Taking Charlie to College

About a month ago, we took Charlie off to college at Indiana University, my alma mater.  As you can see from the above photo, it seems he was predestined to attend Indiana.  Not only did I go to IU, but so did his dad, almost all of his aunts and uncles, many of his cousins, his paternal grandparents, and many other close and distant relatives.  In reality, however, he had several choices and, although I tried very hard to remain objective during the decision making process, I can now unapologetically say that he obviously chose the best one.

I had imagined the day we would leave him at college for several years.  Frankly, from the moment he was born, it had occurred to me that this day would come.  When he was a baby, though, it didn't occur to me that it would come so fast.  It was the blink of an eye.

I had imagined that I would be sobbing as I left him behind happily mingling with new friends, just as on his first day of  preschool . . . and kindergarten . . . and first grade . . .

But, it didn't happen like I imagined it.  Although I did leave him behind happily mingling with new friends . . .

. . . I didn't shed a tear and haven't yet.

This is not to say that I don't miss him.  I do.  But, taking him to IU was like taking him home.  I grew up in Southern Indiana not far from Bloomington and spent many years of my life in Bloomington and nearby.  So, while I'm not there with him, he is close to our family and the place I will always consider "home."

Moreover, IU recognized Charlie's accomplishments and potential in journalism and made him part of the Ernie Pyle Scholars Program. Although the scholarship that accompanied this honors program made IU more attractive to out-of-staters like us, what really attracted Charlie to IU (aside from Bloomington being just awesome) is that IU showed interest in having him there.  They seemed to really want him.  Whether it was sincere of feigned, it was effective.

But, most important, he is having a fabulous time!  When did college become so much fun?  That is not to say I didn't have fun in college; I did.  But, it was a different kind of fun.  Charlie is taking classes that are really fun.  Here's how he described it on his Facebook status:

[I have an] awesome schedule. German is still in review of what I know, Ernie Pyle Scholars' Seminar is super fun journalism stuff, my English comp class is about zombies, my Collins class is really easy and looks like fun, and in my elective class I'm giving a presentation about George Lucas's influences for Star Wars tomorrow. This semester is going to be sweet.

And, that's another thing: how awesome is it that parents now get to communicate with their kids often and instantaneously by text, Facebook, and Skype, not to mention good-old-fashioned cell phones?

The long and the short of it is that I know Charlie is in the right place at the right time.  He has a bright future ahead of him . . . as does his sister who will be off in another blink of the eye . . .

Back from Hiatus--the Adventure Continues . . .

After a particularly crazy summer hiatus, I am back to blogging and am coming to you from my new hometown, Carbondale, Illinois.  I last blogged on the day I was leaving Jordan, May 4th.  A lot has happened since then and so this post will be a quick catch-up on what was a very short and busy, but very exciting, summer.

When I left Jordan, my family and I spent a short holiday (in American English, that's "vacation").  Then, we popped over to Madrid for about a day and a half before heading back to the hectic realities of everyday life in America.

We arrived home in mid-May and spent about a week re-adjusting to American culture.  It was so strange to drive after not having driven at all for over nine months.  I remember feeling dazed and confused the first time I walked into a Barnes & Noble.  It was an indescribable feeling.  Are all these books . . . in English!?!?  How am I supposed to pick from all these hundreds of books . . . all in English!?!?  But, it didn't take me long to get my bookstore groove back, which is a good thing because my summer was already moving faster than the speed of light.

While I was away this past year, I had accepted a new job as the dean at the Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale, Illinois.  I was excited and eager to get started, but we had not done one thing to prepare to move.  It is pretty hard to orchestrate a move across the country when you aren't even in the country.  Consequently, we had decided to wait until we got home to make any concrete plans, like finding a place to live, getting our Texas house ready to put on the market, etc.  But, now we were home and the plans had to be made quickly.  We scrambled to find a house to rent in Carbondale until we could find something more permanent, and we began preparations to move a few things so that we would have a functional home there.

With quick trips to Carbondale, a conference, and my niece's wedding in Colorado, I was only actually at home in Texas for about three weeks total--but not consecutively--before it was time for me to begin work at my new job on July 1. Maggie joined me in mid-July, just in time to start daily band practices (she made the snare line--yea!!).  Paul and Charlie are spending some time in Texas and some time in Carbondale.  Even since arriving in Carbondale, we attended another niece's wedding, this one in Cincinnati, and I attended a conference.

So, although we are back from our trip abroad, we have not stopped traveling!  But, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  Charlie will be going to college in a couple of weeks.  Paul will be staying in Carbondale more and just returning to Texas when necessary to deal with matters regarding the house.  We hope to have a more permanent home soon so that we can finally get settled in one place after a crazy year of traveling and living out of suitcases and boxes.

So far, I am enjoying Carbondale a lot.  It is very much like the area where I grew up in Indiana, and I'm closer to my dad and sisters.  We are very excited about the high school Maggie will be attending.  I am honored to have the opportunity to work with an incredibly talented group of people at the law school and the university.  We are looking forward to becoming part of the Saluki family and the Carbondale community.

Ma'a Salama Amman

I'm leaving Amman today.  I will meet up with my family in London (they left a couple of days ago). My time here in Jordan has gone so fast, and although I am eager to see family and friends at home in America, I am sad to say goodbye to all my new friends in Jordan.


