The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

110 JUNE 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LOCAL LENS BY ALDA KAUFFELD n JORDAN Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be considered for Local Lens. Images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” x 10”, or 1 MB or larger) and must not be in print elsewhere. Please include a short description of the scene/event, as well as your name, brief biodata and the type of camera used, to locallens@afsa.org. A midst the multicolored rock of Jordan’s Petra, near the famed Treasury, a Bedouin man wearing a traditional coat starts the day with prayer. Daily devotions conducted at least five times a day are one of the central tenets of Islam, the faith of 97 percent of Jordan’s population. Petra, situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. This rock-cut capital city of the Nabateans became a major caravan center during Hellenistic and Roman times. The incense of Arabia, the silks of China and the spices of India all transited through this crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. Set in a dominating red sandstone landscape, it is one of the world’s richest and largest archaeological sites. n Alda Kauffeld is a Foreign Service spouse posted in Amman, Jordan. As an eligible family member, she works as residential security coordinator at the embassy. The Kauffeld family has served in Kenya, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Jordan. A professional photographer, Ms. Kauffeld was the winner of the National Photography Awards contest in 2009, and recipient of the “Best in Show” award for the 50th Art in Embassies “Through Their Eyes” worldwide Defense Department and State Department Photography Contest in 2012.