Jordan

When I meet people from other countries I love talking to them about their country, over the last 4 year I have gotten to know a young man that has worked at the same golf course as me (he quit this fall as well) and is from Ramtha Jordan, he was always saying I should go visit his family and he had planned on going home this winter and invited me. You have to be careful when inviting me ....I might show up. By the time my travel plans were set he had changed his mind about going but his family invited me to come anyway, so I did.

I arrived in Amann and was picked up at the airport by the family and drove to Ramtha, it was dark but I could already see that this is was a totally different land than Turkey, it was not as rich looking, it was not as clean, and the cars were not as new, we were in an old Toyota Camry. The family shows me where my room will be, the closet that has been emptied for me, shows me where the bathroom and kitchen are. Now it is time to facetime with their son in Canada ( my friend)  so he can talk to me in English to make sure they haven't missed anything, he makes sure they have shown me where everything is, I insist I am fine, I don't need anything. Then he remembers the internet and gets me to hand my Iphone to one of his brothers and soon I am connected to Wifi internet.

I went right to bed, and fell asleep immediately and woke up to the sound of birds singing which is always such a beautiful way to wake up, it was 4 am, which is still when my built in alarm goes off, I listen for movement in the house, there is none. I manage to sleep again and wake up at 6 am, still no movement. I look out the window and see lemon trees filled with big lemons and I know I am going to like it here, but  where is the coffee, I must have coffee. I peek out my door  and see two  brothers sleeping on the floor in the living room, I am probably in their room. I tiptoe past to the bathroom and have a peek in the kitchen, no one around. Luckily I can always read or write to keep busy. No one moved in that house until 9 am and coffee wasn't served until 11 am.  Gasp!.

 My host families are 3 families (all related) living in a compound in 3 homes (13 people total) They all contribute to the running of the 3 homes as one family. From what I see, this works very nicely. Between the 3 houses there was one car, an older Toyota Camry. If you needed to go somewhere where the bus couldn't take you you took "car #11"..... you walked.

One day some cousins came to visit and we all piled into a bus and the car. We went to a beautiful place beside a river that runs along the Syrian border, there was a water fall and soft lush moss. I was in love. We found a spot with some tables among many many other families already picnicking. The men build a fire, the kids jumped in the pool build into the rocks, the women sat around and chopped parsley, onions, garlic, cucumbers, we mixed hamburger (all meat was Kosher) we made kabobs on sticks and handed them to the men to BBQ. We roasted onions, tomatoes and chilis and made salsa. We filled pita bread with a hamburger mixture and roasted them. We ate, and talked, and took turns holding the 2 babies. Then we packed our stuff up and moved to a table closer to the river and watched the sun set over Syria. The hookah pipe came out of the trunk and we heated up water and had tea. We passed the hookah around and watched the show of sundown. It was surreal, the place glowed of peace and family. I couldn't believe the night was real, couldn't believe that this was Jordan.

You can see the glow, it as surreal, it was so soft and peaceful

One day 6 adults and 4 kids climbed into the car and we headed to another beautiful place, we drove for 2 hours. We stopped at a tea stand where I was given a little paper cup of special tea, I had a child and a half on my lap, my elbows could not move, I didn't drink my tea for fear of spilling it down the little girls back on my lap. We stopped on the side of a road on top of a hill and we ate our packed lunches from the trunk, and I drank my special tea, we looked down in the valley at Israel. It looked like Moses was going to come around the corner at any time. I felt like I was in someone else's life, someone more special than me, I didn't feel worthy to see this beauty and feel this peace.

Can you imagine the chariot races, I saw them as if they were real

We drove further and got to some ruins, we clamored out, a few stayed back and spread a blanket on the ground and brought out the hookah pipe, some of us took off to explore, we marveled at the oldness of it all, we imagined great chariot races in the crumbled stadium, we imagined queens slowly gliding down the wide rock stairs. We wondered how old that great big tree was, we bought postcards for our kids so we could one day tell them of the day we bought them. I took many pictures of my new friend, her head scarf, her purse and her shoes all matched, she was glamorous and liked having her pictures taken, she is 21 and will post them on your facebook. She is a devout Muslim, but she is women. We are all the same. I bought an authentic Jordanian head scarf, the design, the color has not changed, ever. The vendor tied it on my head. 

Again we picnicked among the singing birds, we drank tea and again passed the hookah around. I listened as they explained their education system to me and how the men can still have 4 wives, and proudly spoke of their government, their police, they love their country, I could hear the pride and again I felt their peace. We drove home in the dark through the rolling countryside. We stopped on a hill and saw the lights far away of Syria, the night was silent. The kids were sleeping. I couldn't believe how happy I was.

