Into the Wind

Once in a while you get an email that puts a big smile on your face. Yesterday was one of those…

I passed this shop in downtown Boulder Colorado. Had to take a picture

I thought it was fitting that that shop was located in Boulder because it is a city that you’d loved: It’s a college town set in the mountains with breath-taking natural views; pedestrian and bike-friendly; has a stream that runs through it with a biking and walking (and running if you must) track all along it; and a lively downtown with shops (including “yours”) and cafes lining a wide pedestrian boulevard with musicians and street performers.

It’s easily the most beautiful town I’ve been to in the US…

Sure sounds like the type of city I’d love

Thanks a million Ziad!

Youth and Travel Opportunities

Remember I once mentioned the Safar Initiative, which is a mobility fund to enable proactive young people in the Arab world to travel and learn more about inspiring projects, from inspiring people, and take part in programs, workshops, or events that address their interests and benefit them.

There’s a detailed article about it in today’s Al-Ghad. Check it out! Seriously… it’s great. For example, during July, the Royal Film Commission held a one month professional and intensive digital filmmaking workshop given by instructors from the University of South California’s Film School. One of the participants was a university student from Iraq with interests in media and broadcast, and his participation was made possible through Safar. Another young person from Algeria who is passionate about music and mixing oriental, traditional, and contemporary influences wants to come and spend some time with Rum Group. There are many other examples of young people who benefited from Safar, and the scope of possibilities is wide.

This brings me to another point that has been on my mind for a while. I believe that traveling, seeing the world and being exposed to different cultures is a wonderful learning and self-discovering tool. However, it’s not as easy for young people in this part of the world to travel as it is for, say, young people in Europe. How many Arab young people can actually decide to go on a road trip like Karim and his brother for example?!

There are many restrictions to mobility, not least of which is financial (I don’t want to go into social, family, and cultural issues. And the whole thing with the “race with time” is topic for another post).

BUT… what I’ve come to realize in recent years and through my involvement with youth programs and activities, is that there are in fact lots of chances for young people here to travel, with MINIMUM cost, through initiatives and programs. It’s a shame that most people don’t know about it, or don’t bother to search hard enough. It’s also a shame that in many cases, it’s the pretty much the same people who benefit from the opportunities… again, either for lack of awareness among others, or because the majority just whine about boredom and lack of things to do but do not want to get out of their comfort zones and start exploring.

One girl I know is going for training to Azerbaijan. Another young man is going to Yemen. One of my friends is realizing her lifelong dream of spending a little time in Africa, and will be working with some community development organization in Zambia for two months. No she’s not from a small isolated segment of society that does not relate to the rest of the people. She was a student of the University of Jordan, she was born and grew up in Jordan, her parents are a hard-working middle-class couple who worry when she goes downtown Amman and try to talk her out of it, and needless to say they’re not too thrilled about her travel schemes. But you know what? She shared her wild idea with different friends, didn’t think it was too crazy to be done, asked and eventually found the right people who helped her get to Zambia.

Another friend of mine was surfing the internet once and found a conference that really interested him in Tokyo. He applied and was accepted, but the major obstacle was the cost of going. Do you what he did? He prepared a list of 20 potential sponsors and sent them all emails or faxes. One company CEO was impressed, and replied telling him that they would fund his trip.

I’m not suggesting that all private-sector companies are just waiting to enable to young people to travel and learn, and I’m not saying that any activity you participate in will send you up on a jet plane before you know it… but my point is that there are more opportunities than you think for you to travel and explore! It could happen through certain programs, activities, or organizations, or you can just do it individually by exploring, searching, and knocking the right doors.

Ask any person who is actively involved in extra curricular activities and volunteer projects, and they’re most likely to agree that the networking aspect of it is amazing; one thing leads you to ten others, one person you meet opens a different door to you, one conversation opens your eyes to something you didn’t know before, and it’s a snowball.

How some young Arabs act when they travel, what they do, and the image they reflect, is topic for a future post. Maybe, maybe not!

Meanwhile, if you’re between 15 and 35 years of age, you might want to check out Safar.