My family and I are fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to Jordan.  I am extremely grateful to the ABA for giving me this opportunity and to Texas Wesleyan for providing me with the sabbatical that made this and my time in Germany possible. I greatly enjoyed my work in Jordan and got to visit fascinating places, but the highlight was, undoubtedly, the people I met.  The people I worked with, the professors and students at the universities that I visited, and the people I met living and traveling in Jordan were awesome and they made my time in Jordan a personally and professionally rewarding experience that I will always remember.


I hope to continue to write about my observations and experiences in Jordan because there is so much more to say about this amazing country and the wonderful people who live there.   And, while I say "ma'a salama Amman" today, I hope I will have an opportunity to return to Jordan in the future, insha'Allah.

Souvenir Shopping in Jordan

Shopping in Jordan is definitely a learning experience. I'm talking about shopping for traditional Jordanian or Middle Eastern items, not everyday grocery or mall shopping. To get an idea of the sorts of items that are popular Jordan souvenirs, take a look at this blog post.


We were first introduced to tourist shopping in Jordan by our tourist drivers. Whenever we go on an excursion outside of Amman, we hire a driver.  The routine is always the same. After being on the road for awhile, the driver stops at a tourist shop. These are large shops that carry all sorts of Jordan souvenirs. Many also serve light food, coffee, and snacks.  Each is sort of like a Stuckey's on steroids (do Stuckey's still exist?). There are sometimes a couple of busloads of tourists at these shops when we arrive.  But, always a salesperson attaches to us and leads us through a hard-sell exploration of all the "treasures" in the store.


At least that's what happened until we became slightly more savvy tourists. The problem with these big tourist shops is that the prices are much, much higher than they should be--sometimes as in as much as ten times what they should be. They tell you they are giving you a discount, and indeed they do take about 10% off the original price.  But, still the prices are significantly higher than they should be. One of the reasons for the high prices is that your driver gets a commission on all of your purchases in these stores.


It took us about two stops--and a couple of unfortunate purchases for which we paid too much--at these shops to figure out what was going on. We figured out that if we buy the same items at "local" stores (that is, stores where the local people shop) or at bazaars, the prices were not only far less, but we still got discounts and could negotiate to some extent for an even lower price. The local stores are smaller, so you might have to go to more shops to find the wide array of items. And, you still have to watch out, since most retailers set the price when they look you over and assess your ability to pay. But the starting price is almost always significantly less and the negotiating room is almost always significantly greater at local shops and bazaars.


At all the souvenir shops--the smaller, local ones or the giant tourist shops--you can always find a huge assortment of souvenirs: Arabian knives, ceramics, scarves, mosaics, hookahs, rugs, olive wood statuary, and much, much more. There is jewelry galore. However, you have to be careful. Some of the things are high quality, locally made, and beautiful; some are of poor quality and are not made in Jordan at all but are imported from places where they can be made and imported cheaply.


For example, I once made the mistake of buying a scarf without taking it out of the package to examine it.  The seller assured me that the scarf was handmade in Jordan and of the finest quality just like the display scarf.  But, when I got it home, I found that it wasn't like the display scarf at all.  Two of the four edges of the scarf (the two that were not showing in the package) were unfinished and fraying.  Plus, the scarf was much, much smaller than most scarves and was made of very unevenly woven polyester fabric. A tag said "made in China." Lesson learned: I now take everything out of the package to check it; even when I'm buying two identical items, both come out of the package for inspection.


How do you tell the difference between locally made things and cheap imports?  One way is to look for either a tag that says where the item was made or the remains of a tag that has been cut off.  Often, sellers will cut off the tag that says "made in China" so they can sell it as a genuine-made-in-Jordan item. I am almost positive that a scarf I bought in Egypt was not made in Egypt despite the seller's enthusiastic assurances that it was.  The tag was cut off and when I asked him why, he gave me some lame excuse and pretended not to speak enough English to explain it to me.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  It doesn't matter because I really like the scarf and would have bought it anyway--in fact, I did buy it knowing full well that it probably wasn't made in Egypt.


Another way to determine if something is really locally made is to examine the item itself for signs that it was really hand made.  For instance, I found some red Wadi Rum sand inside some pillow covers that were purportedly hand made by Bedouin women in the desert.  The sandy dirt was certainly evidence that this was true. And, the pillow covers were all unique, another sign that they were hand made.


There are also some very upscale retailers of local goods, and it is easier to be assured that the items from these stores are handmade locally.  They are also of a much higher quality. For example, the Jordan River Foundation, which is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania, sells beautiful tapestries, hand-woven rugs, and other locally made items.  The mission of the JRF is to "empower society, especially women and children, and in turn, improve the quality of life to secure a better future for all Jordanians." Wild Jordan, the business unit of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, operates stores that provide opportunities for local people to make and sell products using local resources and skills. Some of the items available at Wild Jordan stores include jewelry, olive oil and olive oil products (such as soaps), painted ostrich eggs (a traditional Jordanian art and a very popular, but expensive, item in souvenir shops), and organic jams and fruits. And, we must not forget Silsal, and other artist-owned galleries.  Of course, one pays more at these places, but the quality of the items is outstanding and you can be sure that the things you buy were made by Jordanian artists. 

Silsal

"Knowledge: the beginning of it is bitter to taste, 

but the end is sweeter than honey."

~Samarkand proverb

No question about it! My favorite shop in Amman is Silsal. It is a ceramics gallery, where artists make (and, of course, sell) the most beautiful ceramics pieces you can imagine. And, if they don't have what you are looking for or if you would like something very unique, you can work with the artists to custom design your own piece.


