Month 6 - Jordan

Jeep racing in the Wadi Rum Desert

Jordan, where do I even begin with you? I spent only five weeks in this beautiful country and it was enough to fall in love with the place and find a sense of community and home.

I have had several friends visit and live in Jordan before and they seriously downplayed it. I was drawn by the food, hospitality, diversity, and richness of culture. Maybe I only fell so in love because I was fortunate to have found such a community.

During the majority of my time in Jordan I had the opportunity to work at an organization called Shams community located in the heart of Amman. I found the opportunity online on workaway.info and thought its mission and work was really admirable. Shams is an organization based on the premise that change starts at the individual. Every individual has the ability to create change in their own lives, as well as in their communities and different circles. It's a community social enterprise that works towards this change by connecting, and empowering individuals by providing a safe place to engage in dialogues covering pressing topics over a shared meal. Topics range from borders, terrorism, foreign aid, gender based violence, environmental responsibility, mental health, home, East vs. West, Child Upbringing, Animal Welfare, etc. The discussions are meant to challenge and inform one another, some more heavy and heated topics, others more personal or light. My job there was basically to help prepare food for the events, research, organize, and prepare the topics and questions, facilitate the discussions, and help with some social media and data analysis. This safe community space allows for productive dialogue and mutual levels of respect among all participants/community members no matter our differences. Shams for me is unique because of the diversity of people that are a part of this community. By being different, each individual is able to contribute to the conversation and show others a different side of the story. We learn the most this way. I think that's the biggest key here, highlighting and embracing out differences. At least for me it is.

You see, in Amman, I had not expected to find such diversity. While I know Amman is the capital of Jordan and is not representative of the whole country, Amman is mostly what my own experience of Jordan was. There, I met SOO many people from ALL OVER the world. I learned that in Jordan, a country of about 10 million recorded inhabitants, less than 4 million of them are actually Jordanian. The other 6 million are Palestinian, Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian, Indonesian, to name a few.... Many of whom are migrant workers, some legal and others illegal immigrants, and refugees. Jordan is the worlds largest refugee hosting country which I personally think is really incredible considering several factors but mostly its lack of resources like water. They are a country that continues to accept more people despite their water crisis, that they are using it faster than it is able to replenish itself. In addition to the almost 10 million population, there are hundreds and maybe even thousands of foreign international workers that aren't included in the population data.

(Side tangent on water: Jordan is one of the worlds poorest countries for water resources. I really felt the water stress even where I lived. Just to wash dishes we recycled water, using a 3 bucket system, soap it, rinse, then rinse it well. We'd continue this until the buckets were absolutely filthy and then you'd go dump the water from the buckets in the toilets to help flush them, or to water plants, etc. Also, we could only do laundry on Tuesdays because that was the day we got water. We'd get the water tanks filled up for the week and then that's it. I remember once my boss, Saeed, told us about how one volunteer accidentally left the faucet open when they had left for a day hike. She didn't leave it running full on, but she left it trickling just a bit of water all day. They came back at the end of the day and had run out of water for the week. So he had to pay a lot to refill the tank of water, and a lot more for them to transport it. People are very aware and mindful of this crisis. Just being in Jordan, you'll feel the water scarcity and stress of it all and it will really make you appreciate water).

Jordan, but Amman in particular, is unique. Being recognized as one of the most stable countries in the region, Jordan has a lot of programs, initiatives, and foreign aid here, hence the large international population and community. Many of these expats live and work in Jordan on a tourist visa because it's easier to simply renew the tourist visa every month than to obtain a working visa. Some people continue doing this the entire time they live and work there, which could be years. I had always known Amman was sort of the hub for nonprofits and international organizations over on this side of the world, but never had I really expected the expatriate community to be so large here. My point is, Amman is really international and diverse, and there's a lot going on here.

During my five weeks in Jordan I spent most of my time at Shams (I also lived there. WorkAway is a site where you exchange work for accommodation and often times food), out exploring the different neighborhoods of Amman, visiting other cities in the country on weekends, and hiking (there's lots of this in Jordan). Amman is actually much larger than I had imagined. I don't really know what I was expecting but going there after Beirut (which is WAYY smaller than I expected, and in my mind before Beirut was larger than Amman), I just had no idea what to expect. Amman has a lot of different neighborhoods really spread out. Like I tried to go to the hammam (the Turkish bath house) and it was nearly a 45 minute taxi ride away. The airport itself is an hour and a half to two hours away from the center of Amman. That just blew my mind after coming from Beirut where you can walk across the whole city and the airport is a less than 15 minute car ride to downtown... 

