You know you consider yourself a resident of a foreign country when you start welcoming natives to their own country and in their own broken accent. "Welcome to Jordan" has become part of our daily vocabulary alongside "Mabrook" (congratulations), "Mumkin" (possibly), "Inshallah" (God willing), and "khalus!" (enough/done!). Some of us have gone so far as to insert these words into our own renditions of our past, pre-Jordan. For example, my fellow SIT Tribesman recounted an embarrassing childhood story in which her mother had shouted "leh leh leh leh!" (No, No, No, NO!).
You see a tree in the middle of the sidewalk...Welcome to Jordan!
Woman in a Nikab standing in the ocean up to her ankles...Welcome to Jordan!
A modest block of cheddar cheese, a 2 inch wheel of brie and 6 peaches cost 18 JD...Welcome to Jordan!
Young man simultaneously waving a machete and the Jordanian flag while hanging half outside his friend's Mercedes Kompressor driving around a traffic circle and honking...Welcome to Jordan!
See restaurant titled "Delicious Meal Restaurant" and then spelled out so that the arabic sounds out "deeleeceeus Meel Ristorant"...Welcome to Jordan!
House runs out of Water spontaneously on a Thursday...WELCOME TO JORDAN!
I've also got to a point where I am comfortable being myself despite taking certain liberties that some Jordanians would consider culturally insensitive such as leaving the gym with my hair wet. I've made enough concessions and I am no longer bothered by the response elicited from male passerbys when I wear my Ortega, eat chedder cheese in block form, wear shorts in the gym, or walk down the street with my hiking backpack.
Things I discovered in the last 5 days:
1) I have many marketable skills including the ability to tie a cherry in a knot in my mouth.
2) The color of my bile is a electric "grellow" (green/yellow)
3) Discovered some ancient Petra pottery shards which I convinced myself were from the Nabatean period but were probably from an overexcited tourist juggling their replica purchase precariously 5 days ago.
5) Peaches and Brie are REALLY REALLY expensive in Jordan
Anne Hobson vs. Magloobah and strange meat patty...
Collective meat wins!
The last 5 days consisted of the best and the worst times I have had abroad. 1) Got to drive a boat to Saudi Arabia and Egypt while smoking a Dominican in utter Caribbean ecstasy. 2) Had the worst food poisoning of my life, could not function for a full 48 hours, rediscovered the color of my own bile and just plain left my innards in a hotel in Petra. I spent the night befriending the Petra Palace Hotel toilet. At one point, a thunderstorm rolled in. Seeing as it was previously predicted that Jordan had already gotten its rainwater for the year given that March is the end of the rainy season, I assumed the thunderstorm was fake and I was hallucinating out of lack of stomach content. The next morning, I told my roommate to get the program director, who proceeded to make a house call to the doctor, both of whom confirmed that the skies did in fact throw up with me all over Jordan the night before. Not going insane, Mabrook. The day before, one of the SIT staff had gotten sick with the same situation and the same doctor, so I was not as scared. The doctor confirmed my suspicion--Food Poisoning--and took out a needle "to fight nausea". Good call given the 2 hour bus ride about to ensue. Then he told me to stand up and turn around. WHAT?
There was something about exposing my butt to this strange good-natured Arab doctor while my program director was in the room that just didn't sit well with me. I'll take it in the arm-vein any day sir! He gave me a prescription for some blue pills and some white pills. I was out of it for the next 36 hours (all of Wadi Rumm until the Camel rides on the third day). This surely was a sign from Allah or one of his home boys that I will have to return to Wadi Rum on my birthday to camp out under the stars and chase the sun up orange sand dunes.
Out of our five destinations (Karak, Dana Nature Reserve, Wadi Rum, Petra and Aqaba), I loved Aqaba the most. OCEAN! I got to drive the boat out into international waters so that we were in between Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt and Jordan and could see all four countries at once. Jeff and I proceeded to have a swan dive competition off of the second floor of the boat. And then we snorkeled. I stalked a school of trumpet fish from the reef into deeper water and had staring contests with some rainbow fish. Lastly, everything was duty free. There were Duty frarrots (duty free carrots)...duty freggs...duty fraffles (waffles), and duty frinner (duty free dinner). The world was generally free off duty and responsibility.
Favorite quote from trip: "I have a theory. It's actually a stereotype. Arabs look for an excuse to make noise. (protests, weddings, passing the high school exam, shouting at each other regularly but completely devoid of anger)."
I returned to the web world to discover that there was a bomb scare on a plane in Amman, and a man set himself on fire for attention this past demonstration-cycle; and yet, there were still more deaths in Baltimore this past weekend than in Jordan. This inspired me to add some verses to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire..."
DICTATOR IN TUNISIA, QADDAFI VERSUS LIBYA...KINGS PERSPIRED, CABINETS FIRED...IRAN'S GOT AN N-BOMB? ...WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE!
DEMONSTRATING AFTER PRAYERS, SELF-INFLICTED HUMAN FLARES...DEMOCRACY, IRHALL HOSNI...MICHAEL JACKSON, DISNEYLAND...WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE! IT WAS ALWAYS BURNING WHILE THE WORLD IS TURNING.
Tomorrow I am running a half marathon to the dead sea. It will be a glorious demise and subsequent rebirth. Oh the irony, I shalt soon be as dead as the dead sea. Yalla!
