i just emerged from the family room of my house here after a major two hour event: the watching of the video of my host brother's engagement party. the party actually took place two fridays ago, and i unfortunately had to forgo it in favor of the only free weekend i had left to do my jerusalem trip. still a worthwhile trade-off, but BUMMER that i missed the shenanigans of the engagement. number one most important shenanigan: the attendance of prince hamzah. yep, that's right, the king's brother himself was at my brother's engagement party and i was not- opportunity to become the next queen noor= lost (haha, kidding, hamzah is already married). anyway, for the past four months whenever we discuss ala''s engagement, my host mom will be sure to tell me (in these exact words every single time): "ah, sure, family sousou like this (intertwines her fingers to demonstrate closeness) ma'a family melek abdullah". to decipher this sentence you need to know the following: a) my host mom continues, after four months of living here, after my continuing to speak to her in arabic, after discovering that i am indeed in the 5th level (of 6) arabic class here, and even in spite of the fact that my host brothers giggle at her every time she does it, to speak to me in english as much her vocabulary enables it, thus the arab-ingleezi mix; b) ah= yes; c) sousou is the name of my brother's fiancé; d) ma'a= with; e) melek abdullah= king abdullah of jordan. thus, i guess it should have been no surprise to me that prince hamzah attended the engagement party. okay, second highly entertaining party shenanigan: first ala' and then shortly after amr and hameed (my other brothers) being thrown headfirst into the pool. lucky for me the professional videographer hired for the event captured each of these precious moments, and i think it might even have been funnier to watch after the fact at how the way they each went in the water reflects their personalities. anyone could see from the start of the video that ala', the oldest and the engaged, was obviously going to get tossed in the pool at some point during the night- it's his engagement party, how could he not? next came hameed, my lanky goofball of a youngest brother- ala' pulls himself out of the pool, acting perfectly normal, then with one easy yank throws hameed into the water just for kicks. last came amr, the jolly middle brother, but not til five minutes or so had passed and he thought he was safe, dancing and chatting with sousou when he found himself being dragged towards the edge of the pool. despite his attempts to hang on to sousou as protection, he was overpowered and plunked head-first over the side. all three of them enjoyed the experience entirely though, and it was equally priceless to watch my host mom's reaction of trying to hide her amusement as she chided them for being soaked, while my host dad looked on thoroughly pleased with the situation. all in all the party looked like lots of fun (and lots of money), with lots of dancing, including its fair share of dabkeh of course.
but watching the video and laughing with/at my host brothers made me realize i'm going to miss the cacophonous mess that is my family here- as crazy as they often are, their quirks have become endearing and it will definitely be a big change to go back to the relative quiet of my own house. (...aside from soph-soph of course, haha)
domingo, 16 de mayo de 2010
sábado, 15 de mayo de 2010
jerusalem
my trip to jerusalem brought me face-to-face with a lot of questions: questions of faith, of diversity, of coexistence. it is truly a fascinating and unique city in the strength with which multiple religious traditions are coabiding and sharing reverence for the same land. within the walls of the old city especially, i could sit and watch for hours the intermix of orthodox jews in their traditional black hats, veiled muslim women, camera-wielding tourists, and all those in between. the old city on a map is divided into four "quarters": muslim, jewish, christian, and armenian, but this made me wonder how this plays out in practicality- how hard-drawn are the lines, do you only buy from or interact with people of your quarter/faith, are there lines at all or is it just neighbors among neighbors no matter which quarter your house is in or what sort of clothes you wear or what language you're speaking, is there resentment between certain groups of neighbors, is politics discussed or avoided, etc.? so many big questions, and only three days being there means they're all still unanswered haha. i wish i'd had the opportunity to talk with more people there, and i think that would make for a fascinating research project. what i saw in my brief stay was a middle ground: i certainly witnessed friendly conversations between jews and muslims, but more common were the conversations between those of the same faith, so it's hard to tell what the overall situation is. one thing is sure, it is easier to draw the quarter lines on paper than in reality- the old city generally looks the same no matter which quarter you're in, and it would be difficult to divide it- but that would be difficult in any city, it's not what they're made for. borders are just lines drawn in the sand, and they're arbitrary compared to the disproportionate amount of emphasis the international political system places on them.
one thing i loved about jerusalem was that multiple languages are always present. signs are in all three of hebrew, arabic, and english, and most residents speak at minimum two of these. also, i have realized at long last what my hours upon hours of arabic studying were for: a souq merchant immediately cut the quoted scarf price in half for me because i addressed him in arabic :) just kiddinggg (but it is a definite perk haha).
