Just got back from a whirlwind tour of Salt and it was fun to get outside of Amman once again. Salt is a town just outside of Amman that was originally a Turkish city founded during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. It was almost picked to be the capital of Jordan, but was glossed over in favor of Amman by the-powers-that-be (in this case Great Britain) way back when. So it has a different charm and feel to it from the other parts of Jordan that I have been to. It was much more laid back and peaceful feeling as a city than Amman. It is also nice to get a day away from the hustle and bustle of the big city for me. There was a group of five of us that went down to see the city – Taylor, Anessa, Scott, Ben, and me. We went and saw the Archaeological Museum first (nothing too special there, but it only cost a half dinar, so ehh, not to bad). Afterwards, we went on a long hike up a hill to get to another museum that was built in a gigantic Turkish mansion. However, we were sidetracked by the most beautiful of garden/cemeteries at the top of the hill.
So the cemetery. I have never seen another culture’s cemetery and it was fascinating anthropological journey inside another people’s ideals about respect for the dead. Each of the graves only took up about 5 ½ - 6 feet of space length-wise and about 3 feet width-wise. Also, every single plot was raised up anywhere from a foot of the ground to as tall as me. None of the plots were left at ground level. It was quite a big difference from out Western-style of just setting up a gravestone and leaving the ground flat. In Salt, the entire plot is elevated and then they elevate the gravestone up and above that. I think that gives a certain amount of respect for the deceased memory – putting their memorial above the ground. It reminded me of how you can never put the Qur’an on the ground because it shows disrespect for the word of God here. In my mind, this simple respect between the grave plots and the Qur’an became connected and show great respect and reverence for both. I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it makes sense to me and I find the sentiment lovely.
After walking solemnly through the graveyard, we ventured up the hill through a beautiful garden to a giant monument to a bunch of Turks that died in a tremendous battle protecting the city a hundred or so years ago. It was quiet and peaceful and everything that a monument to dead war heroes is meant to be. Next, we ascended the final steps to reach the Turkish mosque at the very top. It was lovely, but unfortunately, closed. We ran into a family of Syrian refugees at the top and had a blast playing with all their children. The kids were so cute and so much fun! It never ceases to amaze me to see people who have lost everything and yet are able to be as happy and joyful as anyone I know. The two women who were watching the kids related to us their said tale. They were refugees of almost 3 years who had come from the southern border of Syria towards the early beginnings of the Civil War and found themselves refugees in Jordan and placed in Salt. Like other refugees, they aren’t allowed to work or live normal lives. They receive a stipend of 24 dinars/person/month to cover all their expenses from UNICEF and the UN refugee organization. That is not nearly enough to afford living here in this country. Food alone would come out to that a week per person if you were trying to be pretty frugal. They have found life hard in Jordan, but are grateful to have escaped the horrors of Syria. They were quick to tell us the need to visit Syria after the war ends. They said that Syria is the cultural capital of the Arab world as well as the most beautiful Arab country. I am inclined to believe them – they have water and a history that dates back to some of the oldest recorded that we know of (along with the purported oldest city in the world – Damascus).
After spending a couple hours with them, we made our way back down the hill to snap some pictures of the old-fashioned Middle Eastern market and some men playing backgammon and mancala. This is mancala on steroids by the way. Take a normal mancala board and triple it and quadruple the amount of stones and you get the picture. Also, the rules were a lot more complicated and hard to follow. Next came the meal of champions. We hit up a barbecue spot for lunch that was recommended by our teacher and enjoyed eating the traditional Arab style. Or as I like to think of it, as traditional family style. They bring platters of cooked meat and vegetables, pickles, bread, and hummus/baba ganoush (hummus’ eggplant-ish cousin) and set them between everybody. Then you just take a hunk of bread and put everything that you want inside of it and enjoy! There are no plates or utensils or anything like that. Everyone just shared and enjoys. I have grown to like the experience and always sharing huge meals. Generally, it tends to be a lot cheaper than ordering meals for each and every person as well.
Ok, so that was just today, but it was exciting day to say the least. I actually now have to try to remember what happened the rest of this past week and that can always prove to be a challenge. At least for me.
Last Saturday, I went and saw Interstellar in IMAX and absolutely loved it! It was an intense movie with so many twists and turns that I never saw coming. Plus being in an IMAX theater meant that our seats vibrated and it really felt like we were riding in the rocket ship and not just merely spectators to exploring the great depths of space. Also, there is a part where they fly through a wormhole and the cinematic presentation of it made me dizzy and almost motion sick. I have never had that affect from a movie before and I have to say I quite enjoyed the experience. I would recommend going to see this movie on the big screen if you get the chance, it was quite a treat. Small screen might just not do it justice if you are a Redbox-er, go see this one in theaters. It is worth the expense. Also, Arabic subtitles are a funny thing. They always make them in the most formal of foosha (the formal) dialect. So everything in Arabic read as if you were living back in Shakespeare’s day and were addressing the king at all times. It added an element of humor to the film that would be lacking anywhere else in the world (and a whole lot of meaning that definitely was not conveyed by the English words that we could all hear).
