Saturday, June 20, 2009

Washington D.C. ~ June 17-20, Pre-departure Orientation (PDO)



We are off to a fine start. The PDO, hosted at AMIDEAST, the program administrator, featured numerous speakers and a variety of presentations. Among these were Ambassador David L. Mack, Middle East Institute Scholar and former US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and Ibtesam al-Atiyat, Professor at the German Jordanian University. Mack addressed contemporary Middle East issues. Dr. al-Atiyat spoke on regional women’s issues. Her session generated considerable discussion which we plan to continue with her in Amman.

Of special note to world history students and teachers was a presentation of the recently launched web site, The Indian Ocean in World History, http://www.indianoceanhistory.org/
sponsored by The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center ( http://www.mei.edu/SQCC.aspx ) a program of the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.

I’ve also visited friends, seen some wonderful exhibits (including Maya Lin’s “Systematic Landscapes” at the Corcoran – lucky timing I heard her speak and slipped on “booties” to walk on one of the sculptural installations).


Tonight we leave for Muscat, Oman, via Zurich and Dubai arriving Sunday evening, 21 June. We are bracing for the heat – it is currently 104 (down from 130 earlier this week!).

4 comments:

  1. I know you will find Oman and Jordan so stimulating – but have you any idea why your visits take place in mid-summer ?

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  2. The forecast indicates you will have a respite from the 130 degree heat experienced last week. Monday will offer a high of 96, low of 84, 85% humidity with 6 knot west wind. Let us know your experiences on the flights. Your messages from Zurich have not arrived. Perhaps they were lost in cyberspace or did you run out of Euros? Ken

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  3. gonna need a pic of something outside with you near a land mark I can recognize... just to confirm you are in oman.

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