jerusalem is in fact a highly complicated tourist assignment on a weekend, since what with muslim friday, jewish shabbat, and christian sunday there is no such thing as standard operating hours/days. my first day i ventured out into the new city to mahane yehuda market, site of all things delicious (and also some not so delicious such as the full size shark for sale by one butcher shop, yikes). i snacked on lots of fresh fruit and some mini chocolate croissants that seemed to be the treat of choice to bring home for shabbat dinner since all the bakeries were rolling out HUGE trays of them.
on my way back towards the old city i took a stroll through mea she'arim, a very orthodox jewish neighborhood. it was like stepping into an old-world town: the whole community preserves traditional customs of dress and appearance. for men and boys this means black pants and jacket with white button-down shirt, a borsalino black hat, gartels (cloth prayer belts), and most with long beards and payot, which are the long curled sideburns. women and girls all had long hair simply tied back in a braid or ponytail, and wore long-sleeved dresses or skirts with tights. walking around here i heard a lot more of "shabbat shalom" than in the old city.
later that day i followed a massive group of tourists along the via dolorosa, which is the street route along which jesus carried his cross. i think i would have taken this way more seriously if i was christian, but even as it is it was interesting to see the significance the walk held for so many others, and to actually be on the sites of SO many biblical events. the walk ended at the church of the holy sepulchre, which is an immense, echoing, stone church that is majestic in an unassuming way, built on the location of golgotha or calvary, where many christians believe jesus was crucified/buried/resurrected.
later on i stumbled upon the simple but beautiful st. anne's church, known for its heavenly acoustics. the church is open to anyone or any group who feels so moved to sing songs of worship, and i sat a while listening to the voices echo off the church's crusader-era arches.
that night i watched the sunset from the roof of my hostel, and the great view made the slightly steep price per night more than worth it. the next morning i climbed the spiral stairs to the tower of the lutheran church and was treated to some more spectacular city views, this time in the morning sun.
i then headed off for a half-day visit to bethlehem (for more on the west bank see post below). modern day bethlehem is not the rural manger town that our christmas carols might lead you to believe- it's an everyday west bank village that happens to get a lot of tourists passing through. its main attraction is the church of the nativity, built over the site where jesus was born.
coming back into jerusalem i stopped for a lunch of fresh carrot juice and a falafel sandwich, two things that are cheap and ever-present in the middle east that i will definitely miss when i'm back home. my lunch was so delicious that i took a picture of it, not knowing that it would later be photographic evidence of the falafel that gave me the worst bout of food poisoning EVER :(
that afternoon i walked through kidron valley then up the mount of olives. the silvery sea green of the ancient olive trees made for some beautiful gardens, and small churches dotted the hillside as i took in the view of the old city across the valley. it was also interesting to see the separate but side-by-side cemeteries for christians, muslims, and jews, as well as mary's tomb at the base of the hill.
my planned adventures the next day had to be downsized due to my still feeling close to death from the falafel incident, but i was not leaving jerusalem without going to the temple mount even if it killed me. thus, avoiding the idea of food/breakfast, i packed and set off in the 90+ degree heat to visit the western/wailing wall, and then the temple mount with al-aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock. the sign below at the entrance to the western wall cracked me up- obviously it would be awkward if it violated shabbat for jews to go to the wall, so the rabbis declared that metal detectors were not in violation of shabbat :)
one thing i loved about jerusalem was that multiple languages are always present. signs are in all three of hebrew, arabic, and english, and most residents speak at minimum two of these. also, i have realized at long last what my hours upon hours of arabic studying were for: a souq merchant immediately cut the quoted scarf price in half for me because i addressed him in arabic :) just kiddinggg (but it is a definite perk haha).
jerusalem is in fact a highly complicated tourist assignment on a weekend, since what with muslim friday, jewish shabbat, and christian sunday there is no such thing as standard operating hours/days. my first day i ventured out into the new city to mahane yehuda market, site of all things delicious (and also some not so delicious such as the full size shark for sale by one butcher shop, yikes). i snacked on lots of fresh fruit and some mini chocolate croissants that seemed to be the treat of choice to bring home for shabbat dinner since all the bakeries were rolling out HUGE trays of them.
on my way back towards the old city i took a stroll through mea she'arim, a very orthodox jewish neighborhood. it was like stepping into an old-world town: the whole community preserves traditional customs of dress and appearance. for men and boys this means black pants and jacket with white button-down shirt, a borsalino black hat, gartels (cloth prayer belts), and most with long beards and payot, which are the long curled sideburns. women and girls all had long hair simply tied back in a braid or ponytail, and wore long-sleeved dresses or skirts with tights. walking around here i heard a lot more of "shabbat shalom" than in the old city.
later that day i followed a massive group of tourists along the via dolorosa, which is the street route along which jesus carried his cross. i think i would have taken this way more seriously if i was christian, but even as it is it was interesting to see the significance the walk held for so many others, and to actually be on the sites of SO many biblical events. the walk ended at the church of the holy sepulchre, which is an immense, echoing, stone church that is majestic in an unassuming way, built on the location of golgotha or calvary, where many christians believe jesus was crucified/buried/resurrected.
