Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Food Triplets
I have failed you all. I haven't written in over two weeks!! Sorry about that. I have been suffering (slash absolutely loving) from massive amounts of food intake and you know, trying to master Arabic. I may have mentioned this before, but Arabic is essentially two languages plus. So we learn both the Levantine dialect (spoken in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) and Fusha (the written language). So there are two words for more words than I can handle. But it doesn't end there. I now have friends from Iraq so they tell me a third word in addition to the ones I already know. Then of course there are a collection of words within the dialect in Jordan itself. Just today, for example, Ata asked the word for misquitoes (he was unfortunately recently bitten alive in Wadi Rum) and Munther proceeded to give us 7 words. 7!!! This could possibly be a combination of what people say if they are Bedoin, what people say in Jordan, what people say in Syria... etc. And what is worse is you can't really just learn one because every person only seems to know one version of a word, so we are constantly corrected even though we are often just saying another version of a word. Exhausting!!
Onto my most recent adventure. So not this past weekend but the weekend before that, Hanan, Selowa and I went to none other than Munther's family's house. Two of his brothers have families that live in Sahab, a town nearby, and their houses are literally back to back. So Munther set up a trip for all the girls to visit both of the wives (each one has individually cooked with us at our apartment), cook with them and then spend the night. Unfortunately Leyla, Reem and Sarah were all feeling sick so it ended up just being the three of us.
So we arrived in Sahab at about 1 PM and Munther's brother (Abu Fadi) picked us up and drove us to his house. It was incredibly nice and perhaps the most spotless house I have seen in my life. So we came in and were greeted by Om Fadi and 20 Ahalyn wa Sahalyn's, the greeting that means "welcome" in Arabic.
Cultural note: the father in a family is refered to as "Abu ____" (fill in the name of the first son) and the mother is "Om _____" (fill in the name of her first son). This is common to refer to people in the Middle East and it is a sign of respect. Unfortunately, the name that they use to fill in the black can only be filled in by the eldest son's name, never a daughter. What happens if a family only has daughters, you ask? Then you are Abu or Om ____ (fill in the blank with the name that you would give your son if you had one). Ah... equality.
Back to my story. So we set down our things and went straight to the kitchen. Now, we were under the impression that we were to be cooking with the wives, but this was not the case apparently. Since we were "late," aka 30 minutes late, Om Fadi said she had cooked everything. We were hungry anyway so no problem. We walked in the kitchen and there was a gigantic plate of delicious rice with chopped almonds. Admire its beauty below:
So we were very thankful and shocked at how much she had cooked. This was about as much rice as she had cooked with us previously at our apartment and that was for all 12 of us. Oh how little we knew. Then she said she also had made chicken. Two. Full. Chickens. ....stuffed with rice. So naturally we thought that was crazy since we were only three people. It didn't stop there. Next came the grape leaves... approximately about enough to feed a full army.
And mashey which is hollowed out zuchinni and eggplant with meat and rice. (Note the two full chickens in this picture).
Now note the change on Hanan and Selowa's faces as she then brought out two huge salads, stuffed cabbage and yogurt with pieces of lamb in it.
This one is just Hanan looking adorable haha.
So with another Ahalyn wa Sahalyn, we began to eat the feast that she had cooked for 100 people. And oh was it delicious. I refilled my plate maybe three times and we STILL barely made a dent in the food. This is a picture of the rice after we were finished.
At one point during the meal I reached with my fork to grab two pieces of grape leaves. Om Fadi then asked me if I like them and I told her the truth, they are one of my favorite foods. Never tell the truth! She proceeded to insist on giving me a giant spoonful of 15 more. As if I didn't have enough food on my plate! Here is my plate when I was finished... unable to finish all the grape leaves of course.
Oh and here is the chicken that I personally tackled (Hanan is a vegetarian). I think I ate half.
You see... there is this thing about eating at someone's house in the Arab world ... you feel guilty. So saying "no thanks I'm full!" is not an answer. The hosts get visibly upset and think that you do not like their food because you didn't lick the plate. I think we had to say about 20 times that we are full and had no room left in our bodies until Om Fadi stopped pressuring us to eat more. It's worse than you everyday peer pressure.
So after lunch/the biggest meal I have ever eaten in my life, we went to drink soda (as if I wanted something carbonated) on the porch. We had a nice discussion with Om Fadi and Abu Fadi too. It was just hilarious to us because every time we would say something nice about Jordan or nice about the food they would say Ahalyn wa Sahalyn. Not only that but there was a time when there was a break in the conversation, a brief moment of silence, and Abu Fadi said Ahalyn wa Sahalyn.
After we were served a round of tea and then a round of Turkish coffee, we decided we should head over to Muna's house (the wife of Munther's other brother). So we walked around next door. I love Muna! She is so warm and nice to talk too. Plus she has four boys and no daughters so I think she really loved talking to us and just having women in the house. After talking for a while with her, her husband and three of the sons, one of the son's brought out a gigantic cake for Muna's husband's birthday. I was joking around and said that Hanan was hungry and wanted a big piece, so Basil (the eldest son) proceeded to cut literally an eighth of the cake as one piece and hand it to me. It barely fit on the full size plate. Ahalyn wa Sahalyn.
So a little later on we had dinner. Note: a "light" dinner. Which was of course, still way more than enough. Also they had the largest bread I have ever seen!
