Boat ride on the Gulf of Aqaba

We decided to take a little boat cruise on the Gulf of Aqaba.  We took a "cab" to a bigger boat that was two-storied, the lower deck was glass, so you could see the sea underneath and the top was open.  It was beautiful.  The weather was perfect, in my opinion, the sun shining, and we were out on the water, the colors of blue changing as you look out to the horizon. 

Leaving the hotel, on a water "taxi" to the boat

We passed several docks and kids playing in the water, they saw us pass by and jumped up and down waving and squealing at us.  I was so surprised to see the water speckled with light purple jelly fish!

purple jelly fish in the red sea

We sat on the top deck listening to music and chatting with the other passengers.  After some time, we were called down to the lower deck to see the coral reefs through the glass bottom of the boat. 

Captain of the boat plus the Jordanian flag

View of the coral reef from the glass bottom boat

Coral

There were tons of fish of many different colors, feeding off the coral.  It was beautiful! It was quite amazing how the schools of fish move together as if they're one big beast, something startles them and it appears as if the beast flinches! We saw a sunken ship, the coral was growing on the ship.  Really amazing how life can exist in even the most unexpected of environments. 

The boat was parked and we were told that if we wanted to swim, we could.  I love the water and couldn't wait to get in.  I stripped down to my bathing suit and got to the edge of the boat but freaked out.  There were jelly fish everywhere!  I went and asked one of the members of the crew if the jelly fish stung, can't they be poisonous? He reassured me that these jelly fish are perfectly safe to swim with and even touch.  Ok.  I dove in the water and it was refreshingly cool.  Salty.  I guess that was to be expected, it was a sea but I'm always surprised by salinity.  I was Dodging jelly fish, even though I had been told that they were benign, I couldn’t help but steer clear from these creatures.  I got out of the water and it stung.  There were 2 hoses with shower heads attached to them coming out the back of the boat. I rinsed off, hopped on deck to grab a snorkeling mask and got back in the water.  

There was a different type of jelly fish in the water! It was clear, oblong and had a some fluorescent color that appeared to move from around in a circular fashion, from cell to cell down in its center, like Christmas lights.  I wasn’t going to touch it either.  I swam out towards the coral reef, the water changed from warm to cool depending on the depth of the water underneath me, what a sensation! I spotted a huge school of  tiny fish, the group parted for me to swim through.  Zebra striped fish fed on the coral, orange and red fish, bright yellow fish and green fish.  I went back to the boat, I wanted dad to come snorkel, he’d never been.  He wasn’t too keen on the idea so I started to swim back out to the coral reef when I heard a big splash behind me, one of the crew members had put on a mask and flippers and had come out snorkeling.  He motioned for me to follow him, and showed me how to swim with my body as flat as possible so as to not rub up against the coral when the water covered the coral by just about a foot or so.  He showed me all sorts of cool fish and coral, then he did a flip in the water and dove down to the bottom of the sea, releasing all the air from his mask.  How cool!  When he came up for air, he explained how to do it, and we dove down to the bottom to look at the corals and baby eels that were sticking out of the sand.  I swallowed a bunch of sea water and swam to the surface.  I motioned to him that I wanted flippers, he went back to the boat and got me flippers, I put them on and was able to swim with more force.  There was an opening in the coral, all of a sudden the water got really deep and at the bottom of this gap was this yellow coral that resembled a rose.  It was beautiful, we dove down to check it out.  

Every once in a while I would hear small splashing sounds, I would look up and there would be small fish jumping out of the water, to avoid being eaten by a bigger fish.  At one point, we swam by a jelly fish and I squealed underwater.  He looked at me and grabbed the jelly fish with his hand, I quickly swam away shaking my head.  Eventually I got the courage to touch the little critter.  It felt slimy and stiff, like uncooked chicken breast.  I hope I didn’t hurt it by touching it.  He would cup it in the palm of his hand and push it around in the water.  Eventually it was time to go back, everybody else was done snorkeling and it was time to eat lunch.  The crew had prepared a lunch for us while we were out snorkeling and swimming.  They had made fish (hamour, also known as grouper) in curry sauce, meat kebobs, chicken kebobs, rice, a Greek salad, cole slaw, hummus and babba ghanoush (like hummus but made with roasted eggplant instead of garbanzo beans).  The food was delicious and tasted even better after a couple hours of swimming in the sea.  We sat on the deck, in the sun eating and chatting…life is great.

lunch

Dinner on the Red Sea

We walked from our hotel to a restaurant that was famed to have great, fresh fish, Fluka. 

