-
Posted: January 1st, 2013, 7:59pm UTC by BC
Happy New Year! And welcome 2013! This is my annual end-of-the-year/beginning-of-the-year review post. I don’t really expect anyone else to find it interesting. In the past I crunched a lot ...
-
Posted: December 16th, 2012, 5:37am UTC by BC
I couldn’t sleep last night. A lot of things were rambling around in my head. Last week was a long one for me. There was a lot to do at ...
-
Posted: April 23rd, 2012, 7:52am UTC by BC
Words cannot adequately describe Petra, the ancient capital of the Nabateans. If you are unfamiliar with the Nabateans, they were an Arab tribe descended from Ishmael’s eldest son Nebaioth. They ...
-
Posted: April 22nd, 2012, 4:00pm UTC by BC
Unfortunately, I have fallen way behind in the A to Z blogging challenge! This being my first time, I don’t know what the official rules are … but I am ...
-
Posted: April 22nd, 2012, 4:00pm UTC by BC
Unfortunately, I have fallen way behind in the A to Z blogging challenge! This being my first time, I don’t know what the official rules are … but I am ...
-
Posted: April 22nd, 2012, 4:00pm UTC by BC
Unfortunately, I have fallen way behind in the A to Z blogging challenge! This being my first time, I don’t know what the official rules are … but I am ...
-
Posted: April 18th, 2012, 6:38am UTC by BC
Nothing beats the smell of fresh picked Nana. It is so delightfully refreshing and Jordanians use it in a handful of wonderful ways. What pray tell is Nana? First of ...
-
Posted: April 15th, 2012, 5:13am UTC by BC
MMMmmmmmm . . . It is only fitting that ‘M’ is for two of the most delicious meals offered in Jordan! While it is true that there are many delicious ...
-
Posted: April 14th, 2012, 7:18am UTC by BC
Why Love? Because this weekend is the 12th wedding anniversary for my wife and I! But what does love have to do with Jordan? Well … there is a very ...
-
Posted: April 14th, 2012, 3:10pm UTC by BC
Jordan is a constitutional monarchy officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Hashemites are a historic Arab tribe tracing their roots to the prophet Muhammad through his daughter ...
-
Posted: April 12th, 2012, 6:45am UTC by BC
The eponymous Jordan River serves as the western border of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The name has possibly descended from an ancient Aramaic word yerdon, meaning “slope,” which ...
-
Posted: April 12th, 2012, 12:41pm UTC by BC
What can I say in a simple blog post of a few hundred words about the main religion of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan? Whatever I say in this short ...
-
Posted: April 9th, 2012, 5:37am UTC by BC
Mmmmmm …. hummus! Nothing beats a nice bowl of fresh Jordanian hummus. I’m not talking about the prepackaged stuff you buy at the supermarket in the States or Europe with ...
-
Posted: April 8th, 2012, 5:27am UTC by BC
Why, you may ask, does G day for Jordan have to do with gelatin? 2 simple reasons. The first is most obvious … my brain feels like gelatin! A week ...
-
Posted: April 7th, 2012, 10:07pm UTC by BC
Friday! Ahhhh … the weekend! And by weekend, I mean the weekend proper not just the last day of the work-week and the beginning of the weekend. Yup, that’s right ...
-
Posted: April 5th, 2012, 5:29am UTC by BC
Enchiladas?!? In Jordan?!? Unfortunately … no. This post is not meant to highlight one of the cool and unique aspects of life in Jordan. No, rather it is a post ...
-
Posted: April 5th, 2012, 12:35pm UTC by BC
When I took the A to Z Challenge … I think I was more focused on the A to Z nature of it, instead of the Challenge. It is really ...
-
Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 8:46am UTC by BC
Camels, Camels Everywhere Well …I could write many things about the Camels here in Jordan … but they say that a picture is like a thousand words! So here are ...
-
Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 5:26pm UTC by BC
Dividing up the modern Middle East At first glance the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan seems to be a young nation. Like its neighbors in the Middle East it is a ...
