We interviewed an Iraqi Refugee family in Hisban about 30 minutes outside of Amman. The family of 4 lives on 100 Dinars a month and spends 75 Dinars for the kids to go to school. 1 Dinar or JD is equivalent to $1.40 US which means they live on about $35 per month. Jordan will not allow refugee children to go to public schools, so the parents have to send their kids to a private one. Even though they had no money they wanted us to stay for dinner. Here is a picture of me and the family.
We also interviewed Ahamed Radey, the former President of the Iraqi Sports League who is stationed in Amman and travels frequently to Bagdad. He is very active in the Al-Maleky Government. His comments during the interview were more political then personal. Pictured is my Mid-East Correspondent Hashem wearing a suit.
Some additional cultural trivia:
When men in this part of the world greet each other and they are friends, it is the custom to give a kiss on each cheek and the more you know the person the more times and with intensity you kiss that person. I only had to do this once, so far anyway.
People here drive like maniacs and yet I have not seen an accident even though they occur. The rule of the road is: If I get there first---Move Out of my way.
You get a break from my entries for the next two nights because I am traveling to Aqba for a scuba diving excursion. I finally get a break from all this work.
Also next week pending final approval, I get to go to JIPTC: Jordan International Police Training Center to tape the training of Iraqi Police Cadets.
I will keep you posted.
Hashem, my Mid-East Correspondent and I continue to meet and interview Iraqi refugees. Today we met Talit Mahomed who was the Iraqi coach of the Olympic Ping Pong Team and had to flee Iraq two months ago for fear of his life. He left his wife and 3 small children behind because he could not afford to take them. We also met Naseir Kardauh who recently lost his brother in a bombing and had no family left in Iraq. These stories are compelling a we all get emotional hearing about them. Everyone we have interviewed is grateful for the opportunity to talk to Americans. This leaves me with a tremendous responsibility to get the program air time. That is my task ahead.
Attached are a couple of pictures of Hashem interviewing Talit and me with Talit and Naseir.
After the interviews, we needed a change of pace. We had been working too hard without any relaxation. Hashem and I drove to Mt. Nebo which overlooks the Dead Sea and Israel. We saw one of the most breathtaking sunsets I have ever witnessed in my life. It is definitely where heaven and earth connect. Here I am in the hotest spot on earth feeling totally at peace. The attached pic from Mt Nebo does not do justice to what I was blessed to see. After it got dark, we saw the lights of Jerusalem, Jerico, Amman and a panaramic view of the Jordan Valley. It is a breathtaking view.
After Nebo we met up with my friend Tom and drove to Madaba, to experience the most unusal and some of the best chiken I have ever eaten. My hand is still orange from it.
For those of you wondering about JIPTC, I got word yesterday that I was a "reporter in good standing" and allowed to film the Cadets. I am waiting for them to tell me what days I am allowed on base. I'll keep you posted.
Tomorrow, we are scheduled to meet the Iraqi Coach of the Countries Soccer Team.
Stay tuned.....
Had an incredible day. Hashem Mashala, whom I met the first night I arrived has assumed the role of my Middle East Correspondent and is helping me create a segment for my documentary interviewing Iraqi refugees who are surviving in Amman. He first took me to a very tough neighborhood in the Old City of Amman and we walked into a coffee shop to recruit them. We first met an older gentleman dressed in a suit, who formally was a Bank Manager under the Saddam Regine and now survives doing magic tricks at birthday parties. He demonstrated it for my camera in the coffee shop and is quite good at it.
We also interviewed a formal Officer in Saddam's army who feared for his life and left his family and young children in Bagdad. He told us he lives in hell and worries every second about his wife and children.
We talked to a women who was formally a Chemical Engineer and now takes care of her children while her husband who is also an engineer works in another country. They have only seen him for 10 days in the past two years. The attached picture is with Om ahmad and her boys. I became quite fond of them and told them they would be included in this entry.
The focus of the interview was to get to know Iraqi's personally. We avoided any talk of politics. It is apparent that we share the same hopes and dreams.
The refugees cannot get work permits and many have no money. They survive from one day to the next. They are very proud and dignified. Despite fearing for their life they wanted to talk to me and they had powerful messages to tell American people. Even though I offered to pay them for the interview they would not take the money and they insisted on buying me tea and coffee.
My heart goes out to them and I am humbled and honored to document and share their stories.