On the way, we were stopped by a Bedouin young man with a camel on a rope.  I went to take a picture and he had the camel heel and kneel and told me to get on it for the picture.  Ok.  I went over and stepped on the rug of a saddle, flung my leg over his/her backside and sat on it.  Before my dad could even take the picture, the man had the camel stand up.  If you have not had the wonderful experience of riding a camel, I'm sorry.  First, the camel props him/herself up on it's hind knees, so you hold on tight to the reins and your upper body is flung forward, then up on his/her hind legs, a bit more of a fling forward and then up onto all fours, as the front legs come up, and your body flies back.  It's quite exhilarating.   

me on the camel :)

The man handed me the reins and started clicking with his mouth.  The camel started walking.   "Ok, thank you" I said.  I thought we were just taking a picture but it soon became evident that this was a business transaction for him.  I road the camel up and down the sidewalk, making small talk with the man.  "Ok," I said, "no no," he calmly replied "you will ride the camel back down the alley.  Looks like I didn't have a choice.  It's very peaceful, riding a camel.  Your lower body moves forward with the body of the camel and your upper body follows.  It's really amazing, when you watch the camel walk, it moves both right front and right hind leg forward, together and then left front and left hind leg next.  This is unlike a horse and not that it can really be compared, but also unlike a human, we walk with our right leg and left arm forward and then reverse, to balance.  They really are amazing creatures. 

Sally and the camel, ha ha

I finished my ride.  Now for the camel to sit down, front legs collapse to the ground and your upper body flies forward.  You feel as though you will fly right off, somersaulting off the camels head. Thankfully that did not happen.  Then the back legs plop down and your body gets flung back.  Really cool sensation.  My dad put his hand in his pocket to give the man some money.  The man asked for 10 Dinar, about $14.  My dad got angry.  He started yelling at the man, "she just wanted a picture, you took her for a ride, this is a rip off."  This happens a lot with tourists and camel owners.  My dad tried to give him 2 dinar, the man said it wouldn't do.  He insisted that it was fine and we didn't need to pay.  I felt bad, "How about 5?" "That won't work," the man responded, "khalas (enough) it's on us."  My dad was not pleased, "okay Sally, let's go," and he started to walk away.  My insides hurt.  I gave him the 5, thanked him a lot and went away.  My dad was mumbling how this wasn't the first time this happened and they always cheat you, etc. etc. 

We made our way to the restaurant we'd been directed to.

shrimps!

Thank you for sacrificing yourself fishy, for my gastronomic delight

We sat down at the restaurant and had fish, caught that day in Red Sea, along with wine and various breads and dips.  The fish was prepared "harra," which means hot/spicy, with red peppers, green peppers, cilantro, garlic, and whatnot (see image below).  We had white wine made in Jordan, which was quite delightful, from a vineyard call Zumot. This is what life is about.  Sharing a nice meal with people you love.  Sharing stories and experiences and just enjoying whatever life has to offer.  I wish that for you.  

Before

after

Road trip to Southern Jordan!

We are staying in Amman, the capital of Jordan, situated in the northwest of the country.  It is quite the bustling city, so crowded with people which always grabs my attention as I'm definitely not a city girl. 

We decided to drive down to Aqaba, a city in the south of Jordan on the coast of the Red Sea for a little 3 day holiday.  The Gulf of Aqaba borders Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  It is a vacation destination for many as the warm waters of the Red Sea are home to coral reefs and many beautiful fish, not to mention the luxury resorts scattered all along the beachfront.

Desert road trip!

We woke up at 5 in the morning, quickly packed our bags and headed south, down the Dead Sea Highway.  The weather was nice as the earth was still cool from the night.  I drove us out of the city, as soon as we got near the Resorts on the Dead Sea, we were stopped at a check point.  I slowed down, the guard saluted me through and I drove on.  I was tired from having gone out the night before and pulled over so Papa B could take over, I got in the back seat, made a den for myself out of sun hats and swim trunks, kicked off my sandals and fell asleep.  I woke up to the sound of people talking.  We were at another military check point, Papa B was talking to the guard this time.  I pretended to be asleep.  They asked to see our passports, he showed them Amo (paternal Uncle) George's and said "Do you need the girls? She's asleep." I sat up and told Dad the passports were in the trunk.  My dad said to the guard, "The passports are in the trunk, do you mind if we get them?" He nodded "yes." I got out, grabbed the passports, handed them to the guard and got back in the car.  He flipped through them, saying our names as he looked at each of us.  My dad started small talk with the guard, there were three other men sitting and laying on the floor to our right, 2 dressed in uniform and one in civilian garb.  They were drinking tea lazily and gazing out at us.  We finished our business with the guards and there was the typical "God willing you arrive safely," "Hopefully you enjoy your trip," "thank you for your hard work," etc. etc.  Papa B said "aren't you going to offer us something to drink?" The man said "of course of course, you're our guests, you're more than welcome, please, please, coffee? tea?" Dad laughed, looked at me and answered, "the girl likes tea," I smiled.  "Tfadallew, tfadallew." (Welcome). We parked the car, avoiding the spikes in the road and got out.  They ushered us into the office where a Hollywood film with Arabic subtitles was showing a 3/4 naked blonde girl handing guns to some hunk of a hero.  Seconds after we sat down, one of the guys brought a tray in with three small glass cups of tea.  We were each offered a glass, I picked mine up at the top, so as to not burn my fingers and took a sip..mmm..it was extremely sweet.  Black tea with fresh mint leaves and lots of sugar.  The guards asked where we were from and showed us their English-Arabic book so they can communicate with the tourists.  We finished our tea and got up to leave, "won't you join us from breakfast?" one of the guards asked,  "it will be here in thirty minutes."  "No, thank you" my dad responded.  "Just thirty minutes, we'll prepare for you a nice spread, it will be delivered shortly." "No, no, we should be on our way."  We thanked them, again and again as they walked us out to our car.

