Our planning for the upcoming meetings in Jordan is progressing, and it is now at the point where we can be quite specific about the details that you would all want to know!

First, to remind you, the conference officially opens with a reception and dinner on the King's Academy campus the evening of Tuesday, March 16. Our meeting sessions will mainly occur during the morning of the next three days, March 17-19. We will have various speakers address themselves to the general theme of the conference, "culture and history: understanding the Arab world." These meetings will include plenty of opportunity for discussion.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 17, we will visit Mt. Nebo (where Moses looked out on the Holy Land), the Dead Sea, and other nearby sites of interest. That evening we will dine in the historic town of Madaba (site of the 6th century mosaic, the oldest map of the Holy Land) at an old restaurant, Haret Jdoudna, known for the excellence of its traditional Jordanian cuisine.

Thursday's program will begin on the King's Academy campus. After lunch we will explore Amman's old quarters and shops, and dine at the Levant restaurant before returning to campus.

On the afternoon of Friday March 19, after the morning session at King's, we will go into the desert at Wadi Rum (where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed). After exploring the desert in jeeps we will have the business meeting, a traditional Bedouin dinner and entertainment, and then spend the night under the stars, in one- or two-person tents.

Early Saturday morning, March 20, we will go to Petra, see as much as we can possibly see, do some camel riding, and have lunch at Petra Basin restaurant inside the archeological park. Afterwards we will return to school and prepare for our final evening together. Departure will be on Sunday morning, March 21.

The on-the-ground costs of the conference are US$ 1600.

What have we forgotten? Please email Abeer Nammari about any details that occur to you, and please let her know if you do indeed plan to come to Global Connections. When we have heard from you and know what our numbers will be we will write again with a fuller conference schedule and other details.

Sincerely,
Eric Widmer, for the organizing committee -

Tessa Fairbairn
Dana Adwan
Ola Bseiso
Abeer Nammari