Jordanian Short Film Festival

Here’s a piece of news I thought I’d share with you quickly, until I get the chance to write a decent post

The Jordanian Short Film Festival starts August 28th until September 2nd, in partnership with the French Cultural Center and the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival. Screenings will take place at the Royal Cultural Center, the Courtyard at the Howard Johnson hotel, and the Queen Rania Child Center.

The Festival will feature over 100 Short Films, with:

- International Short Film Competition

- Arab & Jordanian short film competition.

- Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival selection.

- Focus: Iranian Short Films.

- Focus: Syrian Short Films.

- Focus: Gulf Short Films.

- Panorama of Short Films.

- World-renowned competition jury & festival programmers.

- Filmmaking workshops.

- Children multimedia workshops.

- Awards include 2000 Euro and all-expenses-paid trip to the
Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival.

- Films from China, Singapore, India, Philippines, Iran, Qatar, UAE,
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco,
Algeria, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Romania, Switzerland,
Brazil, Cyprus , Slovenia , Ireland, Bosnia, USA, Turkey, and more.

The full schedule should be posted on the website very soon, so keep an eye on it.

Amman: Old View Cafe

It’s been a while since I wrote about some of those places I really enjoy around Amman. It was actually around two months ago that I discovered this new café in my favorite part of town – thanks to Anja and ever since then it’s high up on my list.

Just when you turn right from Rainbow Street to go to Books@ café, you will spot it on the left, standing out with it’s wooden façade. It was always there as a lanterns shop, but then the owner decided to add a café on the second floor.

It has an amazing view of old Amman, and better yet, there’s a pair of binoculars available for you to enjoy the view even more and to take a closer look at the beautiful Darwish Mosque on the Mount across.

It’s a very nice, peaceful, quiet spot… with very friendly service that makes you feel very much at home. They have delicious manaqeesh, besides the regular assortment of teas and coffees. The place is randomly decorated with the hand-painted lanterns, alongside a collection of antiques, traditional items, and framed black and white pictures of old Amman.

If you’re one of those people who complain that Amman is very limited in places to go, keep an eye on this space I admit I’ve been slacking in the updates on this topic, but I’ll do my best to keep’em coming.

Over a Cup of Coffee

The first couple of photos were just out of a mood they call “fay2a o ray2a” (translation, anyone??), but then afterwards I realized that I’m enjoying the experiment. Here’s a glimpse of my stay in Muenster, over various cups of coffee.

PS. Don’t let the latte deceive you, my favorite is black with no sugar and no milk.

When we first arrived at Frankfurt airport, looking for a place to plug the laptop charger…

At a café “Brasserie” by the Promenade after choosing to walk instead of taking the night bus.

At the Bennohaus Center by the canal, part of which is a café open to the public.

During a lovely and very interesting walk with Mariam.

Up at dawn by the Aasee Lake

At a bakery on the way to the Bennohaus in the morning, before starting the daily workshops

At Frankfurt Airport, 1 hour before boarding the plane back to Amman

Click on pictures for large size.

Observations from a Demonstration in Germany

As I mentioned before, during our first week in Muenster, we heard there was going to be a demonstration against the war in Lebanon on Saturday (August 5th)… what occurred to me then, besides taking part, was making use of the fact that we were in a media camp making films, reports, learning, and experimenting. Our workshop team leader had told us to keep our eyes open for things that draw our attention so that we can make a second report besides our pre-assigned one… and I thought this would be quite interesting, not to do a report on the demonstration itself, but to use it as an entrance to a report about the Lebanese Community in Muenster – which is interestingly significant in number.

What I found out when we got to the meeting point that Saturday, was that this particular demonstration was organized not by the Lebanese community but by different peace groups – including Gush Shalom. I talked to some Germans; someone from the German Communist Party, and some other Peace activists, and it was quite interesting to hear their take on the issue… I was particularly amused when that guy from the communist party went on blabbering about how Syria’s protection of Lebanon was important. I had an interesting discussion with one woman who expressed her disappointment at the small number of Germans present, and went on to explain why it’s very sensitive for Germans to take part in such a thing, given the history they spent decades paying and apologizing for. One young German from the camp had a different opinion; he said that young people simply don’t know much and don’t really care about participating in such things and about political activism.

