I realize it has been a decent amount of time since I posted
anything on here, which is a shame because there is so much to tell and so
little time to write it all down!
I’m briefly going to go over Aqaba and Independence Day
because they were a long time ago and many exciting things have happened since
and are on the horizon!
Aqaba was gorgeous. I don’t think anyone who hasn’t
spent time in a desert will understand what it’s like to see bright, vibrant
colors again. Amman is mostly brown and tan, and even the sky is more of a gray
than a blue. Aqaba has the same mountains and buildings but then the Red Sea
springs into vision and it is the richest, sweetest color. It felt like that
water could cure the drought of color in your life better than it could cure
thirst (absolutely—the water is nasty). And the trees! Not only are they full
of purple and red flowers that are dazzling to eyes accustomed to the soothing
but neutral colors of the sandy desert, but there are trees!
If you love the ocean, the sea, lakes, or any body of water,
you will understand the feeling that the first deep breath of salty ocean air
brings. Peace and a burning desire to tear off your clothes and leap head first
into the water.
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| Sorry about my finger--you can't tell but it was BLINDINGLY bright and I couldn't see anything--all of these photos were taken completely blind! |
Sadly, this was an un-fulfill-able (yes, I made that word up)
compulsion for several reasons. Firstly, although we’d been told bathing suits
would be fine at the beach, every woman there was wearing a hejab/niqab/burqa,
a full outfit, and often also a hat. And then there was the water, which had to
be delicately maneuvered through for a good 40 feet through slippery, sharp,
stinging coral (I got stung really badly on the back of my leg and busted up my
knees and big toe as well) but then you floated in the middle of this ancient
and proverbial sea and could see Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt from right there
and the thin wall that divided the occupied lands of Palestine from Jordan, and
the stark contrast of wealth that was evident in the Israeli homes and the
rundown Jordanian hotel in its backyard. It was magical.
We got to take a ride on a “yacht” later on, which was a
relaxing end to the basically non-stop last 48 hours. A bunch of us chilled at
the front of the boat and watched countries float in and out of our vision in
the sun and the breeze and marveled at what a wonderful life it is.
There is lots of distress in this area right now—tension within
Jordan is high because of the constant influx of refugees from Iraq, Syria, and
Palestine, there is tension and plausible anxiety over each of these countries
and the turmoil that could quite plausibly spill over, and there is economic
hardship brought on by all of these factors as well. But in the Red Sea those
on the Palestinian side would float into the Jordanian/Egyptian sides and vice
versa and I got to thinking about how no one would try to put a marker on a
certain amount of water and call it theirs because that’s ridiculous…so why do
we do it with land? And why do we let it tear us apart when there is so, so
much that is beautiful in this land?
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| One of my friends decided to wear my scarf as a turban on the way back! |
After Aqaba we still had another day off (Friday was Wadi
Rum, Saturday was Aqaba, and Sunday was Independence Day) so we explored some
of the local malls (huge—and surprisingly expensive, or at least more aligned
with what you’d pay in the US) and later that evening went to a farm outside of
the city for kebabs, fatoush, hookah, and cards with some locals. Best
independence day celebrations ever.
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| Dinner at the farm! We ate standing around the table and drank yogurt. That was a first... |
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| This is from Wadi Rum but I didn't get it before I posted about the trip...but look how cool! You can't really see me, but what an awesome picture. |
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