Dead Sea, that's SALT not foamy waves

We kept driving.  Not far after, we saw an SUV with a soldier sitting on top of it, his legs dangling in the sun roof, a machine gun on a tripod aimed out towards the road, my dad gave him a wave, he somberly waved back.  

We got to a rest stop, it was mid-morning and we were ready for a coffee or something.  This place was in the middle of nowhere, it served as a gas station, rest stop, cafe, restaurant, souvenir shop, convenient store, you name it. 

outside the rest stop - a palm tree - full of dates!

close up of the not-yet-ripe dates

We went in and sat down, the manager of the place was sitting reading the newspaper.  A waiter approached us and asked what we wanted.  My dad said he didn't know, and wanted to know what they had in terms of juice.  The manager had been listening to our conversation and said to the waiter, you go to the fridge, grab all the juices you have, put them on a tray and bring them for the man to choose.  I ordered a tea and Amo George ordered a coffee.  The waiter came back with a tray-full of juices...

My tea, Amo George's coffee and all the drinks for my dad to choose from :)

We sat for a bit, my cell phone was charging in the wall.  The manager made some small talk with us and gave us some tips for our holiday.  He offered us the sandwiches he was eating.  On our way out, voices were raised.  My dad got his wallet out and the manager insisted it was his treat. They went back and forth for a little bit, raising arms in the air, my dad laughing, etc.  "No, it can't be" my dad responded. "I swear to God." the manager said.  Once you swear to God, that's it, the person who swears to God has the final say, and if the "contender" goes against it, it's a huge insult.  "Well we thank you very much, and may you always have good health and happiness" my dad said to him.  Thanks and praise were repeated and we left. 

We made it to the hotel by 10:30 and spent the remainder of the day between the beach and the pool, only 30 meters or so from one another.  I would take a dip in the sea, rinse off and dive into the hotel pool, swimming over to the in-pool bar for a drink and some nuts, then out to read my book and have a sun bath, then repeat.  What a routine!  You must be careful though as the sand will burn your bare feet only to be cooled by the waters of the Red Sea.  It was perfect.  You've gotta go!

Red Sea meets desert mountains

view from hotel

Sunset from hotel

Wadi el Mujib

We had an adventure the other day. Pops and I rented a car.  My cousin called the car rental place for us and spoke to the salesman, turns out she works with his sister-in-law. We agreed on a time and car and he brought it to our house. We didn't pay or give credit card information, we just signed a contract and took the car for a week, or so. 

I wanted to go to the Dead Sea again and now that we had wheels, we could do whatever we wanted! I looked up on tripadvisor.com for "things to do" in the Dead Sea area.  The #1 hit was this Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve.  I read a bit about it, googled it, looked at pictures and was sold.   I showed dad some cool pictures and he was quickly convinced.  We packed up the car and were on our way. My aunt sent a Tupperware of cherries with us and some apricots, 2 very Mediterranean summer fruits.  They taste very different here. The ground is so fertile, it's no wonder the Levant region is referred to as the fertile crescent, it's seemingly desert but then the agriculture is magnificently prolific. I wish for you to taste apricots and cherries in a Mediterranean country on a hot summer day.
 
First we needed to fill up gas. Let me tell you a bit about driving in Jordan, forget everything you learned in driver's ed, except that a red light means stop,  green light means go and you stop at stop at stop signs, most of the time. Otherwise, it's a dog eat dog world, no signalling, no lanes, heavy horn usage, basically automotive chaos. My dad doesn't want to drive, which is funny because this is where he learned to drive but he finds it too hectic, so I'm the designated driver. We got to the gas station and I need to parallel park, on the left hand side.  I love parallel parking and my driving teacher, Mr. Ellisher, God rest his soul, taught me a great technique that is foolproof. I parked, perfectly, if I do say so myself and got some looks from the attendants (all male) I will speculate that the looks are a. because I'm a woman, b. because I'm driving and my dad's the passenger, unusual, and c. I parallel parked successfully. They filled up our gas, cleaned our windows, we paid for the gas and tipped for the window cleaning and left.  We found our way to the highway and headed down, down, down to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.