The Jordan International Police Training Center JIPTC, is a very unique place. It is run by several countries including America and Jordan for the purpose of training the Iraqi Police for their National Security. I got the grand tour, starting with the Dining Hall which was serving lunch to 4,500 cadets and 500 International Officers and staff. Its interesting to note that the officers and staff dine separately from the cadets. And the cadets eat different food and sit on benches. And boy do they eat, they come back for seconds, thirds, forths.
On the way home from our first day at the base (Dec 9), we stopped off in a Bedouin camp that raises camels. I have attached a shot of me getting familiar with one of the camels that came to greet us.
Today (Dec 10) I went back to the base with Tom Barclay and we continued our tour by looking at the evolutions they do with armaments, search and seizure and their pistol shooting at the gun range. After the tour, I went to meet my liason Iver Peterson who is the Public Relations Officer to ask when I can start shooting video. All hell broke loose including confusion, miscommunication and rumors. Tom and I were asked to leave and escorted off the base. I am not sure of all the problems but it had to do with wrong information submitted to security. We are in the process of working through the mess and my hope is that I will be allowed back on the base by Tuesday.
In-the-mean-time, I went into Amman and videotaped beauty shots of the old part of the city at the Roman Citadel which sits on a mountain in the middle of the city so you get an awesome panaramic view. I also shot the sun going down, which incidently occurs at 4:15PM Jordan time. The sundowns here are majestic and beautiful.
For a bit of triva, I am living 7 hours ahead of all of you on the east coast. It is now 10:00PM which is 3:00PM EST.
That's all for now....
After a 8 hour flight to Paris, a 4 hour delay due to bad weather and another 6 hour flight to Amman I arrived 24 hours after I started this journey.
I was greeted by my best friend Tom Barclay and his liason / con-man Hasheem who proceeded to take my bags and my passport and finagle our way through customs, flashing Tom's diplomatic badge along the way. With my new entourage I had no problem getting my cameras and gear through customs. And Hasheem boosted he did it in record time. The only problem was the wheels on my big bag had been broken off but fortunately no other damage occurred.
At high speed Tom drove me through the streets of Amman from the airport to his flat (apartment), bobbing and weaving through traffic like a local. I quickly noticed that everyone here smokes, and vowed not to re-start that bad habit while I'm here.
Tom lives at the top of a hill overlooking Amman next to a Mosque. As soon as we arrived he offered me a hot shower only to discover we had no water. Tom does have Cable TV so I do have a connection to the States while I am here.
This morning we got up at 7:00AM to take the hour long trip to JIPTC: Jordan International Training Center to watch the Graduation Ceremony of Class #34. We drove through several towns and I noticed trash everywhere. Some places worse then others. Tom pointed out all the landmarks as we drove past them including several Palestinan Camps and Gypsy Camps. I was armed with my small HV10 HDV Camera and shot away through the car window as we drove past.
We proceeded onto the highway that takes you into Iraq and noticed that we are 300km from the Iraqi boarder.
The enterance to JIPTC comes up very quickly off the highway and is heavily guarded. It took us 5 minutes to go through 5 check points and I presented my credentials to the guard to get into the facility.
We got arrived and observed the last part of the graduation ceremony. I noticed that the Cadets are old and young, many are peasants. Two American Generals were present at the Ceremony: Gen Hunsicker and Gen Hunt. The cadets were very emotional after the ceremony, crying and hugging as they were quickly marched into buses destined for the airport to take them back to Iraq.
More to come.......
Took a two day holiday with Tom to Aqaba where we went driving in the Red Sea. Aqaba is awesome, a valley surrounded by huge desert mountains converging with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Attached are a few of the 150 pictures we took during our dives. You will see a Lion Fish, a Puffer Fish, Moray Eels, and a Skate (like a manta Ray). 
The Journey in Jordan continues. Today our task was to document Iraqi Athletes and Coaches who fled to Jordan because of terrorist kidnapping and murder activities. Our first stop was the Jordian Newspaper: Al Dustor. We met with reporters who provided us with a list of coaches and athletes in the country and arranged for us to met Fadi Zureikat, the Director of the King Hussen Sports City. He works directly under Prince Ali Ben Al Hussen. He agreed to be interviewed as a Jordian Official and explain their role in helping Iraqi athletes and the refugees. 
