Noise

Arabs are loud. They like to listen to their music loudly. The men speak loudly. The women wear big and bold colors and shapes. They are big and bold colors and shapes. The absence of this noise to the untamed ear is soothing and delightful, but to an Arab noise is a much appreciated companion that makes life zesty. Everything has a distinct sound; the gas truck, the neighbor's pigeons cooing and cocks crowing, cotton candy guy, vegetable trucks, and everything in between. About a week ago, I was at the vegetable souq minding my business and bustling about finding everything that I needed for our Thursday meal when I stumbled upon a lovely scene.

There was a tomato vendor and his friend, who was naturally a cucumber vendor. As they were cleaning loose dirt off of the vegetables, they sang portions of a little song about their bandoorat w kheear. They sang about how cheap and fresh their produce was and alternated between verses and stanzas. It was so entertaining to me that I caught myself just listening while I gathered suitable cucumbers and tomatoes. I wish that I could have videotaped. Although I do get tired of all of the constant noise, it definitely adds character and flavor to my days. Like the dirt that constantly browns my feet, there is a point when one just has to embrace it and realize it isn't going anywhere, so enjoy it.

Aqaba took me for a ride

After spending some time with my cousin and his lovely wife in Aqaba, he insisted on taking me to my hotel and instead took me to a beach between the South Beach and the city. I figured the South Beach according to the locals was the same beach that my friends and I had been on just a month prior. I was clearly mistaken!

As I walked the beach, there were makeshift tents lining the shore with families hiding from the sun and busily talking and eating. I could not believe how many people were situated on this beach and walked for half an hour toward what I thought was our portion of the same beach. The further I walked, the more obvious it was that I was not going to find my friends and that I was in fact 1 kilometer away from correct beach and several kilometers away from the city.

In the beginning of my searching, I had been trying to figure out where I was and where the others were and hadn't let myself get lost in the scenery of the interesting beach scene. It was really breath-taking to watch the sunset on all of these beach dwellers and me. I took videos on my little camera of the waves, the rocks on the beach and the sunset. I tried to make the most of the situation given I was lost and completely alone on a crowded and very dirty beach. The people that I passed asked me where I was from. I said Amman and they gave me a look that said, "clearly you are from Amman! That explains your attire and your current situation." As a side note, I wasn't wearing anything provocative, just some capris that went to my calves,a t-shirt and flip flops.

As the night ensued, I knew that I needed to get back to the city immediately, and went back to the Baraccuda hotel that was situated on the beach to hail a cab. When I got there, I asked the Egyptian attendants if they could hail a cab for me, so they made a quick call and told me that a cab would arrive in 5 minutes. FALSE! I sat and waited for about half an hour until the attendant led me over to the cab. Several fears always enter my mind at night and sitting idly for half an hour gave my thoughts plenty of time to be unbridled and scare me half to death. The cab driver did indeed ask for 4JD which I was reluctant to pay, but I was exhausted and did not want to fight too much. I made a commotion for about 20 minutes and then just looked at him and told him that I didn't want any trouble and that he better take me EXACTLY where I wanted to go. When I arrived at the lovely restaurant, I graciously thanked the driver for the ride and waited for my friends to arrive. I was relieved that I had arrived in one piece and thought for sure that I would not have any more mishaps for the rest of the night. Little did I know what would ensue...

During my time in Jordan, I have become a very smart traveler despite myself. I take a minimal amount of money whenever possible, leave all valuable cards and IDs stashed away and take the bare necessities wherever I go. This proved very beneficial when I realized after dinner that I had lost my wallet. Inside was my NIKON COOLPIX camera (which I loved and adored), a 1 GB memory card for it, 10 JDs and my driver's license. Now, realistically, this sucked and I would have preferred not to have lost my beloved purple camera, but given that I did, I am grateful that I lost the lesser things in life.

