CONTRASTING ASSIGNMENTS

One unfortunate thing about the magazine business here in Jordan is that event photography is a part of any job. In the back of every magazine each month are several pages of local happenings. The most successful magazine, called Layalina, is made up entirely of event photography. These events are usually painful to attend and even more painful to photograph. But every once in a while an event is fun, like the opening of O Beach, an opulent pleasure den of recreation and booze located on the Dead Sea. The event, shown in the top photo, had open bars, live music, and tons of food. Only the elite of Jordan were invited to attend, and a couple of freeloading photographers. The next day I had to cover the Jordan Auto Show. It was held on the outskirts of town in a small field. About 30 people who thought they had nice cars showed them off for the hundred or so people in attendance. Walking around the event were a couple of people dressed in filthy Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse costumes. It was a light-brown trash affair. The irony is that Julie and I walked right in to O Beach, and it took the guys at the door of the auto show about twenty minutes of radio communication before they could confirm I was eligible for free entry.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN JORDAN

Easily the thing I miss most about the United States is Craigslist. It is simply a brilliant idea, and cultures and countries that haven't embraced it or something like it seem light years behind. A task that would take a few days back home using Craigslist, like finding a decent apartment, takes months without it. And where opportunity exists to exploit the lack of free online communities, some of the worst types lurk waiting to make a buck. Enter Jordanian real estate agents.

Almost all apartment rentals here are handled through real estate agents. Large apartment building in Jordan are not owned by one company, but rather each individual unit is purchased like a condo back in the States. Each building has a guard, almost always Egyptian, and these men are the key to the real estate agents system. As soon as word comes that a tenant is moving out, these guards call the real estate agent they have a relationship with. For this service they are usual given around $8.00 and a couple of packs of smokes. The real estate agent then calls the owner of said unit and says he has clients interested in renting the apartment, and for 5% of one years rent, he will bring them by. The agent also suggests to the apartment owner that they raise their asking price to cover this 5% fee. When this agreement is made the agent is allowed to put a sign out on the deck made to look like a "for rent by owner" sign. Next, the unsuspecting expat calls the number, and the agent meets them at the apartment. It takes a while to understand that these people are not the actual owners. Eventually you find an apartment you like, agree on the price, and find out that this agent, who has done you no service whatsoever, also takes 5% from you, for a total windfall of 10% of the yearly rent price.

The system sucks, and there are very few ways around it. Did I also mention that when you rent apartments here you pay one year in advance! We are still looking for a place, and both Julie and I are getting very jaded. We've come close twice where we agreed on a price and were ready to sign the paperwork. In the first instance the owner wanted us to pay his property tax, and in the second, the owner wanted an additional thousand dollars because after we made the deal someone else offered him more. Are you hearing me Craig Newmark!! Get your ass over here.

Update: One more apartment deal gone bad. After the wife who owns the apartment agreed on a price, the husband called us back hours later saying he didn't approve. Yella!!!

Final Update: Ended up renting a very nice apartment in a very nice section of town. Pictures to follow shortly.

SHE LOVES THE SUN

Julie always said that Portland weather depressed her. It is a rainy, dreary place. We have been together here in Amman about two weeks, and already the sun is working magic. It's funny though, because sun everyday bothers me. I'd be more partial to a mix. Anyway, we've been busy looking for apartments, a job for her, and a half decent used car. We did manage to find a very nice apartment with a pool and we'll soon be moving out of my college buddies house. Time to be a grown-up again.

DANA GUEST HOUSE

The Dana Biosphere Reserve sits 200 kilometers south of Amman and is the largest protected area in Jordan. It reminds me a lot of the Grand Canyon, probably because the park straddles a huge canyon. Sitting on the lip of that canyon is the Dana Guest House, a spectacular lodge with only 12 rooms, but with great minimalist design and private decks where you can sip wine and watch the sunset. The water and fruit in the photo was for display purposes only. You can't sit on a deck like this and drink water. The bottom photo is of the adjacent Dana village. It's been deserted, but thanks to US AID money, will soon get a face-lift. Do people back home know that we spend our tax money on stuff like this.

