TeenAIDS - PeerCorps > AIDS Education and Prevention > Home ( DNN 3.1.0 )

Location: Blogs Dr. John's Personal Blog
Posted by: host	4/25/2006
Bunny Bullock and I landed last night and hit the road running (Bunny serves as Board Secretary for TeenAIDS).We were met at the airport by representatives of the Royal Protocol Office who whisked us through immigration without visas. Because we were invited by King Abdullah our trip has been organised from beginning to end. The King had attended the same secondary school as I had in the United States, Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. We have been assigned a wonderful driver by the name of Majid who is with us from early morning to late at night . His English is limited but he is full of enthusiasm. He is officially our driver , Guide , and bodyguard ( I find this funny because... Bunny Bullock and I landed last night and hit the road running (Bunny serves as Board Secretary for TeenAIDS).We were met at the airport by representatives of the Royal Protocol Office who whisked us through immigration without visas. Because we were invited by King Abdullah our trip has been organised from beginning to end. The King had attended the same secondary school as I had in the United States, Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. We have been assigned a wonderful driver by the name of Majid who is with us from early morning to late at night . His English is limited but he is full of enthusiasm. He is officially our driver , Guide , and bodyguard ( I find this funny because I have never needed a bodyguard in the past). The Jordanian people are incredibly friendly and very gracious .We went to an area with students restaurants near the university of Jordan after we had dropped our bags at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. We first met a young woman with the traditional Muslim veil who was a Masters student in psychology. She spoke very good English and said to me that she did not hear very much about AIDS but wanted to visit our Website. We then went into a busy restaurant, mostly sandwiches and soft drinks. We talked with about thirty students in an hour. I had a wonderful conversation with two young Engineering students, both 19 years old by the names of Ahmad and Fouad. Ahmad was buying food for take out and was very excited to talk about the issue of AIDS. He said that he did not have a girlfriend (not unusual for Muslim culture) but he felt that the information I was passing out was important to understand. Ahmad translated my talk into Arabic so that his best friend Fouad could understand. Ahmad also invited Bunny and I to his home to meet his family and to have a longer discussion. I think his food was getting cold. He called his mother and it was decided that we would go to his house tonight and he will invite 15 student friends to talk with me about my work. He said that it was important and that he was impressed that I was going around the world talking to young people as a volunteer. The restaurant owner was also impressed with the Arabic language card and he called his kitchen workers out to meet me. They were all from Egypt, mostly from Cairo and points on the Eastern border. It is very easy for immigrant youth to come into Jordan to work (They can make better money here that in Egypt) Bunny had a very long conversation with three women students; one was a graphic design student and her sister who was in Engineering. Their friend was studying Business about culture, university life, and their perception of the AIDS problem. They also said that they did not hear much about AIDS and thought that it wasn’t a big problem. It is now time for breakfast on Tuesday morning and we have a busy day planned. I am meeting with the Jordanian Minister of Health who is planning much of my itinerary. I am also having an interview with the Jordan Times. I also hope that the Royal Protocol office can help me arrange a visa to either the Sudan or Libya, both countries that do not easily welcome U.S. citizens. But I am hoping that I will have the opportunity to meet with youth in the region. I will write more later. This has been typed for me by Rasha a trainee in the Business Centre of the Hyatt.

Permalink \| Trackback