At the beginning, there were some speeches, poems, and songs from people of different ethnic, cultural, and political backgrounds. Each peace group handed out its own statement and slogans, and then, just as the march was about to start, I managed to understand what someone said in German on the microphone, requesting that no pictures of Nasralla be raised during the march, for reasons pertaining to the message that this demonstration was intended to send – more for Peace, against war and the killing of civilians – addressing the Germans and the International Community. Not surprisingly, the dude with the Nasralla poster did not abide, and would put the picture down while the order-keeping people were there and then put it back up when they turned their heads. A car with a sound system was driving alongside the protesters, with the demonstration organizer – a German, and a Lebanese girl shouting slogans through the microphone for people to repeat; things mostly like: “Stop the War in Lebanon”. Now the first observation was that while some people were repeating after her, others were just yelling their own thing, in Arabic, stuff like: “Death to Israel”. They would keep on yelling even when the march leader was giving a speech or attempting to explain to passers-by what this march was all about and what was happening in Lebanon. The organizers kept asking those people to please not shout while the man was talking, and to stick to the slogans everyone was supposed to repeat together, but to no avail.

They reached a spot where a stage was set and again some speeches were to be made, and at that point an Egyptian went on stage and started addressing the crowds in Arabic saying something like: “The organizers of this demonstration are diverse peace groups who have a certain message to deliver. We are here in Germany and not in Cairo, Beirut, or Amman, so the audience we’re talking to is different, and we have to speak their language and address their mentality. Please stick to the designated slogans, and if you’d like to say something else, organize your own demonstration.”

Now what do you think the crowd’s reaction was? They booed him! It was a very sad thing to see. I understand where these young demonstrators were coming from, many of them were students from Lebanon whose parents and families were stuck in the south, being shelled and bombarded, but at the same time, is it so hard not to think with one’s emotions, and to try to be smart about the situation and how to achieve some gain, at least PR-wise?

While I totally admired and respected some of the demonstrators, I was really disappointed and sad by some of what I saw… a group of Arabs were walking on the lawn, ignoring the requests to stick to the road, and one of them was wearing a shirt with a big “I love party girls”. Towards the end of the march I was interviewing some more people, and one Lebanese guy brought me a line of young women and girls to stand in front of the camera and say a bunch of clichés that they themselves knew nothing about… just some over-consumed lines that we hear all the time, nothing really genuine and personal and honest and well-thought-out.

That is not to say that the overall feeling I got was negative! On the contrary, I had the chance to talk to that one Lebanese girl who was in the car with the organizers, and who stood on stage and gave a speech in German, and I was really impressed by her strong personality and how smart and open she was. She’s been living in Muenster with her family for 16 years; they immigrated after the civil war. She wore a head-scarf, and she surprised her German friends by her confidence and strong character which made them realize that this is not something she is forced into and that she is not a miserable oppressed Arab woman like they mostly think every time they see a female with a covered head.

Eventually, we decided that an interesting thing we could do instead of doing a report about the Lebanese community in general, would be to do a portrait of this girl – Fara7; her life in Germany, the integration in the society, what her friends say about her, her family, any conflicts within the Arab community abroad, and most importantly, her activism and the role she’s choosing to play as a Lebanese-German.

Now this is a topic for another post – we filmed a couple of interviews, and had a bit of a hard time linking what we wanted to link and coming up with the proper storyboard. More on all of that soon. Meanwhile, click here for some more pictures from the demonstration…

Peace Arts at the Hussein Parks

Back… Almost

Got back to Amman after two wonderful weeks at the Youth Media Camp in Muenster/Germany… I haven’t blogged in ages and there is so much that I want to share, reflect upon, and write about. There’s so much work and stuff here to catch up on, but you can expect a series of posts about the trip once I settle down a bit in the coming two days.

The Media camp, presenting a live broadcast on local TV, doing a portrait/report about a young German-Lebanese in Muenster, the book village in Holland, the impressions the Jordanian team left… and a lot more, are stuff I’d like to tell you all about.

Meanwhile, I have to get ready for work – so much has happened in the two weeks I was away and the catching up is not going to be very pleasant and easy! So for now, I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures…

From Muenster

As I was enjoying my now-daily 25-minute morning walk across the promenade from the Hostel by the lake to Muenster’s city center, a lady came towards me and started asking something in German.