-
Posted: April 1st, 2012, 3:36pm UTC by BC
Jordan A to Z: A is for … Amman! Amman is the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The kingdom (pop. 6.5 million) is conveniently located between Palestine, Israel, Iraq, ...
-
Posted: March 31st, 2012, 7:46pm UTC by BC
Thanks to fellow blogger and WriMo Jim for pointing me to the A to Z April Challenge (check out Jim’s A to Z blog here)! Participants are challenged to write ...
-
Posted: February 27th, 2012, 9:31pm UTC by BC
On this blog when the words “Occupy” or “Occupation” are mentioned I am usually referring to the ongoing Israeli Occupation of Palestine. In 2011 a different kind of Occupation sprung ...
-
Posted: December 16th, 2011, 4:34pm UTC by BC
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is typically thought of as a desert environment … if anyone takes the chance to consider the environmental classification of this small but strategically located ...
-
Posted: November 23rd, 2011, 8:19pm UTC by BC
A very good friend of mine (David Swanson – click here for his blog) works as a pastor of a church in the Chicago area. A couple of months ago ...
-
Posted: November 18th, 2011, 7:36am UTC by BC
Wow! It’s a little hard to believe that I have been M.I.A. from the blogosphere since September 18th! That’s just a little sad, and more than a bit crazy but ...
-
Posted: September 18th, 2011, 1:54pm UTC by BC
If you keep up on news in the Muslim-American community the you probably now about the Rye Playland incident from the end of August during Eid al-Fitr. If not it ...
-
Posted: August 25th, 2011, 11:52am UTC by BC
Previous post in series: Ramadan Origins Personalizing Ramadan This Ramadan I have made a point of asking many of my Muslim friends and acquaintances one particular question: “What is the ...
-
Posted: August 18th, 2011, 6:01am UTC by BC
I am working on Part 3 of my Ramadan:An Outsider’s Perspective series of posts, but had to take a moment to address current events in Israel and Palestine. If you ...
-
Posted: August 13th, 2011, 8:36pm UTC by BC
Previous Post: Ramadan Basics All of the major religions advocate fasting in some form or another, but fasting plays a particularly special role in the life of Muslims. The month-long ...
-
Posted: August 1st, 2011, 12:36pm UTC by BC
It’s a little after 4:30 AM on August 1st, 2011. This date happens to coincide with Ramadan 1st, 1432. Ramadan is the Islamic holy month of fasting and the name ...
-
Posted: June 17th, 2011, 11:39pm UTC by BC
Here in Amman a couple of days ago we had the pleasure of seeing one of God’s great wonders – a total lunar eclipse. My kids and I went up ...
-
Posted: May 29th, 2011, 6:10am UTC by BC
(soorry in advance for the typos – I just had to get this out. If I had waited any longer, it wouldn’t have been published, so please bear with me.) ...
-
Posted: April 24th, 2011, 8:37am UTC by BC
Today was Easter Sunday. (Ok, technically it was yesterday – where did the day go!?) Uniquely, it was Easter in both Eastern and Western rites today (a confusing difference of ...
-
Posted: April 20th, 2011, 2:32pm UTC by BC
As I’ve said before, spring is really my favorite time of year hear in Jordan. A couple of weeks ago my son and I got out of the city to ...
-
Posted: March 16th, 2011, 8:05am UTC by BC
March 12th is blog for Jordan Day. I missed it last year, and promised myself I would catch it this year, but – alas . . . I missed it ...
-
Posted: February 11th, 2011, 3:52am UTC by BC
[Note: The bulk of this post was written earlier today before Mubarak stepped down. It just goes to show you how quickly things can change on the world political stage.] ...
-
Posted: February 2nd, 2011, 5:50am UTC by BC
A friend of mine pointed out that Glenn Beck is apparently now speculating on the demise of the Kingdom of Jordan. I didn’t bother to confirm if Beck said anything ...