We got to a military check point, I slowed down, and stopped, the guard waved me through, I gave him a very serious wave and drove on.  You must remember, the Dead Sea is the Jordanian, Israeli border.

The drive was beautiful, red-brown marbled rocks, desert to the left and glistening water to the right with a backdrop of beige mountains, Israel.  Eventually we reached the reserve, we pulled in a gravel parking area, parked and went to check it out.  (Website)  We paid the entry free, were given safety precautions, instructions for walking through the gorge and life jackets.  We crossed a bridge leaving the Dead Sea behind us and entered a gorge in a beautiful canyon, there were birds flying all over.

near the end of the river, the start of our trek

Dad wading in the water

We had been told that we were going to be walking through the river for most of the time so we got in the water and began walking upstream.  The water felt really nice, cool in the hot desert sun.  After a while actually, when the sun was no longer directly above us, it was actually quite cool in shade of the canyon.  We walked for a while as the water slowly got deeper, over rocks and through gravel.  We walked and scaled big boulders, using ropes that were drilled into the top of the rock to help ourselves up.  It's amazing how forceful water is.  I mean if you lose your balance just slightly, the water will push you down and throw you into the water.  We walked and walked, through the water for over an hour, people stopping to help one another over rocks and down waterfalls.  Finally we made it to our destination, a 40m waterfall! It was beautiful! There was a little swimming hole and we threw off our life jackets and went to play under the waterfall.  Sorry, I don't have any photos of the waterfall because by that time I had put away the camera in several plastic bags and a waterproof backpack. 

While we were walking slowly back, we made friends with a guy from New York and a guy from Denmark.  They had been at a math conference in Israel and drove over to visit Jordan for a few days before heading home.  They got to talking to my dad about the fish.  Fish?  I said I didn't see any fish and the guy from New York said "they must be attracted to hair," apparently the fish were nibbling at the legs of the men! Bummer - I didn't get to experience that sensation...

Look at the color change in the rocks!

Bougainvillea above the Dead Sea

Rear view, heading back to Amman

  

Amman Citadel

It took quite some time to get out of the house.  My dad had misplaced his ID card and my uncle wanted to give us fruits, vegetables and bottles of water for our adventure.  My aunt was making coffee and offering us some, my other uncle was telling a story and wanted us to listen...


We finally made it out of the house.  Within seconds a taxi stopped for us, my aunt lives right off a pretty busy road, plus there are tons of taxis around.  The driver was a middle aged man, we spoke to him in Arabic but he could tell it wasn’t Jordanian Arabic.  He asked where we were from.  "Damascus, the great," my father replied.  I told him we wanted to go to Restaurant Hashem, downtown, he said ok and we were on our way.  Dad and I talked in the car, sometimes the taxi driver chimed in, we were talking about Arabic sayings and proverbs, my dad is full of them.  

As we got closer, the man began to tell us of well-known place that sells knafeh (an Arabic sweet that is ground or shredded wheat with cheese and lots of sugar syrup, flavored with orange blossom water), I smiled at Dad, "I’m getting hungry."   "Why did you start talking about knafeh" he said to the driver, with a laugh, "now she's hungry!"  Neither of us had eaten breakfast, just some tea or coffee.  I had done this on purpose because I had read about Hashem Restaurant, it’s your typical Levantine “breakfast joint” or breakfast street food, so to speak.  The cab driver dropped us off there, we paid him and crossed the street in the sweltering heat.  We sat down on plastic chairs at the restaurant which was half outdoor, the outside part covered by green corrugated plastic roofing.  A young waiter came to take our order, there was no menu because they only serve what they serve and you must know what they serve.  My dad looked at me, I said I wanted foul, my dad asked what else they had.  Fool (fava beans, slightly mashed with garlic, lemon, diced, fresh tomato, green onion and olive oil), fetteh (fried pita bread soaked in olive oil that has been treated with some chemical, excuse my being so vague but I do not recall how they treat the oil) msabaha (similar to hummus, ground chickpeas with tahini, which is sesame paste, garlic and lemon juice), falafel (fried “dumplings” of garbanzo bean and spices).  I gave our order, msabaha and fool. 