later on i stumbled upon the simple but beautiful st. anne's church, known for its heavenly acoustics. the church is open to anyone or any group who feels so moved to sing songs of worship, and i sat a while listening to the voices echo off the church's crusader-era arches.
that night i watched the sunset from the roof of my hostel, and the great view made the slightly steep price per night more than worth it. the next morning i climbed the spiral stairs to the tower of the lutheran church and was treated to some more spectacular city views, this time in the morning sun.
i then headed off for a half-day visit to bethlehem (for more on the west bank see post below). modern day bethlehem is not the rural manger town that our christmas carols might lead you to believe- it's an everyday west bank village that happens to get a lot of tourists passing through. its main attraction is the church of the nativity, built over the site where jesus was born.
coming back into jerusalem i stopped for a lunch of fresh carrot juice and a falafel sandwich, two things that are cheap and ever-present in the middle east that i will definitely miss when i'm back home. my lunch was so delicious that i took a picture of it, not knowing that it would later be photographic evidence of the falafel that gave me the worst bout of food poisoning EVER :(
that afternoon i walked through kidron valley then up the mount of olives. the silvery sea green of the ancient olive trees made for some beautiful gardens, and small churches dotted the hillside as i took in the view of the old city across the valley. it was also interesting to see the separate but side-by-side cemeteries for christians, muslims, and jews, as well as mary's tomb at the base of the hill.
my planned adventures the next day had to be downsized due to my still feeling close to death from the falafel incident, but i was not leaving jerusalem without going to the temple mount even if it killed me. thus, avoiding the idea of food/breakfast, i packed and set off in the 90+ degree heat to visit the western/wailing wall, and then the temple mount with al-aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock. the sign below at the entrance to the western wall cracked me up- obviously it would be awkward if it violated shabbat for jews to go to the wall, so the rabbis declared that metal detectors were not in violation of shabbat :)
lunes, 10 de mayo de 2010
fear builds walls
so, this weekend i went to jerusalem/palestine/israel/the west bank/whichever name you happen to feel is politically correct. this post will cover said political correctness/borders/walls/etc. type of issues, the next post will be on jerusalem itself. not that the two can really be separated, but in the interest of manageable blog posts i'm doing it anyways.
palestine/israel is a topic that i generally avoid discussing, partly because many people have strong views on it and i'm not one to invite a fight, partly because i don't have the academic background in studying the issue to feel comfortable in a serious debate about it, and partly because there is so much irrationality about the situation (and many people's views on it) that it just makes me so incredibly frustrated. no matter what your view is on the issue overall, the human rights violations that have occurred as a result of this conflict are a crime against all affected, and the responsibility lies not only with the perpetrators but with the UN and the world as a whole for failing to take action to remedy the situation- the aspect of all this that truly makes me sick to my stomach is the world's preoccupation with the politics of it rather than the human aspect.
i don't claim to be unbiased in my views; i don't think it's possible to hold an objective opinion- an opinion by definition is influenced by personal beliefs, background, and experience, so whether we're conscious of it or not all of our opinions stem from something- a bias does not necessarily imply something negative. mine in this case comes from a belief that human rights are of paramount importance, and that everyone no matter what faith, what ethnicity, what anything has an equal demand on these rights. i have always had generally the same opinion about the palestine/israel conflict that i have now, although this past semester has definitely caused me to contemplate it more fully and deepen my understanding.
i believe that neither side has an exclusive religious or moral claim on the land- over the course of history it was controlled and inhabited by both jews and arabs, and both judaism, islam, and also christianity have many of their holiest sites in the same territory, and even on the same exact spots. thus, it is no one group's land to exclusively claim. the argument used by some israel supporters that the concentrated jewish immigration to palestine and the 1948 war were just jewish reclamation of the land the arabs had previously conquered from them irks me to no end- if we were still in the 6th century B.C. (when arabs reconquered palestine) then invasion and conquering of foreign lands would be a perfectly acceptable and normal thing to do, but the 20th century context does not sanction such action. i believe jews and anyone else have every right to immigrate to and live in a land they consider holy, but i do not believe they have the right to establish an exclusive jewish national state on land that history has made belong to more than one group of people. britain should not have supported the zionist immigration push, the world should not have allowed it to occur, and there should never have been talk of a "two-state solution" or a "partition". with the dissolution of the ottoman empire after WWI, colonial control should not have been imposed on palestine but rather governing power should have been placed in the hands of a local coalition. jews that wanted to come to live in their holy land should have been welcomed to do so, but out of personal desire and at a natural pace rather than an influx at the urging of an extremist movement with political motives.