In the day we drove to the Syria border and saw the road that the refugees and the wounded get brought in on, hospitals are starting to fill but yet Jordan is taking in whoever needs medical help and shelter. This will pass they say, we love our neighbors, all of them.

We drove around the country side, they showed me the olive groves, the tomatoes fields, the greenhouses  that the Pakistanians usually tend too, we stopped on the side of the road and ate romaine lettuce, we stood on hills and looked into valleys, we stood in valleys and looked up at old rocks formations, we hiked through some rocks and along trails and saw caves with water running through and pooling in a natural pool made in the rock, the water was clear and drinkable, I wanted to sit in the pool and look up at the stars, stars that shepherds saw long ago that lead to everlasting life, but it was daytime. I have to come back here, I want to swim in this pool.

We stopped at a shepherd's camp, run by an old women, she was the head shepherdess. She invited us in, she made tea, we sat and talked (not me....I listened) sometime its good that you cannot talk, it makes you listen more. She was kind, she was not sad, she was at peace with her nomadic simple life, she had a radio powered by a battery and a tv. She is not poor. She is a shepherdess.

One day we stopped at a bakery somewhere and we all choose a tiny little pastry (a dainty) each piece about a square inch was wrapped in pretty paper, then stopped along the road and laid a blanket on the ground, pulled out the propane water heater and made tea ate our dainties and smoked hookuh. I wish we would stop along the road side and sit on a blanket and eat dainties and sip tea in Canada....just anywhere on the road side, why don't we? Because we are in a hurry!!!!! Always in a hurry!!

The kids wanted to take me to the mall, I don't like the mall but they wanted to show me that they too are modern. It was fun to see their excitement, we went on a roller coaster and some kind of upside down ride, we looked at pretty purses and shoes, the boys love shoes too, we bought some fuzzy bunny slippers for a special little girl. We ate special ice cream, and admired the huge Christmas tree, I didn't expect any sign of Christmas in a Muslim country, but there was the tree.

One day we went to see how olive oil is made, very fast and very efficient, once again I could hear the pride as they explained the process.

Sacks of olives waiting to become oil.

I went to a baby shower of a neighbors where we all sat on the floor and ate out of 2 platters of chicken, one in a tomato sauce and one in a white sauce, we were 15 women sitting in a circle eating with our hands, then we drank tea and a few women started smoking (cigarettes, not hookah), it surprised me to see a women covered completely, holding  a cigarette. I was surprised over and over about the freedom that the women had, they did not seem suppressed, it did not seem that anyone was forcing anything on them. I think we should all take our televisions to the nearest dump and shoot them. If you want to know what is happening somewhere, go there.

We stopped the car at another ruin site, when we climbed down we met a family from Saudi Arabia, the man was important, I didn't understand why but they all insisted I have my picture taken. The man laughed and through my translator, he said he had been to Canada and we charged him for everything, everything had been so expensive, nobody had offered to pay for anything for him. I apologized for my expensive country and said I would not charge him to have his picture taken with me, he smiled,  and admitted that he had loved Canada and the people. We had our picture taken, but he couldn't shake my hand because he is a married man and cannot shake another women's hand. He has same head scarf as I. Maybe one day I will find out why he is important.

The Jordanian head scarf, looks a bit odd on me 

We sat on the floor in the family room in a circle and watched TV sipping tea, my translator wasn't there but we talked, somehow, we laughed, we listened to music, we passed an Ipad around and looked up stuff. We watched horse racing in Dubai, we watched news and shook out heads at the lies that were being told. We walked around outside in the garden and gathered herbs for the hookah pipe, lemons for the salad and the tea, we ate an orange off the tree. The mother of the house washed everyone's shoes every night before she went to bed.

The night before I left it was the 7 year old's birthday, her 2 uncles and 2 older brothers gifted her the bunny slippers, she was thrilled at how soft they were. We sang happy birthday, ate cake, and drank tea,  her picture was taken many times over, selfies were taken and posted on facebook.

I was taken to Amman the next morning,  I wasn't ready to leave. I was given a box wrapped in pretty paper as I got out of the car, I didn't open it until customs made me unwrap it (can't remember where) it was a whole box of different tiny dainties. 

 I will have to come back. I have some new friends.

no, I did not go see Petra, just wasn't interested this time, maybe next time.

I was in Jordan for 6 days and aside from the head scarf I bought I didn't spend a cent, my host family would not allow me to pay for anything, nothing. That in its self is a very humbling experience. The hospitality of these people is incredible.

If something ever happened to Mexico I think I could live in Jordan, I think.

One thing that was very un nerving was not being able to understand anything, not a word, not being able to read anything, not even numbers, not even prices in the market. This is not a language that you can't pick up quickly....at least I couldn't. 

