Yalla Bye

My last week in Jordan. Work was very slow this week, and up until wednesday the week was slowly creeping along, but when wednesday arrived, I had no idea where the week had gone. I spent the end of the week going through an extensive closing procedures, where I had to run back and forth to various departments to get signatures making sure that I didn’t have overdue books, or that I wasn’t trying to take my bed with me. It was weird making my departure so official. Today in my Middle East Seminar class one of the English teachers brought me a cake to say good bye, and during school meeting one of the counselors made an announcement about how sad they are to see me leave, but how wonderful it was having me in the office. I can’t get over how lucky I was to be in such a great office. Packing went by very smoothly, and everything fits in my luggage, rug and all. My day was full of goodbyes, and anxiety. I ended my day in the café in Madaba, the one where I spent my first weekend here. 

I’m flying out soon, but I wanted to get one last post in Jordan before I return home. I’m starting it out with a short list of the various things that I will miss and love about Jordan, and the Middle East in no particular order. I haven’t quite figured out how this post will end yet. 

1. Kanafeh - These amazing mouthwatering sweets made from shredded phyllo dough, wrapped around melted goats cheese, covered in honey based syrup and topped with chopped pistachios. I can’t get enough of them.
2. Labaneh - Fresh, savory yoghurt served with lots and lots of olive oil, sometimes red pepper, and eaten with fresh pita bread. 
3. Jordanians - All of the people that I have met here have been wonderful, even if there is a language barrier at times, the people will try so hard to communicate with you, and help you with whatever you need. The people are friendly and warm, and will immediately strike up a conversation with you. 
4. My Office, and Other Faculty at King’s - I was so lucky to be placed in an office with such amazing co-workers. The work can often be boring, but the people make it enjoyable. I’ve learned so much just from talking with them, about the region, the language, places to go, people to meet, songs to listen to, articles to read, and food to eat. I’m truly going to miss each and everyone of them, it’s because of them, among other people that my experience here was so enjoyable. I met so many great people, and made many great friends here.
5. Prayer Time in a Muslim City - No matter what time of day, or how busy the souk is, the moment the prayer is broadcasted it feels as though the whole area slows down just one notch. People don’t thrown everything down and begin praying on the ground, it just feels as though everyone becomes a bit more aware. From the souk downtown, King’s Academy at night, or when walking through ruins in the region, the melodic prayer makes the whole scene feel like walking through a dream. 
6. Cinema Review on Tele Monde 5 - On wednesday nights I would go over to a co-workers house and we would watch a French TV show that reviewed interesting movies. It was simple things like this that made my work week more interesting. 
7. The Region - Vast, historical, modern and conservative, a constant struggle towards becoming more like the west, while maintaining conservative Islamic, Christian and Jewish values. Endless ruins, breathtaking landscapes, delicious food, revolution, and the friendliest people ever, the Middle East is unlike anywhere else in the world. The countries change from border to boarder, Jordan, young and struggling towards a more open, democratic society, Syria, home to the oldest cities in the world, and currently plagued with a bloody uprising, Lebanon, full of bustling metropolitan cities, modern and old molded into one, and in the middle of so much reconstruction in hopes of recapturing its former title as the “Paris of the East”, and all of the issues in Israel/Palestine. 

This list can go on forever, in truth, there are very few things that I won’t miss, or look back on fondly about the Middle East; the bright blue cloudless skies, the harsh winds, the smell of Arab sweets, hummus, falafel, endless Roman ruins, the warm people, the faculty at King’s, the Dead Sea, the red desert, olive trees, citrus fruit, strong, muddy Arab coffee in the morning, and the sweetest hot tea after dinner.