but, what happened happened, and we must now deal with present realities. i do not believe that any jewish inhabitants of israel should now be forced out, as this is just a re-perpetration of the crime committed against so many palestinians. revenge is not justice, and despite the moral wrong that was committed by israel as a collective, that does not mean it would be just to now force individuals and families to leave what may have been their home for 60 years. however, i do not recognize the right of israel to exist on solely its own terms- compromise must occur. palestinians must absolutely have the right of return in some form. by this i do not mean the right to evict jewish families from homes, but i do mean the right to build a new home next door to them and live together. although the two-state solution seems to be the world-favored option (maybe because it has become the most feasible in practical terms), i think in an ideal everyone-cooperate-and-live-in-peace world one multicultural state ("palesrael", as one graffiti i saw this weekend put it) would be best. but since this would require a cooperative government between two groups that currently refuse to even sit down at the same table together, i'm not holding my breath. but a two-state solution has its own practical problems, because no matter where you draw the borders someone's not going to be able to go home again, and each side will continue resenting the other for the land on the other side of the wall.
however, either two-state or one-state would be better than the current injustice. israel has no right to the current control it exercises over the palestinian territories (nor in my opinion does it have the right to fully control what are now considered as "israeli" lands, since those were taken by force and at the expense of countless palestinian people). the entire area should be under UN mandate until the two sides can come together to reach an agreement, because if palestine does not have the right to declare itself an independent state than neither does israel. with respect to israeli control of fully palestinian land, there is such a glaring conflict of interest in allowing those people and that land to be administered by israel that i cannot believe it has been allowed to continue. similarly israel absolutely does not have the right to build the "security wall" (=israeli euphemism, oft known in palestine as the "apartheid wall") dividing current israeli land from the west bank, and it shocks me that the world continues to sit by and allow this to happen even despite UN and international court of justice rulings that the wall is illegal. (side note- the us's blind support of israel is something that i cannot morally understand, although politically the reasons are easy enough to follow, but i hate to think that politics has obscured morality in our country). and even without the political violation the wall embodies (especially where it deviates from true population situations and encroaches on palestinian territory), it is a gross human rights violation in that it cuts off many palestinian people and towns from access to farmland, roads, economic infrastructure/markets, healthcare, and water. the water issue in palestine/israel is a whole other issue that could fill a whole blog post of its own, just google per capita water supply in palestinian territories vs. in israel and you will find an aspect of this whole situation that is even by itself a terrible human rights violation.
what motivated this whole post was my experience crossing the israeli borders this weekend. entering "israel" (really the west bank) from jordan, i was questioned to a degree not even close to what i've experienced at other borders. sure, as an american i had to wait at the syrian border for four hours to get my visa approved, but the syrians did not ask me my father's name, my grandfather's name, proof of my hotel reservation, when you plan to leave and proof of return ticket, where you're going in israel, whether you're going to the west bank, why are you going to bethlehem, do you know anyone in jerusalem, do you know anyone in the west bank, you're not going anywhere else in the west bank, etc. etc. all this made me so frustrated and i wanted to shout at the border guards what right to you have to try and keep me out of the west bank- it's not yours to control! then when i set off the next day from jerusalem to bethlehem (which is in the west bank), i came face to face with the 8-meter high "security wall" and the reality for the palestinians living on the other side of it. the israeli side of the wall is just big, serious, concrete, but the palestinian side is an explosion of color and emotion in the form of graffiti art on every available square. calls to peace, calls for intifada, calls for humanity- calls for everything but the presence of that wall were shouted all over the cement slabs, and i walked along it as far as i could to take it all in.
if this post makes it seem like i side with the palestinians more than the israelis, that is because right now it is the palestinians whose basic rights as human beings are suffering under israeli occupation. palestinians and israelis have equal rights to the land, but the current situation does not reflect this truth. i am on the side of equality of rights for both groups.
palestine/israel is a topic that i generally avoid discussing, partly because many people have strong views on it and i'm not one to invite a fight, partly because i don't have the academic background in studying the issue to feel comfortable in a serious debate about it, and partly because there is so much irrationality about the situation (and many people's views on it) that it just makes me so incredibly frustrated. no matter what your view is on the issue overall, the human rights violations that have occurred as a result of this conflict are a crime against all affected, and the responsibility lies not only with the perpetrators but with the UN and the world as a whole for failing to take action to remedy the situation- the aspect of all this that truly makes me sick to my stomach is the world's preoccupation with the politics of it rather than the human aspect.