Here is the dinner. Pretty normal to spread out a plastic cover on the floor and everyone eat on the floor. I love it like that! There were a ton of vegetables, bread, hummus, foul (bean mix) and this weird spam that Arabs seem to love.
Much easier to handle than our lunch. So we spent the night at Om Fadi's house and returned to Muna's house the next day at around noon to cook lunch. Surprise, surprise - Muna had already cooked it. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this lunch but it was just as large and buffet-worthy as Om Fadi's lunch. It was a platter of rice with about 2 chicken's worth on top, a potato and meat dish, yogurt and salad and about a million grape leaves. Nearing the end of room in our stomachs, Muna left the room for a moment and we all fell over on the ground saying that we were going to die. I felt like a stuffed pig. Good metaphor Jill, because 10 minutes later she brought in a gigantic platter of fruit. Finish it off with an apple - why not? This was then followed by two rounds of sugary tea and sweets.
Overall we LOVED the weekend. It was so fun to actually have a homestay even if we were treated as the guests of the century. Later in the day we talked to Munther about it and told him all the food they gave us. He knew exactly why. So apparently when he goes to his brothers' houses he refuses to eat anything. Anything! It was difficult enough to say no after three plate-fulls! He said he did it because he wants to show them that they don't need to do all that just for one guest. His little "lesson" seemed to have the opposite effect. He thought they partially might have wanted to prove to him that people will eat and enjoy their food so as a jab at Munther, they stuffed us to oblivion. Nice on, Munther.
More than that, apparently there is a rivalry between the two wives since they do not like each other. A little silly in my opinion since they have lived next to each other for 9 years. So most likely they were also competing with each other trying to see who could make the most amazing meal. This perhaps is why each one of them made 6 meals worth and enough to feel a hundred people. Crazy!
Moving on to more recent news... we just had our first day of school after a break. Munther was giving a lecture in Germany so we had Wednesday through Tuesday off from class. It was awesome. Leyla, Jafar and Nasr went to Syria; Reem, Ata, Ghawwar and Sarah went to Wadi Rum for two night; and five of us stayed in Amman: Hanan, Selowa, Khalid, Yacoub and me. I finally got to catch up in a few things I had been putting off and I spent a ridiculous amount of time with Mazin, our Iraqi friend from the school I have been teaching at. I'll save that for an upcoming post though!
So now we have school for three days and then we are on break yet again! Horray for the month of March! Anyone know what else makes March so amazing - you guessed it those of you who love me the most, my birthday! I can't believe it is already tomorrow! So I planned for all of us to go to Dubliners, an Irish pub oddly located in Jordan, tomorrow for the celebration. I invited a few of our Arab friends too although most of them cannot go because they live in Zarqa, which is about an hour away from where we live in Amman. Regardless I am super excited to have my first legal beer (considering I am turning 21) in Jordan at an Irish pub. I seem to like spending my birthdays abroad considering for my 20th I was in Nicaragua. Who wouldn't want to pick pineapples in Nicaragua for their birthday. And I am totally not being sarcastic.
I shall write about other recently adventures in teaching English to Iraqi Refugees in my next post. Insha'allah I will write on Thursday before I am off to Syria!
Onto my most recent adventure. So not this past weekend but the weekend before that, Hanan, Selowa and I went to none other than Munther's family's house. Two of his brothers have families that live in Sahab, a town nearby, and their houses are literally back to back. So Munther set up a trip for all the girls to visit both of the wives (each one has individually cooked with us at our apartment), cook with them and then spend the night. Unfortunately Leyla, Reem and Sarah were all feeling sick so it ended up just being the three of us.
So we arrived in Sahab at about 1 PM and Munther's brother (Abu Fadi) picked us up and drove us to his house. It was incredibly nice and perhaps the most spotless house I have seen in my life. So we came in and were greeted by Om Fadi and 20 Ahalyn wa Sahalyn's, the greeting that means "welcome" in Arabic.
Cultural note: the father in a family is refered to as "Abu ____" (fill in the name of the first son) and the mother is "Om _____" (fill in the name of her first son). This is common to refer to people in the Middle East and it is a sign of respect. Unfortunately, the name that they use to fill in the black can only be filled in by the eldest son's name, never a daughter. What happens if a family only has daughters, you ask? Then you are Abu or Om ____ (fill in the blank with the name that you would give your son if you had one). Ah... equality.
Back to my story. So we set down our things and went straight to the kitchen. Now, we were under the impression that we were to be cooking with the wives, but this was not the case apparently. Since we were "late," aka 30 minutes late, Om Fadi said she had cooked everything. We were hungry anyway so no problem. We walked in the kitchen and there was a gigantic plate of delicious rice with chopped almonds. Admire its beauty below:
So we were very thankful and shocked at how much she had cooked. This was about as much rice as she had cooked with us previously at our apartment and that was for all 12 of us. Oh how little we knew. Then she said she also had made chicken. Two. Full. Chickens. ....stuffed with rice. So naturally we thought that was crazy since we were only three people. It didn't stop there. Next came the grape leaves... approximately about enough to feed a full army.
And mashey which is hollowed out zuchinni and eggplant with meat and rice. (Note the two full chickens in this picture).
Now note the change on Hanan and Selowa's faces as she then brought out two huge salads, stuffed cabbage and yogurt with pieces of lamb in it.
This one is just Hanan looking adorable haha.
