"Welcome to Jordan"

Mansaf. The most traditional meal in Jordan. 

“Welcome to Jordan!” (If you know a Jordanian accent, please read this phrase again in that tone.)

I’ve heard this phrase too many times to count since I arrived. The most often is from taxi drivers. “Where are you from?” they ask. “America,” I say. “Ah, welcome to Jordan!” they reply. I have this conversation at least once a day, if not two or three times. Shopkeepers, restaurant owners and men, yelling out their car windows as they drive by or saying it behind your back when you walk by, are always saying, “Welcome to Jordan.” Sometimes it’s annoying and sometimes it’s a bit harassing, but most of the time it’s friendly. When it’s annoying I roll my eyes; when it’s harassing I say to myself, “It’s about time! I’ve been here three months already!” which always makes me feel better and when it’s almost always friendly, I nod my head and say thank you.

The phrase has also become something of an explanation or catch phrase amongst our group. When something goes wrong or something doesn’t work or something is running 20 minutes late or something seems so illogical there can be no possible explanation, we sigh and say, “Welcome to Jordan.”

When your curfew is 11 on a Thursday night (which is like Friday)? “Welcome to Jordan.”

When the internet suddenly stops working just when you really need it? “Welcome to Jordan.”

When you get in a taxi only to have him stop so he can grab a cup of coffee? “Welcome to Jordan.”

When you're walking through a market and salesmen want to get your attention with the only English they know? "Welcome to Jordan."

Perhaps one of the best examples of this came just this week. This is our last week of Arabic classes and most students will have finals on Sunday. But on Tuesday the Prime Minister announced that Sunday would be a national holiday. Labor Day, in fact. In Jordan, Labor Day is May 1. Now, you may be thinking Sunday is not May 1 and if you are, you are in fact correct. Sunday is April 29. So why is May 1 a holiday? Because they wanted to have a three-day weekend of course! I’ve asked so many Jordanians to try to explain this to me. None of them ever remember the date of a holiday changing like this. But are they surprised? No! Things like this are typical! Can you imagine what would happen in the States if the President declared tomorrow was a holiday and every business, school and store had to be closed?! It would never happen! We Americans have places to be and things to do! So this sudden change in plans was frustrating; now when would we take our tests? Of course everything was switched around and in reality it’s not that big of a deal. But the sheer normalcy by which every Jordanian took this change in plans made me throw up my hands and say, “Welcome to Jordan.”

My time in Jordan is coming to a close; I’ll be in America in 21 days. But I have no doubt, that as I leave this country, my taxi driver will be saying, “Welcome to Jordan!”

My friend Emma is in a choir here that is a mix of expats and locals. They had their performance last night and it was SO much fun. They sang a variety of songs from different musicals like The Lion King, Les Mesierables, Pirates of Penzance, Mama Mia and even a song from Glee. But they also sang songs from Arab musicals which was really fun to hear too. 

Singing Mama Mia

Madaba and Mt. Nebo

Yesterday I went to Madaba and Mount Nebo for the day. It was a great day trip; we left around 9:30 and got home around 5. We took a bus from Amman to Madaba. The 30 minute ride cost us each less than a dollar! In Madaba we visited a museum, multiple churches and then hired a taxi to take us to Mount Nebo. The weather was beautiful so it was a fantastic day. Here's some pictures. 

The Catholic Church in Madaba. However, they call it The Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist.
Our tour guide proudly stated, "It is the only one in the world named this!" 

The church had a multitude of mosaic replicas which we thought were pretty cool until we realized we would be seeing all the originals later in the day. 

A mosaic they discovered in the church just a month ago. 

This well, they told us, is more than 2000 years old. 

We climbed up to the bell tower and this was our view. Amazing.

The crew: Christian, Rory, Evelina, Helin, Stephanie, Liese, me. 

There were mosaics everywhere, yet all of them were impressive. At this one, the man sprayed a bit of water on it and the way it revealed the colors underneath was amazing. They are so incredibly beautiful!

The Apostle's Church.

The entire floor was covered with a mosaic. It's sheer size was impressive. 

I couldn't resist. Misspellings of English words on signs is often good for a laugh.

This is the Church of the Map or Church of Saint George. 

On the floor in the church is a mosaic map that is the oldest known map of the Holy Land.
If you want more info:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madaba_Map   

I've been interning at Siyaha, a USAID funded tourism development group in Jordan this semester. This was a project they helped fund.

