The Japanese presence in Jordan

Before going to Jordan, I had no idea that the Japanese have a real presence in the country. A lot Japanese money is being invested into different projects there. You can see some their work even if you are not directly linked to their projects. For example, on top of the Mount Sinai, there is a restaurant complex over looking the Dead Sea, with a beautiful view of the scenery on the Jordanian side, leading to Bethlehem on the other side of the Sea. 

The Japanese Government has invested a great deal of effort and finances into developing Middle eastern region covering Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories... Work is being undertaken in the areas of education, health, economics and health amongst others. It is inspiring and satisfying to see so much work being commissioned by a government from half way across the world. As my Japanese colleague put it, sometimes richness does indeed help if it is used beneficially for those less fortunate. 

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   More information on the presence of the Japanese in Jordan, please see:

http://www.jordan.emb-japan.go.jp/site_map.htm#Japan_&_Jordan      

The Ancient Petra

There is a magical feeling in Petra. The place radiates history and stories from the past. It is a treasure of the ancient world. Arabs built the city more than 2000 years ago. As you walk through the ancient town, you see a number of buildings carved in rock. There are caves, pathways with high stone walls, sand trails for horses, hidden palaces with mandala paintings. It truly is a city to explore by following the rather eerie narrow ally ways inside the rocks. 

There is something very special about Petra. Even if you are not a historian, you can enjoy the atmosphere and the beauty of it. The only downside to it is that the place is packed with tourists. Another piece of advice is that you will walk a lot when you explore Petra. Area-wise the ancient city is not very large, but since it was build in and on rocks, walking around involves a lot of climbing. The climbing way also cause you to feel dizzy due to altitude changes. Not to worry - you can always relax and regain energy in any of the Arab style cafes spread around Petra.         

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Here is a useful site for anyone hoping to visit Petra:

http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/petra.html

         

 

The magic of the Dead Sea

I have never seen anything like it in my life - dozens of people floating in the sea, looking calm and relaxed as they let the minerals from the Dead Sea penetrate their skin. From the road higher up on a hill, the people looked tiny. It looked like as if a boat had had an accident and the passengers had ended up in the sea. 

As we approach the holiday resort by the sea, we could see Bethlehem on the other side of the sea. According to Christians, Jews and Muslims, we were in a very Holy part of the world. Shortly before, we had driven over the Sinai mountain, on which Moses is believed to have died. The trip from Amman to the Dead Sea passed a number of religious sites. We had stopped at one, at the Jordan river, in which Jesus is believed to have been baptized. The security in the area had been very tight. We were escorted in a group that was not allowed to disperse even the slightest bit. The two guides had been extremely strict about this. After visiting the church in which the baptism ceremony of Jesus had been conducted, we got the river. The river was surprisingly narrow - the side of Israel was only a few metres away. On both banks, you could see military personnel with guns, guarding their land and ensuring that no trespassers were allowed to get over the border without their permission. Our group left the site with bottles of Holy Water from the river. 

Arriving to the Dead Sea Resort was a total contrast to this experience. The resort was full of happy tourist, enjoying the beach and the restaurants and bars that the resort contained. Even Muslim women were sun bathing and swimming in the sea, covered in their Halal swimming suits that did not expose any of their flesh. Westerners were digging up the mud from the sea and spreading it all over their bodies. 

For some, arriving in Jordan meant arriving in their religious paradise; for some, it meant arriving in their holiday heaven.

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For anyone interested in visiting the Dead Sea, here is a useful link:

http://www.moevenpick-hotels.com/en/pub/your_hotels/worldmap/dead_sea/overview.cfm       

         

 

 

   

           

             

   

Checkpoint and more checkpoints

The distance between Amman and Aqaba by the Red Sea is not that much. In theory, you should be able to drive down in a couple of hours. In practice, it takes you at least four hours. The main reason for the longer time is that there are hundred of check points on the roads leading south. The closer you drive the to Israeli border, the more check points will want you to stop so that they can search your car.

