Adventures in Reporting in Amman

Okay. So. I was riding to Irbid with Mahamoud (one of my hosts) and his family yesterday when I got a call from the office. The night secretary at the Jordan Times said she needed me to cover an event today. She received a press release, but it didn't say what time the event started. She tried calling to find out, but it was 5 p.m. and people don't work past 2 during Ramadan. I would need to come in early and make some calls.

This morning I woke up early so that I could report on something, that was somewhere, at some time. This sums up my experience in Jordan thus far quite nicely, I think. I arrived at work at 9 a.m. and started my search for the time of this event. I should have been able to find out with one call, but nothing is that easy in Amman. So I looked for the organization's number on the website. Nothing. I asked a colleague, who said I should press 9 and ask the operator. Oh, you mean the operator who only speaks Arabic? I tried anyway and then handed the phone off to aforementioned colleague. He was able to get a number of the Ministry of Environment (one of the numbers I needed) for me, which I called and heard a recorded message. In Arabic. The ministry doesn't open until 10 a.m, colleague said. He then found the number of the original organization I was trying to call. I dialed. No answer.

At 10 a.m. I made my third call to the Swiss Embassy. Where, lo and behold!, a woman answered the phone, she spoke English and she knew what time the event started - at 10 a.m., of course. Already late, I went to the secretary (who was not yet in) to find out how to tell the taxi driver in Arabic that I wanted to go to the Ministry of Environment. Another office worker was there, and he made some calls and wrote me a little note to hand to the driver. I hate communicating with taxi drivers via notes written by others, people who are clearly smarter and more competent than I. Nevertheless, this is what I did, and I arrived at the event twenty minutes late. They seemed happy to have me there and said the coverage was important, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

The batteries on my camera died before I could take any photos, and the woman taking pictures for the organization said she would e-mail me some tomorrow. I explained that I needed them today if they were going to run in tomorrow's paper, and she said she would said them tomorrow. I explained again, and she promised to send them today. I expect them tomorrow.

Fingers crossed that I have all the information I need, because I think it will be next to impossible to get anyone on the phone for follow-up questions.