So with another Ahalyn wa Sahalyn, we began to eat the feast that she had cooked for 100 people. And oh was it delicious. I refilled my plate maybe three times and we STILL barely made a dent in the food. This is a picture of the rice after we were finished.
At one point during the meal I reached with my fork to grab two pieces of grape leaves. Om Fadi then asked me if I like them and I told her the truth, they are one of my favorite foods. Never tell the truth! She proceeded to insist on giving me a giant spoonful of 15 more. As if I didn't have enough food on my plate! Here is my plate when I was finished... unable to finish all the grape leaves of course.
Oh and here is the chicken that I personally tackled (Hanan is a vegetarian). I think I ate half.
You see... there is this thing about eating at someone's house in the Arab world ... you feel guilty. So saying "no thanks I'm full!" is not an answer. The hosts get visibly upset and think that you do not like their food because you didn't lick the plate. I think we had to say about 20 times that we are full and had no room left in our bodies until Om Fadi stopped pressuring us to eat more. It's worse than you everyday peer pressure.
So after lunch/the biggest meal I have ever eaten in my life, we went to drink soda (as if I wanted something carbonated) on the porch. We had a nice discussion with Om Fadi and Abu Fadi too. It was just hilarious to us because every time we would say something nice about Jordan or nice about the food they would say Ahalyn wa Sahalyn. Not only that but there was a time when there was a break in the conversation, a brief moment of silence, and Abu Fadi said Ahalyn wa Sahalyn.
After we were served a round of tea and then a round of Turkish coffee, we decided we should head over to Muna's house (the wife of Munther's other brother). So we walked around next door. I love Muna! She is so warm and nice to talk too. Plus she has four boys and no daughters so I think she really loved talking to us and just having women in the house. After talking for a while with her, her husband and three of the sons, one of the son's brought out a gigantic cake for Muna's husband's birthday. I was joking around and said that Hanan was hungry and wanted a big piece, so Basil (the eldest son) proceeded to cut literally an eighth of the cake as one piece and hand it to me. It barely fit on the full size plate. Ahalyn wa Sahalyn.
So a little later on we had dinner. Note: a "light" dinner. Which was of course, still way more than enough. Also they had the largest bread I have ever seen!
Here is the dinner. Pretty normal to spread out a plastic cover on the floor and everyone eat on the floor. I love it like that! There were a ton of vegetables, bread, hummus, foul (bean mix) and this weird spam that Arabs seem to love.
Much easier to handle than our lunch. So we spent the night at Om Fadi's house and returned to Muna's house the next day at around noon to cook lunch. Surprise, surprise - Muna had already cooked it. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this lunch but it was just as large and buffet-worthy as Om Fadi's lunch. It was a platter of rice with about 2 chicken's worth on top, a potato and meat dish, yogurt and salad and about a million grape leaves. Nearing the end of room in our stomachs, Muna left the room for a moment and we all fell over on the ground saying that we were going to die. I felt like a stuffed pig. Good metaphor Jill, because 10 minutes later she brought in a gigantic platter of fruit. Finish it off with an apple - why not? This was then followed by two rounds of sugary tea and sweets. Overall we LOVED the weekend. It was so fun to actually have a homestay even if we were treated as the guests of the century. Later in the day we talked to Munther about it and told him all the food they gave us. He knew exactly why. So apparently when he goes to his brothers' houses he refuses to eat anything. Anything! It was difficult enough to say no after three plate-fulls! He said he did it because he wants to show them that they don't need to do all that just for one guest. His little "lesson" seemed to have the opposite effect. He thought they partially might have wanted to prove to him that people will eat and enjoy their food so as a jab at Munther, they stuffed us to oblivion. Nice on, Munther.
More than that, apparently there is a rivalry between the two wives since they do not like each other. A little silly in my opinion since they have lived next to each other for 9 years. So most likely they were also competing with each other trying to see who could make the most amazing meal. This perhaps is why each one of them made 6 meals worth and enough to feel a hundred people. Crazy!
Moving on to more recent news... we just had our first day of school after a break. Munther was giving a lecture in Germany so we had Wednesday through Tuesday off from class. It was awesome. Leyla, Jafar and Nasr went to Syria; Reem, Ata, Ghawwar and Sarah went to Wadi Rum for two night; and five of us stayed in Amman: Hanan, Selowa, Khalid, Yacoub and me. I finally got to catch up in a few things I had been putting off and I spent a ridiculous amount of time with Mazin, our Iraqi friend from the school I have been teaching at. I'll save that for an upcoming post though!
So now we have school for three days and then we are on break yet again! Horray for the month of March! Anyone know what else makes March so amazing - you guessed it those of you who love me the most, my birthday! I can't believe it is already tomorrow! So I planned for all of us to go to Dubliners, an Irish pub oddly located in Jordan, tomorrow for the celebration. I invited a few of our Arab friends too although most of them cannot go because they live in Zarqa, which is about an hour away from where we live in Amman. Regardless I am super excited to have my first legal beer (considering I am turning 21) in Jordan at an Irish pub. I seem to like spending my birthdays abroad considering for my 20th I was in Nicaragua. Who wouldn't want to pick pineapples in Nicaragua for their birthday. And I am totally not being sarcastic.
I shall write about other recently adventures in teaching English to Iraqi Refugees in my next post. Insha'allah I will write on Thursday before I am off to Syria!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Don't you generally discuss marriage when riding a camel?
