Hello again, World!

I started this blog to document my time in Amman, Jordan, but why stop there? The last few months have brought several notable changes to my life. For now I'm relatively rooted in Santa Barbara but will be taking on the summer heat of the Middle East once again! Read on...

Post-Amman I found myself moving home to Santa Barbara (much to my chagrin after the Chinese government denied my visa application and I had to give up my job at the international school in Qingdao). The entire month of September was one big cultural readjustment. Mom and Dad put up with me and my reverse culture shock for about a month until I found my own apartment.  Living on my own at this point in my life is very important to me - I feel more independent than ever before and I'm doing a stellar job acting adult-ish. I buy my own groceries! I pay bills! I need quarters to do my laundry! I live in the back portion of a sweet little Victorian house within walking distance of downtown. It's my little sanctuary - the living room floods with sunlight in the morning and is so beautiful.

I spent a glorious weekend in New York City visiting Jackie - my most favorite and best friend in the world! We giggled at the hipsters in Brooklyn, tore up karaoke with "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and danced and laughed and danced and laughed. It was a perfectly sparkly and much needed weekend!

The view from Jackie's bedroom

SO MUCH LOVE

Beyond piecing together less than thrilling but still enjoyable work as a nanny and a hostess I've found my passion in flying. One day in November I got in my car, drove to the airport, and took a discovery flight at Above All Aviation. Given my history of jumping out of planes and my slightly addictive personality I'm sure you can do the math. Here we are two months later and I have nearly 30 hours of flight time, have flown an airplane by myself (check out the photo of my instructor, Danny, cutting my shirttail - an aviation tradition post-solo!), and have now moved into the cross-country stage of training. My ultimate goal is currently unknown but for now I am soaking it ALL in. I have incredible support from my parents and really everyone that I encounter. For me, the most beautiful part is the ultimate mindfulness I experience while flying. When you're in the air, cruising down the coast or just practicing landings in the pattern, everything that is important at that moment is directly in front of you: your gauges, the yoke, the engine. Any concerns or worries about life, relationships, money, are completely irrelevant -- everything slips away when I'm in that plane and it feels like total clarity. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing!

After my first solo flight on January 14th!

Flying down to Camarillo to see Top Gun in 3D IMAX

In other news...

Last week I was accepted into a program that will take me to El Buss refugee camp in Lebanon! In Lebanon I will work as a volunteer for the LEAP program's SHINE project teaching English to Palestinian refugees ages 10-16. The LEAP program (Learning for the Empowerment and Advancement of Palestinians) Program has three projects, one of which is the Summer Help IN English program (SHINE). As a volunteer for SHINE I will be living and working in the refugee camp for the month of July.

 Read more about the program here: http://www.leap-program.org/about-us/leap-projects/

After the program ends I plan on traveling back to Wadi Rum and spending at least a week in the desert. I felt an incredible connection to Wadi Rum last summer and am just amazed that I will have the opportunity to be back there so soon!

That's all for now! More posts to come as I get closer to my departure for Lebanon and get my Private Pilot certificate!!

 life is for living

Goodbye Amman

My last few days in Amman were perfect. Savannah and I had a glorious Friday: brunch with Amira, the royal spa treatment at the Turkish bath, watching “I Love You, Man” and lazing around. By about 10:00pm my stomach was giving me one last go of Arab tummy…or so I thought. Savannah and I had a teary goodbye (I MISS YOU) and then, 34,000 above the Mediterranean, I was clutching the airplane bathroom and puking my brains out. Lovely, I know.  The term for this sort of thing after a trip to Latin America is Montezuma’s Revenge…can I say that this time around I had a case of Mohammad’s Revenge? That is SO not PC...By the time I reached Frankfurt I was exhausted and felt so lucky when I found a terminal filled with dozens of rows of cots. I snoozed for a couple of hours before my next flight. The 11:40 hour flight to LAX was easy but odd…a flight attendant actually prayed for me to feel better. I told him I would take all the help I could get. Touching down in LA felt surreal – almost like I had left Amman only minutes before. My parents were there to greet me – of course my dad had drawn a sign for me.

For the past week since I landed at LAX I’ve been settling into life in Santa Barbara. After a whirlwind experience of interviewing for, being offered, and accepting a position to teach art at an international school in China my visa application was denied by the Chinese government. That was a huge disappointment. So….on to plan B…the details of which have yet to be determined. So, for now, I will be in Santa Barbara. I’ve spent my time unpacking from Amman (this really only took an afternoon) and unpacking from college (this is turning out to be an ongoing process). I’ve done a lot of babysitting (part of plan B), a lot of walks on the beach with a friend, I started a batch of kombucha and have turned my early morning runs into a habit. 

