Author: ameyenn
Twinkle Toes
After a bit of a big night at the January Internations function held at the Grappa Restaurant in Amman a number of teachers and students from the Amman Baccalaureate School headed of to a refugee camp populated by people from Gaza who had been dispossessed of their land. This is not a small group of refugees and number about 35,000 and they live on the outer area of Jerash, which is about 50klms North West of Amman.
Twinkle Toes is an initiative to distribute shoes and clothing – the ABS students support the programme as part of their IB CAS committements. We set off at 8.45am in two buses, one full of shoes, the other with us!
On arrival the buses entered a narrow lane and pull up outside some typical Jordan houses: square, flat roofed and made of cement and brick. The weather is kind, not cold and the rain has stopped. Children began to appear, smiling and with warm greetings. The bus was quickly unloaded and the shoes set out on the open roof of one of the houses.
The process is simple. Diagrams of shoe sizes one set for the boys and the other for girls are laid out on the cement surface which is still wet from the early morning rain. The plastic bags containing the shoes are placed around the perimeter – we are ready.
At first it is relatively orderly with children and their mothers or fathers queueing up the stairs to the roof. But within no time the crowd expands and there are some difficult moments on the stairway with young children crying and Mum’s getting agitated. However, with a bit of intervention and crowd control we get most of the children fitted with a pair of shoes, socks and some clothing.
The ABS teachers and students keep cool under the increasing pressure and at about mid-day it is decided to finish up and leave the dispensing of the remainder of the shoes and clothing to the leaders of the group – possibly this is a better way to arrange things, but desperate people are desperate.
It is difficult to comprehend the plight of this community, they have no rights and rely entirely on this type of provisioning. Apparently, Jordan does not want to grant citizen ship in the belief that come the negotiated peace with Israel over the occupied land, the Gaza refugees would be able to return to their country – this is a pipe dream and simply a very sad situation, a kind of case-22 in the craziest of senses.
Hope you enjoy the slide show!
Ma’In Refugee camp
Today I travelled with my wife Cathie and good friend Niki from the Amman Baccalaureate School, along with a number of other staff and students, to the refugee camp at Ma’In just outside Madaba. The experience was at the same time heart warming to witness the way both Cathie, Niki and all the ABS kids knuckled down and helped distribute shoes and socks to the children from the camp – it was no easy task, but also it provided a salient reminder of the problems of this region and the lack of justice in the world.
This group had been here since 1967, they are Bedouin-Palestinian’s from Bethsheba who had been dispossed during the war. They are stateless with no rights as we would understand them. The slide show below shows some of the sights. What can’t be shown is the work of the freelance journalist that accompanied the group and videoed and interviewed people at the camp – clearly a very committed person. The single picture below shows the smile on a young boys face after he had been interviewed, he was asked ‘what things would make you life better?’, he replied ‘a good school, a good clinic and lower food prices’.
A picture of hope, I hope!
The other picture of note is in the slide show and depicts the proud nature of the people, it is of a mum and dad, they were intereviewed and also showed us through their tended house – it was warm, clean and basically just like a normal home. But when you reflect on their plight you wonder if you would behave with the same dignity!
Snow and some things to do in Amman
It is SNOWING – see the pics below. Now I believe what people say. The day preceding the snow was just terrible – strong biting winds carrying sand from the Sinai. Took me a while to figure out there was snow when I awoke, but then the SMS’s from the school started – end result, we have a day off, that is a result!
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
On Saturday my good friend Niki took me shopping – I needed a coat and some Xmas pressies. First stop were the clothing Souks of 2nd Circle, these are amazing, cheap and good quality. I got two coats and will be going back for more – best place we found was Hassan Clothes. Niki was well pleased with a full length designer coat – cost 15JDs!
Then it was off to Xmas Bazaars at the Zara Centre, this was also great despite a crush of people. There were stalls offering regional treats such as food and handicrafts from Palestine, Russia, Jordan and Romania, and plenty of other places as well- another result, I was able to get the rest of the Xmas shopping done and helped a good cause at the same time.
Recent day trip to Karak
Karak is South of Amman and within easy reach via Madaba. It is an ancient town of strategic important for the trade routes and also during the Crusades and latter the Ottomans.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
The most spectacular part is the drive down and across the valley via the road across a dam. One the otherside is a hotel atop the hill with fantasitc views, and they served a most delightful array of local dips, olives and breads, I think we spend almost an hour eating, watching the view and talking with the owner. The place is called Rest House Trajan and the can be contacted on 00962 3 2310295 – it is well worth the visit.
The slide shows some of the pics taken on this day, it was windy and cool but perfect blue skies.
Sunrise Amman
Songs to lift the Spirt
Inspired by Alan Kohler’s reference to Strauss’ Last Four Songs Eureka Report – here are a few from You Tube to lift the spirts, including Jessie Norman’s version of “Beim Schlafengehen” (Going to sleep).
Ava Maria, irrespective if you are religious or not, is just the most amazing melody, in my humble option that is. Jessie Norman has the most beautiful voice and here it is done justice. Summertime is sung by Leontyne Price, an encore at the White House during Carters time in office, apparently. Billy Holiday is my favourite and here she sings Strange Fruit – if you have not heard this song listen carefully, it was performed first in 1936. If you think back to that time, this was truely a beautiful and brave performance.