In dramatic contrast to the numerous tourist and souvenir shops around Amman and throughout Jordan, Silsal makes one-of-a-kind art pieces. Most of the pieces reflect traditional Arabic and Islamic art influences, but some are quite modern and abstract. Here's what Silsal's website says:

Silsal is a place for artists and artisans, and for all those who value the unique. Housed in two 1950s villas [in] Jordan’s capital, Amman, we’ve been making inspiring stoneware art pieces for over twenty years now. As for our designs, many reflect hundreds of years of Oriental heritage.What we produce is more than a product – a Silsal ceramic is a work of art. It’s the result of diligent research, skill, and just that little bit of magic.

Several weeks after we discovered Silsal (and after we had already made several visits to the gallery), Charlie started reading Queen Noor's book "Leap of Faith." We were so excited when he came across this excerpt:

I . . . encouraged two creative and enterprising sisters, Rula and Reem Attallah, who started a handmade ceramics business in Amman using designs and calligraphy from ancient Middle Eastern civilizations and Islamic dynasties.  We gave their beautiful glazed pieces, many painted with base-relief imagery, as personal and official gifts with great pride. One of my favorites from Silsal Ceramics was--and is--the "Health, Happiness, and Good Fortune" bowl, which uses the unique Islamic art form of Arabic script to promise blessings on its owner.  Another favorite . . . bears the very delicate lettering of an eleventh-century Samarkand proverb that translates to "Knowledge: the beginning of it is bitter to taste, but the end is sweeter than honey."

Imagine how smug we felt to have been validated by Queen Noor! We had come across Silsal before reading Queen Noor's book and we had the same reaction to the beautiful pieces that she did.  Indeed, two of our favorites were the ones she mentioned. The "knowledge plate," as we call it, immediately drew our attention and instantly became our favorite piece the first time we visited Silsal. (I say "our" because all four of us had the same reaction to the piece.) The one on display was huge--45 centimeters; it was stunning and dramatic due to its size, yet very elegant due to its simplicity. And, we really liked the message (it reminded me of law school!). It is inspired by a piece that is in the permanent collection at the Louvre, and the Silsal artists make the plate in many different color combinations.

Here are a couple examples of Silsal's knowledge plate:

And, this one is the original in the Louvre's collection:

So, if you are ever in Amman, don't miss Silsal, and if you aren't in Amman, visit Silsal online! 

Dinner at the Wild Jordan Cafe

Paul, Charlie and Maggie left Amman today and headed for London.  I am leaving on Tuesday and will meet up with them in London. We will spend about a week in London, then a couple of days in Madrid (long story), before we catch our flights back to the United States.

So, we chose our favorite Amman restaurant for dinner last night--well, it's my favorite anyway--Wild Jordan Cafe. Wild Jordan Cafe is a partnership with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature.  The RSCN operates several nature preserves in Jordan, including Azraq Nature Preserve and the Azraq Eco-Lodge, which we visited.

The food at Wild Jordan Cafe is delicious and organic, and the view is spectacular--especially at sunset, which is when we were there last night.  They also serve a great breakfast on Fridays and Saturdays; we went a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.  Plus, you can get handmade jewelry and other locally made items in the gift shop.

It's a great place to spend an evening. Or a morning. Or an afternoon.

Spring Flowers

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul." 

~The Qur'an

Spring flowers are in full bloom in Amman.  The pictures show some of the beautiful flowers that I pass on my walk to work each day.

Breaking the Cycle of Bad Academic Writing

In her Chronicle essay, "Bad Writing and Bad Thinking," Rachel Toor discusses the importance of shedding pretentious academic writing styles that obfuscate the thinking behind the writing to make it seem more brilliant and original than it really is. It's an excellent "Emperor's New Clothes" argument for plain and clear academic writing.  Toor says:

I've heard [the same] song from graduate students in every discipline, and from faculty members, junior and senior, at universities across the country. The message: You have to write the same way as others in your field. You must use multisyllabic words, complex phrasing, and sentences that go on for days, because that's how you show you're smart. If you're too clear, if your sentences are too simple, your peers won't take you seriously.

. . . 

Call me simple-minded, call me anti-intellectual, but I believe that most poor scholarly writing is a result of bad habits, of learning tricks of the academic trade as a way to try to fit in. And it's a result of lazy thinking. 

Toor discusses George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," which connects bad writing with bad thinking and provides these simple rules for clear writing:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. 

Toor concludes that "Orwell's proscriptions of pretentious diction are as hopeless as Oprah's quest for skinniness. His preference for sturdy Anglo-Saxon words over Greek and Latinate constructions is, I'm afraid, doomed in academe." But, borrowing from the words of Atticus Finch*, my response to Toor is "[s]imply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try" to encourage better academic writing. Both Toor's essay and Orwell's essay are worth reading for those of us who want to become better writers.


*Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird 87 (First Perennial Classics ed. 2002).

More on [NOT] Walking in Amman

The Jordan Times reports here on the ongoing issue of poor pedestrian conditions in Amman.  As I have mentioned previously in this blog, Amman is not a "walking city." Sidewalks, when they do exist, are often uneven, in disrepair, and covered with impediments, such as trees. People just don't walk much in Amman, and those who do often end up walking in the street, subjecting themselves to the constant annoyance of being honked at by passing cars.

According to the Jordan Times article, Jordan ranks second in the top five most "unwalkable" cities in the world. The article highlights the serious dangers of walking in Amman, such as being hit by a passing car or by falling debris from construction sites or the upper floors of buildings. The article suggests that the problem has many cuases, including a lack of enforcement of traffic laws regarding the safety of pedestrians, placing responsibility for sidewalk construction and maintenance with property owners rather than with the government, and urban expansion that has emphasized more room for automobile traffic and paid little attention to making space for pedestrians.