-
Posted: February 1st, 2011, 6:46am UTC by BC
Headlines about the Middle East have been full of news and speculation on the protests and potential regime change in Egypt. What is happening there is a moment that will ...
-
Posted: January 31st, 2011, 3:58pm UTC by BC
The news and images coming from Egypt this past week have been unsettling for most. Scenes of protesting and violence in the streets, so close on the heels of the ...
-
Posted: January 25th, 2011, 8:25pm UTC by BC
Special Note: Tonight (Tuesday, January 25th) there is a debate on life in Gaza being held as part of the Festival. It will be held from 5 PM to 7 ...
-
Posted: January 14th, 2011, 6:36am UTC by BC
By now you must have heard of Ted Williams, the so called “golden-voiced homeless man” who in the span of a week went from living in a makeshift tent to ...
-
Posted: January 7th, 2011, 9:06pm UTC by BC
My phone rang this morning at 12:40 AM. It was my Egyptian friend Joe. He and his family were across town at the Coptic Orthodox church attending the annual Christmas ...
-
Posted: January 2nd, 2011, 5:17am UTC by BC
I can’t believe it is January 2011! It seems like just yesterday it was January 2010. I usually post a site stat review at the beginning of January which involves ...
-
Posted: November 22nd, 2010, 6:02am UTC by BC
If you know me well, then you know that since 2005 I have been involved with National Novel Writing Month. What’s that? Basically it’s a creative outlet for people who ...
-
Posted: November 16th, 2010, 5:14am UTC by BC
Today is Eid Al-Adha in Amman, Jordan. (And most of the rest of the Muslim world for that matter). On this Eid (festival/holiday/ holy day) Muslims around the world sacrifice ...
-
Posted: November 9th, 2010, 8:13am UTC by BC
Today (Tuesday, November 9th) was election day in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Like in America, the fall has been “election season” and politics have been in the air. Quite ...
-
Posted: July 29th, 2010, 1:19am UTC by BC
It’s officially 2-months that we’ve been stateside now – hard to believe! It’s good to be home and we’ve had such a good time reconnecting with people and places we ...
-
Posted: May 2nd, 2010, 3:29am UTC by BC
“Of course, the eye exam is free if you purchase a pair of glasses.” The optometrist seemed somewhat puzzled by my question. “Of course.” I replied in Arabic, “But how ...
-
Posted: April 23rd, 2010, 5:14am UTC by BC
Springtime is gorgeous in Jordan. By and large the rains have stopped, the temperature is moderate, the hills and valleys are alive with color, and droves of city-folk flock to ...
-
Posted: February 27th, 2010, 9:18pm UTC by BC
It’s been raining for the last 3 days here in Amman. It is winter, which, for Amman, means rain. But three days in a row is a bit unusual, especially ...
-
Posted: January 18th, 2010, 10:18pm UTC by BC
A cold rain drizzles on the street outside the cafe where I’m sipping tea on this Martin Luther King Day. Of course, this holiday goes unnoticed here in Amman, Jordan ...
-
Posted: January 16th, 2010, 7:39am UTC by BC
We’ve only had our car for four months but I kinda expected this to happen sooner. I was in a fender bender yesterday. Don’t worry – the only thing that ...
-
Posted: January 2nd, 2010, 10:18pm UTC by BC
Happy New Year! 2010 is here and so are the comments about lack of flying cars, robotic maids, and other technological advances predicted waaaay back in the 70s and 80s. ...
-
Posted: December 24th, 2009, 8:33am UTC by BC
Merry Christmas! Or as they say here in Jordan: كل عام و انت بالخير Kul 3aam uw inta bilxayr! An exact translation is a bit tricky (like most sociolinquistically significant ...
-
Posted: November 27th, 2009, 11:02pm UTC by BC
Note this post is my outsider’s reflection on observing the sacrifice of the the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival this year in Amman Jordan. For my outsider’s summary on the broader ...
RSS Feed