Mount Nebo! If you don't know, Mount Nebo is famous as the site where Moses, right before his death,  looked out over the Promised Land for the first time.
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nebo

This was our taxi driver. I asked him to take a picture of our group, but he misunderstood and thought I wanted a picture of him...oh well. 

All the places you can see from this spot on Mount Nebo. It's a pretty impressive list: Hebron, Bethlehem, Jericho, the Dead Sea, Nablus, Ramallah and the Mount of Olives. 

Outside the city...

Not much to report in the past week, but I’ll post a few pictures. 

On Friday I went with a few friends to Dibeen, a small village about an hour outside the city. It was great to see some countryside and we had a little barbecue. 

On Saturday I volunteered at a small, all-girls school in Ajloun, another small village outside of Amman. We painted in the morning and went for a hike in the afternoon. Not a very productive weekend in terms of schoolwork, but it was great.

The view on the way to Dibeen.

One of my favorite Jordanian treats! Zatar, zait and bread!

Painting at the school in Ajloun.

My peer tutor, Ghadeer, joined us. 

More paint may have ended up on the ground than on the  walls,
but at least they were white when we finished!

We hiked through a herd of goats. 

The view at the end of our hike; it felt SO good!

Who knew you could learn so much on spring break...

When I landed at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman around 3:30 this morning I wasn’t quite sure what to feel. I had had an amazingly, wonderful spring break in Turkey and I fell in love with the place; I was going to miss it. Yet, I also felt the relief that comes with arriving home after a long vacation and this surprised me. After the way my semester began, I had doubts that I would ever feel a sense of comfort from this place.

Aside from being a wonderful adventure (which I will detail a bit more in a second) Turkey taught me or helped me to see some of what my time in Jordan so far has taught me. Perhaps most importantly, I realized that despite the fact I had a tough beginning here I have, in time, created a routine, a comfort zone and a life Amman. During long or frustrating days in Turkey I found myself saying a couple times, “I wish I was back in Amman.” Never, in a million years, did I ever, ever, think I would say those words.

Turkey, especially Istanbul, also helped me to see why my classmates and I often find ourselves complaining about the city of Amman. Istanbul is an incredibly vibrant city and you feel it the moment you step out of the airport. They have a culture and you become immersed in it. People say Istanbul is where the East meets the West and I have to completely agree. They offer so many comforts that a Western society provides yet the people and the music and the food have a sort of Easter or Middle Eastern flare. I fell in love with all of this. All of this is exactly what is missing in Amman. Perhaps I haven’t looked for it hard enough or I haven’t been looking in the right places but in Istanbul, the longer you’re there, the longer your list of things to do will grow. If you ever choose to visit Jordan, and I hope that you do, the only thing I would recommend you do in Amman is use the airport. Jordan’s sites and treasures do not lie in the city but in various places around the country. Amman has nothing to capture its visitors. After a few months here you discover a few charms, a restaurant here and a café there, but you have to search for them and they’re few and far between. I’ve realized that Amman will always hold a special place in my heart and whether it happens the day I leave or two years from now, I will come to appreciate the experiences this country has given me. However, I don’t think I will ever be able to say with conviction that I love this city and I’ve realized maybe that’s ok.

(Before I go into detail about each day, I apologize for the vast amounts of pictures. It was hard to decide from the approximately 800 I took…)

Day 1:

Our flight left Amman on March 30, the day that daylight savings time goes into effect here. Our flight was delayed about an hour and it seemed, in typical Middle Eastern fashion, that the reason for the delay was in fact, daylight savings time. We landed in Istanbul around 8am, took the metro into the city and after a little bit of trouble found our hostel. We weren’t able to check in yet so we found a place to have breakfast but by about noon our beds were ready. At this point, I had been up for about 30 hours straight minus the rough hour of sleep I’d gotten on the plane; we crashed and slept for almost 6 hours. Our other traveling partner was getting in later that night and after we met up with her we went for a walk in the neighborhood our hostel was in.

Day 2:

We explored the Sultanahmet or Old Town area. We visited the Blue Mosque and Suleymaniye Mosque. We also ventured to the main bus station and purchased tickets for our trip to Denizli the following day.

Blue Mosque

The inside is stunningly beautiful. Everything is tiled or painted. 