What a weekend! Instead of spreading out the three most popular tourist destinations with three separate trips, we decided to lump them all together in one intense weekend. And it was incredible. First? Wadi Rum. The land of the Bedoins.
How to begin explaining Wadi Rum... it is by far the most amazing desert I have been to in my life. Certainly gives Arizona a run for its money, although I do still appreciate the mountains, Dad. The sand grains are incredibly small and the land is deeply filled with it. The mountains surrounding the area were nothing short of majestic. Jealous yet?
So we took the last day of school off (Thursday) and went to Wadi Rum in the morning. When we first got there we immediately started walking around on the sand, climbing mountains, etc. Then about 30 minutes into our exploration I heard the group yelling ahead of me that a storm is coming. I took another look at the sky - impossible. So i kept on walking. A few seconds later I see Munther running past me at top speed headed for the main camp. For those of you who watch "The Office" just think to the fire episode when Michael knocks people out of his way to get out of the building during a fire alarm. It was a little like that. So unfortunately for me and my dry clothes, they were right. About 30 seconds later the sky erupted in thunder and pouring rain. Quickly realizing that standing in an open desert when lighting is on it way is not too bright, I ran back to the camp.
Luckily, the rain lasted about 15 minutes at the most. Although for the rest of the day the weather was much colder than usual. For the rest of the day we explored a lot more and ate the delicious food and chai from the camp. Then at night we danced "debka" (what else did you expect?) with the bigger group consisting of the Bedoins, us and I think some Dutch. Then we basically danced for about 2 hours longer. Quite enjoyable for two reasons... I like to dance and Ata's dance moves are nothing short of absolutely absurd. So naturally, it was hilarious.
Although the night sounded like there was a hurricane outside due to the strong winds and the ratting of our tents, I slept like a baby. In the morning we got to ride camels! Finally!! And I loved it! The camel ride was so calm and surprisingly comfortable. I tried talking to the Bedoin boy who was leading my camel but it was a little difficult at first since his kafea (red and white checkered head scarf) was wrapped around his entire head including his face. And you think understanding Arabic is difficult normally. But a little bit later I got to talking to two of the boys and landed on the common topic of marriage. Good talk.
Now for the pictures! They are in no specific order but they say a lot more than I can with words. I'll begin with the picture of me trying to fit in and simultaneously look creepy.
Amazing, no? So after Wadi Rum we went to Aqaba. Now, Aqaba is known for its beautiful weather, the Red Sea, and general awesomeness. Too bad it rained. Muhammad (our other professor who came on the trip with us) said he lived there for seven years and it was never like it was on Friday. No problem. So we still walked around a lot, a few of us dared to go swimming, and we got a great boat ride in the Red Sea to get a better view of the King's palace, the Israeli border and the Egyptian border. We did eat some amazing fresh fish as well. Although I somehow got a small fish bone stuck in my throat which subsequently stayed there for over a day. This led to quite a bit of confusion on my part as Munther kept asking me "You have a bone stuck in your throat?! Did it leave yet?" The confusion stemmed from the fact I did not previously know either the word for bone or throat. So he basically just laughed at my expense for most of the time in Aqaba. Payback for me laughing at his dancing at Wadi Rum I guess. But now - it left!
Swimming in the Red Sea:
The fresh fish I demolished:
And last but certainly not least... we went to Petra!! Now I'm sure if you have ever heard anything about Jordan, you've heard about Petra. The bad weather continued for our bus ride to Petra but thankfully once we got there the weather was fantastic. So for the remainder of the daylight I walked around with Jafar, Yacoub, Khalid, Ata and Ghawwar.
At first you walk through this incredible pathway that has towering mountains on either side. Then when you least expect it there is a carved building in the rock called "The Treasury" at the first opening. Amazing. Since Petra was at one time the center of the Nabatean civilization, you find carved buildings out of the soft rock at every turn. Before coming to Petra I had only seen pictures of "The Treasury" so I thought that was the only thing to see. Oh no. It is an entire city. We were there for 5 hours and we still didn't see it all!
One highlight of Petra was when we ran into Munther bargaining with a little boy, Rabeah, to give him an injured pigeon that the boy had picked up and stuffed in his jacket. After a good 20 minutes of haggling with the boy, Munther payed him 1.5 dinar and Rabeah gave him the injured pigeon. Munther just set it down about a half a mile away in a place the boy might not find it. Sad though because it couldn't fly and would most likely die there. Speaking of dying animals... we then saw a Bedoin woman rescuing two young goats from up on a mountain when we were climbing up there. It was so sad to see the one goat basically dying from lack of milk and lack of mother as the other goat was basically screaming or "baaa-ing." Too bad I don't generally carry milk on me.
In better news, the sights were gorgeous. Very picture worthy. Oh and look that that - I took some pictures!
This is the initial long entryway before you get to the Treasury.
Note the detail in the carving of the buildings. It was incredible how this entire large room had this exact same diagonal design - even on the ceiling!
And that was it! I was exhausted by the end. All in all, despite the weather, it was an incredible weekend. I can't wait until I have an opportunity to go back to Wadi Rum.
Before I go I will leave you with some "heresa" (a classic Arab sweet) just for being so sweet and reading until the end! Note: those who just skimmed and looked at the pictures, you have failed. You are not allowed to look at this picture of heresa. Unless of course you are also not reading this and just looking at the picture. Then I have no control.