i don't claim to be unbiased in my views; i don't think it's possible to hold an objective opinion- an opinion by definition is influenced by personal beliefs, background, and experience, so whether we're conscious of it or not all of our opinions stem from something- a bias does not necessarily imply something negative. mine in this case comes from a belief that human rights are of paramount importance, and that everyone no matter what faith, what ethnicity, what anything has an equal demand on these rights. i have always had generally the same opinion about the palestine/israel conflict that i have now, although this past semester has definitely caused me to contemplate it more fully and deepen my understanding.
i believe that neither side has an exclusive religious or moral claim on the land- over the course of history it was controlled and inhabited by both jews and arabs, and both judaism, islam, and also christianity have many of their holiest sites in the same territory, and even on the same exact spots. thus, it is no one group's land to exclusively claim. the argument used by some israel supporters that the concentrated jewish immigration to palestine and the 1948 war were just jewish reclamation of the land the arabs had previously conquered from them irks me to no end- if we were still in the 6th century B.C. (when arabs reconquered palestine) then invasion and conquering of foreign lands would be a perfectly acceptable and normal thing to do, but the 20th century context does not sanction such action. i believe jews and anyone else have every right to immigrate to and live in a land they consider holy, but i do not believe they have the right to establish an exclusive jewish national state on land that history has made belong to more than one group of people. britain should not have supported the zionist immigration push, the world should not have allowed it to occur, and there should never have been talk of a "two-state solution" or a "partition". with the dissolution of the ottoman empire after WWI, colonial control should not have been imposed on palestine but rather governing power should have been placed in the hands of a local coalition. jews that wanted to come to live in their holy land should have been welcomed to do so, but out of personal desire and at a natural pace rather than an influx at the urging of an extremist movement with political motives.
but, what happened happened, and we must now deal with present realities. i do not believe that any jewish inhabitants of israel should now be forced out, as this is just a re-perpetration of the crime committed against so many palestinians. revenge is not justice, and despite the moral wrong that was committed by israel as a collective, that does not mean it would be just to now force individuals and families to leave what may have been their home for 60 years. however, i do not recognize the right of israel to exist on solely its own terms- compromise must occur. palestinians must absolutely have the right of return in some form. by this i do not mean the right to evict jewish families from homes, but i do mean the right to build a new home next door to them and live together. although the two-state solution seems to be the world-favored option (maybe because it has become the most feasible in practical terms), i think in an ideal everyone-cooperate-and-live-in-peace world one multicultural state ("palesrael", as one graffiti i saw this weekend put it) would be best. but since this would require a cooperative government between two groups that currently refuse to even sit down at the same table together, i'm not holding my breath. but a two-state solution has its own practical problems, because no matter where you draw the borders someone's not going to be able to go home again, and each side will continue resenting the other for the land on the other side of the wall.
however, either two-state or one-state would be better than the current injustice. israel has no right to the current control it exercises over the palestinian territories (nor in my opinion does it have the right to fully control what are now considered as "israeli" lands, since those were taken by force and at the expense of countless palestinian people). the entire area should be under UN mandate until the two sides can come together to reach an agreement, because if palestine does not have the right to declare itself an independent state than neither does israel. with respect to israeli control of fully palestinian land, there is such a glaring conflict of interest in allowing those people and that land to be administered by israel that i cannot believe it has been allowed to continue. similarly israel absolutely does not have the right to build the "security wall" (=israeli euphemism, oft known in palestine as the "apartheid wall") dividing current israeli land from the west bank, and it shocks me that the world continues to sit by and allow this to happen even despite UN and international court of justice rulings that the wall is illegal. (side note- the us's blind support of israel is something that i cannot morally understand, although politically the reasons are easy enough to follow, but i hate to think that politics has obscured morality in our country). and even without the political violation the wall embodies (especially where it deviates from true population situations and encroaches on palestinian territory), it is a gross human rights violation in that it cuts off many palestinian people and towns from access to farmland, roads, economic infrastructure/markets, healthcare, and water. the water issue in palestine/israel is a whole other issue that could fill a whole blog post of its own, just google per capita water supply in palestinian territories vs. in israel and you will find an aspect of this whole situation that is even by itself a terrible human rights violation.
what motivated this whole post was my experience crossing the israeli borders this weekend. entering "israel" (really the west bank) from jordan, i was questioned to a degree not even close to what i've experienced at other borders. sure, as an american i had to wait at the syrian border for four hours to get my visa approved, but the syrians did not ask me my father's name, my grandfather's name, proof of my hotel reservation, when you plan to leave and proof of return ticket, where you're going in israel, whether you're going to the west bank, why are you going to bethlehem, do you know anyone in jerusalem, do you know anyone in the west bank, you're not going anywhere else in the west bank, etc. etc. all this made me so frustrated and i wanted to shout at the border guards what right to you have to try and keep me out of the west bank- it's not yours to control! then when i set off the next day from jerusalem to bethlehem (which is in the west bank), i came face to face with the 8-meter high "security wall" and the reality for the palestinians living on the other side of it. the israeli side of the wall is just big, serious, concrete, but the palestinian side is an explosion of color and emotion in the form of graffiti art on every available square. calls to peace, calls for intifada, calls for humanity- calls for everything but the presence of that wall were shouted all over the cement slabs, and i walked along it as far as i could to take it all in.
