For a while now, I’ve been wanting to write something about the Jordan Times, specifically it’s reporting and even more specifically its editorials, which have increasingly started to read like press releases issued by the Ministry of Interior. They sound as Orwellian as it gets. But for some reason, that took a back seat when […]

This is just a quick note to readers of The Black Iris or anyone else who may stumble on this blog, to take some time (about 5 minutes) to give to Haiti if they haven’t done so already. If you’ve noticed, I’ve put up a link to the International Medical Corps, which is a great […]

Fellow Jordanian blogger, Ahmad Humeid is helping to kick start a spur-of-the-moment get together at the First Circle on New Years Eve. It’s going to be pretty interesting I think. It’s the anti-event that you won’t see being promoted in a newspaper or on the radio, but over the Internet and through word of mouth. […]

I thought this piece about Queen Rania to be fairly interesting for several reasons that I’d rather not share out loud for fear of “poisoning the well”, so to speak. I’d rather leave it up to the reader to watch it and express their own views on it, especially Jordanian views, which isn’t something we’ve […]

AP Photo - Jordanian children wait for their turn to have a ride on a wood traditional swing during the second day of Muslim’s Eid al-Adha, in Amman, Jordan, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009.
The thing about Eid is that it’s a time when people typically spend two full days visiting each other. In Amman, they go […]

I haven’t published a feel-good post in a while and it feels like it’s due. It’s been a hectic week, which I’m sure is true for at least 90% of those of you who are reading this. So that being said, here’s an end-of-the-week pick-me-upper. Or at least, my attempt at one.
Lately, I’ve been […]

6:25am. Amman. Sun up.

6:53am.

7:58am.

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Truly a spectacular city. Historical. Cultural. Alive and breathing.
Walking through La Rambla I thought to myself, here is a street that has defined this city. It’s filled with cafe seats, florists, artists, human statues and festive lights. But it’s just a street. Yet, it’s a street that helps drive the tourism wheels of the […]