Falafel

My dad added that he wanted falafel, he looked at me, I said I didn’t want any, he said to bring just a half order.  We were offered tea and coffee, I had black tea, sweetened just perfectly (well probably too sweet but with that combination of foods and flavors, it is perfect).  They brought our food within 3 minutes, the falafel first.  The boy bringing them out just said, falafel, falafel and people would sort of raise their hand or finger or simply look at him to let him know that they had ordered falafel.  The falafel was served on a piece of paper, over a plate.  The paper is there to absorb the excess frying oil. Next came the msabaha and fool.  They were both served in red clay bowls, swimming in olive oil.  Oh they were beautiful.  My grandmother used to say, the eye eats.  Which means, presentation is very important in food, if something is served well and looks appetizing, you will be more apt to eat and enjoy your food.  My dad started dipping the falafel in the msabaha.  Oh man...it was delicious.  First the soft olive oil hits your tongue and then you’re hit with a surprise attack of garlic flavor, there are undertones of tahini (sesame paste) and garbonzo beans, slightly sour, thanks to the lemon.  You haven’t even taken a bite yet.  Then you do and the crunch of the falafel splits into soft warm dough between your teeth.  Not bread dough, but bean dough, so hearty, so flavorful, so wonderful!  The waiter came over and asked where we were from and we told him we were from Damascus.  “Ahla wa sahla (welcome).”  “Ahlayn feek” (welcome to you), we responded.  We sat eating, talking about how wonderful the food was and laughing at how disorganized but perfect everything was.  A waiter came by and threw 2 big hot loaves of pita bread on the table.

Msabaha, falafel, tea and paba B

Fresh baked bread

My dad told me stories about his youth, he had trigonometry class at 7 am, and he and his friends would go to the restaurant in old Damascus at 6 to have fool.  Now, fool (fava beans) have the fame to make you tired, they are a heavy food and make you feel a bit lethargic, so my dad and his friends would sit in class staring blankly at the teacher who thought they were still half asleep.  We finished our meal and asked how much we owed.  “Leave it on us.”  the waiter said with a smile.  My dad said “no no, next time,” the waiter looked down, shyly, “ok.” “But you’ll remember us, huh!” my dad said with a laugh.  “Of course, of course, Mister.”  “How much would you like?” I asked.  “Two dinar.”  (that’s about $3).  We paid and were on our way.  On the way out we heard “tfadalew, tfadalew,” a word akin to welcome or help yourself but more warm.  We walked out, holding hands, which is not uncommon for a father and daughter, albeit a grown woman, to do in the middle east.  It’s not even uncommon for two men or two women or any two people We walked towards the gold market.  Gold is a big deal in the Middle East, people invest in gold quite a bit and you can go down to the gold market and sell your gold for market price to any gold jeweler.

Me, at a gold shop

Dad, as we walk up the stairs to the citadel

We strolled our way through the streets, it was quite hot. We walked by a bakery, "oh, dad! Let's get one of those." I was pointing to these chocolate balls, their basically chocolate dough mixed with ground nuts and oftentimes dried fruit, maybe coconut flakes and dipped in chocolate.  We bought one for 15 piester (like cents, 100 piesters = 1 Dinar = 1.41 USD) 

We walked up and up and up.  We asked along the way for the way to the Citadel and people kept pointing us up stairs and dirt paths.  

Someone's laundry, you don't need dryers in the desert

part of the hike up to the Citadel, we later found out that we took a back road, literally and climbed in through the back, not very protected for a citadel, if you ask me.

Finally! we caught glimpse of the citadel, or at least some Roman ruins which told us we were near

View of the amphitheater from the top of the mountain

Columns

Columns + me + part of Papa B's finger + Jordanian flag in the background = cool shot!

  

What remains of the Temple of Hercules from ~161-166 AD

A really cool coffin

Papa B getting some shade under a grape vine

Papa B walking into the Ommayed Palace

looking out of the Ommayed Palace to the what was the "residence" of the Ommayeds from about 720 AD

Pathway with remains of Corinthian columns, the diagonal stones you see going from where Papa B stands to the bottom right corner of the photograph used to be a drainage system, just past where the photo ends, it is uncovered and you can see where water would gather

Amazing arches!

The Jordanian flag flying high over Amman

Can you believe that these trees are this green in the dessert!

We also visited the Jordanian Archeological Museum which is home to many artifacts from as far back as the Paleolithic Period.  There are cool things like fish fossils and horse teeth, glass tear jars and gold jewelry with cats eye stone, however; photographing was prohibited, so you must visit if you wish to see these artifacts. 

 I leave you with a flattering photograph of me in front of the Ommayed Palace

 

Float on

on the Jordanian side, looking out at Israel

I went to the Dead Sea today.  What an experience!

I went down with some friends, a friend of a friend is a Swedish diplomat and was here, in Amman, for my cousin's wedding, he had a conference at a hotel on the Dead Sea and so we hitched a ride with him.  We purchased day passes and slowly made our way down to the pool.  We found one pool, chock full of children and so we decided to keep going.  We found another pool, much smaller but with a view of the Sea (see above) we got pool chairs set up and laid in the 44˚C (~114˚F) heat.  It felt amazing.  Dry and healing.