if this post makes it seem like i side with the palestinians more than the israelis, that is because right now it is the palestinians whose basic rights as human beings are suffering under israeli occupation. palestinians and israelis have equal rights to the land, but the current situation does not reflect this truth. i am on the side of equality of rights for both groups.
jueves, 6 de mayo de 2010
wadi hassa
oops, forgot to write this post til now :/
last saturday a group of ciee kids went on a "water hike" in wadi hassa (literally means valley Hassa). "water hike" is a term that should not be taken lightly: we were at least ankle-deep in stream water for 85% of the hike, and a good portion of the hike was in fact swimming rather than hiking. wadi hassa is one of jordan's random and hidden treasures- in the middle of the desert hills it is an oasis of pink-flowering bushes growing along the rushing stream that is the center of the valley. on the course of our five-ish hour hike downstream, we got to jump off cliffs into deep pools, slide down natural waterslides, and float along as the current carried us. we ended our hike at one of the valley's natural hot springs. the day was definitely one of my favorite adventures in jordan, but unfortunately no pictures exist because any camera brought along on the hike would've been fully submerged/soaked in water so photos were not an option.
last saturday a group of ciee kids went on a "water hike" in wadi hassa (literally means valley Hassa). "water hike" is a term that should not be taken lightly: we were at least ankle-deep in stream water for 85% of the hike, and a good portion of the hike was in fact swimming rather than hiking. wadi hassa is one of jordan's random and hidden treasures- in the middle of the desert hills it is an oasis of pink-flowering bushes growing along the rushing stream that is the center of the valley. on the course of our five-ish hour hike downstream, we got to jump off cliffs into deep pools, slide down natural waterslides, and float along as the current carried us. we ended our hike at one of the valley's natural hot springs. the day was definitely one of my favorite adventures in jordan, but unfortunately no pictures exist because any camera brought along on the hike would've been fully submerged/soaked in water so photos were not an option.
lunes, 26 de abril de 2010
wadi rum
this past weekend was ciee's trip to wadi rum, yet another of jordan's geographical treasures. wadi rum (which just translates to rum valley- and is actually pronounced room not rum haha) is an area of the southern desert famous for it's unique and majestic rock formations.
unfortunately, what with our group of 85 ciee kids it was not exactly a weekend of authentic local experiences but rather a trip of the overly touristic variety, but such is ciee. nonetheless i enjoyed the trip for what it was, and the scenery of wadi rum is amazing no matter how many people you travel with.
friday afternoon was spent careening through the wadi in open-backed pickup trucks, stopping to clamber up and down rocks and sand dunes along the way.
the unfortunate casualty of this adventure was my camera, which was of course in my pocket during a run-turned-tumble down a sand dune, and is consequently now refusing to function due to the sand KATIR that is stuck in all its crevices :( laaaaame, but i'm thinking that one of these days mumkin it is just going to decide to wake up insha'allah haha. but my broken camera provided lots of entertainment for several of our bedouin truck drivers, who used everything from tire air pumps to wires to try and fix it for me. the individual below successfully used his teeth to get the lens far enough out in order to take a picture of himself, but unfortunately that success did not last and i had to forbid the infliction of any further bite marks on my lens.
after watching the sunset we stayed the night in the tourist version of a bedouin camp, but with its campfire, tea, and desert stars i was a happy camper :)
the next morning a few friends and i got up at 5:30 to see the sunrise, which was a beautiful array of pinks-oranges-yellows as the light rose over the hills.
we then set off on a three-hour camel ride through the desert, which was extremely exciting as i had never ridden a camel before. camel riding is quite the challenge in terms of staying on the camel, especially when it chooses to run and when it is time to dismount as both of these involve a sort of jolting teeter-totter motion that is not for the faint of heart. we had lots of laughs during our camel caravan, however, camels/camel saddles are NOT comfortable, and after three hours i was more than ready to bid my four-legged friend goodbye.
unfortunately, what with our group of 85 ciee kids it was not exactly a weekend of authentic local experiences but rather a trip of the overly touristic variety, but such is ciee. nonetheless i enjoyed the trip for what it was, and the scenery of wadi rum is amazing no matter how many people you travel with.
friday afternoon was spent careening through the wadi in open-backed pickup trucks, stopping to clamber up and down rocks and sand dunes along the way.