Oddly, even merchants in some areas of Amman resent pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk in front of their businesses; they view the sidewalks as private property and passersby as trespassers. Needless to say, there aren't a lot of "window shoppers" in Amman. The shopping culture here is completely different from the American shopping culture of walking along a shop-lined street, deciding whether to enter a shop based on what the shopkeeper displays in the window or near the front of the store.  Often, when my family and I go to an area with a lot of shops, we find ourselves to be the only pedestrians walking along the sidewalk (or in the street).

According to the Jordan Times article, Jordan has spent 15 million JDs (over $20 million) on sidewalk repair and construction in the last four years. Thousands of trees have been removed in order to make the sidewalks more passable. Yet, many people remain skeptical about whether there will be any significant progress in making Amman a more pedestrian-friendly city anytime soon.  There is simply too much working against the pedestrian: culture, history, and other economic priorities and challenges.

Cairo Day 3: Shopping at Khan el-Khalili Market

Cairo is a shopping mecca.  Everywhere you go, there are things to buy or, at least, reasons to shell out more money to more people.

We had done a little bit of shopping here and there on our first two days.  In particular, after we visited the pyramids, our guide took us to a perfume factory, a papyrus shop, and a cotton shop.  In the perfume shop, we got to sample all sorts of Egyptian fragrances. I'm not that big on perfume (when the salesperson asked me what scent I wear, I had to say ". . . uh . . . soap"), but it was fun to hear about how perfume is made and smell the pure oil scents. The papyrus shop was the most interesting of the three. There, we were treated to a demonstration of how papyrus is made and told how to distinguish faux papyrus (made from banana leaves) from real papyrus (real papyrus has cross-hatching, whereas on banana paper, the lines go all one way).  The cotton shop had all sorts of things made from Egyptian cotton, from clothes to bed and table linens. At each of these shops, we fulfilled our touristic obligation to buy a few items.

But the third day was dedicated to serious shopping at the famous Khan el-Khalili Market.  This is perhaps the oldest and most famous bazaar in the Middle East. It started in 1382 and is in the Islamic district of Cairo.  Khan el-Khalili draws both tourists and locals. It is a maze of narrow, crowded, alley-like streets lined with shops.  There are a few coffeehouses where tired shoppers can rest and have a drink, and street vendors sell food.

We were warned: "Prices are high; quality is low." Moreover, Khan el-Khalili is known for being a place where buyers and sellers vigorously negotiate prices. Keeping these things in mind, we ventured into the market.

It was kind of like being at a really intense carnival where the carnival workers are all calling to you trying to get you to waste your money on their game. We were bombarded with great offers, like "Egyptian scarves, only 5 pounds." (By the way, 5 Egyptian pounds is equal to about $1 US). But, when we actually tried to buy anything, it was significantly more than 5 pounds.  We paid more than we should have for some things, but got reasonable deals on other things.  For example, we ended up paying 100 pounds (about $20) for a poorly-made Egyptian flag, but I got a great bag for 50 pounds (about $10).

Where we really got ripped off was in a cotton clothing shop.  We had a great time in the shop, but we really let things get away from us and made a few critical errors that, in the end, cost us.  Here's what happened:  I wanted to get an Egyptian shirt. I had been regretting not buying one at the cotton shop we visited the day before, and so when I saw one hanging in a store, I decided to go in and take a look.  That was my first mistake.

I tried on a couple of shirts and decided I wanted the spiffy green one that had attracted my attention to begin with.  So, I asked the salesperson "how much for this shirt."  He didn't answer me.  Instead, he said, "um . . . well . . . let's make sure you don't want anything else because the price will be better for two items."  So, I said "OK," and turned to my family and asked "anyone else want anything?"  That was my second mistake.

Now, he set out to outfit our whole family in Egyptian clothing . . .

We actually had a great time in this store, and were there for quite a long time.  We were served tea with fresh mint, and it was perhaps the best tea I've ever had. When all was said and done, we had selected six items to purchase.

"How much?" I asked.  This time he told me.  He suggested a price of . . . get this . . . 2500 pounds.  That's over 450 US dollars! And, the stuff was not that great.  The original shirt I wanted to buy was made of a thin cotton fabric--about the weight of doctor scrubs--and the seams and edges were not well finished. I should have just said "forget it" right then and walked out.  But, I didn't.  That was my third mistake.

Then, the negotiation began.  Paul and I were trying to negotiate with the salesperson and the owner. That was our fourth mistake: too many people involved in the negotiation.

It quickly became apparent that trying to buy multiple items (mistake number 2 above) was the biggest mistake because this gave them two grounds upon which to negotiate.  In other words, when I went down in price, they suggested removing items, so that I was still, at every price point, paying too much for the items still on the table.  Add to this the general difficulty of trying to do money conversions from Egyptian pounds to Jordanian dinars to  U.S. dollars and back again. In the end, we paid 500 pounds (about $100) for two items.  A complete rip off!!

Oh well, we had a good time and got the full Khan el-Khalili experience!

Morals of the story:  (1) buy one thing at a time; (2) know how much you are willing to spend on that one item and be ready to walk out of the store if they won't take that amount; (3) when you mess up and pay too much, chalk it up to having a good time and get over it! By following #1 and #2, I got my awesome bag for about $10; by violating #1 and #2, I got to learn #3 the hard way.