This week was get-back-into-shape week as well. I actually visited the gym almost every day this week and got in at least a good half hour work out. That is the most consistent I have been in quite some time because it is just so far away. I am hoping to keep up this habit until the day we leave for Israel and then keep it up there as well. I guess I will just be using the treadmill at home because that is what we have. That or run outside because the weather will actually be nice and Mesa is flat unlike the hill-y city of Amman. Running here would be an exercise in endurance, dodging garbage and cats, avoiding crazy drivers, and huffing and puffing up the most insane incline of hills you can imagine. So, needless to say, I choose not to partake in that endeavor.
This week I put my focus back into getting all the homework done each and every day as well as devoting about an hour a day to studying old and new vocabulary. There are only two more weeks of classes here, a few days of review, and then the dreaded finals. We will be tested in every aspect of our Arabic – reading, listening, speaking, translation, general understanding and comprehension, ability to figure things out in context while do each of the former, etc. The only thing I think we are not being tested on is our writing. Which saddens me because writing might be my strongest attribute in any language is what I am discovering. I love writing. Reading comes in close second, but being able to express myself eloquently on the page with the aid of a second language is something very beautiful and precious to me.
I also have been trying to cut back on my expenses this week and for the remainder of the Jordan part of this trip. I haven’t been spending a horrendous amount of money or anything, but I can live a lot more frugally if I choose to and I have decided to try it out. Although, at the same time, I did make a bucket list of final restaurants to hit up, experiences to try, and sites to visit in the last three weeks here. So I will still be spending some money no matter what.
This past week we discussed the economy in class and I found I had quite a bit to say depending on the topic of the day. When my teacher was absent, I attended another class where we discussing unemployment and I found myself in a debate with a fellow student over the causes and faults of unemployment. He was on the side of people being lazy and they should be grateful for whatever job they can get. I was on the side of there not being enough jobs even then, that people with higher educations deserve to get higher level jobs or be unemployed for a while during hunting for one. Anyway, we both had faults and problems with our sides. But I find myself to be more of a liberal economically speaking than most of the other kids in the class. It was fun. For the Thursday presentation, we had to discuss Jordanian’s attitude towards socialism. That is a difficult, nigh impossible topic to present on in English, let alone Arabic. But my partner and I were able to conduct enough surveys to formulate a theoretical, general attitude with evidence to back it up.
Generally, people seem to support the ideal of socialism anywhere in the world. That everyone is equal and holds everything equally between them. There are no social tiers, levels, or classes that seek to separate of differentiate people. We even believe such a utopia society will exist one day in the LDS church in the future with the “all for one, and one for all” mentality and practice. A lot of the people here believe that a utopian society of sorts existed back in Muhammad’s day. However, with his death, people fell away from the true living of Islam and differences popped up between people again. Obviously, they romanticize his time period a little bit, but the sentiment is nice. When we talked about moving past the theory of socialism to its practice, no one believed it was possible. People are too greedy, no one wants to get paid less if working a higher level job (such as a doctor), government will always hoard more money than it needs, people will always take pleasure in the luxuries of life instead of giving more to the poor, etc. – these are a sample of the responses we got from people about living a socialist life. They see China and Russia as failed socialist states that really became/always were capitalist in their practices at any rate. They also see the Ba’ath Party states such as Iraq or Syria used to be as extremely failed and corrupted. The Ba’ath party was founded on socialist ideals and teachings. However, each state really was a dictatorship where people who belong to the ruling party had all the privileges, wealth, and employment and left everyone else to rot. So maybe, socialist in name but tyranny in actual practice. Many people said that no truly socialist entity has existed at any time in the past, they all tended towards anarchy or tyranny or capitalism. Human nature meant corruption and failed system of the ideal and equalized dream. It was interesting to hear this perspective from the people here and not just that socialism is of the devil like one hears on a consistent basis back in the States.
All my scores in presentations, writing, speaking, etc. are still slowly improving. Learning a language might be the most slow-paced experience I have ever had in my life. It has been a true lesson in patience. It’s not like math where you master a principle in a couple days of practice and move onto a principle that builds upon the former one. It is not English were you read great works of literature and then think how to apply what you read to your actual experiences and frame of thinking. It isn’t the digestion and interpreting of the arts like a humanities course. It isn’t really comparable to anything else I have ever done is the simplest way to put it. You work on so many factors of one thing – grammar, vocabulary, speaking, reading, writing, listening, conversating, presenting, newspaper reading, translation, just everything. Each and every little piece of the Arabic puzzle has to be precisely put into place in order to get the greater mechanism of progression to move along. And then it does it at a creeping pace, comparable to how slow the Heber Creeper Train in Utah goes or a very long hike across the desert. You really don’t feel like you are moving anywhere or going anywhere until you look back and see the painstaking trail you have covered to get to where you are. You really have traveled quite a bit, but compared to the ideal you have in mind, you still have so much farther to go. I am learning how to deal with and be ok with this different form of learning and it has stretched me far outside of my comfort zone this semester. I just hope these last few weeks I can keep slowly trudging up the mountain to place that I can accept and be comfortable with. I will keep up my energy and focus in order to reach as far as I can and see what happens.
That’s about all I have on my mind for this week. I hope all of you are doing great and enjoyed the fact that Veteran’s Day exists in the USA. Definitely didn’t get any such break here. Also, someone please enjoy a slice of pumpkin cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory for me, that stuff is delectable. In return, I’ll have some more legit family-style Yemeni food in your honor.
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