyptian, Canadian, Korean, American, Colombian, Pakistani, Ghanaian, Australian, Japanese, Germany, Italian, Russian, Mexican, Saudia Arabian, etc products ubiquitous.

Quote of the Week

"The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting."
-Milan Kundera

Wedding Bells in Damascus

(Looking upon a Friday night wedding).

(A large, impressive church complete with Christmas dressings).

With little exposure to the Christian population in Jordan, I was surprised to walk upon so many churches in Damascus. 10% of the population in Syria, 6% in Jordan, and 35% in Lebanon. These churches were prominently laid out in the city center and at the one pictured above, Ashleigh and I witnessed the proceedings for back-to-back weddings.

5 Days in Syria and Lebanon

(Souk al-Hamidieh in Damascus)

(On the seaside in Saida, Lebanon)

(Ashleigh, Daniella, and Walid in the darkness of a Saida medina)

Quote for the Week

(Houman at Cap de Trois Fourches, Morocco 2008).

"We don’t have to live great lives, we just have to understand and survive the ones we got."
-Andre Debus

Syria, Round I: Damascus, Allepo, and the Sea

(Everyone's favorite water man/flower supplier
outside the Aleppo citadel).

Traffic and Intersections

I witnessed my 3rd car accident in front of my apartment today. Ok, I wasn’t on the street, but in the living room when as twice before, I heard the boom crunch crack outside our 4th floor window. Both vehicles damaged. Both drivers limping.

Prematurely, I was impressed with local driving when I first arrived in Amman. But after daily NY-style traffic jams and two close calls, I now conclude that auto safety is terrible. The conditions are worse than the driving, but I still pass 2-3 accidents daily while carpooling to-and-fro on a 15 minute ride.

On traffic conditions, in mid June the Jordan to Saudi/Gulf vehicle ratio was probably 4/1. Two weeks ago, probably 3/1 and it’s only going to increase in the weeks before Ramadan. Friends complain and proclaim they need to run off to Aqaba or Sharm El Sheikh for the summer.

Arab Leaders and Obama's speech

Marc Lynch has written a nice piece here about what Arab leaders should expect in the coming months and years from the Obama administration.

Happy Bastille Day

And a belated Happy 4^th of July too. Here’s too all my French and American friends. Et mon amour, je t'aime. Tu me manques.

Quote of the Week

"The highest form of morality is not to feel at home in one’s own home."
-Theodor Adorno

Petra and Wadi Rum

(Wadi Rum. A favorite haunt of T.E. Lawrence and where some of "Lawrence of Arabia" was filmed).

(Wasef in Petra with a coliseum in the background).

Aqaba and The Red Sea

(A family on the Jordan side. Across the bay is Israel. Jordan and Israeli ships (or Italian rentals) enter/exit their two adjacent ports and Jordan constantly has a battleship anchored on the sea border. Egypt-bound ferries also leave this port frequently)

I visited Aqaba and the Red Sea this past weekend in the south. Jordan only has 24 km of coastal land (it once was only 8) and Aqaba is its only seaport. It was a friendly, developing place that should be booming in 10-15 years, but was rather lacking in night life when we visited for the weekend. I'm sure it picks up during national holidays. Or maybe the party was somewhere else. I did see Levant and Gulf tourists and several U.S. Iraqi contractors on R&L, but their was no mass weekend influx like I was expecting.

On snorkeling. We rented equipment from the ritzy Royal Diving Institute and spent several hours exploring their great reefs. As advertised, the flora and fauna in the Red Sea is beautiful and this itself deserves a repeat trip to the area if I have time. All colors and sizes of fish and coral. It was breathtaking at times and if I had another month here and was $400 richer, I would happily spend the 3 days it takes to get scuba certified. But maybe next time. Or maybe in the better known Sharm el Sheikh that everyone talks about.

Reem's Cafeteria: The Best Shawarma in Town

This is advertised as the best shawarma in Amman (even in the NY Times) and this is no joke. Reem's doesn't mess around or even offer the staple chicken shawarma, just lamb. And although of course the BBC tells me it has only 140% of my daily saturated fat content, I talked the experience up at work the next day and we made a repeat trip for lunch.

Quote of the Week

"The women have been a very dominant factor in Iran throughout the ages. It sounds counterintuitive because in some instances, in the court of law, no matter what law we’re talking about – criminal, divorce, inheritance, child custody, etc. – women count for only half of a man. But in society women have been very strong, and women have had a much more vibrant, participatory role in Iran than in any other of the countries around that region, including so many of the countries the United States calls friends and allies. And ever since the beginning, 30 years ago during the revolution, women were out on the streets en masse. Because it then became an Islamic society, traditional men could not keep the women out of the public sphere anymore, couldn’t keep their girls from going to school, because now it was an Islamic society and there was no reason to do that. So now 65 percent of university students are women. Women are in all sorts of spheres of professional endeavor. Women drive, they vote, they can hold a public position. Now, 34 million women are in Iran right now, out of a population of 70 million."

