Some Good News and Some Bad News

– The Weather
As of today, 3 April 2002, the rainfall in Jordan surpassed the average annual rainfall amount (100% is 8,368.3 million cubic meters over the country). In light of the facts and figures readers of The Jordan (Some)Times have seen before about the water poverty of Jordan, this is extremely good news. It has been raining camels and donkeys for several days, making it hard to distinguish between Jordan and the Oregon coast, except for the animals.

– Al-Wadeh, The Situation
This issue of The Jordan (Some)Times is extremely brief. It is difficult to concentrate on anything during these days of escalating violence across the river, let alone play with something humorous. The region has been plunged into a gaping chasm of despair for reasons that virtually all nations and populations of the entire world, including the United Nations, seem to understand - all, that is, except the US government.

While there have been demonstrations in Jordan (as well as in neighboring countries), the latest and largest a couple of days ago around the Parliament Building in the Shmaysani district of Amman and several at the University of Jordan just across the highway from ACOR, none of us senses any danger to ourselves or to Americans in general. We continue to travel freely by car, taxi and foot. That the governments of Israel and America are held to be one and the same in intent and destructive force is entirely clear here and not without significant justification (the "war on terror," however appropriate, is a window entirely too small through which to view the world). But foreigners continue to be treated with customary, genuine Arab hospitality and warmth.

The MPP-'Umayri excavations are still scheduled to continue. Of course, we maintain hopes that international voices of reason and compassion might prevail and bring things to some sort of resolution in the West Bank. It appears that we will have between 40 and 50 participants on the dig, mostly from the US, Canada and Europe. The southern hemisphere almost got represented, but the deadlines had passed for submission of Security Forms for the government of Jordan.

So, while it is difficult to sleep most nights over reflections on the huge, spiraling human tragedy unfolding (most of us think unnecessarily) across the river, we are of good courage and will keep doing what we do.

– Next issues
Because of a visit to Jordan and its environs by members of my family over the next couple of weeks, I am making no predictions about the date for release of the next issue of The Jordan (Some)Times. This is why we call it the (Some)Times.