Day 1 June 9 part 1

Yesterday, Monday June 9, was the first full day of our CIEE seminar. Here I am standing on the terrace at Wild Jordan, a facility built with US aid money and which supports Jordanian natural conservation efforts. We had a lovely meal here, all organic and locally grown, in a beautiful setting overlooking the city. With us was the Public Affairs officer from the US Embassy, who was quite interesting and informative, as well as witty.

The day itself, however, began much earlier. After breakfast at the Bristol Hotel (a lovely place with great service), which features an array of pastries to make a French chef swoon, we headed to the Royal Council for Science and Technology (second photo). There, in an elegant meeting room with yet another spread of pastries and coffee, we heard from Dr. Mohammed Al-Momani, Director of the Regional Human Security Center, who discussed the general background of relations in the region. Dr. Momani is upbeat, charming, and persuasive, and very optimistic about possibilities for peace; he represents in some ways the newer generation in Jordan. The next speaker, Munther Haddadin, a former Minister of Water for the Jordanian government, and long-time expert on regional water issues, was a bit different. Erudite and dignified, Mr. Haddadin has been a negotiator at peace conferences with Israel and is somewhat older than Dr. Momani. His take was a bit more traditional, and somewhat more pessimistic, though he too saw room for hope. My favorite line from him was that in dealings concerning water, the "Israelis are tougher, but more generous, while the Syrians are sweeter, but stingy."

Continued....