How to begin explaining Wadi Rum... it is by far the most amazing desert I have been to in my life. Certainly gives Arizona a run for its money, although I do still appreciate the mountains, Dad. The sand grains are incredibly small and the land is deeply filled with it. The mountains surrounding the area were nothing short of majestic. Jealous yet?
So we took the last day of school off (Thursday) and went to Wadi Rum in the morning. When we first got there we immediately started walking around on the sand, climbing mountains, etc. Then about 30 minutes into our exploration I heard the group yelling ahead of me that a storm is coming. I took another look at the sky - impossible. So i kept on walking. A few seconds later I see Munther running past me at top speed headed for the main camp. For those of you who watch "The Office" just think to the fire episode when Michael knocks people out of his way to get out of the building during a fire alarm. It was a little like that. So unfortunately for me and my dry clothes, they were right. About 30 seconds later the sky erupted in thunder and pouring rain. Quickly realizing that standing in an open desert when lighting is on it way is not too bright, I ran back to the camp.
Luckily, the rain lasted about 15 minutes at the most. Although for the rest of the day the weather was much colder than usual. For the rest of the day we explored a lot more and ate the delicious food and chai from the camp. Then at night we danced "debka" (what else did you expect?) with the bigger group consisting of the Bedoins, us and I think some Dutch. Then we basically danced for about 2 hours longer. Quite enjoyable for two reasons... I like to dance and Ata's dance moves are nothing short of absolutely absurd. So naturally, it was hilarious.
Although the night sounded like there was a hurricane outside due to the strong winds and the ratting of our tents, I slept like a baby. In the morning we got to ride camels! Finally!! And I loved it! The camel ride was so calm and surprisingly comfortable. I tried talking to the Bedoin boy who was leading my camel but it was a little difficult at first since his kafea (red and white checkered head scarf) was wrapped around his entire head including his face. And you think understanding Arabic is difficult normally. But a little bit later I got to talking to two of the boys and landed on the common topic of marriage. Good talk.
Now for the pictures! They are in no specific order but they say a lot more than I can with words. I'll begin with the picture of me trying to fit in and simultaneously look creepy.
Amazing, no? So after Wadi Rum we went to Aqaba. Now, Aqaba is known for its beautiful weather, the Red Sea, and general awesomeness. Too bad it rained. Muhammad (our other professor who came on the trip with us) said he lived there for seven years and it was never like it was on Friday. No problem. So we still walked around a lot, a few of us dared to go swimming, and we got a great boat ride in the Red Sea to get a better view of the King's palace, the Israeli border and the Egyptian border. We did eat some amazing fresh fish as well. Although I somehow got a small fish bone stuck in my throat which subsequently stayed there for over a day. This led to quite a bit of confusion on my part as Munther kept asking me "You have a bone stuck in your throat?! Did it leave yet?" The confusion stemmed from the fact I did not previously know either the word for bone or throat. So he basically just laughed at my expense for most of the time in Aqaba. Payback for me laughing at his dancing at Wadi Rum I guess. But now - it left!
Swimming in the Red Sea:
The fresh fish I demolished:
And last but certainly not least... we went to Petra!! Now I'm sure if you have ever heard anything about Jordan, you've heard about Petra. The bad weather continued for our bus ride to Petra but thankfully once we got there the weather was fantastic. So for the remainder of the daylight I walked around with Jafar, Yacoub, Khalid, Ata and Ghawwar.
At first you walk through this incredible pathway that has towering mountains on either side. Then when you least expect it there is a carved building in the rock called "The Treasury" at the first opening. Amazing. Since Petra was at one time the center of the Nabatean civilization, you find carved buildings out of the soft rock at every turn. Before coming to Petra I had only seen pictures of "The Treasury" so I thought that was the only thing to see. Oh no. It is an entire city. We were there for 5 hours and we still didn't see it all!
One highlight of Petra was when we ran into Munther bargaining with a little boy, Rabeah, to give him an injured pigeon that the boy had picked up and stuffed in his jacket. After a good 20 minutes of haggling with the boy, Munther payed him 1.5 dinar and Rabeah gave him the injured pigeon. Munther just set it down about a half a mile away in a place the boy might not find it. Sad though because it couldn't fly and would most likely die there. Speaking of dying animals... we then saw a Bedoin woman rescuing two young goats from up on a mountain when we were climbing up there. It was so sad to see the one goat basically dying from lack of milk and lack of mother as the other goat was basically screaming or "baaa-ing." Too bad I don't generally carry milk on me.
In better news, the sights were gorgeous. Very picture worthy. Oh and look that that - I took some pictures!
This is the initial long entryway before you get to the Treasury.
Note the detail in the carving of the buildings. It was incredible how this entire large room had this exact same diagonal design - even on the ceiling!
And that was it! I was exhausted by the end. All in all, despite the weather, it was an incredible weekend. I can't wait until I have an opportunity to go back to Wadi Rum.
Before I go I will leave you with some "heresa" (a classic Arab sweet) just for being so sweet and reading until the end! Note: those who just skimmed and looked at the pictures, you have failed. You are not allowed to look at this picture of heresa. Unless of course you are also not reading this and just looking at the picture. Then I have no control.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Adventures in Middle School
Marhaba!
