It is 2 days before June, and there is thunder and lightning and heavy rain in Jerusalem. This is not normal. Thanks, global warming. Good thing I wasn't out tonight. Tomorrow - library day.
Then hopefully find a new home.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Back over again.
(The King&Queen. Photo credit to the amazing Mazen Zoabi - Youth Delegate Extraordinaire.)There are some things I will miss, others I am happy to leave behind.
I will miss chicken and rice and salad and yogurt, from Al-Quds restaurant and friend’s houses.
Running into people I know in the library, in University book shops, on the street, right next to Abdali! Americans, Jordanians (one I hadn’t seen in 2 years, since Israel), Germans, Canadians. Being invited to a party by a new friend, only to learn it’s at an old friend’s apartment. Seeing friends who are in love and happy. Shwarma Reem. Tasty Argila. Spending quality time with people. Working on my language skills.
I am happy to leave sleazy men. I am tired of getting honked at for no reason. I wear my undershirt tank tops backwards, hoping that it will cover. Guys that stare me up and down as they walk by. I try to give the evil eye, but they make kissing sounds. I don’t have the energy to go into a tirade of curses when I am in a family neighborhood. But come to think of it, that is the only thing I am happy to leave behind. I will miss the bus system – always getting a seat, and being able to get on and off where I want. I will miss the conversations with cab drivers, about life and love, politics and religion. I am happy to go to a place with fresh milk and more choices of flavored yogurt and coffee and wireless internet, but some of those things are over-rated. I CAN survive without them. But being around nice Jewish men (as opposed to intriguing new Iraqis) is probably good for me.
Back to the Canary Hotel (which no taxi drivers have ever heard of) for one last night, and then over to the other side. Wish me luck.
(I finally brought my camera out with me the other day, but then accidentally erased the pictures. I should be telling stories of Carrefour and dinner parties with Embassy folk and an endless swimming pool with a view of the Dead Sea or Israelis and Palestinians at a cafe downtown, but I don't have the time or energy now. One more pic, of the last thing)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Where am I?
I am in the library at ACOR, one of the places that denied me funding. So I am here using their free internet. Take that Americans! When you live here, there is someone who cooks you lunch everyday. The smell is wafting into the room. It is problematic, since I forgot to bring water with me, and all I have had to eat today was a small container of yogurt and some 3-in-1 coffee.
For some reason, the lunch smells like blintzes. But this is Amman. When is shavuot?
For some reason, the lunch smells like blintzes. But this is Amman. When is shavuot?
Smoke gets in your eyes!
Smoking in the minibus with the engine running, while refilling. Smoking all around the station. Smoking right next to the bus as they refill...
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Amman: Done and Done
May 11, 2007 9:40pm, Canary Hotel, Amman
Now what? I arrived to Amman this afternoon, and it was relatively simple. I never found my wallet with dinars (Jordanian currency) and SIM card. Perhaps I left it in London for safekeeping. I got to the hotel around 1, after leaving my friend’s house in Jerusalem at 9:30 this morning. Hopefully one day I will be able to make it over in less than 4 hours…I was awake and excited upon arrival, and decided that my first actions should be using internet and buying a SIM card. Easier said than done, on a Friday afternoon. EVER YTHING is closed. Granted today was not as bad as my attempts to go out when I first arrived last year during Ramadan, but it took me about 30 mins of walking to find an open phone store. I got an oomniah this time – I like that you can transfer credit between users, and I thought it was time to try something new. I had wanted to go internet-ing and have coffee at the Parisian café here in jebel weibda (name of neighborhood), but it was very closed when I arrived. So I continued walking (as I am apt to do, without stopping to ask for directions) to the balad (downtown) so I got get a serveece (shared taxi on a set route) to my old neighborhood, jebel amman. I went to books@café, where the free internet almost made the ridiculously expensive lemonade worthwhile. I wrote many text messages and a couple of emails, and just chilled for a bit. Unfortunately the connection was slow and I kept getting kicked off of gmail and msn, so I posted an add on the apartment board and am keeping my fingers crossed. Around 4 I decided I had to start getting serious about the apartment searching. I wandered up the hill and stopped by JARA (a weekly arts & crafts market put on by the Jebel Amman Residents Association in the summer and Ramadan – conveniently reopened last weekend), but didn’t have time to seriously shop cause I wanted to get to my old neighborhood before the dukan (little market) closed. Not much had changed as I walked. The sidewalk was still a mess in the usual places. I saw a new pizza place and some new food store (perhaps the specialty food store D mentioned he wanted to open? I wish I had his number). By the time I got to my area the dukan had closed, so I went to my building to talk to the bwab (building super), and check on the possibility of a vacancy where I used to live. As it turns out he is in Sudan for a few weeks, but I spent some time sitting and talking and having tea with his wife, mom, and kids. Doesn’t look like any possibilities in the building, but I promised I’d come back and visit. I think they will keep an eye out for me. I wandered to Haboob (fancier, chain mini-mart) to get some water and snacks, and then got a Reem Shwarma for a late lunch. I brought it back with me to the hotel, thinking I would have a snack and get some work done, which of course didn’t happen. There was some kind of ceremony with bagpipes and loud drums going on at the school across the street, so concentration was out of the question. Instead I took a nap, something I haven’t done in ages. I was awoken by a phone call from an old friend, who informed me her brother is getting married in a month and I should come to the wedding. While getting ready to go to dinner I managed to knock a bottle of nail polish on the tile floor, which broke and splashed all over my sneakers (thanks, primark). Of course all pharmacies are closed, so my shoes, the floor, and the sink look like they are covered in blood, which won’t come off. I will have to get some remover in the morning first thing. I had a leisurely walk downtown and had a lovely dinner by myself at Al-Quds. I feasted on grilled chicken with special rice, salad, olives, bread, and a bottle of water for about $5. I missed this country…I walked through town a bit before coming back, checking out habiba, eco-tourism/balat al-rashid, and the newspaper stand before the whistling started to get to me and I took a taxi back. I got in right as the evening call to prayer was starting. The radio was about half a second faster than the mosques we drove by, which created an amazing sound.
