Official Business

We've been making official visits for the last vew days; the Queen Rania Award's office, where we metthe Executive Director, Lubna Touqan, and the Mayor's office, where we visited with Mayor Omar Maani, the mayor of Amman. I enjoyed our conversation with Lubna very much indeed. Teachers face many of the same challenges in Jordan; low pay, lack of respect, and low numbers of qualified students entering the field. We discussed ways we have felt validated as professionals and teachers in the US, and ways to get the "good news" out about all the dedicated and hard working people who care deeply about kids and spend their lives dedicated to the education of our youth. The following day we met the mayor of Amman. Although he was very busy, and couldn't spend long with us, you left with the impression that he is hard working, dedicated, and loves Amman very much indeed. Amman has experienced intense growth in the last few years, and Amman's mayor has wisely hired consultants to help construct a strategic plan for the city so that growth will be regulated and contained, rather than popping up like mushrooms wherever developers please. He left us with lovely gifts of books; one poetry and one coffee table picture book, as well as a feild guide. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get it all home without going over the weight limit! As we were waiting for our bus to visit with Lubna on Monday, I took this video of a downtown mosque at noon. In the back ground you can
hear the call to prayer, a hauntingly lovely sound broadcast 5 times a day, and always by an actual person, never recorded. The fountain outside is for the faithful to wash heads, hands and feet before entering the mosque to pray.