“Kein Deutsch!” is the only phrase I can say… “English??”

“Oh, yes” she said, “can you please tell me how I can get to the University’s main street?”

I smile to myself, yes I know where that is, and I told her.

After only four days in this city, I’m proud to say that I can find my way around pretty well, keeping in mind that I’m not here for touristy reasons and that we spend the good part of the day in workshops at the Bennohaus Media Center. Nevertheless, I’ve been walking a lot, every morning, and every evening. The very first morning here, I went out for a 30-minute run, but that somehow turned into a 3-hour walk which took me all over Muenster. No I wasn’t lost :p I mean, depending on how you define lost, but my idea is that, as long as you’re not in a big rush, and that you maintain some vague sense of direction, there’s no such thing as getting lost. So considering that I started that walk at 5:30 AM, I had plenty of time

I don’t always have access to internet around here, and when I do, it’s mostly for a short period of time, but I’ve been keeping an eye on Jordan Planet and toot, because I hate the feeling of being detached from what’s happening in our region, and the news of Lebanon. I was aching to be in the candle vigil yesterday in Amman. Too many thoughts on that now that I don’t feel capable of articulating at the moment, but perhaps when I get back.

A few days ago while walking in Muenster, we came across a group of Lebanese announcing a big demonstration for Lebanon against war that will take place tomorrow morning. Our group decided to go, and some people from other countries are interested in joining us. Also for my workshop team (we’re divided in small teams, each working on a different short film, journalistic report, or broadcast project), we decided that we will do a video report on the demonstration and the Lebanese community in the city, which seems pretty big and active.

Two days ago the Spanish group (who are my favorite) were asking a lot of questions about Middle East history and politics, and the situation in Lebanon. It’s quite challenging when you have to go way back in your explanations and to try and help people understand the complexities of the Middle East. It’s a scary responsibility too.

One of the students from the Jordanian team was asked in his workshop group about Saddam, and he felt disturbed and uncomfortable by the question, so he just turned the table and started asking about Hitler.

It’s interesting to observe how the students from the Jordanian team are interacting and embracing the experience; the differences between how the guys and the girls carry themselves, and the way cultural contradictions and double standards manifest themselves subconsciously. I haven’t been able to figure how to best carry out the role of team leader… I strongly believe that when you have a group of university students, you should give them the space and the chance to be responsible for themselves, as long as they are serious enough and aware of what’s expected from them in terms of performance, active participation, and the best possible representation of their country. Unfortunately the one area in which this has proved to be a failure is the respect for time. Up until yesterday, most of them couldn’t get it through to their heads that in this country, people respect time down to the minute; if the bus is scheduled to arrive at 9:25, you go at 9:26 and find that you’ve missed it. And we did miss our bus more than once because some people are just too relaxed about time and don’t know how to properly calculate how long it would take to do what. There’s a team from Morocco in this program with us, and they have been even worse with regards to this!! Why it always has to be the Arab groups that are late beats me!

There’s so much more to share and reflect upon; the work we’re doing, the citizen media center, our cultural presentation, the city of Muenster, the bicycles, the athletic lifestyle of the people, the baggage of negativity carried by some of our young people… and much more.

I’ll try to post pictures from tomorrow’s demonstration and let you know how it goes. I’ll also try to keep writing and documenting the thoughts as they come.

Here are some facts I enjoyed learning about Muenster…

- It’s been officially named the most cyclist-friendly city in Germany.
- The ratio of bicycles per person is 1.1, imagine, every single person in Muenster owns at least one bike.
- It has Germany’s third largest university, with 50,000 students. Students constitute 20% of the city’s population.
- It’s a predominantly catholic city, and it has 90 cathedrals.
- Most of the city was destroyed during World War II, in the city center only one building survived the destruction, and is now a café.

That’s it for now. Some more pictures are up on my flickr, and plenty more to come later.
If you’re close to Muenster, remember, the demonstration for Lebanon is Saturday August 5th, at 11:30 AM, starting at the Vorplatz Stadhaus.