This from the excellent Christiane Amanpour in a worthy interview. The green shoots of a revolution in Iran have been captivating from Amman (although developments, public rallies, and the international reporting on such events has subsided in the last week) and the reports of women leading street protests in many instances have been moving, although few are talking about the situation here. One explanation "The Palestinian issue takes up all our time."

Summer Travel Plans

My weekend travel and short vacation schedule for the rest of the summer are now materializing as I've made plans with some new friends and agreed upon dates with others. June went by so fast, but I found time to hike the Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve for 7 hours with a group, which is adjacent to and whose river flows into the Dead Sea. The hike was literally 1 hour marching over an arid landscape and 6 hours navigating the river and repelling down a waterfall. Highly recommended. Here's the tentative schedule for the coming months with dates marking Fri-Sat weekends.

July
2 Aqaba (Jordan’s only port, acclaimed for its coral reefs)
9 Petra (UNESCO site, Ancient city carved into rock)
16 Damascus (historical capital city, rich culture)
23 Damascus (meeting friends)
August
1-5 Beirut (beach, friends, and Mediterranean life)
13 Ramallah (capital city, rich culture, friends)
21 Depart for France
September
7 Return to New York

Missing Gafait

In Jordan now a week, I miss Gafait and the place I called home for two years. Urban environments are quite different, but the people, regular schedule, work, and quiet evenings are what I miss right now. To all my friends in the Orient and throughout Morocco- I hope all is well and look for me in summer 2010.

About Work: The JCEF

Here's a short, locally produced video that encapsulates the organization I'm working for this summer. The same video can be viewed here. It seems to be an excellent organization that is combating a difficult problem in the MENA region- youth unemployment, which is the highest of any region in the world at around 25% with 2/3 of the overall population being under 24 years of age.

The Dead Sea

The Nokia Flashlight: The Ultimate Amenity

Recently reunited with my cellphone from Morocco, I instantly fell back on old habits: playing "snake" on the bus (yes, the Nokia default), programming my alarm, and using my flashlight excessively.

For service, I'm using the well-named, but dead-zone champion Umniah. After 2 days recently of being able to take calls, but unable to be heard, I was ready to switch over to the more expensive Zain network, but alas found the problem was with my phone's mic. Now the solution is to 'pack' it on the palm of my hand like one would cigarettes before every call to get a good connection.

And no Mom, I'm not smoking here. The coffee culture- an espresso and a smoke is just not what it is in francophone countries. However, the sheesha (aka hookah, arghila) fills that void and almost everyone, including conserative women, smoke.

From the Apartment Window: Amman, Jordan

Looking out the 4th floor kitchen window at the apartment of Nuri and I. Profile Nuri: a 26 year old Turkish PhD student in Amman for the summer to do research on stability in small Arab states. He'll later be settling in Tunis and Kuwait City to round out his research. I was fortunate to find Nuri like I've been fortunate to have a great roommate in NY. Low maintenance (besides an early morning cleaning twitch), a jovial personality, strong character, and bright ideas, it so far has worked out brilliantly and I look forward to a great relationship.

Arriving in Amman

I just arrived last night in the city and found a nice, cheap hotel room downtown near this mosque, Jmea Hussein. I find the green glow sticks on the minaret in the evening a nice touch. From shuffling by taxi around the city a bit today, I think I'll end up preferential to this area. It's the authentic heart of the city with all the good shops and is where the working class congregates.

After a 10 PM arrival yesterday, it took me an hour to find the office at the Jordan National Employment Center, but the reception was very nice and the staff and environment I'll be working in this summer seems to be great.

UPDATE: Days later, I saw this same mosque and a reporter roaming the surrounding streets on Al-Jazeera TV as they ran a report on Iraqi refugees not able to find work in Jordan (500k people), Syria (1.5 mill), and other neighboring countries. What a sad situation.

Hmm..Places That Deserve An Extended Stay: Istanbul

Or any stay at all. Unfortunately, I only saw the city from the air and my terminal (which is probably negligible) as Istanbul was a transfer for me between Paris and Amman, but the view flying in looked oh so nice and the sea ever so tempting last Sunday afternoon. Perhaps I should have stayed a week before continuing to Amman (I seriously thought about it after leaving behind a week on the French coast, but Turkey is a country that most likely deserves several months to explore.

Quote of the Week

"..this is why I value that little phrase 'I don't know' so highly. It's small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us as well as those outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended."

Wislawa Szymborska, Nobel Lecture 1996

I'd like to think I could live off that idea- "I don't know" for the rest of my days. I find it immeasurably motivating and a better ailment (if you want to call it that) to obsess over then vanity, power, material wealth, etc. Hedging, pacing, and second guessing is one thing, but an overly generous level of curiosity, humility, and dialectical thought is one way by which to achieve a life well lived.

Symborska is not the first to talk about the idea of not knowing. Socrates, Kierkegaard, and others have discussed it in the context of strengthening an argument.

Summer Begins in Les Sables

Rasheed at the Louvre

Rasheed, passed on by Sumona in Morocco, survived several trips, but was finally put to rest somewhere outside the Louvre last December.

Catching Up on the Last Year

Peace Corps Redux I: School Tree Planting & Country/World Mural

Peace Corps Redux II: Gary the Clown

Peace Corps Redux III: Vetiver Project