Steppin in High Cotton!

Ok so I won’t start this blog off with so much has happened since the last time I wrote although I have. I feel instead I will let you in on a little Jordanian culture. Some will say it is just Chad being a pessimist but really it is just Chad being a realist! Anyways as you know I have been around the world and then some giving me the blessing (ah hem) of enjoying the many varieties of cabs/cab drivers around the world and I am not leaving anyone out I’m talking from the luxury white gloves and top hat, to the Japan automatic door opening driver, to the typical increasingly dirty don’t open the door from the left side because I will curse at you because there is a possibility that the fast moving cars coming along side will take my door off and it will cost you 30JD caulause (we are finished) cab rides. With that said let me bring you to my day yesterday.

We pull up to the Central Bank of Jordan where we are greeted by an abnormal amount of machine guns (I mean two or three at the front of the hotel is like a welcome mat) but this was extensive. Anyhow the cab driver translated (and I am sure you can imagine how that went like trying to get a person from Arkansas and a Oxford grad to say hello) and was talking to people inside the gates. Keep in mind this is like 2pm and you thought your bank closed early. We are greeted by a guy who is very friendly and then we realize that there are like 10 people in a row that are lined up there to greet us. Not knowing who the Governor of the bank is or what is going on we are very friendly to everyone. Anywho we are taken to this very opulent office with wood and leather all over the place. (and as I have written before it is amazing the higher floor in a building you go the better the English gets, its sad but subconsciously you can tell how important the person you are talking to is how much do they sound like a brit?)

Anyways we were greeted by this man who came into the sitting area who we had no clue was, but eventually welcomed us into “his office” I think that this is a prime example like in waiting tables is the fact that you never know who you are dealing with until after the fact. Anyways it was interesting seeing the different security measures that were taken throughout the process including him holding a device in hand that would unlock the door to the office as well it had a microphone on the end for security to listen in to make sure everything was ok in the office. He was the former Ambassador to Belgium for Jordan among other things. And it was interesting to hear from him about many different topics during our hour and a half meeting (we were shocked at the length of our discussions with him in his office) including topics of: current initiatives of the central bank, roles of local vs. foreign banks in Jordan, the transition to the requirements of banks capital reserves of 70 million JD by 2007, anti terrorist funding, anti-money laundering, bank consolidation and reform among others. He is going to confirm with the King and the Finance Minister at a conference tomorrow to see which time slot they will take either the 60 or 90 seconds along with heading up the financial section of the program.

For those who have not heard I also meet with His Excellency Minister Nassar (the Minister of Tourism) I don’t mean to belittle him and if you want more info on this meeting do email me. But anyways what really does make me laugh is one simple thing and my friend was talking to me about this. I made pretty good grades well lets just say not A’s in my finance and accounting classes. And here I am meeting with the top person of a Central Bank of a nation who will be speaking with the Minister of Finance and his Highness the King about this the next day. Anyways it just proves that good grades are great, don’t get me wrong, but in some professions there are other things that “float the boat” and “make the ship sail”!

All for now I hope you are all doing well

Chad

PS - attached are the two photos with Dr. Umayya Toukan (the governor of the central bank) in his office.