We took a swim in the pool, had some lunch and eventually made our way down to the dead sea.  I walked down the wooden dock, slipped my flip flops off and walked into the water.  The wood was slippery from all the salt.  I got in the water, expecting it to be really hot, but it was actually quite cool, about 24˚C (~75˚F).  Well, cool compared to the climate.  I immersed myself in the water and it felt as if there was a slimy layer of oil all over my body.  The water is so salty that you float!  Actually it is the deepest hypersaline lake in the world (thank you, wikipedia) with some 34% salinity.  I couldn't really get in the water, my body bobbed to the surface.  What a feeling! What an unusual sensation.  I didn't put my head in as I had heard about the water burning your eyes and face and I could even feel my mosquito bites burning from the salt and minerals.  I floated around rolling from my back to my stomach in the water.  We took turns photographing each other and after about ten minutes had had enough.  We rinsed off with fresh water, how refreshing, and made it back to lounge by the pool.  We did this for a couple more hours, taking dips in the pool to cool off, then dozing off in the shade of an umbrella, peering out towards Israel.

We eventually went back to the sea front.  We covered our bodies in mud from the dead sea, which is said to be full of minerals and great for the skin.  We covered our bodies and faces, scrubbing the black mud onto our skin.  We let it sit for some time and then floated in the water.  I have more pictures but there were taken with a friend's camera, as soon as I receive them, I'll post them so you can see the spectacle.

After rinsing off again, we laid around some more, swam a bit more, drank plenty of water and finally decided it was time to go.  Actually, the decision was made for us as one member of our party had to be at the airport to go home to London.

Our driver picked us up in the lobby and we drove to the airport, up, up, up, with our ears popping, you see the Dead Sea is the lowest elevation point on earth at 377m (1237 ft) below sea level (again, wikipedia works wonders). 

Not the best quality, but this is the sunset from the car + palm tree and in the foreground, we have the eye that wards off the evil eye...that's for another post.

Running Errands in Amman

I got dressed, very conservatively in light brown slacks, a purple 3/4 sleeve blouse and grabbed a cab to run errands.  The cab driver was pleasantly plump with salt and pepper hair.  His hands had car grease on them which made him seem very masculine to me.  You don't really communicate with taxi drivers as a woman in this country.  I am a totally different person than the person I am in California.  I don't smile very much and have a very somber look on my face, because otherwise it's seen as an invitation to men.  I sat quietly in the backseat, diagonal to the driver, and felt the hot wind blow through my hair.  I love the desert.  It was only 30˚ C (86˚ F). I felt like I was going to sneeze and I said to the driver "If you would, a kleenex." and I pointed to the bag of kleenex on the dash.  He clumsily grabbed it, thrust it towards me and roared "of course, of course."  I took one and said thank you.  He pushed the bag towards me again and said "take more! it's free," and laughter erupted from deep in his fat belly. I laughed out loud and took 3 more kleenex.  I folded them in 1/8s and tucked them into my purse.  We got to a stop light and he turned the car off and jerked the emergency brake up.  We sat in traffic for some time until the light turned green, he turned the car on and revved the engine, excessively, in my opinion.  We arrived to our destination, I paid him, 1.35 dinars (less than 2 dollars), thanked him and got out.  I asked the guard for directions and he pointed me to building 2.  I entered building 2 and everybody was looking at me.  I was the only woman within 100 mile radius not covering her hair/head.  The men I asked for directions were visibly frustrated with me because they didn't know who I was looking for, Middle Eastern men don't have much patience, especially not for women.   

Finally a man gave me correct directions, to building 1, and I found my way to the woman I was meeting.  She was dressed in a blue trenchcoat that reached the floor and a blue hijab covered her head, the only parts of her bare body that were exposed were her face and hands.  She asked me if I was Lebanese.  I told her I was Syrian and she said welcome, welcome!  She said you're exactly like they described you, cute, small and young! I blushed and thanked her.  We entertained small talk for a few minutes and got to our meeting.  A young man kept coming in, he works at the front door and his job is to simply run errands for people.  This is very common in the Middle East.  These people are typically minimally educated and oftentimes dim.  I think it's wonderful that these people are given jobs so they feel that they are contributing to society, it gives them a sense of self worth and I think that is vital for the well-being of any human.  He made a photocopy of a document for me and brought me Arabic coffee.  It was poorly made, very weak, but I gratefully thanked him and drank it politely.  More questions were asked and more people were fetched to run us errands.  Towards the end of our meeting, the same young man was directed to bring me a cold glass of water.  I thanked him and drank it.  I thanked the woman who met with me, time and time and time again.  Thanking her for her time with me and all her help.  She told me to send my regards to my family and told me if I needed anything, to call her.  She congratulated me on my cousin's wedding and wished me the best of luck with all my endeavors. 

