A Little Further Up the Rift Valley....

Cairo, Egypt

After reviewing an essay assignment for which I assessed the effects of geography on Jordan's economy, my professor asked me why I thought there hadn't been widespread protests in Jordan. Naturally, I was all to happy to explicate. In fact, it's a question I've discussed before in the last month, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the matter.

I think it's obvious to most Jordanians, both in the cities and the villages, both the educated elite and the less educated middle and lower classes, that reform actually is happening in Jordan at a fairly rapid pace, and that the king is the primary impetus behind it. They may have their critiques about what the king pushes, how and why, but they can see positive change happening from year to year.

Since King Abdullah II came into power, there have been drastic ongoing improvements in education at all levels, with a focus on an IT economy, and Jordanian Internet entrepreneurs have been among the most successful in the Arab world. The national debt has decreased, the salaries of teachers have more than doubled in the last two years, tourism and medical tourism have steadily increased despite regional instability, and many other factors of economic health have shown obvious evidence of improvement. Freedom of expression continues to expand, and Jordanian bloggers are award-winning. There has also been significant development in infrastructure.

In addition, King Abdullah II has demonstrated repeatedly that he listens to the concerns of his people, and acts decisively to address those concerns whenever possible. I don't know anyone in Jordan who really believes that a significant segment of Jordanians have any intention of being rid of the king that has done so well by them.

I think it is also worth noting that in a kingdom with relatively low oppression, like Jordan and Morocco, it is neither a surprise nor an imposition when the son of that king is next in line to lead the country. The effect of Presidents Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt, Gaddhafi in Libya and Saleh in Yemen all conspiring to put their sons in the presidency after them should not be underestimated in determining the reasons for their respective ousters and attempted ousters.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....
When I arrived at St. Andrews to teach my Arabic class for Somali refugees, the education coordinator said to me, "So the Interior Ministry's burning down, is it?"
"What?" I asked. "That's two blocks from my apartment, and I've just come from there! How could I not have noticed?" If I'd known, I might not have left home for fear that my road would be blocked off when I came home.
So we turned to the local paper's Website and found this stunning image. Apparently Interior Ministry employees were also protesting downtown today, and I had no idea, holed up taking classes and doing homework in the AUC dorms in cozy Zamalek - an island in more ways than one!

Center for Arabic Study In Cairo (CASIC)

Cairo, Egypt

Today was our first day back to classes, in our new program: Center for Arabic Study In Cairo (CASIC). We're not back on the old Tahrir campus, as there are still demonstrations of varying sizes on Tahrir Square every day. Instead, we are having our classes in the AUC dorms in the ritzy, super-secure neighborhood of Zamalek.

Thanks To AUC...
Zeinab Taha is our hero! We thanked her often and effusively yesterday at our orientation, but I don't think we can thank her enough. When the University of Texas canceled CASA for the rest of the academic year, we felt stranded and abandoned, academically and financially. Thanks to the Zeinab, and AUC's new president and CASA alumna Lisa Anderson, we now have an academic home again, and much-needed financial support.

We're also very happy that our teachers will have the work that was promised to them. So are they, it seems, since several professors report having asked AUC to let them teach us without compensation during the revolution! With CASA canceled and all but 20 of AUC's 350 Arabic students having fled the country, if they didn't have CASIC, they'd have nothing!

We're Back To Business...
It was great to be in class again. I haven't forgotten quite as much Arabic as I thought I had over our 10 very long weeks of break. In fact, it's pretty amazing how much I've learned since June, and I'm excited to see how much I'll learn by the coming June!

It was also great to hear our professors talk a little about the revolution and their experience of it. We'd been asking ourselves all through the revolution if they were on Tahrir Square, and they certainly were.

Wael was out almost every day, playing bodyguard to his friend the Chief Supreme Court Justice, as one of the volunteers protecting the Egyptian Museum, and even being shot at by pro-Mubarak thugs. His friend the amazing interpreter was also there, leading the Muslim Brotherhood's defense of Tahrir Square from those pro-Mubarak thugs on horses and camels. And of course we saw his friend from the leadership of the Lawyers Syndicate on TV to announce that the lawyers were taking the side of the people against Mubarak.

Sayyed was also very excited about the revolution. For a decade, he explained, he's been arguing that the only way Egypt would change is from within the NDP. Some prominent party voice would have to publicly declare their disgust with the NDP and break away to form a new party. He'd never imagined that the people would effect change from beyond the party, and he's delighted to be wrong. I'm excited to take this class with him on Islamic political movements, especially in light of the current curiosity about the Muslim Brotherhood's next move here in Egypt.

