Jordan Revisted, As Promised

It’s like a little Jordan sandwich! We introduced our Jordan trip, got sidetracked and filled the sandwich with other things, and now we are back to the Jordan trip. Bon appetite!

You can read the first part of our trip by following this link. After leaving Hassan’s shop (pictured), we headed for the Al-Pasha Turkish Hammam. The Hammam, as we soon learned, is pretty much a public bath where someone else baths you. You wear your swimming suit…but it’s a little weird all the same. The process is as follows:




1) You shower off your outside muck and then you sit in a ridiculously hot steam room for 15 minutes. I mean, deathly hot. They bring you a cold hibiscus drink half way through, but that didn’t help me much. When Max was finished (they separate the men from the women) he proudly told me that he outlasted two Arabs in the steam room. What a man I’ve got.

2) You take another shower and then sit in a Jacuzzi until a masseuse/scrubber is free.

3) A nice Iraqi man named Fadl/Morrocon woman whose name I can’t remember scoured and scrubbed and peeled away layers of both Max and my skin, respectively.

4) Then you get a massage, on a marble slab, followed by a douse of water over your head.

And that’s a Turkish bath. We felt like Romans of old. The pictures on the web are very ancient looking. We actually really enjoyed our afternoon, but it was still a little bit odd.

After the Hamman we went back to out Hostel that, if you recall, cost only $11 dollars per night. It made us sad. I mean we survived, but….well, click on this pic to see the look on Max’s face.

The next day we spent with Hassan and his family in their living room. I offered up my pitiable Arabic vocabulary, but Max carried on most of the conversation. A few of Hassan’s children speak some English and so we practiced counting to 10 a few times. We were, of course, fed a wonderful Jordanian dish of roasted chicken, rice with nuts and raisins, and Tabbouleh.  This is only part of Hassan's Family, he has 6 kids total. 

That evening we strolled around Downtown Amman looking at the King Abdullah (the first) Mosque. We weren’t allowed in at that time, but outside was pretty impressive.

The trek home was absolutely awful. We got to the Jordanian border ok, but the bus trip across the bridge and subsequent experience at the Israeli nearly put us over the edge. I think I’ll let old man Stoneman tell you about this in the next post though.

 Downtown Amman

King Abdullah Mosque

Hassan in his shop.  He showed us a piece he is submitting to Dubai for a conference in a few months.

Such Beautiful Things!

Penguin books has a new collection of classics covered in cloth with fabulous prints.  I'm speechless!

Oh yeah, I have a job

I have been working for an American NGO in the Middle East that teaches English to Arab speaking people.  It has been wonderful for me in so many ways.  My 6 week course is actually almost over and I'm quite sad about it.  But here is a bit from an email I sent to a friend telling her about it.

I am teaching an ESL class to 8 Palestinian Adults in East Jerusalem also. It has brought me more joy than I could have hoped for. I thought it would be more stressfull than it was rewarding or enjoyable for me, but I am finding it easier and easier the more I do it and I absolutely love my students. I have two High School boys that I want to kidnap and take home because they are so smiley and adorable. I also have one 40 something man and 5 middle aged women. Two of them wear the headscarf and the other three exhibit varying degrees of conservatism.  

I have made particular friends with 23 year old Ala’. She has been married for just over a year and has a little baby girl named Malek. She has actually started bringing me treats, which I have to figure out how to curtail without insulting her honor. I’ve decided to really try learning Arabic in earnest and after this class is over we are going to meet up once a week so she can help me with Arabic and I will help her with English. 

I feel like I’m actually doing something tangible to help the Palestinian people. Having a voice matters so greatly in this debate and the more people I can help express themselves to their leaders and the world in a language better accepted by the world, the more their voices will be heard.  Voices are ultimately the antidote to violence.  The “you love who you serve” bit couldn’t be more true. I am even getting paid, but when I ride out of Beit Hanina every Sunday and Wednesday I just want to wrap my arms around it and make the future’s of these people easier and more hopeful.

I also want to add a small note about the terrible tragedy at Fort Hood.  I have seen a disturbing development in the media as some try to make the connection between this troubled and deeply errant Muslim to the entire Islamic faith.  Some have suggested, with a wink and a nod, that Islam was the catalyst for this tragedy.  Violence of this nature is always senseless and to suggest that it represents a truth about the effects or intent of Islam is simply untrue.  People suffered greatly and their families will continue to suffer, but we would be wise to avoid making ill conceived assumptions about Muslims throughout the world.