Stopping at check points is routine for anyone who lives in Jordan or is a regular visitor. The check point personnel stop all cars, no matter where the sticker on your car states that you are from. They ask you questions relating to your trip, work and personal details. They search your car, including the boot, and x-ray it thoroughly. During the process, the personnel maintain a very serious face and avoid eye-contact. Finally, the give you a hand signal that means that you can proceed with your trip.

When you are driving next to the Israeli border, check points are more frequent. There are also watch towers on the border, facing Jordan. The highway from Amman to the south is straight, right next to the border line, with another highway right on the other side of the border on the side of Israel. As you drive along, you can clearly see cars on the Israeli side. This proximity is contradictory to how hard it is to cross the border. You are so close, yet so far. One could try to run across the border, it would only take seconds. But it would also mean that a bullet would be fired at you. 

Experiences like these give us Westerners a better way of understanding how it is when you are scrutinized for no reason, when you are held at a check point without any concrete evidence, how you are treated as if you are a criminal when you are not. It makes it easier for us to empathize with those who face such treatment on a daily basis. 

    

         

 

 

Chill Out Aqaba

Aqaba has a very distinct atmosphere to Amman. It is a town by the Red Sea, in the south of Jordan. It has a port, beaches, surfing and scuba diving centres. It is the ultimate holiday destination. As soon as you enter the city, you can smell the sea and hear the sea gulls. 

Amman is located on a hilly area, with the latitude being higher than the souther parts of Jordan. At the point of Dead Sea, the altitude is already significantly lower, evidenced by the blocked ears and slight feeling of dizziness associated with the drive down from Amman. By the time you reach the Red Sea, you are below the neutral point. Some people need a little time to get used to the altitude changes that can cause dizziness, nausea and headaches. 

I personally had a permanent headache the entire time I was in Amman. Prone to headaches, this is how my body reacted to being in a  higher altitude. When I was in Aqaba, my headache was gone. I certainly felt the dizziness and light-headedness on the way there, but like a miracle, it was all gone by the time I saw the bright blue sea.

Aqaba was famous for its hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars. It was also famous for cheap shopping. The city centre consisted of different bazaars, each selling food and goods. Apparently, much of these products were much easier to find in Aqaba  than elsewhere in Jordan and they were much cheaper. A number of families and business made special trips to Aqaba in order to do cheap shopping. Nuts and blankets were Aqaba’s specialty. Since many tourists came to Aqaba for holidays, in particular of younger generation, there were more liquor stores around the city than in Amman. 

After checking into our small cozy hotel, my colleagues decided to go to a local scuba diving centre. They were both fond of the activity and didn’t have a chance to do it in Amman. I went along but decided to stay at the pool and the beach since I did not have any experience in scuba diving. 

The diving centre was a calm oasis next to the buzzling city centre. Chill out music was playing in the background and there were deck chairs out on the pool side. There was a cozy little bar and restaurant next to the pool. The staff were friendly and welcoming. It really felt like I had entered paradise. 

I went to walk by the sea. There many tourists lying on the beach, sun bathing and dipping into the sea once in a while. I could see Eilat of Israel on the other side of the sea. 

One of the diving instructors walked over to talk to me. 

‘This is why I love it here. The sea, the sand, the nature... the atmosphere heals you. Once you have lived here, it is hard to live in a city far away from the sea.’ 

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Anyone interested in visiting Aqaba, see this site:

         

 

Ramadan in Jordan

The first tie that I truly experience Ramadan, the Holy Month of Muslims, I was in Jordan. It was clearly a month of reflection, celebration and appreciation. As a Jordanian young man put it, it was a month for soul-searching, a time for thanking God for all that one had in one’s life and a period for personal growth. This was reflected in the general atmosphere of Amman and the whole of Jordan. 

