Amman

OK, I'm back in Amman, Jordan for the fourth time (which is not something I ever thought I'd find myself saying a few years ago). I arrived last night a little after midnight, but the evening quickly became a late one because my suitcase (much like Tom Bombadil from The Lord of the Rings) irresponsibily wandered off. That left me to fill out forms and hope against hope that it eventually shows up - not only because all my clothes are in it, but also the medicine I need for the upcoming Africa part of the trip. Groan. I just hope this isn't a repeat of the Morocco fiasco where my suitcase was gone for five days. So far giving major presentations in jeans hasn't caused any harm, but it's not something I enjoy doing. I think the professors here view me wearing jeans as a charming peculiarity of American professors, although I go way out of my way to explain what happened and apologize for being so informal. I'm in the middle of a number of meetings set up at the University of Jordan, which is across the street from where I'm staying. I've been showing up here at UJ year after year and I think I've just worn them down. The English department here are huge supporters of the Global Module approach and are thinking ways to expand it to other programs as well.