We're Churchin' it Up

on the Barry Gibb talk show

Here are the details of our nerdulous date this weekend. Previously in the week I visited some sites with a friend and we learned that the St. James Cathedral in the Armenian Quarter was 1) very cool and 2) hardly ever open. They told us that it would be open the next day between 3:00-3:30, so I thought I’d bring Max…for a date.

We got to the church at about 3:10 and it’s a good thing because they closed the door not 5 minutes after we arrived. Actually, they told everyone that they had to leave the church and that it was closed, but I noticed a group of tourists huddled around a black robed priest in the corner. They didn’t appear to be going anywhere and with this priests blessing, so we sneaked over and tried to fade into the small group. I only got nervous once when I looked back an saw the giant wooden doors were closed shut behind us. Whether or not we had intended to, we had become committed to this group and this mini-tour. I scoured the group looking for a tour guide looking person who would certainly turn around when the priest was done and ask us for a lot of money. (He would be the one who looked sweaty and bored with the giant flag tucked into his backpack for tourists to see in the crowd.) Turns out there was no such order to the group, and after an almost whispered explanation of the church history we were let out of the medieval church into the sunny courtyard.

But the church! It was really something. Armenia was the first nation to officially accept Christianity and they did what every Christian group of old did, they went to Jerusalem and claimed them a holy spot. The church is said to reside on the tombs of both St. James the brother of Jesus and St. James the Apostle. Two James’ – what a coincidence! It existed in various states starting in the 5th century, but the current edifice dates to the 12th century with 18th century additions. It is a great cavernous, lamp lit cave of a church and quite stunning. There are, of course, several gaudy alters and golden décor covering most of them; but the floors are covered with blue and white tiles and simple rugs fill the nave instead of benches. The ceilings are draped with medieval oil lamps called “ganteghs”. Pictures aren’t allowed (nor is putting your hands in your pockets or crossing your legs – I was told to “sit properly” by a surly young priest) but I found a few on the internets.

After our short time in the St. James Cathedral we hurried through the quarter to the Church of St. Marks. I have mentioned this church before, but what I didn’t tell you (or Max for that matter) was that nice Justina told me that they hold services every Friday night at 5:00 in Aramaic, the language that Jesus most likely spoke in his daily life. I covered up my head and wore long sleeves at the behest of Justina who motioned to my bare arms below the elbow and told me to dress a little nicer next time.

Really, Yahoo Reviews Cathedrals Now?

Christmas Music Revisited

Things I still bought after my last post:
Bing Crosby/David Bowie: Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth

Barnaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan:  We Three Kings/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Josh Groban: Ave Maria & Oh Come all Ye Faithful with the MoTab (I succumbed!)

Neil Diamond: Oh Come, oh Come Emmanuel (What's Christmas without the Diamond?)

Barbra Streisand: Jingle Bells

The Holly and the Ivy: Ripon Cathedral Choir - Max asked me to find a version with "4 to 12 voices" and I did.  So picky that one.

Kings College Choir: A few gems on the recommendation of a good and musically savvy friend.

Riu Riu Chiu: When the King Singers sang it with the MoTab.  One of my favorites!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: Some of my favorites with Audra Mcdonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Renee Flemming

Warm December: Brushfire Holidays, Vol 1. - A collection of songs (new and old) by independent-type artists like Mason Jennings, Neil Halstead, Jack Johnson and Rogue Wave.  Really cool.  

Things I didn't buy because they were lame: 
Hall and Oats:  Oh Holy Night

Bob Dylan's Christmas Album:  It's a big commercial 'to heck with you' - it's Awful (capital A)

Things I'm Thrilled About:
Sting: If On a Winter's Night- it's a collection of Old English tunes.  So great.


Things I'm Disappointed In: 
 Prepare your gasps...James Taylor's Christmas Album was less than impressive to us.  His version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside' is Calypso madness  and creepy to boot.  Maybe it will grow on us, but it didn't feel fresh or hearken back to the classic Christmas tunes of our childhoods.  oh.

And I think I've prematurely spend my birthday money on Christmas music.  But what a way to spend it, right?

Things I Already Have that I'm Pumped About:
 Martin Sexton: Welcome to the Camp - a folky Christmas album with only a little bit of indulgence (Welcome to the Camp?  Come on)  One of my favorite Artists and one of my favorite seasons.