A couple of days before Ramadan started, we saw special Ramadan foods being sold at the busy bazaars of Amman. There were special dates and pastries. People were excited to see these foods that they had not eaten since the previous Ramadan. A Christian lady who worked for the NGO that I was volunteering for told with, with a wide smile on her face: ‘It is so great that you can experience Ramadan here in an Islamic country. Even me as a Christian a excited about it. We get all these special foods that we only get to eat during Ramadan. In my house, we also gather and eat them in the evenings. Though we don’t celebrate Ramadan as such, the month does give us more time to be together as a family and to see our friends.’ 

Muslims aspire to follow their Prophet Mohammad in all that they do. One habit that the Prophet had was to eat dates and drink milk, which is why Muslims tend to break their fast after a long day with these two refreshments before eating anything else. After the date and the milk, people would eat as much as they possibly good. They would break their fast with family and friends. No one wanted to do that alone. The meal times were highly appreciated.

If you went to a restaurant at the time when people broke their fast, you would see people gathering mountains and mountains of food in front of them and then attacking the mountains when they heard the prayer call from the mosque and they knew that they were allowed to eat. For us observes the sight was incredible - people eating as if they had not seen food for years. My Japanese colleague told me that that sort of defeated the purpose. The main idea behind the fast was to build self-control, discipline and appreciation of the food and water that one normally had in one’s life. This habit of eating mountains of food afterwards seemed to counteract the purpose of fasting.

During Ramadan, we were not allowed to eat or drink out on the streets. Not even to drink water in the beaming sun. The office was also a no food and no drink zone. Even if you were not a Muslim, you should respect their Holy Month. Working hours during Ramadan were shorted to half a day. This made people more productive and did not tired them as much. More importantly, this gave time for people to go to the mosque for prayers and to spend time in quiet contemplation. It also gave people more time to spend with the family and loved ones. 

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For more information on Ramadan, see this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/islam/ramadan.shtml

 

 

The Rhythm in the Darkness

While I worked for the Iraqi refugee education centre in Amman, one thing that really struck me was the liveliness of the people there. Everyone was busting with energy and willing to share it with others through dance, drumming, games or any other activity that could be done in a group. There is one particular occasion that I still think about, more than two years after returning to London...

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It was another hot and sunny day. We had just finished a music workshop with the teachers that I was training that week. It was the time of Ramadan and everyone was feeling the effect of it. The heat combined with no water and food during the day was making us feel lethargic. We were slumbering down the stairs when we heard it - the music, laughter and clapping. As we descended to the ground floor, it was louder and louder. 

‘Sounds like someone is having a part’, one of the teachers remarked. We looked at one another and smiled. It was such a relieving feeling to hear these kids who had gone through some much in their young lives to be so happy. 

The door to the classroom at the front of the building was slightly ajar. We peaked into it and we greeted by an intensified sound of cheers and singing. Someone tapped me on my shoulder. It was the centre manager.

‘It is the birthday of one of the boys’, he explained with laugher in his eyes. ‘The others organized a surprise party to him. He has never before properly celebrated his birthday, but now that he is an orphan, we thought that it would be a great chance for him to do that.’

Me and the group of teachers standing behind me were mesmerized by the sight. A group of boys were standing on a table. They were belly dancing to the music played by their peers on the drums. The rest of the children were dancing on the floor next to the table and clapping to cheer the boys on. In the corner of the room, the teachers of the centre were cutting a cake. This would be the first birthday cake the boy had seen in his life. 

The laugher, singing and clapping of the children was getting louder and louder by the minute. I can honestly say that I hadn’t seen children as cheerful as that in a long time. The teachers and I sat down and were merged in watching the children. 

Then, it was all dark. The electricity had gone off. Power cuts were common in Jordan in the summer. Too many people using air conditioning at the same time. 

There was a silence for a moment. The children stopped playing their instruments, stopped dancing and clapping. Then, as if they all had the same internal clock, they all started their music again, exactly at the same time. There was laugher again and the eternal beating of the drum, in the darkness. 

After an hour or so, when the light was one again, the teachers put the birthday cake into plastic bags and gave a piece to each child.

‘When you have iftar once the sun goes down, eat your cake’, the teachers would say to each child. Even on your birthday, you would need to follow the fasting since it was Ramadan.