Now I need to buck-up and get to work. Tomorrow I need to submit, and then look for an apartment, study Arabic, and start to email people here and set up interviews. Why did I leave England without finishing my essays? Oy….
Now what? I arrived to Amman this afternoon, and it was relatively simple. I never found my wallet with dinars (Jordanian currency) and SIM card. Perhaps I left it in London for safekeeping. I got to the hotel around 1, after leaving my friend’s house in Jerusalem at 9:30 this morning. Hopefully one day I will be able to make it over in less than 4 hours…I was awake and excited upon arrival, and decided that my first actions should be using internet and buying a SIM card. Easier said than done, on a Friday afternoon. EVER YTHING is closed. Granted today was not as bad as my attempts to go out when I first arrived last year during Ramadan, but it took me about 30 mins of walking to find an open phone store. I got an oomniah this time – I like that you can transfer credit between users, and I thought it was time to try something new. I had wanted to go internet-ing and have coffee at the Parisian café here in jebel weibda (name of neighborhood), but it was very closed when I arrived. So I continued walking (as I am apt to do, without stopping to ask for directions) to the balad (downtown) so I got get a serveece (shared taxi on a set route) to my old neighborhood, jebel amman. I went to books@café, where the free internet almost made the ridiculously expensive lemonade worthwhile. I wrote many text messages and a couple of emails, and just chilled for a bit. Unfortunately the connection was slow and I kept getting kicked off of gmail and msn, so I posted an add on the apartment board and am keeping my fingers crossed. Around 4 I decided I had to start getting serious about the apartment searching. I wandered up the hill and stopped by JARA (a weekly arts & crafts market put on by the Jebel Amman Residents Association in the summer and Ramadan – conveniently reopened last weekend), but didn’t have time to seriously shop cause I wanted to get to my old neighborhood before the dukan (little market) closed. Not much had changed as I walked. The sidewalk was still a mess in the usual places. I saw a new pizza place and some new food store (perhaps the specialty food store D mentioned he wanted to open? I wish I had his number). By the time I got to my area the dukan had closed, so I went to my building to talk to the bwab (building super), and check on the possibility of a vacancy where I used to live. As it turns out he is in Sudan for a few weeks, but I spent some time sitting and talking and having tea with his wife, mom, and kids. Doesn’t look like any possibilities in the building, but I promised I’d come back and visit. I think they will keep an eye out for me. I wandered to Haboob (fancier, chain mini-mart) to get some water and snacks, and then got a Reem Shwarma for a late lunch. I brought it back with me to the hotel, thinking I would have a snack and get some work done, which of course didn’t happen. There was some kind of ceremony with bagpipes and loud drums going on at the school across the street, so concentration was out of the question. Instead I took a nap, something I haven’t done in ages. I was awoken by a phone call from an old friend, who informed me her brother is getting married in a month and I should come to the wedding. While getting ready to go to dinner I managed to knock a bottle of nail polish on the tile floor, which broke and splashed all over my sneakers (thanks, primark). Of course all pharmacies are closed, so my shoes, the floor, and the sink look like they are covered in blood, which won’t come off. I will have to get some remover in the morning first thing. I had a leisurely walk downtown and had a lovely dinner by myself at Al-Quds. I feasted on grilled chicken with special rice, salad, olives, bread, and a bottle of water for about $5. I missed this country…I walked through town a bit before coming back, checking out habiba, eco-tourism/balat al-rashid, and the newspaper stand before the whistling started to get to me and I took a taxi back. I got in right as the evening call to prayer was starting. The radio was about half a second faster than the mosques we drove by, which created an amazing sound.
Now I need to buck-up and get to work. Tomorrow I need to submit, and then look for an apartment, study Arabic, and start to email people here and set up interviews. Why did I leave England without finishing my essays? Oy….
Thursday, May 10, 2007
It's Raining Men....
I mean rain. It's almost the middle of May. I'm in Jerusalem. This is not supposed to happen. Thanks, climate change. Tomorrow I'm off to Amman. Hopefully I can find my SIM card with people's numbers and 40 or 50JD I thought I stashed in my bag before leaving. Otherwise it will be a very boring week.