I don’t know that I did anything that surprised me about myself, except for maybe my lack of “culture shock” when I came to the Middle East. I do know that I made sure to do everything that I could possibly do to get the richest experience out my semester here; I ran a half marathon from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, took each and every opportunity to travel in Jordan, and saw just about everything worth seeing, because of this, I am leaving with no regrets, nothing that I should have done, or should not have done, because I tried to get out as much as I could, and if something didn’t live up to my expectations, it wouldn’t phase me. I think that is why I enjoyed myself as much as I did, because I didn’t allow negativity into my time here. I was here to learn, to live, and to experience life, I had no time to complain, and for that matter, absolutely nothing to complain about. I don’t like to admit this to myself, but when my family moved to Italy in middle school, I was not happy about it. Most of my time there, although I was secretly enjoying myself, I wouldn’t confess to it, because I wanted to be back in the states, playing with my oh so important 5^th grade friends, whom I haven’t seen for years. Like the saying goes “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”,  well it’s true. I think it’s because of that, I made sure to appreciate every little thing here, because I didn’t want to look back thinking, “if only I knew how much I would appreciate this experience later on”. 

My bags are packed, and I’m leaving for the airport soon, my room is empty, all but my laptop opened to pictures of my journey as I reminisce over the past four and a half months. I’ve said my goodbyes to most all of the wonderful people I’ve met. I’m currently trying to figure out the best way to type the way that I am feeling right now. I’m just a mix of emotions, anxious to leave, and almost excited to get home, sad to leave new friends, and happy to see old ones, which I guess is a good sign, after all, only wonderful things await me when I get back home - family, friends, graduation, summer, and I’m going to a college that I am in love with for the next four years. I’m ready to go, I’ve accomplished everything that I set out to do, and yet I’m hesitant to actually leave, I had it good...no, I had it great. I’ve had the experience of a lifetime, and I know this is just the beginning. I’ll be back to the region, hopefully sooner than later; there are people that I need to see again, and I have Syria and Palestine to visit still. I’m overwhelmed with nostalgia, and I haven’t even left, and yet, I have a sentimental longing, and affection for what the future will bring. My walkabout is actually over. 

I wonder how the Australian Aboriginals felt at the end of their walkabout, was it hard for them to return, did they feel nostalgic when they reminisced on their time spent in the outback, where they excited about returning to the village a “man” or scared to think that life would never quite be the same as it was? I'd like to think that the two of us shared some common experiences, at least in what we saw in ourselves, pushing our limits, experiencing life in unfamiliar territory. I think the Aboriginal and I both discovered the same thing on our walkabouts - it doesn't actually end when we return home, it never actually ends.

Aqaba, and Five Days Left

I didn’t have much work in the office this week because I’ve done most of the filing for the incoming seniors, and the seniors have just about nothing left to do in the University Counseling Office. We had Sunday off, and then I stayed in my room on Monday because a cold that I had been escaping in Lebanon finally caught up with me, and I’m allergic to something in Jordan so my allergies were bad as well. With only Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for work, the time went by fairly quickly. There was one major highlight of my work week however, his majesty King Abdullah II paid King’s Academy a visit to address some of the issues in happening Jordan and the instability in the region. His visit was brief, but it was great to listen to him speak, because I learned more about the government and politics in Jordan. 

After school on Thursday, the Junior Fellow group boarded a bus, and drove south to Aqaba for a mini-vacation at the beach. Aqaba is a medium sized city in the southern most part of Jordan, and the only port city of Jordan. Medium sized beige, rocky, jagged mountains surround the city, and run parallel all around the coast. From Aqaba you can clearly see that Israeli city of Eilat right around the corner of the sea, down the coast are the mountains of eastern Egypt, and over the mountains just south of Aqaba is Saudi Arabia. What I love about that area is that everything, the mountains and the desert are different shades of beige and brown, but then the Red Sea is a rich, glittering dark blue. 

We spent our weekend relaxing at the Red Sea,  walking around Aqaba, and soaking/burning in the hot sun. 

So, It’s nighttime on Saturday the 7^th, I have work in the morning, and then in the afternoon I’m going into Madaba to pick up some scarves for my sister, and some things for me. I’m going to work for the whole week, since my flight home isn’t until Thursday night at 11:55, and I’ll probably start packing Tuesday or Wednesday night since I have so much to pack. It’s still a bit surreal that I am actually leaving this week. I feel like I have been here for so long, and yet my time here flew by. I’m anxious to get back home, see family and friends, catch up on all the little things that I’ve missed, but at the same time I’m a bit anxious to leave; my whole high school career I’ve been making steps to prepare for my walkabout, and now it’s over. I guess when I was leaving Columbus I was feeling very similar, anxious to get here, and just as anxious to actually leave. This walkabout that took years to dream up, countless advisories to understand, months to prepare for, a week to freak out about, and two days to get to, felt like it went by in a matter of minutes. Longest walkabout ever is just about over.