After the clothing store experience, we were ready for a break at the famous El Fishawy coffeeshop. This popular coffee shop has been in business for over 200 years and has never been closed one day. It is located right in the alley of the souq, so shoppers continue to walk through as you sit and enjoy your drink (no food served here).  Vendors walk through trying to sell everything from fake Rolex watches to single tissues.  We had numerous offers to brush off our shoes, and even one offer to comb off our shoes.

Cairo Day 2: The Great Pyramids

We set out early to see the pyramids and the sphinx, but by the time we got there, it was already hot and smoggy, and there were huge crowds. School groups from all over Egypt come to the pyramids for their field trips. (How awesome would it be to get to go to the pyramids for a school field trip!) But, even though there were what seemed like hundreds of busloads of people there, the area is so huge and expansive that it didn't seem crowded at all--at least not when we were there.

The pyramids and the sphinx were awesome.  It's almost surreal to see them in person. You probably think that since you have seen millions of pictures, you don't need to go see them in person.  Not true. What you need to do is go buy yourself a plane ticket to Cairo and see them for yourself!

The desert area surrounding the pyramids is huge.  But, you can get up close and even climb on and go inside the pyramids. There are several parking lot spots, and some of them are quite close to the pyramids, so not much walking is required to get up close. Or, you can hike up from some of the more remote parking areas--if you really want to walk across the hot, dry, smoggy desert. (You can see the thick smog in the picture.)

Or you can take a camel ride. There were lots of camels lined up waiting to give tourists a lift closer to the pyramids.







After we visited the pyramids and the sphinx, we went to a couple of shops. (I'll have more to say about shopping in Cairo in the post for Day 3.) The shops had a great view of the pyramids.

Then, we visited Muhammad Ali Mosque in the Cairo Citadel. (No, it is not named after the boxer.) Unlike at the mosque we visited the day before, Maggie and I did not have to cover ourselves to enter this one.  It was filled with tourists--from inside and outside of Egypt. Many, many school groups were there.




Maggie was approached numerous times by groups of teenagers asking if they could have their picture with her.  One girl introduced herself in extraordinarily good English and inquired about Maggie's name and nationality and then very politely asked for a photo with Maggie.  We said "sure, where is your camera?" and she replied "no, with her camera!" Apparently, it was exciting just to be in a picture with Maggie, even if she would never even see the picture.  Here is the photo of Maggie with the two Egyptian girls. Some kids just came up and snapped pictures of us with their phones or cameras without even bothering to ask if it was OK or if they could be in the picture with us.

Here are a few more pictures of the Muhammad Ali Mosque.

Stay tuned for Day 3, on which we visited Khan el-Khalili Market.

Cairo Day 1: Old Cairo and Egyptian Museum

Only a couple days after the tragic journal loss, we went to Cairo.  If the Curse of the Wadi Rum Scorpion could be broken anywhere, it was in Cairo.

OK, we didn't go to Cairo only to break the curse--we had already planned the trip in advance--but the timing was right to shed all that bad luck that had been following us around and regain our good luck, ancient Egyptian style.

Cairo was perhaps the most awesome place I've ever visited.  It is a city of contrasts. The city is dirty, dusty, gritty, polluted, over-populated, impoverished, and crumbling.  But, it is also spectacular, mysterious, moving, beautiful, and magnificent. It's ancient but modern, ugly but beautiful, hectic but mesmerizing.

When we arrived, we quickly checked into our Nile-view rooms in the Ramses Hilton . . .

view of the Nile from our hotel room

. . . and immediately set off to explore the city and see the Egyptian Museum.

On the way, we experienced the absolute craziness of driving and walking in Cairo--which occurs simultaneously in a huge tangled mess. Until I went to Cairo, I thought Amman driving was the craziest ever, but Cairo driving made Amman driving seem like taking a country drive on a Sunday afternoon. There were people everywhere: people riding, people walking, people waiting, people sitting, and people standing. People were beside the cars, between the cars, and all around the cars. The cars don't slow down for the people, and the people don't watch out for the cars. Add in some busses, carts, donkeys, and anything else you can think of, and you get an idea of the tangled mess moving in the streets of Cairo. We didn't see anyone get run over, but that was a miracle, it seemed to me, because the people and cars seemed to be in a constant clash in the streets.

Our first stop was in Coptic Cairo to see three churches, a synagogue, and a mosque. My favorite was Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church, which is built on the spot where Mary and Joseph supposedly hid out with baby Jesus to avoid Herod. I looked down into the 10-meter-deep crypt where Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are said to have rested when they arrived in Egypt. We next visited the Hanging Church (pictured), and then Saint George Greek Orthodox Church.

Then, we visited Ben Ezra Synagogue, which is at the place where the Pharaoh's daughter supposedly pulled Moses out of the Nile.

Next, we visited Mosque of Amr ibn al-'As, which is the oldest mosque in Africa.  We went on Friday, so there was a lot of activity at the mosque while we were there. Maggie and I had to enter through a special door for women; our guide and Paul and Charlie went in the men's door.  We got to the door, took off our shoes, and we each put on one of the special robes to cover our heads and clothing.

We entered the women's side and went into a large open room, which had some benches scattered here and there mostly near the edges. We stood out like two sore thumbs.  Apart from the bright green robes that said "TOURIST" as clearly as if we had been wearing neon signs on our heads, we also didn't know what we were doing--we didn't know where to go or which way to walk.  We were met by curious looks, smiles, and even some laughs from the women there.  A couple of people said "hello," indicating that they identified us as English speakers. There was one group of women sitting in a group listening to another woman who seemed to be giving a sermon (but, of course, it was in Arabic, so we could not understand what she was saying).  Then throughout the rest of the very large room, women were scattered around either talking in small groups or resting on benches or on the floor.  There were some children playing at one end of the large open room. It seemed like, for the most part, there were just a lot of women taking it easy and enjoying rest and conversation with their friends.

