Talk about jordan, using Jordanian Creativity

Dear bloggers,

One of our Jordan Planet readers, a German lady studying here in Jordan for a while is making a research about Jordan and Jordanians, whose name is Anja, is asking for our help in her research that will result in a book about Jordan.

The book, just to give you a hint about it, will be presenting Jordan, Arabic culture and the Arabic alphabet. It will include 29 chapters (as much as Arabic letters), that are waiting to be filled with smart, interesting short texts.

Next are some topics Anja (Anja.Hendel@gmx.de) is still wanting to fill out in her book, if you like anything else please feel free to do so, just tell Anja if you are interested about your topic so that she makes sure not to have it twice, you can email her on Anja.Hendel@gmx.de. So for example you can write about a topic which is maybe not so prominent if you think on Jordan - no camel-desert-orientalist view, religious-fanatics fear etc. or in case you present them in a totally surprising context (for example a Bedouin with mobile and 4 wheel drive having a lots of money and traveling through Europe...).

Note that the deadline is July the 20th, pictures and photos are more than welcome, The text should conclude with a short info about the writer (first name, age, place of birth and stay nowadays, profession and picture of you, and maybe with some information connected with the text).

some topics which are still free:
(1) Arabic numbers- which have a special meaning/history (the early settlement of nabataens, some historical dates like to ottoman occupation, the raising of the Jordanian kingdom, the number 48 for Israel, using numbers in writing like "a7mad" , the population of Amman in 1920 and today)
I would call the headline Arabic numbers and we can mention that the numbers the West uses are Arabic, and that the Arabs invented the 0, which was the beginning of mathematics. And in the following we can just give short statistic numbers like the examples above to mention facts about Jordan and give information like in a lexical.
I think this is a smart way to give some information

(2) The King and his images spread all over Jordan and how it does or does not affect your life.

(3) Trashcats
About nowadays environmental problems, less water, trash, smog etc. (it should mention the way of getting water and cleaning it, about the the way trash goes, the cats which are sticking their heads inside) The topic is serious but i think you can write smart about it like also making fun that cats are even better than rats or mice. Maybe we can also tell that many people here lost their awareness for their body while eating fast food and not moving. Why they take so less care nowadays about such things? how they live, eat and their nature? Even the Quran says don't cut a tree? How it comes that people don't care?

(4) Bargain for something
The tradition for bargain, the traditional souks which still can be found in Damascus/Aleppo and some indication which still exist in Amman's Downtown and the Friday markets

(5) Sun and moon, Orient and Occident.
Tell something about the symbols and roles which sun and moon have in oriental and western societies. For example the calendar is based on moon in the Islamic timetable and the sun in western Christian thinking. About that you call your habibi -moon- and we call it -sun-. How it comes?? Is this related to the geographical environmental influence of sun and moon.
Westerns adore the sun cause they have less sun days, Arabs idolize the moon cause the nights were, for the Bedouin, the best time to move and spend time cause it was not as hot as in the daytime ... whatever comes into your mind.

(6) The Wadis and Jebels; how Jordan became its surface from a geographical point of view.

(7) Couples in Amman and their story, how they get to know each other, what are their future plans and dreams, which places they like to go in Amman (to have privacy) etc.

(8) The Mecca Mall and the many new fancy places which are part of Amman's
American and western living style in a Arabic surrounding/packaging(interesting photos from supermarket interior and products...) and how the people enjoy it but also keep their identity/ special habits ( for example you find a praying room
in the mecca mall etc.)

(9) Light and colors. The environment, the sky and the colors of the country are influencing the people. Can you make a color palette and tell what and where the typical colors of the country are?

(10) Driving in Amman, rules and creativity.

(11) Signage in Amman, the obvious signs on houses, the sometimes missing signs which are replaced by writings on the wall, the English-Arabic writings on them.

(12) The tradition of olive harvest and the olive tree as a part of Jordan's identity.

(13) Jordanian nationality, in the mix of people, finding a home here, is there a feeling for the nation??

Be Creative and subjective, be free to express yourself! Anja doesn't need reports you can read in book you find about Jordan in the book shop, but a 100% Jordanian creativity about Jordan.

Anja's email is, again : Anja.Hendel@gmx.de