After discovering that my wallet was lost, I scoured the area and let our waiter know. He immediately took me down to a very large man at the front desk who escorted me to the camera and surveillance room above the restaurant. I was absolutely shocked that they had one at all, but was even more impressed when I saw its complex capabilities.

We pinpointed when I went to the bathroom, when I left my wallet in the bathroom AND who had stolen my wallet. Two unsavory young women walked into the one-person bathroom together and were in there for a LONG time. They were the only two individuals who had entered the bathroom since I had left my wallet and were the last women in the restaurant. It was clear to everyone that these two women took it. My friend Kaiti came up and joined me in the surveillance room and looked through the videos and then another friend, Jeremy also joined us. While we were pinpointing the women who had taken the wallet, Jeremy and Kaiti were mesmerized by a large brown cockroach who weaseled his way around the door and made it's way under the couch that they were sitting on.

After we videotaped all of the scenes from the video recorder to a little camera, we were directed to go to the police and report the crime. As soon as they said that, I knew I would never see my cute little camera again. A waiter from the restaurant volunteered to ride his bike up and down the beach and look for the girls. It was a kind gesture and I thanked him for his efforts.

The three of us made our way to the police station and asked a few people for directions along the way. When we entered the complex, we explained the situation to a police officer who called the manager of the restaurant and had him explain the scene to him. The officers were very helpful in explaining what action we should take and helped me by writing a police report for me. Then, they read it over to me to ensure that I understood the content before I signed. The police officers were eager to help us in any way that they could and were enthusiastic that they would do their best to find my ID and camera. About 100 cigarettes and 4 1/2 hours later, we left the police station and staggered our way back to the hotel at 3:00AM. It was an absolutely exhausting ordeal and continued the following morning when I returned at 10AM to finish up paperwork. After another two hours, I was without a group and without a plan for 6 hours in Aqaba. It was extremely hot, I had no spare clothing or shoes... Considering this, I used the only thing that I had, money. I went shopping at a deserted mall that was really creepy, window shopped at a few boutiques and walked the street until I was completely exhausted.

At that point, I broke down and purchased a Bario and water and sat in a public area in the shade and drank them. Our tour's bus came through around 4:30, so I switched out my shoes and put my heavy shopping trophies on the bus and took my camera for a spin on the beach. I trekked out the beach and put my feet in the water and sat on a rock away from the people. It was nice to sit there... Out of no where, I saw this beautiful Arab man with a canon SLR taking pictures near the dock. I watched him for about 15 minutes and then followed suit and pulled out my camera and went on my merry way taking pictures along the beach. This is the point when I acquired a tall and skinny stalker. It was a little unnerving to me, but it definitely wasn't the first time that this has happened to me, so I dealt with it by being vigilant. I kept my distance and did my best to lose him, which I eventually did.

I was relieved when I was about to meet up with the gang again. A day in Aqaba without a plan or friends really sucks. If it had been premeditated, I could have had a blast, but since it was foisted upon me, it sucked. Life got tremendously better once we made it back home. I would have to say that was the worst experience I have ever had in Aqaba.

Filmishmish!

Yesterday, Mugheera's mother and I cleaned the backyard that was replete with garbage of every kind. When I first saw it, I thought that it was such a pity that there was underutilized space that the children could have played in, had it been cleaned. I knew it wasn't my place to offer to clean it, as that may be an insulting proposition, so I just observed the situation and didn't bring it up. Surprisingly, yesterday, my friend and I were standing in the doorway as the kids ran in circles around us playing tag and we decided that it was high time to clean the yard for the kids!

With limited to no tools to use to clean up old wires, glass, dressers, clothes, wood, weeds and squished apricots, Aseel and I tackled the backyard with fury. When the little boys saw that we were cleaning, they immediately wanted to assist, but it really was a dirty job and we were worried that they would get hurt. After about an hour of cleaning, the backyard looked substantially better. I couldn't believe how great it looked and the kids were thrilled. I promised Mugheera that in the coming days, he and I would harvest some of the apricots. He seemed excited to do so, but didn't realize that his chance would come so soon!