I left the building in search of a cab.  Again, lots of head turns from people because my hair was showing, I presume.  I stood on the side of the road for some time waiting for a taxi.  The yellow taxis are private and the white taxis are group.  I presume the white taxis are cheaper but I had no interest in being in a taxi full of strangers.  Finally I found an empty cab that picked me up.  I told him where I was going and we went on our way.  This man was younger than the previous bear of a driver, I had liked him, he was sweet.  This guy was fine, again, no eye contact, no small talk, no smiles.  Half way through the ride, the driver sneezed and I slowly began to say Bless You.  When I heard the first syllable come out of my mouth I kicked myself, I  can't say that to a strange man, I know better than that!  My voice grew quieter but he still heard me, he tried to look me in the eyes but my head was turned to look out the window, wearing big sunglasses and watching him in the rear view mirror, he said thank you.  He took a back road to approach the house and so I had initially told him to turn left, when I saw what direction we were coming from, I said pardon me but it's actually right.  He laughed out loud and gave me a lesson on the difference between right and left.  I said, "yes I know but I thought you were coming from a different direction. Please pull up behind the black van."  He did as instructed and asked "is this ok?" I paid him 1.5 dinars and got out of the car, thanking him on my way out. 

I tried to open the door to my aunt's house but it was locked.  Crap.  I rang the doorbell and stood back.  The door opened a crack, the maid had opened it and a huge smile came across her face.  "Zally!" she lazily squealed.  "Hi Lita" I said and she let me in.  "Mama here, madame here." She said.  I think she was trying to tell me that my aunt (other aunt, Mary) from Syria had arrived.  I ran into the living room and found my aunt, my father's eldest sister reading the newspaper.  Her hair is always died jet black and I've never seen her without bright red lipstick.  You can see that life has worn her out but she remains elegant and composed.  She asked about my work and my life, my family and my studies.  We got into a heated discussion about human rights and human trafficking.  I excused myself finally, I had to get some things done and she went in one of the bedrooms to lay down. 

Made it to the Middle East

I don't have any pictures for this post so I will try to use my words.

I was on the last leg of my very long trip, going Frankfurt, Germany to Amman, Jordan.   It was dusk, one of my favorite times of day.  Not just any old dusk though, desert dusk. There is something really special about the sunset in the desert, if you have never experienced it, I hope you do.  The lighting is different and the smells are different and even the air pressure is different.  Now, my air pressure was definitely different because I was watching this sunset from inside an airplane, but you can see that it's different from coastal sunsets or even mountain sunsets.  The colors are different, pink and orange and bright and yellow and even browns and maybe red undertones.  And the climate is visibly dry.  From the right side of the plane (west), it was bright, that was where the sun was setting.  And to the looking out the left (east), it was dark.  What a cool thing to experience.  I sat, mesmerized and exhausted after 40+ hours of travel, and was happy as a clam.

As I got off the plane in Jordan, I was hit by the smell of the Middle East in the summer.  Allow me to explain.  It smells hot with tar and petrol and there is always an undertone of cigarette smoke, there is musty men's cologne mixed in, the smell of people's bodies and a tiny whiff of home cooked food and spices.  How all of these smells ended up on the tarmac of the Queen Alia International airport in Amman I don't know, but that, my friends, is the smell of the Middle East in the summer.  We rode a bus to the terminal and made our way to customs, to apply for visas.  I got in line for the visa and got special treatment because I speak Arabic.  I'm not trying to brag but it felt really nice because I have been on the flip side of things where I do not speak the language and do not know what is going on and spend a lot of frustrating time trying to figure out the very simple task (like showing the attendant my passport) that a 6-year old can complete, and I cannot.  So the man told me I needed to get Jordanian currency, he kept my passport and took care of the visa while I exchanged my money.  By the time I turned around from the money exchanging booth, the visa line was tremendously long, my new found friend gestured that I come to the front of the line.  I did and my insides did somersaults with glee.  I won't be upset the next time someone cuts to the front of the line that I'm waiting in, that's how karma works, right?   I had a visa but now I needed a customs stamp to enter the country.  Ok, next line.  This guy didn't understand why I had 2 first names.  In the Middle East, most of the time, one's middle name is their father's first name.  However, my middle name is Meriam which is clearly not my father's name and the man was confused.  I tried to explain to him that it was my baptismal name (that's what the Christian-Arabs call middle names that are not the father's first name).  I don't think he understood.  He proceeded to make small talk with me, he asked what I studied and rather than tell him I had already graduated, my sleep-deprived brain responded "I don't."  He laughed and said "then what do you?" I told him I have a job and he said to have a nice trip, with a chuckle.  I think he thought I was an idiot.

