Marty and Karen Feess Look Forward To Service with The Peace Corps In Jordan



“It’s a chance to serve. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Marty explained.

Marty and Karen Feess Look Forward To Service with The Peace Corps In Jordan

Feess Look Forward To Service
With The Peace Corps In Jordan

By Tammy Gray-Searles

“It’s probably the most modern place the Peace Corps could send you,” remarked Holbrook resident Marty Feess on his upcoming trip to Jordan.

Marty and his wife Karen will be spending two years in Jordan with the Peace Corps. Both are retired teachers. Marty is retired from the Joseph City School District, and Karen from the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind.

“It’s a chance to serve. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Marty explained.

The Feess chose the Peace Corps because they want to serve for an extended period of time. They also decided that they would go wherever the corps needed them.

Marty will teach English to fifth through 10th grade students in Jordan, while Karen will train English teachers.

“I’m a little apprehensive because of the language barrier,” Marty said. “We’re only just learning Arabic.”

The Feess will leave Holbrook in early July, spend three days in Washington, D.C., and then fly to Jordan. Once there, they will spend two months in training before they begin teaching English.

“There’s a big push to learn English in Jordan because it’s the language of business,” Marty explained. “There’s a lot of English learning going on all over the country.”

While in Jordan they will rent a small house or apartment from a local resident. Indoor plumbing and electricity are standard in the area they will be serving.

Karen explained that while the climate is similar to that in Northeastern Arizona, the culture is much more restrictive.

“We’ll both have to wear long sleeves, and I’ll have to wear skirts or slacks that cover my ankles. There are a lot of taboos,” she noted. “I’ll also have to wear a head covering, but I won’t have to cover my face.”

The Feess explained that the majority of the population of Jordan is made up of Palestinian refugees, who are friendly toward individual Americans, even though there is tension with the American government.

“It’s a safe country, even though there’s a lot of unrest around it,” Marty said.

Marty and Karen plan to do some traveling during their time in Jordan, and although they’re unsure where they’ll be able to go, they hope to visit Petra, an ancient city carved from sheer rock walls, and Aqaba, a resort city on the coast of the Red Sea.

“They discourage us from going to Israel,” Marty remarked. “We do plan on traveling, we just don’t know where.”

At the end of their two-year stay, the Feess say that they may request an extension since Marty plans to continue teaching and returning in September poses difficulty in finding a teaching position in the U.S.

They are also unsure if they will return to Holbrook or seek adventures elsewhere.

“We have no idea. We’re just playing it by ear,” Marty said.

When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



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American Taboo: A Peace Corps Tragedy Returned Volunteers met with author Philip Weiss in Baltimore on June 18 to discuss the murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner. Weiss was a member of a panel that included three psychiatrists and a criminal attorney. Meanwhile, the Seattle U.S. Attorney's office announced that Dennis Priven cannot be retried for the murder. "We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States." Read background on the case here.

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June 16, 2005: Special Events Philip Weiss, PCV murder writer, speaks in Baltimore June 18 "Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25 "Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30 NPCA to hold Virtual Leaders Forum on July 29 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 "Artists and Patrons in Traditional African Cultures" in NY thru Sept 30 RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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June 14: Peace Corps suspends Haiti program After Uzbekistan, the Peace Corps has announced the suspension of a second program this month - this time in Haiti. Background: The suspension comes after a US Embassy warning, a request from Tom Lantos' office, and the program suspension last year. For the record: PCOL supports Peace Corps' decision to suspend the two programs and commends the agency for the efficient way PCVs were evacuated safely. Our only concern now is with the placement of evacuated PCVs and the support they receive after interrupted service.

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June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

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June 6, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Kinky Friedman will "sign anything except bad legislation" 6 Jun Niels Marquardt Makes Chimpanzee Protection a Priority 6 Jun Laurence Leamer needs approval for "Today" appearance 6 Jun Desperate Housewives' Ricardo Chavira is son of RPCVs 6 Jun Anthony Sandberg runs Berkeley sailing school 5 Jun Amy Smith field-tests sugarcane charcoal 5 Jun Mary Johnson organizes workshop on genocide 3 Jun Jonathan Lash in 100 most Influential Business Leaders 3 Jun Hastert jump-starts Chris Shays' Campaign 3 Jun John Coyne says 41 RPCVs applied for scholarships 3 Jun James Rupert writes on bombing in Kandahar mosque 1 Jun John McCain says to expand opportunities for service 1 Jun Jay Rockefeller's relationships with Japanese go way back 1 Jun Anat Shenker met her husband during service in Honduras 31 May Ryan Clancy punished without hearing for visiting Iraq 30 May Melissa Mosvick remembered as a fallen American hero 29 May Kurt Carlson played basketball against Togo's national team 29 May Helen Thomas's favorite president remains JFK 24 May

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