Aseel grinned when I told her it was time to get apricots because I have been known for my covert operations with fruit trees in close proximity to our grumpy neighbors and successfully retrieved a few kilograms of pomegranates last year. Teta and I turned the pomegranates into juice and it was delicious! I guess victory is sweet. :)

Mugheera and I grabbed a large pot and the house squeegee and headed to the backyard. The apricot tree branches were quite high and just out of my reach, so we had to get innovative and adventurous. The day before, Mugheera had climbed up the side of the wall and perched on the wall between us and a vacant lot and was unseen by any of the neighbors. Naturally, anything Mugheera can do, I can do too, so I climbed the wall and made my way into the branches of the apricot tree. I was so worried that the neighbors upstairs would see me through the window, since I was situated RIGHT next to the window. Mugheera handed me the squeegee and I jostled the branches just enough to free the apricots. Mugheera screamed in delight which startled me and provoked a warning call from his dad to be quiet because of the neighbors. As the apricots hit the ground, the ripe ones split open and bruised on the rock hard ground, but many were salvageable. Since they were falling so quickly when I jostled a branch, Mugheera stood up and held the pot over his head trying to catch the apricots. I'm not sure why, but I think he only managed to catch one. After a while of poking and prodding around in the treetop, Mugheera told me that we had enough apricots and that I needed to come down and help him gather.

As we gathered, I would put five in the pot and he would take three of them back out. It was funny to watch how particular he was with the apricots. Since his mom had asked me to save the seeds for the apricots, at first he thought he was supposed to tear open the apricots and JUST retrieve the pits. Aseel told me that after cracking the outer shell of the pits, they have a sweet and soft nut that many people like to eat. I had never heard of this before, but I followed her instructions and told Mugheera that we in fact did want to eat the fruits in addition to the seeds.

We filled the entire pot in addition to a black grocery bag and carried them inside to process. Aseel and I washed the fruit and I took a small portion home with me.

At the end of the day, we made crepes and whipped cream After completing the crepes around 12AM, we sat on the rooftop in the dark and ate the delicious crepes. She and the little boys loved them. While I was gone, she had made apricot jelly for the first time and gave me a small container of it. I would definitely say that the day was a success.

Apples

On Friday evening, I purchased some food and beverages for the program's Dead Sea trip and unexpectedly had a slight mishap. My roommates and I shop at a little convenience store near our home and have grown to endear our grocer and his brothers. Let me take a moment to describe him, Abu Majdi and his brothers. Abu Majdi has voluminousness white hair that is considerably longer than any older Arab man that I have seen. He has a sharp long nose, a kind countenance and always wears a name tag that says "Abu Majdi" and is punctuated with a Word document smiley face.

Since I had procrastinated much of my afternoon away by catching up with good friends, I was hard pressed for time when my roommate awoke from her nap and was ready to go out on the town. I scrambled to Abu Majdi's store and whisked through the isles finding all of the fixings for a great trip picnic. Of course, this included fresh fruit such as apples, grapes, and a watermelon. I also purchased a large pack of six liters of water which was surprisingly heavier than I anticipated. The store attendant who I can only assume is one of Abu Majdi's nephews or sons, asked me if I had a car. To that I responded that I would get stronger by carrying all of the items down the hill by myself. Little did I know that I had WAY too much confidence in my strength and abilities.

As I was carrying everything down the steep hill to my home, the water became to heavy for me and I absentmindedly set it down along with all of my groceries. Immediately, six of my eight apples rolled out of their bag and hurtled down the hill bumping and bruising along the way. I tried to stop them with my hands and feet and utterly failed. I'm sure it was quite the sight for those that observed me.