The next stop was The Egyptian Museum. When you see this . . .

. . . you know you are in the right place to see awesome stuff. But, you have to actually go there to see it;  there is a strict NO PHOTOGRAPHY policy in this museum. We had to check our cameras outside and were not even permitted to bring them in.  But, . . . we saw a lot of cell phone cameras inside.

This museum was fabulous.  They have so much ancient Egyptian stuff, they don't have a place to put it all. There were stacks of things here and there.  There were boxes marked for shipping to other museums.  There were lots of things right out in the open where you could touch them and really examine the detail, but other things were locked up tightly in cabinets. Everywhere you looked in the museum, there were amazing artifacts from one of the most fascinating periods in human history.

There is a special mummy room in the museum.  This was the most creepy part of the museum because it had the acutal mummies intact and on display.  Some of them still had hair!  One thing I could not  help but notice was that these folks had extraordinarily long toes. The notes about one of the mummies said she had been obese and had bad teeth.  However, the years have been good to her: she is quite thin now and her teeth were all but covered by her upper lip. Perhaps she's one of those rare individuals that looks better after having been dead for a few thousand years; forget all that plastic surgery, just go for mummification! 

King Tut (actually pronounced "toot") himself was in the basement, so we didn't get to see his actual mummified body.  But, we did get to see all his stuff. There is a special King Tut room with his mask, two of his sarcophagi, and a lot of his jewelry and things. This room, along with the mummy room, were the highlights of the museum for me. We got the not-so-brilliant idea for Paul to take an iPhone picture of King Tut's amazing mask and just as he was raising the iPhone toward the cabinet holding the mask, a guard approached Paul.  Holy smoke!  I thought he was going to be hauled off to Egyptian Museum Jail--which could be kinda cool, actually (maybe it's down there in the basement with King Tut and some of the other too-awesome-to-display mummies).  But, no, he just got a stern talking to and he put away his phone for the rest of the day.  We didn't get any pictures.

Throughout the museum, signs and markers explain about Egypt's relentless efforts to reclaim all of the ancient Egyptian artifacts that have found their way into other countries and are being held by other governments, museums, and even private individuals.  For example, the notes accompanying the mummy of Ramesses II indicated that some of his hair and other objects related to his mummified body had appeared for sale on an internet website in France and had been retrieved (and by "retrieved" I do not mean "purchased") by the Egyptian government from the would-be seller.  So, here's a message to all of you people out there hoping to sell your ancient Egyptian artifacts on e-Bay:  don't even think about it! 

That evening we went on a super-tacky Nile dinner cruise. There was a buffet with marginally edible food and terrible wine. There was even a belly dancer and a roving photographer.  It could have been Las Vegas!

We had a great taxi ride back to the hotel.  As frequently happens, when the taxi driver realized we were American, he started playing American music.  This taxi driver started with some Backstreet Boys and moved on to 50 Cent's "Candy Shop." He cranked the music and sang along. The entertainment in the taxi was much better than the entertainment on the boat!

Stay tuned for Day 2, on which we saw the Great Pyramids.

Getting Around in Amman

Remember I mentioned that no one walks in Amman?  We don't have a car here, so that means that whenever we need to go somewhere that's more than a couple of blocks, we take a taxi. But, there are some challenges in getting around  in taxis also.  Even though taxis are plentiful and cheap, it's just not that easy to get around, at least for foreigners like me. 

First challenge: Most of the taxi drivers speak very little or no English.  Thus, it is difficult to explain where you want to go.  I have directions to my house written in Arabic on a piece of paper that I show to taxi drivers, but still it is difficult.  Some can't read--either because they "forgot their glasses" or because they simply don't know how to read or refuse to read.  Those who can read have trouble with the directions due to challenge number two.

Second challenge: There aren't really addresses here.  Yes, there are street names, and yes, there are building numbers, but places don't seem to be identified by address the way we are used to in the U.S. and Europe. So, you have to explain to the driver where to go, usually by reference to the nearest of the eight circles (which are large round-a-bouts that sort of define the regions of the city).  This is difficult under any circumstances, but it is even more difficult when you don't speak Arabic and the driver doesn't speak English.

Third challenge: GPS?  Forget about it.  Taxis don't even have communcation radios, much less GPSs. And, remember challenge number two?  It would be tough to have GPS without addresses.

Fourth challenge: Drivers know some landmark places, but to a very limited extent.  If you want to go somewhere that is not a common taxi destination, such as an office or someone's home, then it is virtually impossible to explain to a taxi driver how to get there.  In fact, I live near a hotel, which should provide a good landmark for getting to my apartment.  However, it is extremely rare to find a taxi driver who actually knows where this hotel is.  I have to give directions, using hand signals instead of language (remember the first challenge!).  Forget it if I want to go somewhere to which I don't know the way (see fifth challenge).

Fifth challenge: If you are like me and bad with directions anyway, you can't even point out the route using hand signals because you really have no idea where you are going, but only know where you want to end up! Add to this directional-challenge the additional challenges of being in a relatively unfamiliar city with streets that do not seem to be laid out in a nice organized grid and of not being able to speak or write the language, and you have a real challenge getting around.