Amazingly, I haven’t experienced any jetlag but my highs and lows of reverse culture shock have definitely been weird. I’ve been thinking about Amman quite a bit – what it was like to live there, what I learned, and what I miss.  There are only a few things that I miss about living in the city, but those few things I am really, truly, deeply missing.

I miss the way the first call to prayer drifts throughout the wadis and lingers on this hills, gaining intensity and volume as each phrase reaches its predecessor until another call from the mosque on the opposite hill suddenly soars out and they meld together, the sound exploding skyward. I miss the ever-present soft breeze that made the unbearable heat bearable. I miss the thrill and confusion of seeing a lazy, clearly lost cloud floating over the city in the mid-afternoon. I miss smiling and waving at the owner of Awni, the corner store, and his two store helpers. I could always count on a smile and a wave from them.

Living in Amman was one of those catch-it-while-you-can once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I will think back on often as the incredible post-graduation summer. Although my adventures may slow down for a few months there is no doubt in my mind that I will find another exciting opportunity very, very soon. 

August

And so, as if these sort of changes happen suddenly, I only have ten days left in Jordan. Am I already getting sentimental and emotional? Obviously. A sappy wrap-up blog post will follow my return to Santa Barbara...

In the past three weeks I have said "goodbye" to my mom and brother and said "hello" Raffi. Sharing my experience with people so close to me has been a true blessing. With each turn I would find myself offering some sort of explanation of anecdote. Why are the streets wet on Wednesdays? Why does that truck carrying gas tanks sound like an icecream truck? Why are some women veiled, but others not? What is the difference between the white, silver, and yellow taxis? I know the answers to these questions - and it has been such a joy to re-live the initial excitements and challenges with all of my visitors.

The last two weeks have been filled with hiking the highest mountain in Jordan, snorkeling over coral reef in Aqaba, sleeping under the stars in Wadi Rum, eating imported Lakota cookies, and seeing Petra by night. Here are some photos...

Raf driving in Jordan!!

Petra by night was truly spectacular. We waited at the gate until about 7:45 until they let us through. Raf and I hung back to let others pass so that we could soak up the candle-lit siq in relative quiet. Every 4m or so there are paper bag luminaria lighting the path down to the Treasury. At the Treasury the whole area expands and is filled with more candles and a bedouin man plays a flute-like instrument.  We sat on the floor and immersed ourself in the warm candlelight and floating music.

Next day we explored Petra by horse, donkey, and foot.

Donkey ride up to the Monastery 

The Monastery 

Raffi brought cookies from my favorite bakery - Lakota in Arlington, MA. We enjoyed them in Amman but couldn't resist bringing a couple for a hiking snack. They look pretty gross, but the melted chocolate was amazing after climbing down from the Monastery!

 

Lone Donkey

Made a friend in front of the Treasury on our way out of Petra.
We shared water, milanos, and lots of smiles - the perfect ingredients for friendship. 

Final glimpse of the Treasury 

After our long day hiking throughout Petra, Raf and I drove down to Wadi Rum and met Souliman at the visitor's center. Souliman was our guide when I visited a few weeks ago with my family and Savannah. Driving in to Rum Village I immediately felt a deep calm wash over me. We parked the car and hopped in the back of Souliman's 1970's Toyota Land Cruiser and I couldn't help grinning like an idiot as we moved off of asphalt and on to sand.

For me, Wadi Rum is a thin place and I am completely addicted to it. During my last semester at college, my mom sent me a NY Times article written about these "thin places." I read it once, taped it up to my wall, and continued to read it throughout the semester. A "thin place" is a place, "where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we're able to catch glimpses of the divine, or the transcendent or, as I like to think of it, the Infinite Whatever." It's a beautiful article and a beautiful term...take a read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/travel/thin-places-where-we-are-jolted-out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?pagewanted=all

After a stunning star-filled night sleeping under the stars we began a steep hike up to the highest mountain in Jordan, Jabal Umm al Dami. 

Here, the boys are being boys and kicking/throwing/chucking large rocks down the steep edges of Umm Dami. I admit, it was really fun to watch the huge rocks 

tumble over and explode as they hit others.

Ancient carvings in a protected canyon

Crocodile in Wadi Rum!!!

Next morning, after another incredible star-filled night, I woke up and could only find one of my sandals. I wandered around camp and couldn't find it anywhere. Souliman yelled out to me from where he was preparing breakfast, "Maybe a fox took it!" I thought he was joking, but no, he wasn't. We found the sandal up the hill, next to some little foxy foot prints. Apparently the cute little desert fox we had seen the evening before loved the taste of my leather sandal!