Turkey.....as I saw it

First, let me explain why Turkey. I have a cousin that has lived in Turkey for 5 years, when he first went I said I would come and visit him and I meant it. It was time. It was an awesome time. 

He would leave the house at 7:15 am and return around 5 pm from work. I was on my own during the day. Turley is home to many many old old sights, historically sites and Biblical sights, however, the highlights of my trip was the early morning coffees before my cousin would go to work and the long suppers in the evening, just chatting. We have known each other our whole lives and had never spent this much time together, that was the highlight. But you're not interested in that.

Turkey surprised me by being richer, cleaner, more organized, more European, and  more expensive than I thought. Definatly very European, even the Asian side seems very European. The streets are clean, the traffic is organized, the markets are calm, the people are all in stylish clothes, clean shoes, the cars are new, the shops are posh, even the feral cats are clean and well fed. My travel experience comes from Africa, South America and Mexico, aside from a brief side trip to Paris I have never been to Europe, but I imagine it to be like Turkey. I could very well be wrong, and I was only in Istanbul, I did not travel throughout Turkey, this wasn't a site seeing trip, I was there to visit my cousin. I was there to see everyday local life. Here are my observations:

The city of Istanbul takes care of stay cats, the Muslim people love cats, this has something to do with Muhammad, and so the city takes care of all stay cats, they are  everywhere, lazing on stairs, sunning themselves on top of cars, sitting on chairs in restaurants, sleeping in doorways and on window ledges. They are clean, well feed. Randomly people put little cat houses out for them.

Older men (retired I am assuming) sit around in sidewalk cafes and on door stoops drinking tea, not uncommon to see someone hurrying up the street carrying a tray full of little tea cups. The tea cups are all the same, there is no variation in tea cups, they have a tea cup standard and they stick with it. I like that.

Every 300 yards or so I see the Turkish flag, they are a very proud people, you can also see that in their fancy cars, fine clothes and shoes. They don't buy a car unless they can afford a new shiny one, no old junkers on the road here, none. The same goes for clothes,  I did not see a Walmart, no cheap clothes, and no cheap Chinese made plastic junk stores (that  I saw).

20 million people in Istanbul  and it is quiet, no music blaring anywhere, no honking, and no venders with megaphones, no dogs barking at night, just the occasional cat fight, people aren't yelling across the street....the biggest surprise was no music. I can't even tell you what Turkish music is like, didn't hear any.

Smoking seems to be very chic and cool here.I didn't like that.

There is limited space, houses are small, no space for junk and stuff you don't use, no yards, just apartment style homes stacked one on top of another. Perhaps if you get out into the countryside homes are bigger, I'll check that out next time. Why do we have to have so much stuff to be happy, does our stuff make us happier? We have so much stuff therefore our homes are so big, therefore we need more money to pay for all this, therefore we have to work so much harder and longer and therefore don't have time to sit and have tea and a dainty therefore we pull up to a drive in and order a supersized drink and a banana split, therefore we are overweight and unhealthy, therefore our government has to spend more on health care.....I could go on.

They have amazing little sweet dainties to have with tea, I had about 6 everyday, they are only about a cubic inch in size, (or smaller) I like this, we should drink more tea at home in little cups and eat little dainties instead of our massive big mugs and huge plates and bowls of sloppy drippy desserts.

Which brings me to this, no overweight people, seriously, none. Why? Not a lot of junk food stores, people walk lots (if you can't afford a BMW), not a fast food joint on every corner, people are eating real food, drinking tea instead of pop, I did not see pop coolers in shops.....this is the only explanation that I can come up with.

It is a Muslim country so there is the call to prayer 5 times a day. I found it comforting, to me it was a sign that I was in amongst people that worshiped something other than the world, I was not walking amongst heathens and that there was something out there that they revered higher than themselves. Even though I am Christian and worship someone else than them, it was still a comforting sound.

The women dressed in Muslim dress do not appear to be unhappy and they don't seem to resent their way of dress, they seem proud and certainly don't look oppressed, they seem just as free as the non-Muslim women, if anything they look better taken care of than us North American women, and certainly take more pride in how they look. I felt fairly frumpy, dumpy and lumpy there...in Jordan as well.

The food was incredible, eating was far more important to me than site seeing. I ate meat with yogurt smothered in melted butter (you had to be there) I ate all kinds of kabobs, different kinds of meat  balls, all kinds of bread, clotted cream soaked in honey, fried cheese, a Turkish version of a stuffed potatoes, pizza with an amazing crust and of course all kinds of little dainties. I drank yogurt with water and salt (you had to be there ), Turkish coffee (yuck) and lots and lots of tea and some wine.

