Chapter Eight
Irbid & Ramtha
With everyone in the office diligently working on completing their respective component’s year 4 work plans, and many others in the field, it was quieter than usual this week in the office. On Tuesday, Ola and I went to two northern municipalities, Irbid and Ramtha to discuss municipal plans related to the municipality’s public relations. Known as Arabella and Ramatha to the Romans and Byzantines, these two ancient cities have a strong sense of local identity, which factors in largely in the way they go about conducting local governance. In Irbid, Ola and I spoke with the mayor and his affiliates about making a radio station with which residents of Irbid would have a direct line of contact with their local government. I mentioned this concept last week, as the same idea is currently in the works and being implemented in the Zarqa municipality as well. The Irbid government has embarked on a project to strengthen community-government relations, and much of our discussion with the elected officials was on techniques to overcome the challenges of the various activities involved in such a task. Later on, in Ramtha, we spoke with the director of development to discuss the updates on their current project of street naming and numbering, a surprising importantly issue for many a municipality in the country. Much of the research I’ve been helping the C3 team lately has been related to these topics, focusing on specific ways Jordanian municipalities can reach their constituents in a more impactful manner.
Al Khalidiyyah
Later on in the week, Ruby and I visited the Al Khalidiyyah municipality, an hour or so northeast of Amman, to discuss the technical assistance plans for the public parks project we’ve undertaken with them. The plan for the parks is related to healing current issues related to community cohesion and preventing potential future issues. The parks are meant to curb youth aimlessness, and build stronger social and civic structures in the community. After a thorough assessment of the TTCC (threats to community cohesion) matrix put together by the CITIES C4 team, the Al Khalidiyyah municipality realized the need for more public spaces, and decided to pursue this course of action for their community, obtaining funding by the Jordanian Royal Court, and having us, the C4 team, to help with the layout and technical implementation of the project. Developments are well underway and execution has been smooth so far, a telltale sign of good progress.
Bedouin Wedding
No it wasn't mine, don’t worry. But on Thursday night, Ijazi took me to a traditional Bedouin wedding of a close friend of his. I had been to my fair share of Bedouin weddings when I lived in Oman, but of course, but this was Jordan and no two places are ever the same anywhere, regardless of the abundance of similarities. Safe to say I honestly had no idea what to expect. Driving to a field slightly outside the southernmost suburbs of the city, in a valley between two small hills, it was hard to mistake where we were going. The dancing lights in the sky and the blaring music from a distance were a dead giveaway of what was going on. Under a remarkably large tent the size of a soccer field, underlaid with bright blue carpets, and every last inch strewn with lights, the men danced to traditional songs, their voices filling the valley with their song. Replenished with sweets, tea, coffee, and more sweets, they danced and celebrated the night away, the festivities continuing into the early hours of the morning.
In such a strong family-based society like Jordan’s, weddings are not just a marriage of two individuals, but of two families, as is common in many parts of the world. Moreover, In Jordanian culture, as well as being a great excuse for a good time, a wedding isn’t just the coming together of these two individuals and their families. It is a celebration, and preservation, of tradition and ritual. In a world gripped by the throes of rapid modernization, it was a beautiful and touching remembrance of ancestry and heritage, and, in all honestly, I was left incredibly moved.