Lebanon

Downtown Beirut

 So, I’m back from Lebanon, my bags are unpacked, and I am on my normal weekly schedule. The break went by so quickly, and now I have about ten days until I leave Jordan and fly back to the states. It’s so surreal to think that I will be back in Columbus. Before going on spring break I didn’t feel that I was ready to go home at all because there was so much left to do. But now that I got to see and experience another country, and so much of it, I think I can go home without feeling that I left without accomplishing something. It’s still a bit bitter sweet, I’m excited to see my family and friends, and even though my work week here isn’t particularly exciting, it’s still exciting to live in another country, and experience another culture, but now after such an amazing vacation in Lebanon, my feelings about going home are leaning towards sweet. 

Downtown

Now, about my nine days in Lebanon. It was amazing. Beirut truly is the Paris of the East, a modern people and a historic city. I got to see so much of the country, 5 cities to be exact. Beirut is a beautiful city, with a vibrant life, stunning architecture, a gorgeous beach, the friendliest people I have ever encountered, but with a very rough history, which is very evident when walking by ruins of bombed colonial buildings, facades, and sculptures riddled by bullet holes. It’s amazing though to see how much progress has been made in that city, I was looking through a book at a museum showing before and after pictures of the reconstruction of the historic downtown. After the war, the facades were filled with bullet holes, streets cracked and filled with overgrown plants and trees consuming the buildings, it looked like a post-apocalyptic Paris. That same area today is breathtaking, and looks just as it did, if not better than before the war. 

Main square downtown

Another thing to that I was amazed about Lebanon is how well things appear to be running. For a country that doesn’t really have a government right now, or is in between administrations, everything seems to be fine, there are friendly army and police men watching the streets, workers cleaning trash keeping the downtown spotless, and more importantly, the Lebanese seem to have a huge love for life, even if there is instability in the government, they continue enjoying themselves. 

Maronite Cathedral and the Main Mosque

We arrived in Beirut on Friday night, checked into the hotel which is on a lively street near the American University of Beirut, so the area is filled with cafés, and shops. After checking in we went out for dinner and to explore the area a bit. The next day we got up fairly early to do a walking tour of the city, we went to the gorgeous green, tree filled AUB campus that overlooks the Mediterranean sea, down to Gemmayze, an area filled with beautiful old buildings. The old architecture in Beirut is beautiful, it’s heavily influenced by 18th century Italian architecture, like many of the buildings found in Rome, painted in pastels, with white trim, but them mixed with classic Arab architecture, with high pointed-arched windows and doors, and stained glass, enclosed balconies, other Arab motifs. We took a stroll to the historic down down where the architectural style changes a bit, featuring large, imposing beige  Arab buildings, with pointed arches covering the walkway, medieval mosques and churches standing side by side, Roman ruins, a large clock tower in the center square, a newly constructed souk, and every store that is way out of my budget. We walked over to the Place des Martyrs, a once grand central square that is under heavy restoration, at the center of which is large bullet riddled sculpture from the early nineteen hundreds commemorating the Lebanese Martyrs that were hung by the Ottoman Empire in WWI. 

Building in Gemmayze - Beirut

I really want to see Beirut in 15 years, there are only a couple of dozen or so buildings in the downtown that are still heavily damaged from the war, but most all of them have signs saying that they are going under reconstruction to become museums, art centers, or government buildings, and in addition there is so much new construction that is happening right now, high-rises, parks, and squares. 

