Article July 8, 2013 Issue

Fasting from hatred and separation

Sharon Carper

When my husband won a coveted Fulbright Scholarship as a visiting professor in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, I was excited about accompanying him and living in a modern Middle Eastern country that liked Americans. 

Our hopes and aspirations were dampened, however, when we learned we would not be posted in the thriving capital of Amman but in a northern town close to the Syrian border. In customs and practices it was more like being in the 14th century! Bedouins from the desert frequently brought their camels and sheep to town. We had to get purified water imported by truck even while living in university housing, and if I wore jeans on campus, my faculty husband was reprimanded.

It was going to be a long year, I thought!