Traveling partners: Anisah, Katy, myself

Suleymaniye Mosque

The longer I'm here the more I fall in love with Arabic calligraphy.

The view of the Bosphorus from the mosque.

Day 3:

We hopped on a bus early to catch our bus to Denizli. We were told it was a 12 hour bus ride so we were mentally prepared for a long day. However, in total it took about 13 and a half hours and we seemed to be nearing our breaking points when we finally arrived in Denizli. Denizli is the nearest big town to the tourist attraction Pamukkale. We found a bus to take us to Pamukkale and then found our hostel. After beginning our day around 8am it was about 1am when we finally crawled into bed.

I wish I could capture the beauty of the Turkish countryside. I'm not sure if it's just that I've been in Amman which is int he middle of a desert and everything is brown and dirty but everything in Turkey seemed to be green and colorful and beautiful! I couldn't get enough. 

Our long bus trip also included a surprise ferry ride. 

Day 4:

According to Wikipedia Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish. The area is a series of pools that have been created a certain type of limestone that is often found in water that flows from hots springs.  We also saw ruins called Heiropolis. These are ruins from the ancient city that was built around Pamukkale. The weather started off a bit rainy but it turned into a beautiful day. That night we caught a bus to Selcuk which is the town nearest the ruins of Ephasus.

Pamukkale. Looks like a snow covered mountain but it's rock hard. 

so heavy!

Day 5:

This was by far my favorite day of the trip. We slept in and found our way out the door around 11:30am. The hostel we stayed at has bikes for its guests to use for free and since Ephasus was only 3km away we decided to bike. The weather was incredible! Blue, cloud-free skies, temperatures in the 70s and the sun was shining. It was beautiful; we could not have asked for anything better. We also went to a typical Turkish Bath or hamam that day after we got back from Ephasus. It was definitely an experience but a fun one and I’m glad we made it part of our Turkey experience. That night we caught the overnight bus back to Istanbul and arrived in the city around 8am.

Ephasus

We asked this man to take a photo for us. He did gladly, then handed the camera to his wife and ran to get in photos with us. Then they gave us each a bottle of water before giving us their email to send them the photos and taking off. About fifteen minutes later as we were biking down the main road the passed us and were honking and waving like crazy. so nice!

Day 6:

We took the morning to shower and rest a bit since none of us had slept very well on the bus but then we went to visit the Hagia Sophia. Talk about an incredible place. In its history the building has been used as both a church and a mosque and if Istanbul is where East meets West, the Hagia Sophia might be the center of Istanbul. Remains of both the Christian and Muslim traditions remain and the way they so seamlessly intertwine is beautiful.

Day 7:

Today we visited Topkapi Palace. This place is HUGE and not only is the architecture and the buildings amazing but it houses some old relics like an insanely large diamond and locks from the Prophet Muhammad’s beard.

  

Day 8:

Today was shopping day. We visited the Spice Bazaar, Grand Bazaar and its surrounding shopping areas. It was exhausting, but lots of fun. I’ve never really liked bargaining but Anisah does so she was very helpful. A few favorite quotes from shop owners at the Bazaar: “Ah, hello gorgeous! For you, everything is free!” “You’re American. Angelina Jolie! Michelle Obama!” “Come, let me help you spend your money!” and finally, “Let me sell you things you don’t need!” We had a late lunch then ventured out to have some apple tea (special to Turkey and delicious!) at a place in a neighborhood of the city we hadn’t yet explored. Our trek home turned into something of an adventure that could have turned into a somewhat unpleasant situation but a man who, thankfully, knew English was able to help us navigate the confusing bus system and we made it home safe.

I loved these lamps! But I didn't think I would be able to get one home safely...

I rediscovered my love for baklava in Turkey. 

Where we ended up...not where we wanted to be.

Our late night bus...

Day 9:

Katy left the night before so Anisah and I took the time to buy any last minute gifts and wander around. I loved just walking around the city. We also went to see the underground cistern. It was impressive and a bit creepy with the music they have playing but it was cool to see. We headed to the airport around 9pm caught our 12:30am flight and made it back to Amman without a hitch.

Fishermen on the bridge.

This corn was delicious! And for about 75 cents!

Underground cistern.

Medusa head in the cistern. Don't worry, it's actually supposed to be upside down.

TURKEY!

The trip was awesome and I really hope that I get to go back to Turkey someday!