the unfortunate casualty of this adventure was my camera, which was of course in my pocket during a run-turned-tumble down a sand dune, and is consequently now refusing to function due to the sand KATIR that is stuck in all its crevices :( laaaaame, but i'm thinking that one of these days mumkin it is just going to decide to wake up insha'allah haha. but my broken camera provided lots of entertainment for several of our bedouin truck drivers, who used everything from tire air pumps to wires to try and fix it for me. the individual below successfully used his teeth to get the lens far enough out in order to take a picture of himself, but unfortunately that success did not last and i had to forbid the infliction of any further bite marks on my lens.
after watching the sunset we stayed the night in the tourist version of a bedouin camp, but with its campfire, tea, and desert stars i was a happy camper :)
the next morning a few friends and i got up at 5:30 to see the sunrise, which was a beautiful array of pinks-oranges-yellows as the light rose over the hills.
we then set off on a three-hour camel ride through the desert, which was extremely exciting as i had never ridden a camel before. camel riding is quite the challenge in terms of staying on the camel, especially when it chooses to run and when it is time to dismount as both of these involve a sort of jolting teeter-totter motion that is not for the faint of heart. we had lots of laughs during our camel caravan, however, camels/camel saddles are NOT comfortable, and after three hours i was more than ready to bid my four-legged friend goodbye.
miércoles, 21 de abril de 2010
smurfs
today i learned a wonderful cultural quirk: jordanian university students commonly refer to freshman as smurfs (sanaafer in arabic). love it.
lunes, 19 de abril de 2010
noor
yesterday noor, my host family's filipino maid, asked me if the reason american people had blue and green eyes was because of the weather? and she was perfectly, innocently serious.
noor is 19 years old, and is the 7th of 10 children in a family from a rural province of the philippines. she came to jordan with one of her sisters, but that sister works in a city a couple hours away so she rarely sees her. noor came to jordan to work as a live-in maid on a two-year (now extended to three-year) contract to earn money to put one of her older sisters through college at home. in jordan today there is an increasingly common practice, supported by the embassies of the respective countries, of bringing domestic workers from the philippines and sri lanka to work as household maids for middle class and wealthy families here. although their wages are determined by legal minimums, the quality of life for these immigrant workers varies greatly from family to family and often does not meet standards that i would consider conducive to basic human dignity. living with a very wealthy family that has a maid is a challenge for me emotionally and morally, and unfortunately my only option is to accept the situation as is without comment or action. noor is hard at work every day cleaning, cooking, doing any/all household chores. she rarely gets to leave the house, and when she does it is mostly to accompany my host mom on errands. her room is a small one just off the kitchen that also serves as a partial laundry and storage room. her bed is a mattress on the floor. she speaks pretty good english, which she learned in school, and over the two years she's been here has learned all arabic necessary for her daily life (at home in the philippines she speaks tagalog). when she has free time noor likes to listen to the radio, read magazines from the house, and talk to her sister on the phone. noor is luckier than the other situations i've seen here in that her relationship with my host family is a positive one (or as positive as possible, considering). what i mean by this is that i can see that after two years they, especially my host mom, really love her and consider her as much a part of the family as their social divide permits them to. however, this does not stop any member of the family from telling her what to do. the thing i find really unbearable is when my (somewhat spoiled) host siblings will sit in the living room watching tv and instead of walking into the kitchen to get it themselves, will yell for noor at the top of their voice and instruct her to bring them a glass of water.
noor amazes me because despite the hardships and monotony of the life she is leading, she is one of the most truly sweet and kind-hearted people i have ever met. she has informed my parents via skype that i am her new sister, and no matter how much work she has done she is always smiling and offering to make me food. her name means 'light', and the radiance of her heart really does embody her name.
noor is 19 years old, and is the 7th of 10 children in a family from a rural province of the philippines. she came to jordan with one of her sisters, but that sister works in a city a couple hours away so she rarely sees her. noor came to jordan to work as a live-in maid on a two-year (now extended to three-year) contract to earn money to put one of her older sisters through college at home. in jordan today there is an increasingly common practice, supported by the embassies of the respective countries, of bringing domestic workers from the philippines and sri lanka to work as household maids for middle class and wealthy families here. although their wages are determined by legal minimums, the quality of life for these immigrant workers varies greatly from family to family and often does not meet standards that i would consider conducive to basic human dignity. living with a very wealthy family that has a maid is a challenge for me emotionally and morally, and unfortunately my only option is to accept the situation as is without comment or action. noor is hard at work every day cleaning, cooking, doing any/all household chores. she rarely gets to leave the house, and when she does it is mostly to accompany my host mom on errands. her room is a small one just off the kitchen that also serves as a partial laundry and storage room. her bed is a mattress on the floor. she speaks pretty good english, which she learned in school, and over the two years she's been here has learned all arabic necessary for her daily life (at home in the philippines she speaks tagalog). when she has free time noor likes to listen to the radio, read magazines from the house, and talk to her sister on the phone. noor is luckier than the other situations i've seen here in that her relationship with my host family is a positive one (or as positive as possible, considering). what i mean by this is that i can see that after two years they, especially my host mom, really love her and consider her as much a part of the family as their social divide permits them to. however, this does not stop any member of the family from telling her what to do. the thing i find really unbearable is when my (somewhat spoiled) host siblings will sit in the living room watching tv and instead of walking into the kitchen to get it themselves, will yell for noor at the top of their voice and instruct her to bring them a glass of water.