Generally, the neighbor kids are little hellions. I often seen them as pests, especially the little boys with their mischievous grins, but this night, I was quite grateful for them. As they were racing up and down the street with one roller blade per child, they chased and snatched up all of the apples and brought them back to me. They each took turns dropping them into another big black sack that I had and asked me if I needed any more help. I thanked them sheepishly and told them that I would be fine. Another young teen asked me if I needed any help and I thanked him for his offer and kept going. I am grateful for the simple gestures of kindness and concern that the rowdy little boys in my neighborhood demonstrated and will be a little less critical of them when I pass them wreaking havoc on the street.

A Glance Into First Class

Detroit, Michigan Airport

With the shadows, the cranes almost look like abstract flowers.

Paper cranes

DIA's best kept security secret

The Denver International Airport stockyards

When Thomas Friedman stated that “‘First Class’ is more than just a better seat, it’s a better life,” he was quite right. I have always been curious about his claim, because I have never had the chance to ride first class... Today broke that mold for me. When I was about to sit in my seat at the back of the aircraft, my flight attendant approached me and asked me to switch seats with a woman who had a young child in the seat next to mine. I was reluctant to give up my window seat and take the seat juxtapose to mine in the isle, but I agreed. The flight attendant thanked me for making the switch and told one of her colleagues to be sure to give me an extra drink or two for my trouble. I was seated beside a large man whose arms kept brushing against mine. Thoughts about how I wished this wasn’t appropriate in our culture kept rushing through my head, but I was patient and squeezed myself further toward the isle to escape his clumsy reach.

When the window passenger arrived, I was preparing to let her pass when she asked me if I would move to first class so that her boyfriend could sit with her in the dingy corner at the back of the plane. I looked at her puzzled for a moment and asked the large gentleman next to me if he would prefer to take the seat since he was in the middle seat, but he assured me that I could have the seat in first class if I wanted it. After being reassured that it was in fact alright for me to take the boyfriend’s seat, I took down my luggage and walked past almost every passenger on the plane in order to get to my seat at the front of the plane. I got some interesting glances from others as I passed by them while the plane was almost ready to start the orientation video. The boyfriend thanked me for my sacrifice and I thanked him and we switched spots. I sat at a window and looked scanned the new landscape. I was seated next to a dumpy little man in his late 40s or 50s. He was fast asleep with half a glass of bloody Mary. The seat was very comfortable and I fell asleep very quickly and my neck didn’t ache at all because it leaned back just enough and had supporting cushions for my neck.

The flight attendants were vigilant and doted over each person in first class, especially my dear Irish travel companion who ordered drink after drink. I am not sure if he slept so well because he was drunk or because he was tired, but nonetheless, he slept and awoke long enough to call a flight attendant, consume another drink and ask for a small meal.

For the meal, we were given a roast beef sandwich, an organic caramel brownie with walnuts, fresh fruit and a full drink. Instead of using the cheap plastic silverware and plates, each passenger was given a tray with unpackaged food neatly displayed on glass plates and bowls along with real silverware. Most of the others in first class peeled their sandwiches apart and poked around with their forks trying to make sense of the beef touching the bread. I found it delicious and satisfying. I was reluctant to leave the first class with the beautiful legroom and reclining capabilities, because I knew that my 10-hour flight would not be nearly as comfortable or welcoming.

A Fortunate Misfortune in Germany

The night lights at Kempinski Airport Hotel

The noise, lights, clothes, and me. I love the collage of objects, shadows, and reflections.

The lovely shopping plaza that protects its occupants from the spontaneous rainfall.

Terminal 1 Munich Airport

Some of the rambunctious children in our caravan of Royal Jordanian passengers stranded in Munich, Germany

I couldn't believe how beautiful Munich looked from the sky and hoped that someday I would be able to go and visit. Little did I know that this was my lucky day!

I couldn't take my eyes off of the clocks!

Can you sense a trend?

Due to unforeseen delays, I was sentenced to pacing the Frankfurt walkway instead of going for a stroll downtown.

Colorado Rockies Aerial

Badia Blast

Eyelashes with Volume

Malt Fields just South of Syria in the Northern Badia of Jordan

Quite possibly the most uncomfortable form of breastfeeding that I have ever observed.