House of Curiosity...

Whenever I think of gender abuse, the first image that comes to mind is that of a man abusing a woman. It has never occurred to me to wonder about where women stand on the issue of abuse.
A couple of weeks ago, at Dardashat, we tried to explore the issue of “value systems”. Lately, I [...]

Away from politics, away from the Arab world’s saddening but hopeful affairs, away from the clear lack of citizenship that is becoming more visible in Jordan these days. In a small neighborhood in the heart of East Amman, I saw Sami walking alone in the middle of day.

I always get excited to see one of [...]

 
أعرف ان الكلام الموجود هنا مكررعشرة الاف مرة. الا انه يعني لي الكثير ان اكرره للمرة العشرة الاف وواحد. انظر للأردن التي هاجر اليها جدي و جدتي بعين من الحزن، اودع جدتي و هي على فراش الموت و انا غير قادرة ان اخبرها ان اردن الأمل التي اتت اليها متأملة بمستقبل لاطفالها تمر بأزمة غير [...]

Um Raed, our neighbour at the Jabal. She has a wide range of children (literally). The age range starts from 5 and ends at 25.
Her life is difficult, mostly because her husband is a mean old lazy bum. He could never keep a proper job, and he never quite figured out the meaning of a [...]

“When the girl who was burried alive was asked: for what crime was she killed?” ~Surat Takweer (81:8) and (81:9)

Rania, a young friend came to talk to me a couple of days ago. She wanted to seek my advice.  “ I am embarrassed of M.” She started off her sentence.  “M.” is a common acquaintance. They [...]

كنت دائما بعتقد انه مخي متفتح ، يعني” اوبن ماينديد” باللغة الدارجة. يعني كنت دائما بقول انه ما في شي بصدمني، و اني بتقبل كل شي. بس من جديد صرت اتفاجأ من نفسي. صرت اكتشف اني بستغرب و بعض الأحيان بستهجن طريقة لبس بعض البنات، و كل مرة بشعر هذا الشعور بستغرب من حالي.
امبارح مثلا [...]

 
After a long meeting a couple of days ago, I attempted to get on an elevator on my out of a building only to find it packed. Taking a step back and allowing the doors to close and move on, I caught a glimpse the elevator’s passengers and who should be inside but my long [...]

October 2008
We have finally joint the 70,000 Jordanian families that have foreign live-in domestic workers. Irani, is 23, smart and ambitious. She started her studies in economics at the university, and is here to save enough money to be able to go back to school…. I picked her up when she arrived…
And for a split [...]