So this past week/2 week/I've totally lost track of time has been great! Good news on the language front - I am finally gaining some confidence! Now I voluntarily sit in the front seat of a taxi (when it is all girls of course since boys have to sit in the front if there are any) and I can pick up a conversation with a taxi driver for a good 20 minutes! Better than that ... I can read a newspaper. Not every word of course but I can get all the major points as long as the article isn't too complicated. And I've also gotten very comfortable speaking in Arabic to our language partners and other Arab friends. I still don't understand a good amount but in order to combat that problem I carry my little notebook around with me. So the moment I hear a word I don't know, I ask the other person to write it for me and they try describing the meaning, usually without using English. "Oh Yasmine... always writing in her notebook..."
So last Sunday (talk about a century ago) we all were required, as the esteemed guests of Hashemite University, to go to a party for the King at the University's auditorium. I was excited to go because the Debka team had been telling us about it for a while and I wanted to see them perform! Although the idea of having a birthday party for the King a month after his actual birthday was a little odd. That is what I thought before I actually saw the party/performance. Talk about a little odd. It was the most outrageous hour of worship I have ever seen. There was dancing with knives. There was a bizarre play. There were performances by a whole group of students on the topic of how amazing the King is. There was a speech by the University president that reminded me of Mussolini. Did I mention I couldn't understand any of it? I spoke about the difference between Fusha (written language) and Amea (spoken dialect) before. Everything was in Fusha. But despite the fact that I couldn't understand anything... the point was obvious. Not to mention the powerpoint slide show of the King in various military uniforms in the background. At one point I looked over to our professor and he just had his head in his hands as though it was about it explode.
At least the dancing was good, right? My goodness though it was hard to believe something like that could still be happening in the world. Our other professor spoke about the idea of the King a little later in class. He is actually above the constitution in Jordan. Above the constitution! Talk about no rule of law. Munther was a bit more shocked than we were even... and there are probably better words for the way he felt about it that I won't write here. This might be also because he could understand everything in Arabic Fusha. He said the last time he was in Jordan, I think it was in the seventies, that it was the exact same thing. The idea of living in a Kingdom is just so foreign to me. Just the idea of ever worshiping Obama like that weirds me out.
But onto other topics... everything with our language parters has been going really well! We hang out with them every day so I really feel like I am pretty good friends with some of them. Especially Amel since I spend the most one on one time with her. Although I do spend a ton of time with Majdi, Heam and Abeer as well.
Here are a few pictures! This is from the left, Heam and Abeer.
Adorable, no? And this is a group of us, from the left top: Heam, Hanan, Majdi, Yacoub, (bottom row) me, Abeer, Selowa. This is probably the group I hang out with most after class.
All the girls! Selowa, me, Amel, Heam, Hanan and Abeer.
As I get to know them better, everything just gets more hilarious. We often compare the dynamic at the university to high school. Maybe even middle school. One of their favorite questions to ask, Heam in particular, is something like, "Who is the most beautiful in this picture?" In fact, after Yacoub took a picture of Heam, Abeer, Hanan and me, Heam asked him who was the most beautiful out of the four of us in the picture. Yacoub dodged the bullet and said the window. Smart kid.
They have also become a little possessive. They easily get upset when we hang out with people they don't know or people they think have a bad reputation. Although for us it is hard to know exactly since a bad reputation in Jordan may be a great guy in America. Hard to know exactly. But Ihave been told on a few occasions not to give my number out to strangers. Okay everyone, I am 20 now, thanks.
The Saturday before last four of the partners, Heam, Majdi, Abrahim and Muhammad, decided to give us a surprise visit at our apartment at 9AM Saturday morning. Boundaries, anyone? Although they did bring a big Arab breakfast so that made me happy. Watching them prepare the breakfast was hilarious. So I walked into the boys' apartment to see them pouring out every ingredient they brought onto its own plate. But this did not just include olives, cheese, hummus and yogurt. As Muhammad went to pour jelly out onto a plate from the jar, I tried to stop him saying that it was fine just in the jar but he was not having that. They even poured honey out onto a plate. Onto a plate!! I was a little horrified at first but quickly got over it. When everything was finally set up we all sat around the table with a huge piece of bread and just ripped pieces and dipped them into any plate we desired. It was kind of nice not to use silverware so maybe honey on the plate wasn't such a bad idea after all.
After the breakfast we played a game for a while. We were throwing a ball to each other and if the second person didn't catch it then the second person would have to do whatever the first person asked. This resulted in me making fresh orange juice twice, washing dishes, and making banana juice. For some reason Arabs love to punish people in games that they play. I was just glad that we didn't decide to play a game the guys had played the night before. I wasn't there but they told me it was set up like spin the bottle and truth and dare mixed - but just truth. So you might wonder... what type of questions would they ask? Just imagine what question you might ask your friend if you were in Middle School... you guessed it, "So... rank everyone here by who you think is the most good looking." What kind of sick game is that?!
Pretty much something weird happens every day. Something else that has stuck me as weird was the way they refer to black people. There are a few issues. Number one. I have heard the n-word used on about three different occasions when referring to black people in general or rappers. I had to explain how that wasn't quite appropriate to use after that each time. They also like using the word "slave" in Arabic. Again, that's a big no-no. It is likely just a lack of knowing English or American culture but it is a little shocking every time it happens none the less.
But despite their being territorial, a little jealous, a lot a bit like they are in Middle School - I love them! They may not know it but without them we would not be progressing nearly as quickly as I think we are currently. They are so wonderful and helpful for putting up with us when we don't understand and just in general being great company.
