The last few days at Silent Arrow were bittersweet. Kathi and I enjoyed our final days at this wonderful place, and we’re so excited to head off to Jordan, but we we’re sad to leave. I kind of felt tempted to just stay forever. I had such a good time there, and met so many wonderful people, I even started thinking I’d enjoy working in the hospitality industry, but I know that’s not the path I want.
Dror is just such a cool guy, and I hope I see him a few more times while I’m here. Funny story: He has a recycling bin for all the bottles left by guests. He took me and Kathi into town to recycle them over the course of a couple days, because there is a limit of 50 bottles per person. He stopped several times in the parking lot to talk to people -- everyone in town knows him! Then, each time we went, the woman at the grocery store would yell at him that he couldn’t use his volunteers to bring so many bottles at once, and he would charm and explain and sooth her, and she would finally smile and sigh and relent. This all happened in Hebrew; the only words I could understand were “Dror, Dror, Dror! Lamah, lamah, lamah,” (why, why, why). The money we got added up to a couple hundred shekels!
One other story. We had been cooking dinner every evening, using the fresh herbs from the garden and also the spice box. But things seemed to taste a little off. We couldn’t figure out what it was. After about a week, I was sprinkling salt on my food but it wasn’t getting any saltier and tasted weird. I said, “I think this is lemon salt or something,” holding up the little container of white crystals, with nothing but hebrew written on the label. Kathi and I both tasted it, and it tasted really sour. What was it? It was citric acid! We’d been pouring citric acid on literally everything we were eating.
I need to learn more hebrew.
Kathi and I left Silent Arrow on Sunday morning and hopped on the bus to Eilat. It was insanely crowded with soldiers heading back to their bases after the weekend. I still can’t get over seeing all these young kids walking around with machine guns on their backs. They look like babies.
We took a cab from Eilat to the border crossing, which was completely empty. Totally smooth sailing. We had heard about the “taxi mafia” on the Jordan side of the border, run by one guy who has a monopoly on the parking lot or something. He tried to swindle us by charging 55 Jordanian Diners (like $80 USD) for a ride to Petra, and told us there were no buses to Petra this late in the afternoon. But we knew better and told him we just wanted to go to the nearby city of Aqaba, where we could catch a bus or at least a cheaper cab. After first saying the 55 JD was the “government rate,” he then tried to go down to 50 and then 45 JD. But we resisted.
As soon as we got out in Aqaba, another taxi driver told us the bus to Petra was full, but he would take us for 35 JD. We said thanks, but we’ll just check on the bus first. The bus was in fact not full, and it was only 5 JD each! It was a little unnerving that the people here weren’t only pushy and aggressive, they were flat-out lying to us. (Later that day, the taxi driver to our hotel tried to charge us extra for stopping at the ATM. And then, that evening, we ate at a restaurant and the owner invited us into his gift shop for tea. We weren’t going to buy anything, but he gave us a “great low-season rate” for a few bracelets "handmade by Bedouins," only a few bucks each, and we thought we were getting an alright deal. But then the owner had the nerve to try and charge us for the tea! And the next day in Petra, we saw the same bracelets for half the price!) So I learned quickly to be very, very, cautious when dealing with salespeople and taxi drivers here. They all tried to squeeze a few extra dollars out of us.
Anyway. Petra was outrageous! I think it was even better than Pompei, which for years has held the title as the coolest place I’ve ever seen. It was a collision course of archeology, geology, and history. The hiking trails, surrounded by huge rock formations and cliffs, would have been cool enough. But everywhere we went, there were huge columned facades literally chiseled into the mountains. I was overwhelmed by the splendor.
The place was pretty commercialized, with tons of Bedouins offering donkey or camel rides and trying to sell us jewelry and souvenirs. The thing is, these Bedouins have lived right here in the caves of Petra for centuries, and even though most have been evicted to a nearby village, they’re still permitted to try and make a living from the tourism. It made it all seem fitting and genuine. Like authentic kitsch.
Kathi and I spent two days in Petra. We’re really glad we didn’t just take the tour. While most people were just walking along the main drag, viewing the stonework from afar, Kathi and I spent our time climbing on things, exploring the dark corridors and catacombs, and generally pretending we were Indiana Jones. See the photos below.
Because it was the low season we were able to get a sick price on a luxury suite in a hotel just 300 meters from the entrance to Petra. We ate delicious food, drank complimentary wine, and just had a ball. Everyone was telling us to skip Amman, the capital, and head to Wadi Rum, the famous red-sand desert, Lawrence of Arabia style. But after spending the last month sleeping under the stars in the Negev, we didn’t want to pay a lot of cash to do the same thing here in Jordan. So we hopped on the bus up to Amman and couch surfed with a really cool guy named Khalid and his two sisters. He grew up in Qatar, went to university in Amman, and had just spent the last few months traveling around India. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect host.
