by Natasha Tynes | Nov 16, 2006 | Jordan, my nation
The husband needed new pants. He claimed that a number of his pants had shrunk due to my excessive drying methods. I did not argue. Instead, I accompanied him last weekend on a shopping spree to Filene’s Basement. After maybe an hour and a half, the husband managed to find himself some pants that suited him, so we made our way back home.
While admiring his new pants in the comfort of our home, he noticed that one of them was made in Jordan — of all places [Click the image to enlarge]. It was pretty exciting, as it was the first time we’ve managed to see a QIZ (Qualified Industrial Zone) product up close and personal. This encounter with a Jordanian-made product came only a day after we ran into a Jordanian working at our local grocery store and just two days after picking up our car from the garage of a Jordanian mechanic.
"It is amazing. We keep bumping into Jordanians," the husband said when he met the Jordanian at the grocery store. Indeed. I guess, you can take the American out of Jordan but you can’t take Jordan out of the American.
by Natasha Tynes | Nov 11, 2006 | Books
While I was on the phone the other day with my very good friend Mariam, the subject of our current reading lists came up. I was surprised to find that Mariam was reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies. It’s a collection of short stories that I finished a couple of weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about since. We both agreed that these stories, which shed light on the lives of Indian immigrants in the US, are just beautiful in every sense of the word. Each tale is a masterpiece. Lahiri raises various issues such as integration, arranged marriages, detachment from home and marital complexities. It is no surprise that this collection of stunning tales clinched the Pulitzer Prize.
Lahiri’s stories avoid cliché, as they draw what I perceived as a realistic picture of the lives of first and second generation Indian immigrants. One thing I liked was the way Lahiri presented the issue of arranged marriages, which is quiet common in Indian society. In one of her tales, an arranged marriage was doomed to failure from the beginning. While in another, an arranged marriage worked beautifully, as the couples involved fell in love shortly after they tied the knot. In this manner, Lahiri has succeeded in presenting a balanced portrayal of preplanned nuptials.
I could go on forever about how much I enjoyed this book but I won’t. I would simply say that it was one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It is simply a treat.
by Natasha Tynes | Nov 10, 2006 | Jordan, my nation
Khalaf has drawn my attention to the sad fact that the Jordanian delegation has withdrawn Muna Nijem’s nomination for head of the Information Telecommunication Union or ITU. He says:
After the first round of voting, the candidate from Mali received 53 votes, Germany 45; Brazil 29; Switzerland 14; and Tunisia 9. Nijem received 5 votes. She blamed the lack of support from Arab and Islamic countries for Arab candidates. 19 Arab countries were eligible to vote, and 38 other Islamic countries. So, the Arab candidates received 14 of the 19 Arab votes. There was more competition for the Islamic vote, as Mali is an Islamic state and a member of the Organization of Islamic Conferences. I wonder if anybody told our delegation this.
Yes I’m disappointed. Maybe we’ll have better luck next time!
by Natasha Tynes | Nov 6, 2006 | Jordan, my nation
Hamzeh has notified me that the charges against Abu Odeh have been dropped.
A military prosecutor has dismissed the case brought against a former cabinet minister who was charged with slandering Jordan’s King Abdullah II and harming national unity. The official Petra news agency reported on Sunday that Adnan Abu-Odeh "will not be tried and the case against him is considered closed," quoting an unnamed attorney general at the military state security court.
Source: [Ajlazeera.net]
Finally, some commonsense. The whole thing was just outrageous!
by Natasha Tynes | Nov 5, 2006 | Jordan, my nation
My musician sister, who recently
joined the
wonderful blogosphere, is highlighting a concert that will be held in memory
of the victims killed in the terrorist attacks that rocked Jordan on 9 November
2005. Performed by the Orchestra of the National Music Conservatory on November
10 and 11, the concert will feature Mozart’s Requiem. Part of the requiem will
also be also performed by a small group of Jordanian musicians on November 8 in the lobby of the Amman Hyatt, which was targeted
in the attacks.
Here is a quick bit of info on the Requiem as provided by the super-talented sis:
Anyone who watched the famous movie Amadeus will probably remember the
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last composition, the requiem, who wrote it in 1791
but never got the chance to finish it before his death, therefore; his friend
and pupil Franz Xaver Sussmayr completed his work.
The Requiem or Requiem Mass is a service of the Roman
Catholic Church. Its theme is a prayer for the salvation of the souls of the
departed, and it is used both at services immediately preceding a burial, and
on occasions of more general remembrance.
I wish I could be there to commemorate the memory of the innocents
who lost their lives on that dark November day. For more information, read Monty’s Melodies.
The husband needed new pants. He claimed that a number of his pants had shrunk due to my excessive drying methods. I did not argue. Instead, I accompanied him last weekend on a shopping spree to Filene’s Basement. After maybe an hour and a half, the husband managed to find himself some pants that suited him, so we made our way back home. 