Ok, next seemingly straightforward task at hand, claim luggage.  I got to the carousel before the bags did and sat around and cracked jokes with some of the other people waiting.  There was one suitcase that kept going around and around all by its lonesome self and we felt bad for it.  Ya, we felt bad for a suitcase, weird things happen to you when you spend 3 days inside airports and airplanes. 

I waited and waited, my bag is really easy to pick out:  black, canvas, big and wheeled.  Ya, no luck.  Some people felt bad for me and tried to help.  Clearly my suitcase was nowhere to be found.  I went to the customer service desk to file a claim for missing luggage.  A man in slacks and a neon yellow air traffic controller vest sat cross legged under a no smoking sign smoking a cigarette.  A girl sat distracted behind a computer and the last guy was playing games on his cell phone.  A man wearing a suit ran in carrying a prayer rug, shuffling his feet and sliding across the floor for the final few feet of his travel, like you do when you're a kid and wearing socks on the linoleum floor.  I began to file a claim but a woman approached me, she had been on my flight from Frankfurt and recognized me, her parties' bags had also not come on the correct carousel but then showed up on a different carousel and she hoped I would have the same luck.  I did another sweep through of all the carousels and lost my temper at a guy who insisted on helping me but then misplaced my bag tag.  Eventually a different guy found me and he had my bag tag, but not my bag.  I filed the claim.  They said when they knew something they would call me.  It's funny, this happens so often to me that it doesn't even upset me.  I left the airport and found my cousin waiting for me.  We hugged and I vented about the fawda (chaos) of the airport, the kids crying and the bags thrown all over the place and the lack or organization and the 40 people that want to help you because you'll then tip them and the re-united family members who are talking over each other and people cutting in line (me) and the smoking in a "smoking room" whose door is wide open...

She laughed and said welcome to the middle east.

Never a Dull Moment

If you have ever met me, you know that this is the catch phrase of my life.  There is always something that comes up, I discover I am not a citizen of the country in which I have resided for 99% of my life, of which I have voted in elections, attended university, etc.  Or I have a job in a foreign country and while on vacation to visit my family, my visa paperwork goes through, I'm unable to pick it up in country and I find a new job that I really like and decide to take and leave all of my belongings in the foreign country.

China town

So anyways.  I am en route to Jordan.  I'm en a very long route.  In booking my flight, I found it to be cheaper to fly from Monterey-San Francisco-Frankfurt-Amman.  I, shamefully, let money make my decision for me and am now suffering the consequences.  My flight from Monterey was super delayed because President Obama was in San Francisco, so the flight that goes SF-Monterey, back and forth, was unable to get off the tarmac and my 38 minute flight was delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight to Frankfurt.  United gave me $30 in restaurant vouchers and re-booked me for the following day.  I laughed to myself and took the BART to Powell and walked up the steep hill to the top of Powell to stay with a dear friend of mine.  Luckily I know somebody here, otherwise I'd be spending the night in the airport, and speaking from experience, that is no fun.  I caught up with my friend.  We talked and talked, as I've been known to do.  We went to sleep and in the morning, I got up, took care of some business for work and headed down to the Ferry Building.

Ferry Building 

I walked down Sutter St., through China town, to the Embarcadero, where I found myself at my destination, the Ferry Building.  If you have not been, you must go.  It's an old ferry building, converted into a chic, 21st century indoor market. 

Inside the Ferry Building, Scharfen Berger (chocolate), Miette (bakery), Ciao Bella (gelato), Acme Bread (bakery

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It's a food connoisseur's paradise.  I don't want to say just food, it's for people who enjoy the finer things in life. Speckled with bakeries, chocolatiers, cafés, flower shops, wine shops, book stores amongst specialty shops, I could spend days in here.

I spent the some time in the Ferry Building, just admiring and taking photographs and contemplating life.  Eventually another friend of mine, who lives in San Francisco, picked me up and drove me to the airport.  I was extra early today, to ensure that no funny business would/could happen with my flight.    I ate lunch at the airport, sushi, using the vouchers that United Airlines had so graciously given me and wrote this post. 

Flowers and goodies 

Cheese :) 

I thought about life, I think it's kind of funny, what makes people appreciate the finer things and what makes others just settle for, whatever.  Is it the way we were raised? Nature? Nurture? I mean why do some people appreciate nice things and others get bent out of shape about money?  Is this a problem with humanity or is it just something we experience now in the 21st century?  I am going to say it's an issue we've dealt with since the existence of human beings and culture.  Please excuse any mistakes in this post, but I believe they are boarding my flight! More to come...

Chocolate