A lot of people bash Amman for being small and boring, but this was Kathi's and my first time in an Arab country and we wanted to check out its capital. And we’re so glad we did! We toured the ancient ruins of the Citadel, which offered panoramic views of the whole city. We perused the market in the center of town, strolled down Rainbow Street, ate the most delicious shish kababs I’ve ever tasted, and then spent the afternoon drinking tea and smoking hookah and people-watching. The people were so warm and friendly, often just saying “Welcome to Jordan” as we passed in the street and giving us directions whenever we looked lost. Big contrast from the touristy sheisters around Petra.
We also happened upon a little historic town house owned by the Duke of Diwar and open to the public as a museum. The Duke is a philanthropist and conservationist, trying to restore downtown Amman to its glory days. He’s working to save landmarks from demolition and prevent big chains from taking over the small shops and markets. It was a really cool place to check out.
Khalid met up with us in the evening and offered to take us to another area for drinks. He drove us to the “posh” section of town, with hotels, fancy malls, and cool bars. But everything seemed really westernized and kind of felt like Suburbia USA. The first place we went was “Buffalo Wings and Rings,” which was packed with young people eating and drinking. A band was playing crappy American rock songs. The menu was only in English and the waitstaff was wearing NFL t-shirts. Food was twice as expensive as the old city.
 |
| "Straight from Chicago" gyro meat...or a fresh Shawarma in the old city...decisions decisions |
Now to be clear, I try my best to avoid these lifeless, devoid-of-character, American sports bar chains when I’m in fricking America. But this was thousands of miles away, in JORDAN. After a day of experiencing the history of Amman, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, and after learning about the preservation efforts of the Duke of Diwar, sitting here was making me borderline suicidal.
Luckily, Khalid wasn’t enjoying the music and he could see we weren’t feeling the vibe either, so he took us to another area, a cozy bar in the funky neighborhood Paris Square. So overall, a great day and a fun evening on the town.
The trip back to Israel was a little mini-adventure by itself. We woke up kind of late, but it was smooth sailing over the King Hussein Bridge and through the Israeli border control. (Well, besides when they asked me what kind of name “Zackary” was, and asked whether it was Arabic…) It was around 1:30 pm, and I had to be in Jerusalem to register for Career Israel before 5 pm. The minibus to Jerusalem was really overpriced, but we had made friends with a nice man named Wael, a Palestinian who worked for Total and traveled all over the region, and was also coming in from Jordan. He offered to give us a lift from Jericho to Ramallah. Now, I’m not an idiot and I’m not going to take unnecessary risks. But there is no current USA travel advisory to the places we were going, and Wael didn’t seem sketchy at all. I trusted him, and Kathi wanted to do it. I was worried about the time, but I figured what the heck.
It was fascinating talking to a Palestinian living in the territories, and getting a view inside the cities under the Palestinian Authority. Definitely a direct source. From Ramallah, we took a quick bus into East Jerusalem and then I grabbed a taxi to the Career Israel registration, getting in just after 5. Phew! I made it!
The next day during orientation, we were told that we're "strictly forbidden" to go into areas administered by the Palestinian Authority, including Jericho and Ramallah. Oops. Glad I got it in while I could.
Wael invited me to have dinner with his family while I’m living here, and I’m excited to go and continue the conversation. He lives in Hevron, which is a place I'm allowed to go.
So now Kathi and I have parted ways. She’s here for another two weeks, so I think (and hope) we’ll see each other again before she heads back to Germany. We’ve been basically attached at the hip ever since we started at Silent Arrow. I’m going to miss her a lot.
The first few days of Career Israel orientation have been great. The participants all seem really cool. It’s been mostly ice breakers and games, and I’ve found a couple workout buddies already. I’m excited that it’s all starting!
 |
| Kathi with Dror, his daughter, and Emmanuel |
 |
| Morning mist in the valley at Silent Arrow |
 |
| Evening candles at Silent Arrow |
 |
| INSANE lamb stew at a restaurant in Petra. I could only finish half |
 |
| The river gorge heading into Petra |
 |
| The Treasury, Petra's biggest landmark |
 |
| Roman Stadium, with a Bedouin kid playing |
 |
| Stone facades in the distance, behind the recently-excavated Nabatean Temple |
 |
| They sold incredible sand bottles. These were at our hotel |
 |
| Kathi making friends with a Camel, the West Bank of the Jordan in the far background |
 |
| We thought these had to be painted...but it's just the stone |
 |
| Walking back in the river gorge |
 |
| This unfinished stone facade illustrates how much work went into building them. The workers chiseled the first part into the rock, then used the rock as a scaffold as they slowly worked their way down! |
 |
| At the top of the trail of high sacrifice. They used to sacrifice animals up here |
 | |||
| The "Monastary," beneath a nearly full moon |
 | ||
| Amman, seen from the citadel lookout point. That Jordanian flag is the highest flagpole in the world! |
 |
| These Japanese film makers were doing a documentary on traveling by bus through Israel, and they interviewed us in Mitzpe Ramon. We saw them again in Amman!! |
 |
| Posing with Jordanian policemen at the Citadel |
No comments:
Post a Comment