Views of Amman from the top of the Citadel

Inside the oldest home in Amman

In Amman, there are soooo many things to do. I don't even think I got to see and do all the things I had originally wanted to do before I left. There are ruins, museums, endless cafes, shops, foods, graffiti, community spaces, events, and activities. During our free time sometimes we went to visit different historical sites, like the citadel (with ruins from the Neolithic period to the Umayyads) at the top of one of the hills in the city. There are a lot of historic and ancient sites around the city. One evening we even went to a opera concert at Darat al Funun which was opening a new exhibit and celebrating their 30th anniversary. The concert was held outdoors in the middle of Roman columns on the hillside in the Weibdeh neighborhood at the end of October under the moonlight. It was incredible. It was also a really neat experience to hear opera sung in Arabic. Other evenings in our free time we would wander downtown, explore the different markets, and visit different museums and exhibits, but would almost always find ourselves ending the night with falafel at Hashems. Falafel is life. Especially when its like 3 dollars for your whole meal of falafel, some fries, babagnoush, hummus, and some tea. We also took advantage of the city's free walking tour, which pointed out some unique markets, and neighborhoods in town. It was interesting to see the difference between the more liberal or conservative sides of town. Our guide also brought us to the oldest home in Amman, which is open to all visitors but especially artists come for inspiration or to add their art. This place was really like it was frozen in time, a time capsule. There were also a lot of old pictures and paintings up of the former kings. Just being in there you could learn a lot about Amman.

The Amman Citadel

Views of the city from the Amman citadel

Actually, throughout the city there are all kinds of opportunities to learn. There are exhibits and posters presenting information on the different humanitarian crisis that are happening in the region. There are workshops (some of which discuss and inform how to manage our water use and help the environment), there are cultural centers, community spaces, and events (one event I especially loved was Cycling 4 Palestine where we got a group of friends together and paid to do a bike race and profits went towards development projects in Palestine. It was really fun biking for a good cause and also getting to see some of Jordan's countryside on the bike route.) all throughout the city that educate, inform, and also just provide spaces to meet others, and for inspiration and ideas. There are so many cool and colorful cafes in Amman! Some of which host cultural events. One time we went to an Oud (the instrument) show at one of the cafes and just watched this guy jam out. I wished I had spent more time in the different cafes to just relax or do my own work there. It's so hard to describe, just like, the spaces here make it seem like the people are wanting to build community and engage, are willing to learn, and empower each other. I know my experience in Amman is not at all representative of the whole country since I lived in near more touristy areas, meaning more expats and more liberal (Jordan used to have a larger Christian population but many left. There is an old neighborhood where many of the homes are still owned by these families, they just no longer live there. Today, while Jordan is predominately a Muslim country, Christians do exist, sitting at about 5% of the population). Yes, there are conservative parts, actually pretty much everywhere is more conservative than where I was. Even while knowing that the area I lived in was a liberal anomaly, I was still surprised to find vegan cafes, cultural centers, communities and centers for knowledge, colorful alleyways, beautiful graffiti everywhere, little bookshops on every corner, and free libraries. That these kinds of things even existed here in Jordan. I even found a hotel/cafe that has all these animals roaming around everywhere because they buy animals they find being sold at the markets (like domesticated animals but animals they know were taken out of their natural habitats). They keep them and nurture them until they feel they are ready to be released back into the wild.

Animals and the café.                                                  Random book shop on the street corner

House of Duke Diwan (Amman's oldest home).                  Oud performance at Jadal Cultural Center                                                                       for Knowledge

Amman street art and book shops

  Exhibit in a café, "Occupied Minds". Displaying images 

presenting the repercussions of living in occupied territories on 

the mental health effects, particularly focusing on Palestine. 