But Not Quite As Usual!
Things are not yet back to normal in Cairo, whatever normal is going to be. There are still dozens of tanks blocking the streets around the Radio and TV Building, the heart and soul of the Egyptian propaganda machine. The only public transportation between my apartment in Tahrir and our classes in Zamalek should go down those streets. Consequently, there is no public transportation to class, and I refuse and can't afford to pay 30 pounds ($6) a day in taxi fare to get to class on my stipend. That's a whole week worth of koshary lunches!

This means that I practically ran to class this morning, for lack of public transportation, which took me an hour and left me with half a dozen blisters and all my clothes soaked in sweat. I don't mean to whine. I'm grateful that we have classes to go to! But I chose my apartment for its proximity to class and public transportation, and it's so frustrating to be stranded there now!

Boo CASA! Yay AUC!

Cairo, Egypt

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) has canceled their spring semester, despite the resumption of near-normality in the streets of Cairo. They are also withdrawing funding for our stipends.

However, we've just received confirmation from the Arabic Language Institute at American University in Cairo. They will be providing our spring semester anyway, hopefully beginning as soon as Monday the 28th. They will also be providing our stipends.

For background, after recommending to CASA students that they return to Cairo, the University of Texas canceled the remainder of the CASA program for this year, including the stipends on which we were expecting to live until summer. (One of us is supporting two households on her stipend, while most of the rest of us at the very least have no other source of income until September, having counted on this fellowship to last until 1 June.) It took the University of Texas and their woefully misinformed security "specialists" two weeks to make this decision, and we have had no further communication from them since that decision 10 days ago, despite repeated emails from CASA Fellows for more details of how various elements of the program will be resolved.

Academically, CASA is one of the best Arabic language programs in the world, and has been for 40 years. However, I will not be able to recommend it to colleagues in future without serious caveats. The actions of the University of Texas regarding the CASA program have been chaotic, unorganized, and unprofessional. Had CASA students been in any real danger - and fortunately there was only one life-threatening but safely resolved incident during the revolution - there is no indication that UT would have even known about it in time to do anything. Only now, when the danger is passed, are they concerned about the "liability" of our staying on in Cairo, when we've already signed paperwork absolving them of all liability.

Despite operating for 40 years in Cairo, it became clear in this crisis that no one in CASA knew who was authorized to make critical decisions about student safety, evacuation, financial concerns like the distribution of stipends to pay our rent and food, or about the continuation of the program itself. It took 18 days, until the day Mubarak stepped down and the revolution ended, for CASA and UT to make the decision to suspend the program. It took them a further 10 days to respond to a single emailed question from CASA Fellows. If we had questions, we were instructed to contact the program director via Skype (she was not responding to emails, either) and when contacted she could only say that she was not authorized to make any decisions or recommendations.

I have worked with Rotary Youth Exchange, studied abroad with Goucher College, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer. In all those circumstances, not only were lines of communication and responsibility made clear to program staff, but also to program participants. Emergency plans were in place, lines of communication established, and participants were trained to take advantage of them. Not so with CASA and the University of Texas. Though this crisis was unexpected at this time, it was not unimaginable that an increasingly impoverished, overpopulated country ruled by a brutal dictator might some day, quite suddenly, fall apart. We are only lucky that Egypt did not do so as spectacularly and tragically as Libya. CASA and UT's lack of preparedness is inexcusable.

On the other hand, I am happy to report that the Arabic Language Institute (ALI) at AUC, which hosts CASA in Cairo, has stepped in to fill the gap. They have arranged for our classes to resume, our stipends to be paid, our health insurance coverage to continue, and the CASA/Cairo office to reopen. While they may not have communicated with us as often as we might have wished, lines of communication were always open, and emails have always been responded to promptly and as completely as was possible under the circumstances.

Of course, this is a mutually beneficial arrangement for ALI. Most of their students have left Egypt for good, and most of their teachers were looking at having no jobs this semester. With all CASA students - without exception! - expressing a strong desire to complete our studies despite (or perhaps because of) uncertainty about Egypt's political future, it makes sense for ALI to provide our classes. And we are glad to give the work to the amazing teachers who have helped us understand Egypt's revolution on a deep level most foreigners in Egypt don't.