Dad wrote an email with some interesting comments about my last post, and I want to clarify that I do understand and believe that both sides in the Israeli-Arab conflict have inflicted terrible wrongs on each other. Dad said, well, the Arabs also wanted to take [back] all of the land and the Isaralites were only defending themselves against imminent war (in 1947) [although, this argument seems as fair to me as it would be for a little child to demand a toy back from a younger sibling that the child stopped playing with hours before], the Palestinians were ready to kill all of the Israelites, the Palestinians also lied to the British many times and the Palestinians committed many brutal and bloody acts. The point of my last post was not that the Palestinians have not committed horrible atrocities, but that I personally had never heard the Arab perspective to which I was introduced through reading Queen Noor's book. I had heard all of the facts from the Israeli perspective my dad related to me, and that suggested to me that an American like me, who doesn't study this topic in depth but is only partially introduced to the topic via the media, is exposed to an Israeli-biased perspective. Dad gave me good advice, saying I should not make any premature judgements until I've gained deep knowledge about different elements of the conflict, and he's right. I do hope to do that.
Now, a warning for Dad: do not get nervous about the next story I am going to tell. I feel very safe in Jordan. So, last night, my apartment-mate Katie and I went out in Amman. We went with our friend Greg who is now working at King's Academy but has lived in Jordan for 8 months and has a large group of expat friends. It was very cool to meet the young expat crowd. Very interesting and diverse bunch. A girl from Lebanon who is studying poly sci in the US, a Phillipino-Iraqi girl from NYC on a Fulbright, a flamboyant and funny guy from the SE US who was a private tutor for one of the richest families in Jordan, a guy from Texas who was in Jordan for a couple days after literally travelling the world--maybe hitting 20+ countries in the last year, even a guy from Columbia, South Carolina!, and many more. We got to see a little more of Amman and had dinner at this great Italian restuarant. The real adventure started when Katie and I tried to get back home to King's Academy. First of all, it was my first international driving experience, and Dad would be proud! The driving here is much like it is in Colombia: paint lines on the road, road signs, these are all suggestions rather than rules. My nasa nerd friends will not be surprised to know that I held my own. Also, during Ramadan, EVERYONE stays awake at night and is out and about, eating, talking, socializing. Anyway, we finally stopped to ask directions from a guy on the side of the street holding a parrot. He didn't really speak English but he asked to take plenty of pictures with Katie while I was in the car with everyone behind me honking and yelling. Finally, the guy with the parrot found two friends who knew English. Jordanians are SO hospitable. They actually got into the back of our car (it was safe, there were hundreds of people around, and traffic was going a mile an hour) and offered to direct us. But they misunderstood that we needed to go to Madaba, which is a good 30 minutes away. When we realized the misunderstanding they got out and tried to tell us which way to go. Still got even more lost. Finally, we hailed a taxi, desperately tried to communicate despite the langauge barrier, and I drove in the taxi to 7th circle while Katie followed behind in the car. Needless to say, we did end up making it home around 3pm...
Today, Katie, John and I (the three fellows!) went into Madaba to buy some food and look around. Here are some pictures!
Now, a warning for Dad: do not get nervous about the next story I am going to tell. I feel very safe in Jordan. So, last night, my apartment-mate Katie and I went out in Amman. We went with our friend Greg who is now working at King's Academy but has lived in Jordan for 8 months and has a large group of expat friends. It was very cool to meet the young expat crowd. Very interesting and diverse bunch. A girl from Lebanon who is studying poly sci in the US, a Phillipino-Iraqi girl from NYC on a Fulbright, a flamboyant and funny guy from the SE US who was a private tutor for one of the richest families in Jordan, a guy from Texas who was in Jordan for a couple days after literally travelling the world--maybe hitting 20+ countries in the last year, even a guy from Columbia, South Carolina!, and many more. We got to see a little more of Amman and had dinner at this great Italian restuarant. The real adventure started when Katie and I tried to get back home to King's Academy. First of all, it was my first international driving experience, and Dad would be proud! The driving here is much like it is in Colombia: paint lines on the road, road signs, these are all suggestions rather than rules. My nasa nerd friends will not be surprised to know that I held my own. Also, during Ramadan, EVERYONE stays awake at night and is out and about, eating, talking, socializing. Anyway, we finally stopped to ask directions from a guy on the side of the street holding a parrot. He didn't really speak English but he asked to take plenty of pictures with Katie while I was in the car with everyone behind me honking and yelling. Finally, the guy with the parrot found two friends who knew English. Jordanians are SO hospitable. They actually got into the back of our car (it was safe, there were hundreds of people around, and traffic was going a mile an hour) and offered to direct us. But they misunderstood that we needed to go to Madaba, which is a good 30 minutes away. When we realized the misunderstanding they got out and tried to tell us which way to go. Still got even more lost. Finally, we hailed a taxi, desperately tried to communicate despite the langauge barrier, and I drove in the taxi to 7th circle while Katie followed behind in the car. Needless to say, we did end up making it home around 3pm...
Today, Katie, John and I (the three fellows!) went into Madaba to buy some food and look around. Here are some pictures!
One of the many fruit stands along the road in Madaba.
The mosque in Madaba.
Some Arabic graffiti.
One of the favorite Jordanian pasttimes: smoking hookah, or "shisha." The other day the entire faculty and staff from King's Academy was eating dinner in Amman and after dinner, it was considered appropriate to smoke shisha along with our chai tea.
Some more shisha and some head scarves.
A square in Madaba. There are pictures of "His Majesty" [and his entire family] everywhere, people's homes and offices, on the street, in restuarants.
The desert.
Camel sighting!
Bedouin tents...
...beside mansions.
LOL at that Camel! yeah Campbell!! anyways....that graffiti is boss and so is that hookah store.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Get a map! What type of car are you driving?
ReplyDelete