Place des Martyrs

On Sunday we finished up our tour of Beirut, taking it a bit slower, visiting Pigeons Rock, a large rock formation off the coast, and seeing a few other sites. On Monday we took a bus to Balbaak, a city with impressive Roman ruins, in eastern Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley. The ruins were beautiful and in great shape in comparison so many other ruins I’ve seen. We spent our day there, and then went back to Beirut for the night. Tuesday morning we took another day trip to Byblos and the Jeitta Grotto. We first stopped at the Jeitta Grotto, an impressive series of caves featuring an upper level cave, and a lower level which included a boat ride. After the caves we went to Byblos to explore the old city, which claims to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, though Damascus actually holds the title, nevertheless, Byblos is very old. The old downtown is close to the coast, and consists of old short stone buildings, olive and palm trees lining the cobble stone roads creating canopies, medieval cathedrals and mosques, nunneries, gardens, and extensive Roman ruins and a large Crusader castle, it’s adorable. We walked around the restored castle, through the gardens of the cathedral, and relaxed on the coast. The souk was colorful, though very touristy, selling cliché Middle Eastern gifts, and pricey cafés. After exploring the rest of the old city we went back to stay the night in Beirut again.

Bombed building in Gemmayze

Ruins of Balbaak

The next day we packed our bags to head north to Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, which is mainly Muslim and much more conservative than Beirut. The newer city is really unattractive, but the historic city is very nice, and was mainly built in the 14^th and 15^th century (I think it’s a trend in the Middle East to have a beautiful old city in the center, and then surround it with ugly cement buildings that look like prisons). The old downtown is literally a maze, there is a huge souk, with dozens of mosques, tiny arched alleyways, small squares, cobble stone buildings and streets, large wooden doors and overhangs, connected by draping fabrics. The souk consists of many sections that sell anything you need, meat, fruit, clothing, scarves, shoes, hand made soap, gold, and trinkets. They are all connected to each other, the fruit souk ends becoming the textile souk, or one leads through a low archway becoming the soap souk. Once you get in the souk it’s very difficult to find your way out. The gold souk was by far the prettiest, it was particularly clean, draped fabric blocking the sun, polished dark wood doors, and merchants displaying their tiny shops filled with beautiful gold. Next up was the soap souk, which smelled wonderful. Apparently Tripoli has an ancient tradition of soap making, and in the 18^th and 19^th century, anybody who was anybody in Europe bought only the finest soap which was all made in Tripoli. For the most part they still make the soap the same way as they always have, which was demonstrated to us by a young kid who talked a lot. We next went to the old citadel of Tripoli which was the historic city in the 1st century, and then became a crusader citadel to lay siege to the city later in History. That night we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast which was in an old house, and there was an old grandmother that would walk around and lounge in the living room. The family was very kind, and breakfast in the morning was very good, consisting of fresh croissants and coffee. 

Street in Byblos

At around ten in the morning we got our bags on the bus, and went to a small town way up in the mountains in western Lebanon in the Qadisha Valley, famous for the Lebanese Cedars that grow in the area. We stayed in a small town by the name of Bcharré, saw some of the sites around the city which included a Phoenician obelisk, and numerous churches, The day was very relaxing, and the location was breathtaking, situated right on the top of a huge green valley with waterfalls all around, and large snow-capped mountains in the distance. 

We made our way back to Beirut on Friday to see the Nation Museum of Beirut which was closed all weekend because of Easter, and to go to another area of downtown which we had not previously seen. It’s a beautifully restored French colonial arts district of Beirut, which was apparently heavily damaged after the war, but no one would ever know by seeing it, small windy roads, large colonial buildings, boutiques and cafés, it looked just like Paris. 

Souk in Byblos

We flew out on Saturday afternoon, and I was a bit disappointed when I saw the desert again, I didn’t realize how much I missed greenery, which central Jordan does not have a lot of. It was a wonderful vacation in Lebanon, and I loved seeing another side of the Middle East, a more modern, yet more historical side. Like I mentioned, I only have ten days left in Jordan, this weekend the Junior Fellows are going to Aqaba, and then I leave the following Thursday. I feel like I’m reading the final chapter of a long book that I somehow rushed through. 

Crusader Castle in Byblos

Byblos Cathedral 

Bekaa Valley

Tripoli Citadel

Gold Souk in Tripoli

Old House in Tripoli

Mosque in old Tripoli

Phoenician Obelisk in Bchaaré

Bcharré

Restored arts quarter in Beirut