Busy bees

Tuesday + Wednesday, September 24th + 25th

7:30 am. Today is our day off. Hooray! Although "off" might not be the most fitting expression. Off from the program, so that we have time to write our reflections today. Until the end of our summer school (which is next Saturday) we have to write 2 reflection reports about our time here. One in relation to an assignment that we had to submit before the summer school, in which we are supposed to compare our theoretical elaboration with the current situation on site. And finally, a report about our personal development over the past three weeks and the insights we have gained. Before I start working, I jump into the hotel pool one more time, which is getting cooler in the mornings now. Then, a relaxed, long breakfast. Then let's get started.

Before I know it, it's already 6pm and I haven't made much progress with the reflections. My travel reports, which were still due for the past few days and which I also need as a basis for the reflection reports, had priority. I envy Jesús a little when he says "khalas" (Arabic for "finished") at 7pm and closes his laptop. But I know that I will manage to catch up in the next few days with a little concentration. Here on the 5th floor, on the outdoor terrace of the breakfast room, we have found a very nice place to work: a view of Madaba, afternoon sun on our faces and a pleasant summer breeze. I gladly put in a few extra hours here.

Not today, though: Noor has her birthday tomorrow and wants to celebrate a little with us. So Sophisa and I go to the city at 8am to buy a cake and a little something, and then we meet the others in the cute alternative bar where we had our Za'atari reflection with Hannah a week ago. We have just started playing some fun games with the owner of the bar when we are kicked out shortly after 10pm: closing time. So we move our party to our hotel room, which we turn into a dance floor, and at 12pm we serenade Noor with a beautiful table firework on the cake, which almost sets our hotel room on fire. Then it's off to bed. We have to get up early again tomorrow.

5:45 am. Rania and I are the only ones from the Summer School group from Hotel Mariam who get up so early today and leave Madaba for Irbid at 6:30 am without breakfast. We are visiting Yarmouk University there today, and Rania & I leave an hour earlier than the rest of the project group to watch a presentation on "Translation and Localisation of Social Work".

Yarmouk University is the second oldest university in Jordan and is attended by 38,000 students. All faculties are located here on campus, so the area is quite large. The building where the presentation is being held is the newest on this campus, as a professor from Yarmouk University tells us. The room we now enter looks more like a modern co-working space: black office chairs, colorful bean bags and colorful wall tattoos that are supposed to stimulate thinking. What I also notice: advertising banners from Zain, Jordan's largest mobile phone provider. I now realize that the entire room design is in line with Zain's design. Zain is involved in many social issues and projects, as explained to me by Mahmoud upon request. Nevertheless, I find it somewhat strange to see such a strong presence of the private sector in a university where independent knowledge should actually be generated. In general, many buildings on this campus were built with funds from Saudi Arabia, as Rania whispers to me. I'm not sure if I even want to understand all the connections and interdependencies here.

It turns out that I have already heard the lecture we are now listening to exactly two months ago at the conference in Würzburg, where the Yarmouk University speaker was also present. However, her lecture on the relevance of qualitative and appropriate translations in social work, especially in work with refugees, is so interesting that I'm happy to listen to it again. When the lecture ends, the rest of our summer school group joins us, and we take our little shuttle bus around the campus while Sanaa and Eman (the two Yarmouk students from our group) give us some information about the university and its faculties.

Finished with the university program for today: we continue with our mini-bus towards Irbid, the third largest city in northern Jordan, only 30 km from the Syrian border. The area around Irbid is surrounded by a beautiful, unusually green landscape for Jordan, and our first destination there is the Royal Academy for Nature Conservation. We now have a little tour there and learn that the academy building was completely sustainably built using stones and materials from the surrounding area. Inside, it smells fresh, like wood, herbs and fresh soap. Everything here seems very much in harmony with people and surroundings.

First, we enter a small biscuit factory where organic cookies are made from fresh ingredients. We are allowed to try the assortment and can't stop snacking: ginger cookies with and without filling, chocolate cookies, cookies with nuts and dried fruits, and salty cookies with Zatar and cheese. Each flavor is more delicious than the other. Chewing, we move to the next room: here, soap is made. It smells just like home when mom makes soap in the kitchen. Unlike mom's soap, however, this soap is produced with olive oil from the surroundings and refined with local herbs. We now take a look at the lovingly furnished souvenir shop and the restaurant with a fantastic outdoor area, where local dishes are served. Then we go a few meters away to a community garden. Here, over 50 Syrian and Jordanian women plant organic vegetables and herbs. Women empowerment. Marvelous.

Now, the highlight of the day: Sanaa, who comes from near Irbid, has invited us to her home. In a huge house, in the middle of the beautiful mountainous landscape, she welcomes us there with her husband, mother and other family members, serving us an incredible lunch. Among other things, Mansaf, which we already tried with Noor in Amman and which tastes incredibly delicious. After the meal, we are served fresh honey, sing Noor another birthday song with a fresh cake, and then the highlight of today: Sanaa's husband, who is a beekeeper, takes us to his bees. So now we all put on funny white astronaut suits and then watch in amazement as the buzzing bees dutifully fill their honeycombs.

We head back to the hotel, where I still want to take care of my reflection reports tonight. But when I go to bed at 1am, I still haven't finished. Good things take time...

In the last turbulent days, I completely forgot about my Arabic plans:

pflanzen- زرع

optimistisch- تفاؤليَ

Ich verspreche es dir- انا بوعدك

Ich weiß nicht, was wir machen- ما بعرف شو بنعمل

I am free- حرة انا