We spent our last morning doing a jeep tour around Wadi Rum, stopping to check in on Souliman's family's camels and run down giant sand dunes. 

Camel Kisses 

Absolutely coming back someday...

In other news, Ramadan is (finally) over and Rainbow Street is once again constantly buzzing with people and noise. Life has returned to the daylight hours and everyone is enjoying the sun. I've seen several couples holding hands or linking arms as they walk down Rainbow. Perhaps they haven't been able to see each other for the month and are feeling especially bold post-super-heavy-religious time.

For my own news, I have several prospects in the pipeline...I am taking the GRE next Sunday and have sent in my application for the Masters of Visual Anthropology program at USC. I am also applying for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Morocco and interviewed last week for a teaching position in China. Send me your crossed fingers or prayers or good luck!!! Life is great, isn't it?

Wadi Rum

July - Ramadan, Wadis, and Desert Castles

So sorry for the massive delay in my posting - life has been stuck on fastforward and I'm just now making the time to sit down and think about everything I've seen in the last couple weeks! I'm going to do my best to write about it all but I'll use pictures to guide my memory. 

Wadi Dana

Last weekend Savannah and I traveled down to Wadi Dana with Wild Jordan - an offshoot of the Royal Society for Nature Conservancy (RSCN). They host all-inclusive trips to their various nature reserves around the country - places like Wadi Mujib, Ajloun Forest, and Wadi Dana. The campsite was incredible - located on a cliff overlooking the entire reserve. We arrived just as the sun was setting and got into the back of an open air jeep/van that drove us down to the campsite. We settled into our tents and sat down for a huge dinner of Jordanian mezze dishes (the equivalent of Spanish tapas) and rice with chicken. I spent the evening staring up at the stars...truly spectacular out there. The next morning we set out for a hike. Me being me, I assumed that the advertised four hour hike would be challenging, something that would really stretch my legs. I was so wrong. Jordanian hiking  and camping seem to be lacking in the strenuous, nature-y, and adventurous categories. It was more like a nature stroll with a little rock climbing at the end. Sure, it took four hours...but only because we had several young children with us and a couple who had to stop for cigarette breaks along the way. I'm going to need some good long hikes up Cold Spring Trail when I get home...I can't really complain about the slow pace because it afforded me a lot of time to take in the soaring views down through the canyons. 

View from the highway

View down to the campsite

Campsite

Family!

Mom and Garrett are here! I took a taxi out at midnight to pick them up from the airport and had a hilarious English/Arabic lesson with my taxi driver. We spent the 45-minute ride pointing to things and saying the words in our respective languages, and repeating for pronunciation. There really isn't an Arabic equivalent to the English "p" sound, so any word with a "p" just turns to a "b" - case in point: bibsee = pepsi. Teaching Mohammed how to say airport and airplane was quite a challenge...the closest he got was saying something that sounded like "arbor." Oh well.  So, after hugs we hopped in a taxi and were back in Amman by 3am. The last week has been a beautiful experience of reliving my initial excitement and awe of this city. Sitting at Old View Cafe and looking over the city lights, winding through the crowds in the balad, flying through the streets with a crazy cab driver. Am I already feeling nostalgic about this place? 

Ramadan!

In other news...Ramadan Kareem! Ramadan began Thursday, July 19th and the difference in daily life is incredible. Walking down Rainbow street at 9:00am is like walking through a ghost town. Here's a link to one ex-pats take on the whole thing...a bit cynical, a lot funny: http://davidmarshallfox.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/calling-a-spade-a-spade-ramadan-is-the-worst-month-in-jordan/ I'm actually really enjoying the peaceful and quiet days and find that I can notice a lot more of my surroundings when there isn't quite so much noise. But...we're only a week in :)

Desert Castles!

Saturday morning we rented a car and I SUCCESSFULLY drove us through Amman and on to the Desert Castles. This is no small feat and I am extremely proud of myself -- don't worry, we signed up for insurance just in case. The castles were incredible, all very different and unique from one another. 

Qasr Mushatta

Dust Devil!!

Mom playing chess with a Bedouin man. Incredible. 

Qasr Harraneh

Ancient Arabic graffiti 

Qasr Amra

Qasr Amra

Right turn: Iraq, Left turn: Saudi

Qasr Azraq - famous post of Lawrence of Arabia

Rocks on rocks - no cement here!

Still have more to catch up on - another trip to Jerusalem with an incredible tour of Hebron, an insane 6-hour border crossing complete with individual questioning, the Amman Citadel, and now on to Petra and Wadi Rum. For now, I'll leave you with a saliva-inducing photo of my favorite dish at the  Yemeni restaurant near the University. I'm craving it more than ever now because I can't eat there for my lunch break anymore...oh Ramadan!