This past Wednesday was our first of many "adventure" days. Essentially instead of going to class every Wednesday, we split into groups of 2 or 3 and well, go on an adventure in Jordan! So for my first adventure, I went to Madaba with Hanan. It was a definite success!
Madaba has the largest population of Christians in Jordan - at about 30%. So for our adventure we explored a church, did some window shopping andwent to Mount Nebo.
This is the mosaic map from St. George's Church. The history of the map (seen below) is in 1884 Christian builders came across the remnants of an old Byzantine church on the site of their new construction. The Byzantine church was destroyed by wilful destruction, fire and neglect, but the mosaic was kept relatively intact! It now represents the oldest map of Palestine in existence. The map showed Palestine, part of Jordan and part of Egypt.
We also saw Mount Nebo when we were there. Here is the quote the guide book gives which indicates its significance:
"Go up unto...Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die." (Deuteronomy 32:49-50).
So this sight is where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land, a land he was forbidden to enter. So the story goes that he died on Mount Nebo and was later buried in the area but the exact location is up to conjecture. The sight was filled with tourists. Our taxi driver said that was very normal in Madaba because of Mount Nebo. In fact, Madaba had the most tourists I have seen in Jordan so far. I have a hunch there will be more in Petra though!
Hanan and I in front of the lookout of Mount Nebo.
While I did like the city a lot, the best part of Madaba was probably chilling in one of the stores with two of the owners just drinking chai. We talked to them a little bit in Arabic and they were impressed so they asked if we wanted to sit and drink chai - why not? They spoke to us the entire time in Arabic and we seemed to cover a lot of topics too. Then their friend came and talked to us too. He had just returned from India so we reminisced over how delicious this one restaurant in Old Delhi is and India in general. To me, as long as I am speaking Arabic with new people - I am happy!
As for my "Democracy and Human Rights" class with Doctor Jamal, I am constantly excited about it. It is really perfect since it is an introductory course with mostly freshman and also I basically took the same class (that was more challenging) at Cornell my freshman year - Intro to Political Philosophy. After the last class I spoke to the professor afterwards (he is so great!) to just ask a question. Somehow that led to me making a presentation in front of the class on Sunday on Hobbes. Mind you, there are over 150 people in this class. Oh... and I don't really speak Arabic. Eek!! Nonetheless, I love a good challenge so bring it on!
This weekend = Wadi Rum, Aqaba then Petra! This may mean nothing to some of you, but these are the three greatest things to do in Jordan! I am super excited. More importantly, the university is comping the trip entirely so all I will have to pay for is lunch I think! Get ready for some amazing pictures!
So this past week/2 week/I've totally lost track of time has been great! Good news on the language front - I am finally gaining some confidence! Now I voluntarily sit in the front seat of a taxi (when it is all girls of course since boys have to sit in the front if there are any) and I can pick up a conversation with a taxi driver for a good 20 minutes! Better than that ... I can read a newspaper. Not every word of course but I can get all the major points as long as the article isn't too complicated. And I've also gotten very comfortable speaking in Arabic to our language partners and other Arab friends. I still don't understand a good amount but in order to combat that problem I carry my little notebook around with me. So the moment I hear a word I don't know, I ask the other person to write it for me and they try describing the meaning, usually without using English. "Oh Yasmine... always writing in her notebook..."
So last Sunday (talk about a century ago) we all were required, as the esteemed guests of Hashemite University, to go to a party for the King at the University's auditorium. I was excited to go because the Debka team had been telling us about it for a while and I wanted to see them perform! Although the idea of having a birthday party for the King a month after his actual birthday was a little odd. That is what I thought before I actually saw the party/performance. Talk about a little odd. It was the most outrageous hour of worship I have ever seen. There was dancing with knives. There was a bizarre play. There were performances by a whole group of students on the topic of how amazing the King is. There was a speech by the University president that reminded me of Mussolini. Did I mention I couldn't understand any of it? I spoke about the difference between Fusha (written language) and Amea (spoken dialect) before. Everything was in Fusha. But despite the fact that I couldn't understand anything... the point was obvious. Not to mention the powerpoint slide show of the King in various military uniforms in the background. At one point I looked over to our professor and he just had his head in his hands as though it was about it explode.
At least the dancing was good, right? My goodness though it was hard to believe something like that could still be happening in the world. Our other professor spoke about the idea of the King a little later in class. He is actually above the constitution in Jordan. Above the constitution! Talk about no rule of law. Munther was a bit more shocked than we were even... and there are probably better words for the way he felt about it that I won't write here. This might be also because he could understand everything in Arabic Fusha. He said the last time he was in Jordan, I think it was in the seventies, that it was the exact same thing. The idea of living in a Kingdom is just so foreign to me. Just the idea of ever worshiping Obama like that weirds me out.
But onto other topics... everything with our language parters has been going really well! We hang out with them every day so I really feel like I am pretty good friends with some of them. Especially Amel since I spend the most one on one time with her. Although I do spend a ton of time with Majdi, Heam and Abeer as well.
Here are a few pictures! This is from the left, Heam and Abeer.
Adorable, no? And this is a group of us, from the left top: Heam, Hanan, Majdi, Yacoub, (bottom row) me, Abeer, Selowa. This is probably the group I hang out with most after class.
All the girls! Selowa, me, Amel, Heam, Hanan and Abeer.