Sixth challenge:  Just being in a car is a frightening experience. Traffic is insane. There appear to be no traffic rules at all and, if there are, no one follows them.  I have actually seen stop signs, but I have never, ever, not one single time, seen any car stop at one. When cars come to a corner, they just keep going and sort of meet in the middle and whichever car can "take" the right of way, does. Also, lanes are meaningless; people drive on top of the lane line or anywhere else they want to. People change lanes without any sort of signal at all or any worry whether there is another car in the spot they are moving to.  Horns are honked constantly; a horn honk can apparently mean a plethora of different things: "watch out, I'm coming through," "go ahead, I'll wait but not for long," "what the heck are you doing pulling into the side of my car," "do you want a taxi?," or any number of other things.  I'm still trying to decode the intricate details of the horn honking language that exists among Amman drivers--it's almost as hard to learn as Arabic.

Despite all these challenges, I do seem to manage to get everywhere I want to go and then home again.  It always seems like a small miracle when I pull up to my destination.  It seems like a large miracle when the taxi meter says that the whole ride--which seemed to have taken me all around the world and back to get me to my destination--cost only 90 cents.

Advice for Wadi Rum Bedouin Camping

We stayed overnight at Bedouin Whispers Camp.  Above is a photo of the camp. The overnight experience includes a camel and/or Jeep tour, plus overnight accommodations and lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

It was very nice and orderly (I would say "clean" but really it was quite dusty). It had plumbing, including flush toilets, showers, and sinks.  However, the restroom was dark, wet, and unisex. There was no electricity (so don't plan on charging your cell phone or blowdrying your hair). It had an awesome dining tent with a fireplace in the middle. You can sleep under the tents or pull your mattress out and sleep under the stars.  But yes, there are scorpions in the desert and, yes, they do climb onto the beds of campers.

I like camping and I'm glad we did this, but this was not my favorite experience of all time.  On the downside was that I didn't pack properly (I did not bring a flashlight, for example) and I didn't get much sleep (due mainly to allergies and a headache, but also partly due to the snoring of other guests). The desert is simply exhausting; there is something about that dusty, dry air that just makes you want to go to sleep--but it's hard to really go to sleep because of the heat and dryness.

On the upside, the people at the camp--including our Bedouin guides as well as the other guests--were all friendly and nice. In addition to giving us a great tour of Wadi Rum, our guides watched out for us at the camp, made sure we knew where to go to watch the beautiful sunset, and cooked us a delicious dinner. Significantly, they "took care" of the scorpion that crawled into Maggie's bedroll.

There were two other families there at the same time we were: a German family and an Italian family. The Germans were from very close to where we lived in Germany--in Northern Bavaria--and we got to practice speaking our minimal German with them. The Italians brought special Italian Easter cake and shared it with everyone on Easter morning; it was delicious and the undisputed highlight of our Easter breakfast for sure!  The desert was really beautiful and we enjoyed the camel ride, hiking, and the Jeep tour.

Here is my advice for Bedouin camping in Wadi Rum:

1.  Most important: Bring a flashlight.  Once it gets dark, it is very dark. The stars are bright and beautiful, but it's tough to see enough to do things like taking out contact lenses and brushing your teeth.

2. Even more important: Bring your own sleep sack and warm sleep clothes.  The bedding is extremely dusty (as you would expect since it is the sandy desert after all) and not very clean.  Also, the blankets we were given to put under us on the plastic-covered mattress were wool; consequently, if you are allergic to wool, you might think twice before sleeping on the wool.  Apparently, I only thought once because I put the wool blanket under my nice cozy fleece sleep sack.  A dumb move since I'm allergic to wool.

3. Pack like you are going to camp in a tent because that is precisely what you are doing.  This means packing things like a flashlight and a sleep sack (see items 1 and 2 above), and it also means packing only what you need in a very accessible way. Don't bring make-up, for example. Bring your own soap and something to wash and dry your face and hands with (although a community towel is provided in the bathroom, all campers for who-knows-how-long have used that towel).

4. Drink plenty of water. And then drink some more.  I think a big part of my problem was that I didn't drink enough water. The camp provides all the bottled water you can drink, so take advantage of the opportunity to drink whenever you can.

5. If possible, wear your PJs under your clothes so you don't have to change.  There is no privacy at all. I ended up just sleeping in my clothes, which worked fine.

6.  Don't plan on taking a shower. Although showers are provided, it is not very convenient to use them for numerous reasons: (1) the showers are co-ed; (2) there is no dry place to put your stuff while you shower; (3) you are there for a limited amount of daylight time and you have no privacy from the other guests; (4) the showers are dark even during daylight and there is no way to distinguish your shampoo from your conditioner from your shower gel.  Just plan on not taking a shower and you will get along better. It's OK; the camels won't notice how bad you smell.

7. Be adventurous and sleep outside even though there are creepy bugs out there. The risk that you will actually be killed or seriously injured by a bug is minimal and it's much yuckier to sleep inside the tent than it is to sleep outside.

8. Although the dinner was delicious and the breakfast was sufficient (enhanced significantly by the Italian Easter cake--which won't be there the next time), the lunch left a bit to be desired and there were no snacks other than tea and water.  Bring your own snacks if you think you will be hungry (and you will be hungry after riding camels through the desert).  But, be careful not to bring sweets that will attract insects and other undesirables.

9. Bring allergy medicine, aspirin, bandaids, and any other supplies you might need.  There are NO shops out in Wadi Rum.  None. You will not be able to purchase anything once you leave Rum Village (and shopping in Rum Village leaves much to be desired--the only stores are small convenience stores).

