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Jordanian Blogosphere | Celebrating Petra The World Wonder

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Jordan, Arts & Culture, Economics & Business, Education, History, International Relations, Literature, Music, Politics

It's been an interesting few days on the Jordanian blogosphere. It seems nearly every blogger has been talking about Petra [1], the rose-red city that recently became one of the new Seven World Wonders. Most [2] seem [3] to be [4] celebrating [5] with a lot of poetic [6] and unbridled [7] enthusiasm [8] (even from afar [9]), but some are [10] wondering [11], some are lamenting [12] and some are thinking [13] of the alternatives [14]. Meanwhile, other bloggers are thinking ahead [15] of what the win will mean for Petra's economic future [16].


Petra Celebrations. Video Courtesy of Naseem Tarawnah

Elsewhere on the Jordanian blogosphere:

Rambling Hal [17] has a bone to pick with the archaic (and outlawed) tradition of shooting guns during traditions.

“Ok, so we're not a developed country. But you are KIDDING me if you think we can claim to be a developing country, and we're still allowing this retarded stupidity to run rampant,” says Hal.

On 7iber Dot Com [18], Jordan's online citizen journalism project, Pheras Hilal sits with artist Omar Bilbeisi to talk about Arabic Calligraphy [19]. Also on 7iber: be sure to check out Lina Ejeilat's review [20] of Algerian singer Souad Massi's concert in Jerash as well as Ramsey Tesdell's three [21]-part [22] series [23] on education in Jordan, entitled “Failing the Future”.

Souad Massi at Jerash. Photo Courtesy of Lina Ejeilat

Wael Attili [24]was surprised to discover that some Jordanian banks are now operating on a Friday (the weekend in Jordan), and snapped a few undercover pictures with his camera phone just to prove it! Meanwhile, Tambi thinks there's something fishy going on [25] with Jordanian web design companies.

After living in Jordan for only three years, Moey has found new-old ways to turn that infamous Jordanian frown upside down [26]. It seems Lina also has a long list of things worth doing in Amman this summer [27] (that are pretty good cheat notes).

Jasim takes a look at traditional marriages [28] and ponders their effectiveness, while Hala wonders if mixing work with hijab [29] is a recipe for failure. Ola thinks books may be expensive in Jordan, but everything is relative [30], as Z3tr feels Jordanians should volunteer [31] more in their communities.

The Arab Observer [32] wonders if the Amman Municipality's campaign on street beggars is a right one, while Roba, who never flew a kite in her life, decided to get on board with the popular Jordanian childhood pastime. Based on the photographic evidence, well, let's just say her attempt wasn't too successful [33]


Photo Courtesy of Roba Assi

In other news: Khalaf [34] has a few insights on the release of four Jordanian prisoners once held in Israeli prisoners, while Yugi looks [35] at how the news was reported by Israeli press. Meanwhile, Jordanian [36] bloggers [37] have a [38] lot to say [39] about [40] Dr. Mohammed Asha [41], the alleged “terrorist” involved in attempted bombings in the UK a few weeks back.

While Naseem wonders if Jordanian democracy is all but dead [42] on the Internet, Ahmad Humeid [43] and Batir Wardam [44] have a few reflections on an event hosted by the German embassy on Youth and New Media, with the question of whether bloggers are journalists at the heart of the debate.