THE ABSURDITY OF WAR

Yesterday I shot a fancy new building for a company called the Shamara Holding Company. Under most circumstances this would not be a blog-worthy event, but then I found out what this company does: They are rebuilding the power plants in Iraq. The building I shot was opulent; leather couches and flat screen TVs in the lobby, color changing lights on the buildings exterior, and an entire top floor devoted to the CEO, with hand-carved wooden panels from floor to ceiling. Then I thought about who was paying for all this luxury: the American taxpayer. Then I thought about why we were paying for this: Because we blew up all of Iraq's power plants during the war. We spend billions of dollars to decimate a country, then spend billions of dollars rebuilding the country. The absurdity of war.

WATCH KING OF JORDAN

This is a portrait of the CEO of Time Center, Samir Kayali. Samir's father started a small jewerly shop in downtown Amman in 1952. That small shop has grown into the largest watch retailer in Jordan under the leadership of Samir. They now have 13 stores, and carry over 30 brands of watches, including Patek Phillippe, who make some of the most expensive watches on earth. They hold the record for creating the most expensive watch ever sold. It went for a mere $11,000,000!

DELTA: THE GREYHOUND OF THE SKIES

There are certain companies that have become intertwined with my life. Not Oscar Mayer or Colgate, but companies that have offered products or services that have helped define my identity. The three most immediate that come to mind are Apple Computers, Canon Cameras, and Delta Airlines. I've been using Apple's since I was a freshman in high school. Their advances in creative software on a user friendly platform helped me to evolve as a creative person. The big strike I have against them is their blatant program of planned obsolesce. I'm on my sixth computer, and have bought more software upgrades than I care to recall. Apple was actual sued by Great Britain over planned obsolesce when that country discovered that i-pods click wheels tended to fail shortly after their warranty period had expired.

Canon is a relatively new player in my life, but they are my life, or at least my livelihood. I bought my first Canon for Semster at Sea in 2006. Since then I've owned 7 Canon cameras, 7 Canon lenses, 4 Canon flashes, one Canon battery grip, and one Canon wireless transmitter; roughly an investment of $17,000.00. Canon probably makes the best cameras in the world, but they also have a heavy planned obsolesce agenda. Within one year Canon transitioned through three G series cameras: the G9, G10, and the G11, all replacements for their previous versions. Each camera had some small feature that made upgrading enticing. I owned the G9 and the G10. I drew the line with the G11 (I actually bought a Panasonic GF1 in protest). My first SLR camera was the Canon 40D, which was replaced within 6 months with the Canon 50D, which has now been replaced by the 7D. All of these cameras have special lenses you can buy for their crop-sensors, but those lenses won't work on the more expensive and professional full-frame sensors. If you ever decide to take your photography to the next level, your old lenses will be useless. As technology evolves and full-frame sensors get cheaper, I wouldn't be surprised to see all crop-sensor cameras and lenses go the way of the eight track.

And that brings me to Delta. I grew up in Atlanta, the hub of Delta. I had a dad that traveled for business and always flew Delta. All of our family vacations were flown on Delta. So it made sense that when I grew up I would become a Delta man, which I did. Delta has flown me all over the US and to Europe, Mexico, Thailand and Burma, Cambodia, Peru, and Jordan. I've accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles, and received several free tickets. There is only one problem: Delta sucks! When a mismanaged company becomes intertwined with your life, it's like an abusive spouse whom you have kids with; it becomes hard to pull away. You remember all the good times you had, like that surf and turf dinner in first class on the way to Hawaii when you were ten. You try to look past all the bad things, like trans-continental flights with no movies and no food, or having your award status revoked because you only flew 24,000 miles with the airline in a year, not 25,000. And finally, the biggest offense: the rudest most disgraceful customer service on the planet. I would rather go to the DMV or apply for food stamps than talk with Delta customer service. The final blow that will finally allow me to walk away from this unhealthy marriage came on a recent trip back to Amman from Portland. My girlfriend and I were told we couldn't board our flight unless we purchased over $5000 of return tickets from Amman. We were told by the Delta gate agent that his computer told him that Jordan was not a visa on arrival country, and that if we were denied a visa, we would have to show proof that we could leave. It did not matter to this man that I've lived in Amman for a year and knew this to be false. It did not matter to this man that I've flown into Amman twice before on Delta without a return ticket. So we bought the tickets, flew the Greyhound of the skies (my dad's phrase) and made it to Amman. We got our visas at the airport, never showed our return tickets, and I called Delta to get my tickets refunded. The man on the phone told me that my fully refundable tickets were not refundable because...wait for it...Delta needed to see proof that I was a US citizen before I could cancel my tickets back to the US. Three hours and two supervisors later I think I got my money back, but they have officially lost a loyal customer.