Women...

I was very shocked today to see a female security guard checking bags at the entrance to the mall (I find it funny the level of caution rises when an Arab passes through as opposed to the Americans…). However, I’d say here is the main difference between Jordan and Israel – besides, of course, the number of Jews on hand and the fact Israel is considered first world – the women.
Obviously, this is a Muslim nation, so many women here are very conservative and are often treated as such. But the difference is still astounding. When I approached the female security officer today to have my bag checked, she sort of looked down and motioned for me to continue past her. She essentially told me to go to the male officer. It took me a few moments to figure out what was going on, but it wouldn’t have been appropriate for a female to check my bag.
Now, in Israel, if you’re not careful, the women will stick an Israeli Assault Rifle up your butt and smile as you wonder why a woman just stuck a rifle up your ass. At the airport once, I had a very stocky female customs agent question me about being a Jew (questions like, what are the words to the song you sang during your Bar Mitzvah; when I replied I didn’t have one, she wondered why I told her I was Jewish). This woman, albeit short, purposely had a uniform that was too small so the buttons strained to keep it on her body. She had this weird afro of a haircut and she badly needed braces which I took note of because she never stopped smiling. It was only after the intrusive interrogation that I realized if she had stopped smiling, she probably would have broken me in half, put a hard plastic shell over me and blown me up just to be safe.
When I’m not busy analyzing the differences of women between countries (one Jordanian Christian calls the fully-covered Muslim women “Ninja Ladies”), I am in fact trying to speak Arabic to people. However, there are clearly different groups of people when the issue of Arabic comes up. I have found I have far easier time communicating in Arabic with people who actually speak English. Before you laugh at the statement of the obvious, let me explain. I firmly believe now that, one, by breaking the ice, people are more receptive to the fact you want to practice Arabic, and two, people who can speak English know how we form our syllables and understand the problems we have in imitating foreign Arabic sounds not in the English language. This allows them to more easily figure out what exactly us English speakers are trying to say when using Arabic.
Other people have absolutely zero interest in letting me use Arabic, even when I demonstrate I actually can say a few things. They automatically assume I can’t speak Arabic and then no matter what comes out of my mouth, they refuse to try and understand me and go looking for an English speaker to help in communicating. And then some of these people still assume I can’t speak and then laugh hysterically when a word comes out of my mouth (although I don’t think it’s mockingly, but more like, “Why the hell would an infidel know words in the language of Muhammad?”).
I suppose I’m picking up a few new words here and there, but I also think another semester or two of intense studying in America would have been (and will prove to be) beneficial.
A couple more articles, this time with a bit of light on the horizon:
http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/07/07/syria_will_break_links_with_iran_if_us_steps_in_to_help/8591/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/world/middleeast/06iraq.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast&oref=slogin