                                                          

Amman street art

Cycling 4 Palestine event

Opera concert at Darat al Fanun in Weibdeh

Overall, it just felt like there was always something to see and do. So many museums and places to explore and people to meet. I always felt like I was learning something new every moment there, like just being there fed my mind and gave me so much opportunity to grow. I think this is what made me love being in Amman so much. I was learning about so many things I knew I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to be exposed to had I been back home. Learning about the Israel/Palestine conflict while actually being there (ok not technically there, but very close, and also in a country that is heavily impacted by it) was different than me just reading about it from back home. Learning about the Syria crisis while being in the region (also when I was in Lebanon) I gained a different perspective and understanding, better than I would have at home. Despite not actually having gone to Israel/Palestine or Syria, just being in the region and exposed and made more aware of what's actually happening, is so different than reading about it in the news. Simply just getting to meet so many different people with vastly different backgrounds that I never would get to meet back home was such a privilege. Seattle is a city and people say it's "diverse", but it's got nothing on Amman. I never could have imagined all the people I would meet in Amman.

Outside of exploring Amman, I had the opportunity to take a couple day trips/weekend trips to other parts of Jordan. During my first week in Jordan with my friend visiting, we did the hike from Dana to Petra which was a 4 day hike. That was a really challenging but worthwhile trek. Even though on the second day I thought I was going to pass out from the heat, getting to see the different landscapes Jordan has to offer and finally arriving to Little Petra and Petra the last two days was so worth it. 



Dana to Petra Trek Day 1

Setting up camp the first night

Dinner day 1

 Dana to Petra Trek Day 2

Setting up camp and dinner with the sunset over a ridge in a valley 

Dinner day 2. Mensef, one of the two main typical Jordanian dishes (the other is Maqlouba)

Dana to Petra Trek Day 3 (few pictures from this day because my phone died)

Made it to camp in Little Petra. Mars Camp. We were so excited to have shower.

Dinner day 3. Maqlouba for dinner. A traditional Jordanian dish. Literally it 

means upside down because you flip it and serve it upside down.

Maqlouba! I love this dish.

Dana to Petra Day 4 (Little Petra to Petra)

Climbing through all the rocks and ridges from Little Petra to Petra

Small carvings along the route to Petra

Left photo: Made it to the Monastery (the first thing when you come through the back door. The last thing if you come through the parks main entrance).                                        
Right photo: Made it to the Treasury, one of the first things you see entering the park from the main entrance.

And after four days we finally made it. Also, this is right after one of those camels tried to bite me. 

Also, we hired a local guide who not only led us on the trail but helped sort out all the logistics, food and camping. If any of you are interested to do the trek, we really loved it and got a great deal! I highly recommend him. If you are interested, feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to share more and get you his contact info.

I was also able to visit the city of Jerash on a day trip. Jerash is basically a massive Roman archaeological site in the middle of the modern day city.

Roman sewer. I was super fascinated and impressed by their sewage system. 

They had these sewer lids all over the Roman city!!!!!

I was also able to go on some hikes with Shams on the weekend. When the weather permits, Shams community would go on hikes and have picnics and dialogues. I really loved these because I was able to combine all my favorite things, meeting new people, interesting discussions and conversations, food, and nature. I got to join two different hikes, one to the Barqash Forest (which, who knew, there were forests here), and another in a wadi (canyon) just along the Dead Sea.

Barqash forest

Jordan's tallest waterfall

After a long day of hiking, we relax and float in the Dead Sea during sunset.

On another weekend I got to spend time at the Dead Sea. We stayed in this hotel with cabanas and hammocks right along the water. We spent hours just floating on the Sea under the sun. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth and it is truly magical! What an out of worldly experience this place is. Walking in, touching the water that is so salty it almost feels and looks like oil, and then you get in and you can hardly keep your feet down. You just begin to float.. and then you drift out, starting to play and figure out all the weird positions you can do just floating there. And then you stumble upon these masses of salt. Just plain salt rocks scattered everywhere. I loved this place and I can't wait to go back one day soon. If you haven't been to the Dead Sea yet and you would like to, go ASAP! The water level is decreasing more than a meter each year and they have no idea how to replicate it so it will likely no longer be there in the very near future.

Sunset on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea

I should have moved the curtain, but this was the view from bed.