Enjoy! Oh, and there is a ring in at the end.
Ava Maria
Beyonce has a beautiful version also.
Strauss’ last four songs
Jessie Norman
Summertime – Leontyne Price
Strange Fruit – Billy Holiday
Based on a poem by Abel Meeropol in 1936, one of the first racial
protest songs.
I am in Jordan, so here is one I found.
swing
Calm in Amman
Peace, calmness and tranquility settles once again.
Father-Daughter time in Jordan
Nicola arrived safely and we enjoyed a great time travelling around some of Jordan and sampling some of what Amman has to offer.
Her flight from Heathrow was delayed nearly two hours, but she was out so quickly at the Amman airport I nearly missed her. On Tuesday she was woken in the morning by 2 hours of call to prayer to mark the Eid holiday celebration.
We ventured up to Jerash and enjoyed the sites and had lunch which was very nice. It was lovely weather and not too crowded. Jerash is just fantastic and now that I can get in for 1JD with my residency card I will go back often. The North West of Jordan is full of interesting places: Jearsh, Pella, Ajloun, Umm Qais to name a few.
After an early night we left for Petra at 6.30 and made it down by 9.30 – the highway, especially after the turn-off passes through some of the most inhospitable terrain. The weather again was kind and although Niki was not too impressed with the treatment of the horses and one amazing scene with a donkey, she thoughly enjoyed chalking up number 4 on the list of the Worlds Wonder she has seen.
The incident with the donkey deserves mention. The boy rider was trying to get the donkey to move, it would not, so he got off and grabbed a small boulder about 1foot in diameter, jumped back on and banged it onto the donkeys head. Well I let the boy, his two adult minders and who else cared to listen that this was just not on! It occurred to me latter that this was obviously learned behaviour and that probably the animals were not as well treated as we might hope.
Petra was left behind and off we headed to the Movenpick resort on the Dead Sea – we were upgraded to private suits with a private pool and patio area, which you got to via double opening doors. This was a highlight in Nicola’s eyes, and mine I have to say.
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The trip back to Amman was over the mountain range to Madaba and then onto Amman, this, like all trips down or up the range to or from the Dead Sea provides spectacular vistas of the West Bank and other occupied areas, as well of the geographic landscapes in general.
Thursday night was a trip to books@cafe for dinner and an early night – Niki is getting tied these days and needs her rest.
In the middle of this fun we got the news that my younger daughter was ill with of all things Glandular Fever! Flowers and a teddy bear were dispatched to cheer her up.
The Friday was a quiet rest day, but thanks to my good friend Niki (can be confusing as they have the same first name) who took us to the old town at night, Nicola was able to sample the delights of the famous Hashem eatery and to have a look around the souks and markets – thanks Niki for taking us.
Arising at 5.30am for the trip to the airport, Nicola has flown back to London.
A great experience for both father and daughter – possibly our last holiday together on our own.
By the way, on Friday morning I received the news that I had been awarded my Doctorate from the University of Melbourne – well done me!
Pella
A trip to Pella from Amman is best done via Jerash, if you go up to Irbid it is bit longer and the signage is easy to miss! Take the turn-off to Jerash, then via Aljon Castle and little further on you reach Pella, if you continue on past the Pella turn-off you will make it to the Jordan valley.
The day was perfect, weather warm, sky blue and the start of a nine day break. I picked my friend Niki up at 9am and by lunch time we had found Pella, and it was reasonably warm so I think we were both relieved that we did not feel it necessary to walk in through the small gate marking the entrance to the site but could head straight to lunch.
The Rest restaurant is managed by the people who run the eatery in Omm Quais and the view is just as impressive, overlooking the Jordan Valley. The view can be seen in the slide show below at the start – along with a picture of a helpful cat, who managed to eat most of Niki’s chicken!
The menu is not as extensive as the one at Omm Qais,you are restricted to chicken and fish, we saw the fish whisked by and ordered chicken, salad and somehow managed to end up with a lime drink as well, all very reasonably priced.
The ruins can be easily seen from the table – no need for clambering over rocks just use the zoom! Anyway, they looked, well just like the other Romans ruins. Australia is very well known here as it is one of the countries whose Universities have been digging and exploring since the early 1970s.
After negotiating the tour bus blocking the exit we headed off to visit Aljon castle. This is an impressive place with vistas across much of North West Jordan, somehow we managed to attract a guide who actually turned out to be very helpful and informative.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
Just a nice day and I didn’t get lost!
It is now Saturday, and I am so exciting – the hot water works. I got the diesel tank filled and had a visit from the school maintenance person who checked everything and seemed to give the boiler the thumbs up, alas, as is often the case here, not everything was just quite ready to fire. One final check tomorrow, but at least I had a nice HOT shower, and I reckon Nicola will be pleased when she visits next week.
Off to Books@Cafe to meet some people from school.
Just an update on the hot water – its off, problem with the boiler, it will be fixed but it is now the Eid holiday!
Niki my elder daughter has arrived safe and sound and is sleeping in, off to Jerash today.