As I get to know them better, everything just gets more hilarious. We often compare the dynamic at the university to high school. Maybe even middle school. One of their favorite questions to ask, Heam in particular, is something like, "Who is the most beautiful in this picture?" In fact, after Yacoub took a picture of Heam, Abeer, Hanan and me, Heam asked him who was the most beautiful out of the four of us in the picture. Yacoub dodged the bullet and said the window. Smart kid.They have also become a little possessive. They easily get upset when we hang out with people they don't know or people they think have a bad reputation. Although for us it is hard to know exactly since a bad reputation in Jordan may be a great guy in America. Hard to know exactly. But Ihave been told on a few occasions not to give my number out to strangers. Okay everyone, I am 20 now, thanks.
The Saturday before last four of the partners, Heam, Majdi, Abrahim and Muhammad, decided to give us a surprise visit at our apartment at 9AM Saturday morning. Boundaries, anyone? Although they did bring a big Arab breakfast so that made me happy. Watching them prepare the breakfast was hilarious. So I walked into the boys' apartment to see them pouring out every ingredient they brought onto its own plate. But this did not just include olives, cheese, hummus and yogurt. As Muhammad went to pour jelly out onto a plate from the jar, I tried to stop him saying that it was fine just in the jar but he was not having that. They even poured honey out onto a plate. Onto a plate!! I was a little horrified at first but quickly got over it. When everything was finally set up we all sat around the table with a huge piece of bread and just ripped pieces and dipped them into any plate we desired. It was kind of nice not to use silverware so maybe honey on the plate wasn't such a bad idea after all.
After the breakfast we played a game for a while. We were throwing a ball to each other and if the second person didn't catch it then the second person would have to do whatever the first person asked. This resulted in me making fresh orange juice twice, washing dishes, and making banana juice. For some reason Arabs love to punish people in games that they play. I was just glad that we didn't decide to play a game the guys had played the night before. I wasn't there but they told me it was set up like spin the bottle and truth and dare mixed - but just truth. So you might wonder... what type of questions would they ask? Just imagine what question you might ask your friend if you were in Middle School... you guessed it, "So... rank everyone here by who you think is the most good looking." What kind of sick game is that?!
Pretty much something weird happens every day. Something else that has stuck me as weird was the way they refer to black people. There are a few issues. Number one. I have heard the n-word used on about three different occasions when referring to black people in general or rappers. I had to explain how that wasn't quite appropriate to use after that each time. They also like using the word "slave" in Arabic. Again, that's a big no-no. It is likely just a lack of knowing English or American culture but it is a little shocking every time it happens none the less.
But despite their being territorial, a little jealous, a lot a bit like they are in Middle School - I love them! They may not know it but without them we would not be progressing nearly as quickly as I think we are currently. They are so wonderful and helpful for putting up with us when we don't understand and just in general being great company.
This past Wednesday was our first of many "adventure" days. Essentially instead of going to class every Wednesday, we split into groups of 2 or 3 and well, go on an adventure in Jordan! So for my first adventure, I went to Madaba with Hanan. It was a definite success!
Madaba has the largest population of Christians in Jordan - at about 30%. So for our adventure we explored a church, did some window shopping andwent to Mount Nebo.
This is the mosaic map from St. George's Church. The history of the map (seen below) is in 1884 Christian builders came across the remnants of an old Byzantine church on the site of their new construction. The Byzantine church was destroyed by wilful destruction, fire and neglect, but the mosaic was kept relatively intact! It now represents the oldest map of Palestine in existence. The map showed Palestine, part of Jordan and part of Egypt.
We also saw Mount Nebo when we were there. Here is the quote the guide book gives which indicates its significance:
"Go up unto...Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die." (Deuteronomy 32:49-50).
So this sight is where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land, a land he was forbidden to enter. So the story goes that he died on Mount Nebo and was later buried in the area but the exact location is up to conjecture. The sight was filled with tourists. Our taxi driver said that was very normal in Madaba because of Mount Nebo. In fact, Madaba had the most tourists I have seen in Jordan so far. I have a hunch there will be more in Petra though!
Hanan and I in front of the lookout of Mount Nebo.
While I did like the city a lot, the best part of Madaba was probably chilling in one of the stores with two of the owners just drinking chai. We talked to them a little bit in Arabic and they were impressed so they asked if we wanted to sit and drink chai - why not? They spoke to us the entire time in Arabic and we seemed to cover a lot of topics too. Then their friend came and talked to us too. He had just returned from India so we reminisced over how delicious this one restaurant in Old Delhi is and India in general. To me, as long as I am speaking Arabic with new people - I am happy!
As for my "Democracy and Human Rights" class with Doctor Jamal, I am constantly excited about it. It is really perfect since it is an introductory course with mostly freshman and also I basically took the same class (that was more challenging) at Cornell my freshman year - Intro to Political Philosophy. After the last class I spoke to the professor afterwards (he is so great!) to just ask a question. Somehow that led to me making a presentation in front of the class on Sunday on Hobbes. Mind you, there are over 150 people in this class. Oh... and I don't really speak Arabic. Eek!! Nonetheless, I love a good challenge so bring it on!
This weekend = Wadi Rum, Aqaba then Petra! This may mean nothing to some of you, but these are the three greatest things to do in Jordan! I am super excited. More importantly, the university is comping the trip entirely so all I will have to pay for is lunch I think! Get ready for some amazing pictures!
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