noor amazes me because despite the hardships and monotony of the life she is leading, she is one of the most truly sweet and kind-hearted people i have ever met. she has informed my parents via skype that i am her new sister, and no matter how much work she has done she is always smiling and offering to make me food. her name means 'light', and the radiance of her heart really does embody her name.
sábado, 17 de abril de 2010
la bandera
i keep forgetting what the different parts of jordan's flag represent, so i've decided to write it down.
red triangle: hashemite dynasty
white seven-pointed star: the first seven hadiths (sayings/actions of the prophet muhammad that are an important part of islamic scripture)
black stripe: abbasid caliphate
white stripe: fatimid caliphate
green stripe: ummayad caliphate
dana
i spent this past weekend with my friends mikki and matt hiking in dana nature reserve, a national ecological/biosphere reserve in the south of jordan.
dana was beautiful, a green oasis in an arid desert climate, with wildflowers of beautiful colors everywhere.
there were also an uncommonly large number of thorny/spiky plants, and i have numerous scratches to show for it.
dana village is a tiny collection of simple buildings overlooking the valley.
one of the most beautiful moments was hearing the sunset call to prayer echo off the valley walls with a background choir of birds chirping.
the other sound that made full use of dana's echoing space were the donkeys braying. now every american child knows that donkeys make the "hee-haw" sound, but have you ever actually heard a donkey bray? you would remember if you had; they are flippin LOUD. and it's funny because they're these cute and meek looking friendly creatures that generally just stand around contentedly, but when the emotion hits to make them bray they really let loose- even without the help of an echo their screeching/barking/uncomparable sound can be heard a long ways away, but it was almost comical to hear the peace of dana intermittently broken by some perturbed donkey.
the other interesting moment of this weekend was our hike to the spring. nabil, the owner of our hotel, had suggested we take the short twenty minute walk to a nearby spring, so we followed his advice. as we walked the surroundings got greener and greener so we knew we were heading the right way, and we passed irrigation channels with running water so we knew we were close. after a little while when we still hadn't found the spring, we backtracked, thinking we had missed a turn, and when we ran into a jordanian family picnicking, we asked if they knew where the spring was? "right there!" they replied, pointing to a small pool of inch-deep water that channeled a small stream of water from the mountainside into the irrigation channels.
we had been picturing a river, and mikki and i had even contemplated bringing our bathing suits, and what we found was just a small waterflow, but we realized that in a country where water is not easy to find, even a spring like this would be considered a big deal. definitely an amusing cultural moment though :)
dana was beautiful, a green oasis in an arid desert climate, with wildflowers of beautiful colors everywhere.
there were also an uncommonly large number of thorny/spiky plants, and i have numerous scratches to show for it.
dana village is a tiny collection of simple buildings overlooking the valley.
one of the most beautiful moments was hearing the sunset call to prayer echo off the valley walls with a background choir of birds chirping.
the other sound that made full use of dana's echoing space were the donkeys braying. now every american child knows that donkeys make the "hee-haw" sound, but have you ever actually heard a donkey bray? you would remember if you had; they are flippin LOUD. and it's funny because they're these cute and meek looking friendly creatures that generally just stand around contentedly, but when the emotion hits to make them bray they really let loose- even without the help of an echo their screeching/barking/uncomparable sound can be heard a long ways away, but it was almost comical to hear the peace of dana intermittently broken by some perturbed donkey.
the other interesting moment of this weekend was our hike to the spring. nabil, the owner of our hotel, had suggested we take the short twenty minute walk to a nearby spring, so we followed his advice. as we walked the surroundings got greener and greener so we knew we were heading the right way, and we passed irrigation channels with running water so we knew we were close. after a little while when we still hadn't found the spring, we backtracked, thinking we had missed a turn, and when we ran into a jordanian family picnicking, we asked if they knew where the spring was? "right there!" they replied, pointing to a small pool of inch-deep water that channeled a small stream of water from the mountainside into the irrigation channels.
we had been picturing a river, and mikki and i had even contemplated bringing our bathing suits, and what we found was just a small waterflow, but we realized that in a country where water is not easy to find, even a spring like this would be considered a big deal. definitely an amusing cultural moment though :)
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