I discovered that I am a lazy and bad tourist, all the guide books and tours are wasted on me, I prefer to let my eyes be my guide book and my feelings be my guide. I don't have to go inside the Blue Mosque, I saw it from the outside, I ate a pita type sandwich at a place close to it. I don't have to take a tour through the great grand palace, I wandered around the grounds and  admired the pond, the plants, trees and the beautiful view of the Bospherous sea and found a little sweet shop right close to it and sampled sweets there every day. I didn't feel the need to go inside the Cisterns, I was there, but saw a large market close by and got lost in it for about 6 hours and bought some Turkish scarves and a little compact for my daughter and a Istanbul t-shirt for my grandson.  I don't need to see the home of Abraham, but I know where it is now should I ever need to. I did take a boat trip down the Bospherous sea, I love the sea and I like boats, it was nice. They served tea on board.

I discovered that neat, tidy and pretty Turkish Romeo-like men are also wasted on me, I don't want a man that is prettier than me, it seems they would be high maintenance. To make him go away  I agreed to meet him that evening in front of the Blue Mosque, but I didn't show up. I'm sorry I stood you up, you just seemed too desperate to connect with me and you called me "princess".

I've decide that expensive silk Turkish rugs should not be for sale in posh shops, they should line the sidewalks with them so we could all walk barefoot on them and everyone could enjoy them, not just the rich.

I love people that like to eat, my cousin is one of them, I loved to eat with him, we had so much fun eating. We were so good at eating we ended up in the promo photos of a new restaurant for their web site. We are eating professionals, you can hire us to eat in your restaurant, we make it look so fun that everyone else wants to come. We might collaborate and write a book about food. Stay tuned for that.  

I had a Turkish bath, apparently what I have been doing in the bathtub all these years wasn't bathing, I have never actually been clean. Nothing like a heavy handed Turkish women armed with a loufa and some amazing herbal scented soap (more soap than I have ever seen used in a bath in my life), now that's a bath. It was a 6 hour process....now to stay this clean. My skin was so soft I couldn't stop touching myself all day, and I loved sleeping with myself that night.....I smelt so good. If you go to Istanbul have a Turkish bath here. http://kilicalipasahamami.com/  Do it. They sell the soap there that they use, I wanted to buy some but, what do you do when it's all gone? Now you're addicted to it, my cousin would have to schlep boxes soap back and forth for me, so I resisted. 

Turkey was nice, I had a great time, a time I will never forget, but if my cousin wasn't living there I most likely would never go back (maybe for a bath) but as long as he is living there I may be back.

From here I went to Amman Jordan, but I had a 5 hour layover in Egypt,  had planned on taking in a quick tour but after the first 20 minutes in the airport I got spooked and huddled next to a group of Muslim women that were covered from head to toe in black, and wishing I had a black gown and head covering. The Egyptian men were way too aggressive and desperate, and a desperate man is a scary man. I would like to think that I am not easily spooked, or maybe they just got me at a bad time, tired and jet lagged, maybe my spook radar was off. I got 2 very serious marriage proposals within 20 minutes of deplaning. At first I thought it was a joke and there was a candid camera hidden somewhere, but it was no joke and me laughing and turning them down was no joke to them either. I decided not to leave the airport. I don't want to judge all Egypt by what happened in 20 minutes at an airport, however I will not be visiting Egypt alone anytime soon. Sorry Egypt. Next stop, Amman Jordan.....it was a good idea to go there....really good. Love love Jordan. Had a Jordanian sheep Sheppard proposed to me I might have said yes....it was that good. I imaginary bought an imaginary house, if Mexico ever goes away I could live in Jordan. 

Of course I always have friends in high place, my cousin lives at the top of these stairs. 

Apartment style homes that are typical in Istambul

A school, or University, I can't remember. 

Every neighborhood has a mosque

Cat on a hot tin roof

You can take a cruise in any type of boat you wish

Delicious Kabob 

The only big green space that I saw. I will say I did get a little lonesome for green in Istanbul 

Typical homes

Cats everywhere

A posh hotel, ,which there were many

Used to be  the entrance to a castle, there is nothing be hind this now except a busy street. 

breakfast, note the tea cup, all tea is served in this little cup. I now eat cucumbers and tomatoes soaked in olive oil and I have been frying my cheese.....fried cheese is the best

The famous Blue mosque, where I sat on a bench and ate a great pita sandwich that I bought from a vendor

Walking home after taking a ferry across to the Asian side......for supper of  course

A cat  house, a plastic container, what a great idea

So that was a quick tour of Turkey, as I saw it. Stick around, Jordan is next. I flew into Amman and then stayed in Ramtha the rest of the time. It was amazing, so amazing, I loved Jordan.....think I said that already somewhere.