You see a tree in the middle of the sidewalk...Welcome to Jordan!
Woman in a Nikab standing in the ocean up to her ankles...Welcome to Jordan!
A modest block of cheddar cheese, a 2 inch wheel of brie and 6 peaches cost 18 JD...Welcome to Jordan!
Young man simultaneously waving a machete and the Jordanian flag while hanging half outside his friend's Mercedes Kompressor driving around a traffic circle and honking...Welcome to Jordan!
See restaurant titled "Delicious Meal Restaurant" and then spelled out so that the arabic sounds out "deeleeceeus Meel Ristorant"...Welcome to Jordan!
House runs out of Water spontaneously on a Thursday...WELCOME TO JORDAN!
I've also got to a point where I am comfortable being myself despite taking certain liberties that some Jordanians would consider culturally insensitive such as leaving the gym with my hair wet. I've made enough concessions and I am no longer bothered by the response elicited from male passerbys when I wear my Ortega, eat chedder cheese in block form, wear shorts in the gym, or walk down the street with my hiking backpack.
Things I discovered in the last 5 days:
1) I have many marketable skills including the ability to tie a cherry in a knot in my mouth.
2) The color of my bile is a electric "grellow" (green/yellow)
3) Discovered some ancient Petra pottery shards which I convinced myself were from the Nabatean period but were probably from an overexcited tourist juggling their replica purchase precariously 5 days ago.
5) Peaches and Brie are REALLY REALLY expensive in Jordan
Anne Hobson vs. Magloobah and strange meat patty...
Collective meat wins!
The last 5 days consisted of the best and the worst times I have had abroad. 1) Got to drive a boat to Saudi Arabia and Egypt while smoking a Dominican in utter Caribbean ecstasy. 2) Had the worst food poisoning of my life, could not function for a full 48 hours, rediscovered the color of my own bile and just plain left my innards in a hotel in Petra. I spent the night befriending the Petra Palace Hotel toilet. At one point, a thunderstorm rolled in. Seeing as it was previously predicted that Jordan had already gotten its rainwater for the year given that March is the end of the rainy season, I assumed the thunderstorm was fake and I was hallucinating out of lack of stomach content. The next morning, I told my roommate to get the program director, who proceeded to make a house call to the doctor, both of whom confirmed that the skies did in fact throw up with me all over Jordan the night before. Not going insane, Mabrook. The day before, one of the SIT staff had gotten sick with the same situation and the same doctor, so I was not as scared. The doctor confirmed my suspicion--Food Poisoning--and took out a needle "to fight nausea". Good call given the 2 hour bus ride about to ensue. Then he told me to stand up and turn around. WHAT?
There was something about exposing my butt to this strange good-natured Arab doctor while my program director was in the room that just didn't sit well with me. I'll take it in the arm-vein any day sir! He gave me a prescription for some blue pills and some white pills. I was out of it for the next 36 hours (all of Wadi Rumm until the Camel rides on the third day). This surely was a sign from Allah or one of his home boys that I will have to return to Wadi Rum on my birthday to camp out under the stars and chase the sun up orange sand dunes.
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| Jemals in Wadi Rum |
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| Classic Petra Picture |
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| I love how in foreign countries they consider your life your own responsibility. It's refreshing. So is climbing ruins solo. |
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| Man holds hawk. No explanation offered. |
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| This is Rayman, my Jemal in Wadi Rum. He likes grass. |
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| We slept in tents at Wadi Rum |
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| Wild donkey? |
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| Artsy pic in Dana Biosphere Reserve |
Out of our five destinations (Karak, Dana Nature Reserve, Wadi Rum, Petra and Aqaba), I loved Aqaba the most. OCEAN! I got to drive the boat out into international waters so that we were in between Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt and Jordan and could see all four countries at once. Jeff and I proceeded to have a swan dive competition off of the second floor of the boat. And then we snorkeled. I stalked a school of trumpet fish from the reef into deeper water and had staring contests with some rainbow fish. Lastly, everything was duty free. There were Duty frarrots (duty free carrots)...duty freggs...duty fraffles (waffles), and duty frinner (duty free dinner). The world was generally free off duty and responsibility.
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| Port of Aqaba |
Favorite quote from trip: "I have a theory. It's actually a stereotype. Arabs look for an excuse to make noise. (protests, weddings, passing the high school exam, shouting at each other regularly but completely devoid of anger)."
I returned to the web world to discover that there was a bomb scare on a plane in Amman, and a man set himself on fire for attention this past demonstration-cycle; and yet, there were still more deaths in Baltimore this past weekend than in Jordan. This inspired me to add some verses to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire..."
DICTATOR IN TUNISIA, QADDAFI VERSUS LIBYA...KINGS PERSPIRED, CABINETS FIRED...IRAN'S GOT AN N-BOMB? ...WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE!
DEMONSTRATING AFTER PRAYERS, SELF-INFLICTED HUMAN FLARES...DEMOCRACY, IRHALL HOSNI...MICHAEL JACKSON, DISNEYLAND...WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE! IT WAS ALWAYS BURNING WHILE THE WORLD IS TURNING.
Tomorrow I am running a half marathon to the dead sea. It will be a glorious demise and subsequent rebirth. Oh the irony, I shalt soon be as dead as the dead sea. Yalla!
You are not the first to get ill on too much wadi rum. What did we teach you on moderation?
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