jordan: the switzerland of the middle east

my term paper for my international marketing class this semester is a "nation branding audit" where we are asked to analyze a country's efforts to market itself to the rest of the world. as i am focusing my research on jordan, i spoke to a member of jordan's national tourism board today to get some thoughts on what jordan has done in the past to promote itself, and how the nation is tailoring its efforts amidst the arab spring, the perception that the middle east is violent, and the resulting decilne in visitors.

jordan has so much history, so many exciting things to see and to do, and so much culture to share. and the violence going on wall street today trumps any protesting going on in jordan. but once people get it in their heads that a place is unsafe, it's difficult for any marketing effort to change their perceptions. well, here are mine from my visit (the one where tim joined me!) in june 2010:

the souk in amman

amman skyline at dusk

the treasury at petra- so many versions of this picture, but still amazing.

snorkeling in the red sea, aqaba

sunset on the dead sea

swimmin' in october

school has been pretty busy this semester. the weekdays are long--and both tim and i are usually working from 8am to late in the evening. saturdays have been the only day in the week for no work at all. a few weekends ago, my parents came to town, and we did a long bike ride from ipswich to crane's beach--i found the route in a nationwide biking magazine, so figured it had to be good. the water was chilly-but the beach was empty, and it was fun to be laughed at by the other people there. we ended our day with a trip to the lobster pool in rockport!

have you ever seen a zhorse?

took some time off from course scheduling and being a research assistant to go for a bike ride in cambridge, ny this weekend--and stopped on the side of the road to say hello to a very unique animal--he even let us pet his nose! didn't find the owner of the farm to hear the story--but i can't even imagine the circumstances that would bring a zebra/horse mix all the way to cambridge.

amazing patterns--i've never gotten this close to a straight up zebra!

harpoon point-to-point

i've been road biking for 5 years at this point, but it's been a way to work out--not something i truly enjoyed. after participating in the annual harpoon brewery point-to-point ride in windsor, vt with my family, i understand why so many are obsessive with biking (a la skiing) these days! a great day, a wonderful (hilly & tiring ride) through vermont, a great cause, and some good beers to to top it all off at the end of the day. nothing i could possibly imagine to complain about! i will definitely be there next year--and might upgrade to a longer ride!

we spent a few hours the next day kayaking down a portion of the connecticut river, with an outfitter attached to the path of life sculpture garden (a very interesting establishment that would survive only in vermont).

hops at harpoon's windsor, vt brewery

http://www.harpoonpointtopoint.com/

what we need now

i never thought i'd read something like this in the harvard business review. i thought this article was pretty well put. it describes well the balancing the human "survival act," as it's called in the article, with our higher values.

"So how do we learn to rise to our best selves more often?
The first answer is to acknowledge how often we fall short of the ideals to which we aspire — and how much help we need in living them more fully. We need humility in place of hubris, and even a sense of shame, where it's warranted, as a spur to behave better."

philosophers would probably get into this being a very "human" conundrum...as most animals wouldn't have to debate about self-interest vs. generosity. but seems like something we all grapple with, all the time. brings to mind that e.b. white quote:

i arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. this makes it hard to plan the day.-e.b. white (we'll let it slide that he's a cornell grad.)

http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2011/08/what-we-need-now.html

focusing on what works--the outliers

we hear a lot about failed development projects, things that implementers can improve on, wasted development aid funds, development projects which do more harm than good...you get the picture. think bill easterly.

i listened to a talk from the positive deviance initiative (based at tufts university, although that's not why i'm writing about them) yesterday. the positive deviance method focuses on what is working, and allowing people to live better, right at this moment. instead of going into a community and telling people what will work, the method listens to members of the community and identifies the outliers. those who are succeeding against the odds. not the sick, but those who are thriving. and again, instead of telling the community what they need to do to improve their predicament, the method encourages the community to realize the solutions--and implement them.

yes it sound a little crunchy, and yes, it's probably really difficult to monitor and display concrete results (good or bad). but, it sounds like a good way to work in this field if you want to be an optimist.

http://www.positivedeviance.org/

weekend in denver

tim and i flew out to denver a few weeks ago to have a mini-reunion with my high school girlfriends- i hadn't been out since i cracked my leg a year and a half ago! i know colorado is beautiful year-round,  but i almost appreciated it more in the summertime. we packed in quite a bit in 3 days! these are shots from our "hike" in breckenridge.

columbine- the state flower! and i learned something today!

snow on breckenridge

weekend in the north country

we just returned from a tiring, but rejuvenating weekend in westport, ny. had the chance to catch up with many good friends, had some laughs, and attended an amazing chapel service on sunday morning. quite a long ride from boston--but certainly worthwhile.

lake champlain experienced record water levels this year --and landslides happened.
so,camp dudley is housing a few campers in yurts!

another incredible sunset at the schoolhouse

crowne point bride--almost completed!

the most powerful photo essay i've seen...

this photo essay, which a friend who is currently working in afghanistan posted, depicts the world's most dangerous countries for women. it is haunting. powerful. emotional. frightening. all of the above. what amazing women, and what incredible circumstances they must face on a daily basis. makes one think about how much we take for granted here, and how much there is to be done to make life better for women everywhere.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/07/worlds_most_dangerous_countrie.html

my new favorite restaurant

friends, i have something very important to report. i have a new favorite restaurant. the food at sushi thai garden (rod dee thai here in boston) is amazing. this is something that is simply not negotiable. but the lobster pool restaurant in rockport, ma is just incredible. great food, a casual atmosphere where you bus your own tables, BYOB, a guitar for guests to borrow and play, a sunset to be compared with the schoolhouse in westport, ny (note: to be compared with--not to beat!) and free seaside smores over a fire when the sun goes down.



so the lobster was tim's...but what could be better than this?



i just can't say enough. tim and i had a wonderful meal at the lobster pool a few weeks ago and i've been lazy to get a post up about it. some people may prefer upscale ambiance for a birthday dinner...for me, this was perfect. we spent less than $30 on our food, brought a great bottle of wine, weren't bugged by a waiter looking to flip our table, and stayed for hours.

can't wait to go back with family and friends in tow!

i've never seen anything like it- people actually picked it up!

http://www.lobsterpoolrestaurant.com/main/index.php