I should have been studying for the bar exam. That's why I nervously hesitated when I got the email from the Director of Advance three weeks ago asking me to be part of Senator Obama's international advance team for his trip to the Middle East. But after logically considering each worst case scenario (that I fail the bar because I advanced Obama's trip to Amman, or that I fail the bar after passing up the opportunity to advance an international campaign trip to Jordan) the choice was clear. After all, the bar exam is twice a year, every year. The opportunity to advance Obama's trip to Jordan is once in a lifetime. So that's how last week I found myself covered in sunscreen, braving the scorching Middle Eastern sun in search of the perfect location for Sen. Obama's first press conference post-Iraq -- "Country Two" as it was referred to on all official schedules. To say it was an adventure is an understatement. Our tight-knit team scoured Amman looking at nearly 20 sites before settling on the Citadel, a historic marvel overlooking the entire city of Amman. We knew it wouldn't be easy. We would have to create shade for the press who would have to arrive several hours early for security sweeps. We would have to somehow bring enough cold, bottled water for nearly 200 people in the boiling sun. We would have to provide internet on a mountaintop and we would have to bring generators to power the mics, speakers and laptops for the traveling press. Our team was spectacular, despite severe gastrointestinal distress and heat exhaustion. Ferial and I were the team's adventurers, hunting for sites all over the city of Amman with a taxi driver who somehow managed to get us to each and every place we wanted to go without understanding a single word we said. When we jumped out of his cab in one of the most conservative (and, according to the US Embassy, dangerous) neighborhoods in Jordan, Hassan insistently pointed to himself and then to the ground. It took us a few minutes to realize he was telling us he wasn't going anywhere -- perhaps he realized what we didn't, that in short sleeves, make-up and with our noticeable tresses entirely exposed, we were seriously out of place in Al-Ashwefiyeh. From that point on, Hassan was our guide. Communicating almost entirely in hand signals, we managed to see the Roman Amphitheatre, Amman City Hall, the King Hussein Mosque, a Greek Orthodox Church and the Jordanian National Art Gallery. At each stop, we would hold up a number of fingers indicating to Hassan how long we would be inside. And each time, we returned to see Hassan leaning against his taxi, patiently waiting. And then the staff arrived. Flying in on the brand new campaign plane, also known as "O Force One", the staff landed in Amman one day prior to the Senator. I was on the tarmac when the plane landed, holding my breath with excitement at the brilliant sight of our logo and slogan crisply painted across the body of the aircraft. I continue to be impressed that our branding is so effective that our plane doesn't even need the Senator's name on it (with the exception of the website, at the bottom). As the traveling press arrived at their buses, they were thrilled to find cupcakes topped with Jordanian and American flags painted in icing, a result of the hard work of Sugar Daddy's bakery owned by my good friend Fadi Jaber. All it takes is a google search of "cupcakes for traveling press in amman" to see that it's the little things that matter.
Obama descend from one of four military Ospreys, carrying his body armor in one hand. And before I knew it we were off, racing back to the hotel by motorcade in bullet-proof Embassy vehicles. Security was extremely tight, but that didn't stop scores of Jordanian spectators from lining the streets to catch a glimpse of the motorcade as we passed. My role for the day was to staff the traveling press and answer as many of their incessant questions as I could, such as: What time will the Senator arrive? Where are we going next? How long until we arrive at the Palace/Citadel/Airport? What kind of cheese is this? Where did you get that Diet Coke? And to listen to their equally incessant complaints, such as: My internet isn't working! I'm hungry! I'm not eating this sandwich! This water isn't cold! The upside? I got to see it all. Racing from one event to the next in a motorcade escorted by the Royal Guard, I was at each event, seeing each moment of the trip unfold. I tasted the dust kicked up by the Osprey as they landed. I bruised my hip when I slammed against the door of the Embassy vehicle when we rounded a sharp corner during the motorcade movement to the Citadel. I felt the scorching heat on top of the Citadel during the Senator's press conference. I made eye contact with King Abdullah when he stepped out of his front door a few moments before the Senator arrived. And I stood underneath the campaign aircraft before it departed - and felt the runway shake as it lifted off, bound for Jerusalem. Of all of my extraordinary experiences on the campaign to date, my trip to Jordan ranks highest among them. I'm not a single-issue voter (as you probably already know) but if I was, my issue would be America's standing in the world. I tend to think America will be safer and more prosperous when the rest of the world sees us as a wise and thoughtful ally, rather than a hostile and irrational dictator. What I have seen in Jordan convinces me that Senator Obama is already inspiring the same hope and confidence abroad that he has inspired here at home. I have seen the faces of bakery workers light up with excitement at the mention of his name. I have watched members of the Jordanian Royal Guard respond with respect when I presented my Obama business card. I watched King Hussein of Jordan, one of America's most valuable allies, get in his own car to drive the Senator to the airport. While foreign opinions aren't always relevant to the selection of our President, at times like these we would be wise to consider carefully how people respond to our leadership. When our sitting President draws crowds of protesters each time he lands on foreign soil, it is a powerful statement indeed that Senator Obama drew a supportive crowd of 200,000 in Berlin this morning. To me, it suggests we ought to take the privilege of our citizenship more seriously than we have done in the past, and cast our votes with more than ourselves in mind. Against a backdrop of so much grandeur, I found myself feeling quite small, and loving every minute of it. My contribution on this trip wasn't the building of a spectacular site (that was Lavery), nor the installation of internet on a mountaintop (that was Sam). Nor did I orchestrate a masterful transportation scheme or arrange the overnight accommodations of the largest group of staff ever to travel with the Senator and the traveling press (that was, quite impressively, all Ivan). My contribution was the cupcakes, and something else of which I am quite proud. I helped my friend and colleague Ferial experience a world that was bigger than she previously knew. I helped her to understand why she (and I) feel more at home in Jordan than either of us does in Chicago. Together, Ferial and I saw Jordan in a way I never saw it during the six months I lived there. And whether I fail the bar or not, whether the campaign trip had been the success it was, or not, I can confidently say it was absolutely worth it.
And because I now need all the help I can get, wish me luck on the bar next week! Katrina
