Today began on a slightly more relaxing tone. Instead of being herded onto the bus at 8 or 9am, we easily got on at around 11am. I think that was the first day that any of us got more than six hours of sleep! The one day that we were actually ahead of time and ready for the bus to show up, the bus showed up late.
We boarded the big green coach and were on our way to pick up our Jordanian buddies. We greeted each other with our bright and smiling faces and showed our excitement for the rest of the day with a lot of laughing and singing (this was the norm on the bus with a few dance parties here and there)! We were headed for a formal meeting with Dr. Sima, an influential female figure at the Jordanian Higher Media Council. She was a very knowledgeable and forward-thinking woman. She acknowledged the need for women to take a stronger role, not only in the media, but also in the rest of today’s economy. She talked about the negative effects of the media all over the globe. She recognized the modernization and improvement of the Jordanian media through the decades, as well as the long way it still has to go. It was very informative and really got through to all of us.
Following the Q&A session with Dr. Sima, we were treated to a wonderful lunch. It consisted of various bread delicacies (even mini pizza bites) and various delicious deserts and drinks. Our minds and tummies had been satisfied, but now it was time for our curiosity to be satisfied. We got an in-depth tour of the many media control rooms and even a real TV studio. After taking many candid shots and “group pictures”, we thanked everybody at the TV Media building who had arranged the fabulous lunch and tour for us and took the bus to the famous Cultural Center. We reached the Cultural Center at around 3pm. We were supposed to carry on a dialogue till 6pm. I was honestly dreading this, but it happened to be extremely fun, interactive, and informative. We did the Cube Activity which opened the floor to discussion varying from Gods, to holidays, to clothes, to coming of age customs. This small-group dialogue taught us so much about each others’ religions, values, and traditions. This was an especially memorable activity for me, being the only Hindu in the group. Most of the Jordanians had never even heard of Hinduism, so this dialogue gave me an opportunity to give them all a brief insight into my religion and many of the beliefs and core values linked to it. It made all of us (including the Jordanians) realize that though we were from different parts of the world, many of us shared similar if not the same traditions and values. This activity was going so well that it led off to discussions that were not scheduled, but nevertheless necessary (relationships, dating, etc…) to really form those bonds of best friends. The three-hour workshop that I had been dreading quickly turned into one that ended too soon.
The workshop ended successfully and we headed back to our hotel, Le Vendome. Many wanted to change and look nice for the awesome night that lay ahead of us at Father Nabil’s house. We finally arrived at the beautiful white-stoned home (the usual building material used to construct homes to reflect the most sunlight possible). Mrs. Haddad (Father Nabil’s wife) greeted me with the traditional Jordanian greeting, one kiss on the left and two kisses on the right cheek. They had catered a large of dinner consisting of a customary lamb dish called Mansaf with a vegetarian version for some of the vegetarians and vegans. It was delicious, especially when topped with cold yogurt. YUM! I learned that it was almost considered rude if you didn’t prepare Mansaf for your guests in Jordan: it would be considered impolite. Father Nabil’s backyard was gorgeous. It had a lush vegetable garden, and a very nice elevated stone porch with a swing. The wooden beams around the garden were encircled with vines with thick grape bunches dangling in the most tantalizing manner. The real fun started when Father Nabil rolled back those black sleeves of his, grabbed fistfuls of Mansaf, rolled them into perfect balls with his own hands, and personally chased down people to stuff their mouths with the huge balls of lamb and rice. It was a sight worth seeing! This really showed us who had the big mouths! The meal ended with a dessert called Knafe. While there were people sitting in groups quietly chitchatting, there was a whole mob that was viciously arm-wrestling in a secluded corner of the backyard. I am proud to announce that I won two out of three times   (with the cost of having a sore arm for the rest of the trip)! The fun quickly ended when we had to depart Father Nabil’s house and drop off the Jordanians at their stop.
After we returned to the hotel, we quickly debriefed our day and discussed tomorrow’s agenda. We changed into our pajamas and mingled and chilled in each others’ rooms. Today had been extremely fun. It began with an informative session at the Jordanian Higher Media Council, continued with fun dialogues between the Jordanians and Americans, and ended with an amazing meal at Father Nabil’s house. Today was Day 6 and tomorrow would be Day 7......... we had officially reached the midpoint of our trip.