10. Consider the luxury Bedouin camps if you don't like camping. We passed a "luxury" camp on our Jeep tour; it appeared to have electricity generators, more bathrooms, and private tents. I am not sure how much more luxurious this camp was, however, and so if you don't like camping at all, just drive on to Aqaba and stay in a nice hotel.

The Curse of the Wadi Rum Scorpion

We had been warned that when camping in a Wadi Rum Bedouin camp, one should be cautious about pulling one's bed out to sleep under the stars.  The small stone walls that encircle the tent-covered sleeping areas keep the scorpions out, while there is no such impediment when you are sleeping right on the desert sand under the stars.

But, our Bedouin guide assured us that they had not seen a scorpion in more than three years and we had nothing to worry about.  So, we pulled out our matresses, slept under the stars, woke up the next morning and went to breakfast.  When Maggie went back to her bed to pack up her sleeping bag, she found this in her bed:

Photo by Maggie Scudder

We joked that it must be a sign of good luck to have found it in the morning instead of being poisoned by it during the night. Perhaps it had provided protection from other intruders throughout the night.

But our bad luck had started setting in almost the minute we left our apartment--long before the scorpion wandered into Maggie's bedroll.  

It started with some driver problems. Without going into too much detail, we had arranged for two cars and two drivers because Paul's sister and her family were visiting from the United States. Our drivers seemed to agree on only one thing: that their primary goal was to slow down our trip to Wadi Rum enough to make us miss our camel ride reservation (presumably so they could make another reservation for us for which they would get commission). [The ins-and-outs of tourist drivers in Jordan is worthy of an entirely separate blog post.] The driver problems continued throughout the entirety of our trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba. But, this was not the worst of the bad luck.

We finally made it to Wadi Rum, but almost as soon as I stepped foot onto the desert sand and climbed up onto my camel (which was awesome, by the way), I started getting a headache.  I'm not sure if it was the beautiful purple flowers that were blooming all over the place or the sand or the camel or the wool blanket that covered the camel or the one I later slept on, but I was pretty miserable with allergies and a headache the whole time we were there. (I had quit bringing migraine medicine along with me because my migraines have become so few and far between . . . but note to self: always pack the Imitrex!)  But, this was not the worst of the bad luck.

After sleeping under the stars at Bedouin Whispers Camp, we spent most of Easter day touring Wadi Rum.  Read about our spectacular experience in Charlie's blog post and watch his video featuring the Camel Cam. 

We cut short our time in Wadi Rum--partly because my headache continued to get worse and partly because just over 24 hours is PLENTY of time to spend in the desert (at least in my opinion).  The desert really was awesome--and I'm glad we went and glad we got to tour on camels and in a Jeep--but it's also dry (duh!) and hot and stark and exhausting.  The Italians who were in the Jeep next to us actually said out loud what I had been thinking all day: "this just isn't our kind of relaxing; we would like to get to Aqaba as soon as possible."

We got to Aqaba (the Red Sea) as soon as possible (which was longer than we had hoped due to ongoing driver problems). The water there is beautiful--the most amazing shades of blue I've ever seen. And clear!  You could see all the way to the bottom. Maggie commented that it looked like a swimming pool with a blue-painted bottom; she was right! As the water got deeper, the turquoise water got darker, but it was still clear and blue. We went out on a snorkeling/dive boat and the snorkeling was unbelievable--the coral was so colorful, as were the fish. I saw a lion fish, which was my primary fish-spotting goal. But our snorkeling trip was cursed by heavy winds. I mean hard, hard wind the whole day. It was just so windy that we called it quits too early and spent the rest of the day on the boat . . . with no snacks . . . and my headache was still hanging on.  But, that's not the worst of the bad luck.  

Then, when we got back from the boat, I had to rush to meet my driver (because the boat was late), so I couldn't even wash off the salt water.  I had to get back to Amman to go to work on Tuesday and the rest of our group would go on to Petra the next day.  I met my driver and we headed out for Amman.  My driver was the slowest driver in the history of driving, so the trip that should have taken only 3 1/2 hours took 5!  All the while, my headache was getting worse and worse. Miserable. But, that's not the worst of the bad luck. 

I brought home a lot of extra stuff besides my own stuff--the snorkeling gear and everyone's dirty clothes, etc. from the previous three days. So, the trunk was full of bags and stuff.  When I got back to my apartment in Amman, my building-guard/helper helped me get the bags out of the trunk and bring them in.  

And, here's when the worst of the bad luck occurred: Maggie's backpack was missed and was left all night on the sidewalk.  By the time I realized it was missing, I went out and searched for it and it was gone. Stolen. And, with it her journal which contained all her thoughts, souvenirs, letters, and everything else from our entire year away.  A lot of her clothes and things were in the bag too, but all that can be replaced.  The journal can't be replaced.  I am just sick about it and, of course, she is too. What a horrible thing to have happen when she has spent the entirety of our time abroad collecting all of her memories, not to mention the photos and letters she brought from home, in the journal. I'm pretty irritated at the driver for driving off knowing the bag was there (when we called to see if it was still in his car, he said he had left it on the sidewalk for the guard to pick up; it would have been helpful if he had told the guard or me that it was there), but I take responsibility for being careless and in a hurry to get inside after such a long drive. That was, by far, the best journal ever. She has been SO creative with it all year, including everything from original drawings to small souvenirs to photos and ticket stubs.  Tragic!

Photo by Maggie Scudder