Another magical place to visit in Jordan is Wadi Rum. It's a desert down in the south about 3 to 4 hours bus ride from Amman. I also got the chance to visit here on a weekend and man, was that place stunning. I've seen a handful of deserts but none like that. Seeing the desert sands up against the rock formations of the Wadi. This place was breathtaking. They actually even have a lot of film sets here. There was a set filming near the entrance of the park when we arrived. This is also where they filmed the Martian to name an example. 

Our camp in Wadi Rum

We hiked to the top of that rock bridge

After Wadi Rum, on our way back to Amman we made a quick stop to the beach in Aqaba. It was still pretty warm out and we had a couple hours to kill before catching our bus back to the city. So we laid at the beach on the Red Sea. We didn't end up swimming just because we didn't want to get onto the bus back to Amman all wet or have to deal with changing in the short amount of time we had.

Beach in Aqaba. Views of the Israel/Palestine and Egypt on the 

Red Sea (some of the best diving in the world here by the way).

Dipping the toes in and the water was still crazy warm! This was at the end of October.

At Shams I lived and worked with other volunteers, locals and foreigners. We were a pretty mixed group, with the other WorkAwayers coming from France, Italy, Egypt, USA, Denmark, Switzerland, etc. There were also many local volunteers who came to Shams often. We would cook, prepare the discussions together, debate, and just hangout. It was cool to have a community like this that allowed me to meet so many different kinds of people (many foreigners) but also make local friends who were able to show us Amman from their perspective and take us around to the best spots in town (they also really reminded me of my privilege. I made friends with so many who aren't even allowed to go into their home countries. This really made me think about "country counting" which I know a lot of travelers do. People asking and bragging about the number of countries they've been to as if it's a simple thing on a checklist you can see and do. It made me feel like doing this is not only insulting to the country as if you could claim to have seen and learned all you could about it even if you went for a day. It also made me rethink my privilege in that, thinking about how it's like a game, who can visit the most countries? Meanwhile there's all these people who don't have "strong" passports, some can even only visit ten countries in the world without a visa. Then there are others who can't even leave where they are, and aren't even able to return to their home countries. Anyways, just some food for thought on country counting). It's crazy, how you could spend only a month with some people yet it could feel like you've known them a lifetime. Especially with those who I lived with. We shared a room together with the occasional cockroaches and the other not so glamorous parts. From this we kind of bonded more I think. Living with them, but working and just spending so much time together, it was like we were a family. The Shams family. We bonded over the numerous food parties, our intense debates about life, and the many late nights staying up, chatting the night away and not realizing how much time had passed.

A classic dinner at Hashems

Shams Community

One of the rooms at Shams community

More Shams community spaces (I loved the little library)

My read for the month, at my morning reading spot. I'd read here almost every morning before work. On the balcony, overlooking the massive lemon tree in the yard, listening to the birds chirpin, with a nice Turkish coffee. I live for mornings like this. The Bastard of Istanbul, by Elif Shafak (I love her writing). 

Some of the dinners we made together for the Shams events

My last night in Jordan. A dinner, good company, singing songs all night 

around the bonfire. I couldn't have asked for a better last night. 

Maqlouba

Shams squad selfie

Last Jordanian breakfast with the gang

Some might think five weeks is a lot, or enough, but man, did time fly by there. I'd have stayed in a heartbeat. Amman and Shams will always have a special place in my heart. Shams is easily one of the coolest places and group of people I've ever gotten the privilege to cross paths with. It gave me new friends, new cooking skills, but most importantly constantly challenged my mind from the debates and discussions we had. The kinds of events that Shams community hosts are exactly what stimulate my mind and what I love. These kinds of discussions didn't just take place during the events, but these kinds of people, these community members initiated this kind of thought and thinking constantly. For that I'll forever be grateful for the wonderful people I met who challenged me and made me grow. Thank you to all the wonderful and inspiring people I met! Especially thank you to Saeed, for giving me the opportunity to work at Shams and with you. What a life changing experience I will never forget. Shoukran katyr habibi!!!!

City views from the Citadel with Shams fam friends

Thank you for reading and making it this far!!!!
I know I'm behind on my posts, but here's a map update of where my trip had taken me thus far at this point. The janky looking blue pen lines are my roundtrip detour for Egypt from Turkey. After Jordan I was back off to Italy!! I'll work on that post now... ha ha... Thanks for staying tuned with my journey!! I hope you're enjoying the content so far :)

<3 Rachael