Meeting point

When the human mind is blinded by external believes and abstract ideas about the eternity, the destiny and the outside world, no action is driven by any logic, and Jerusalem/ Al Quds is the consequence of this kind of believes. Three of the most important religions in the world meet there, in each of its streets and around it to dialogue, fight and refuse the ideas of the other. Sadly, in the last century the dialogue has waned and confrontation has arised as the main mean of relation between them.

Nowadays, Jerusalem/Al Quds is controlled by Israel, a semi-religious state founded in 1948 and aiming at becoming the state of all Jews in the world, but falling in their task. However, the holy city is under their control and it is the main place where they can show to the world their muscle. In every corner and street of the Old City you will face the israeli army and security forces, waving their weapons and demonstrating that there is a new guy in town, and it is there to stay, forever, or at least until someone else is able to kick them out. It will not be the first time in the History of the city, and surely it was not the last one. Obviously, when one of the groups control the place, the other two consider that fact as a grievance. It can be compared with a Vatican city controlled by a muslim country or Lhasa controlled by a communist state (irony, of course).

Jerusalem/ Al Quds is politics, everything has a meaning, from the falafel shops, to the language you use in a shop and the names. One of the main victories is the language. The world speaks about Jerusalem, with actually is the Jewish name, for muslims, the city is called Al Quds, but that is not acepted broadly by the international media, use that name is already a label of palestinian support. Oh, yes, the Palestine issue, I maybe forgot to mention it, but actually so many things are around the city that is difficult to focus on all of them. Palestine is nothing, it does not exist, and everything they show us in the media is false, there is no palestinian authority but rather some no-law parts of the country. Everything is clearly under the same authority. As clear example are the israeli buses. They cross freely the West Bank, as an another part of israel. In the way, two things can shock you. A high wall, decorated with Israeli flags in which, actually, is supposed to be, by UN definition, the future Palestinian State, and some fenced places, with good-looking buildings and military security around them. They are the settlements, those who think that Israel has the right (because their holy book says so, I should check what my holy book says about my neighbour’s car, maybe I have the right to take it…) to use these lands. It is their “holy land”  and they are coming back to retake what they just temporaly gave up some thousand years ago…but of course, Divine right is over International Law and they can do so.

Some reflexions

My last days in Amman are arriving, and without any question many perceptions I had about this particular region have changed, however, some of them remain sticked into my mind, trying to find the final proof of the rightness (or lack of rightness). This region is tough, bite and painful; it is easy to find people with horrible life-stories, from the taxi driver to the shop-keeper that was kick out of his village in 1948 just because he was an arab living in what some people consider their “land”.

There is something that keep knocing in my mind, and it is the influence of religion in the region. Five times a day, every single day of the year, the praying call storms all the arab cities, few minutes after, thousand of persons, looking in the same direction pray to the same God, in the same language and with a fairly amount of similar faith. They are the majority, but not the only group present in the region. One thing, however, is clear, people will define themselves upon their faith, and that makes a difference between two persons. After the clasical arab greetings, the first question is “what is your religion”, which, actually means, who are you?, how can I label you? How can I prepare myself to interact with you?. People´s faith should not, in my personal opinion, be the label hanging from our head in order to make easier our classification, we are, above all, the same. Several times during my time in the Middle East I tried to explain my situation: “No, Sir, I do not have a religion, I do not believe in any God, I just believe…well…in nothing until I see it with my own eyes!”….the face was always the same: “These europeans are crazy” and at the end it was easier to say: “Yes, I am catholic”. It was actually kind of easier and better since catholicism is respected as one of the religions of the book in the muslim world, therefore, the label hanging out of your head doesnt say: “infidel” or “crazy”, it just says: “close to the right path, but not enough”

Religion is everywhere, in the language, in the names, in the outfit, in their daily greetings (the blackbone of the arab society!) and it is impossible to live without its influence. Talking with some friends we came to the conclusion that actually Islam is the best marketing product. It was able to correct the “mistakes” of the other religions (mainly judaism and christianism) in order to obtain a pretty obedient mob, which is actually able to live their religion by themselves but without the possibility to even dare to question a single idea of it. A.k.a, without a door open for evolution.

But again, this is my biased ignorant western view….

And chaos created a city

Chaos is real, and it is even the major or one city, Cairo, the capital city of the Arab Nation. If someday Arabs unite in one country, Cairo will be the capital and there they will celebrate their achievement there. However, that day is far far away, and from the time being, Cairo is “only” the capital city of Egypt, that 80 millions inhabitants country where everything can and had happened.

From Amman to Cairo is possible to go by land, heading south to Aqaba, taking a ferry there crossing the red sea and then taking a bus to Cairo, however, it takes almost a whole day, and Cairo deserves more than just a glaze, it deserves all the time you can give her (and i use her as the Cairo’s population). Cairo is that woman full of mistakes, messy and impolite that, for some reason, you cannot stop looking at.

Touching down in Cairo is already extreme, you flight over a huge city, spread around several kilometres and arrive to a pretty modern airpot, clean and cold…but Cairo is waiting outside, when you cross the automatic door and a warm welcome slap your face for the very first time…welcome to hell, its 35 degress during the night. Jump into a taxi after half an hour looking for a bus nobody knows about and I dive into the massive gridlock that the city traffic is. No corner is free of traffic jams, everything moves in a way barely possible by physic laws, but it moves…its Cairo.

Cairo is many cities at the same time, its an old islamic city, traditional and designed in the islamic style, with minaretes dominating the landscape and the skyline of it. But it is also a arab-socialist city, with some stalinist-arab buildings, big avenues and Midans (rounds). But of course, Cairo is also a old egyptian city, although no really important during that time….still, Cairo was lucking enough to grow until it included in its border the three Giza Pyramids.

Its 2200 and the streets are full, families, young unemployed guys, hijab-covered Channel-dressed teenagers giggling and strolling. Street-food sellers screaming around to catch some hungry client. The people making their life around the Nile, as always, as it has been the last ten centuries, as it was during the Pharaohs time. The same river Salah Al-Din saw, the same one that Nasser or Napoleon looked at some point in their life. Stroll around, see what people do and how the do, eat what they eat (mmm….wonderful falafel there!) and cross the streets as they do (not an easy task)..thats the way to get along with Cairo, to cope with the oppresing pollution, dust and heat that will sorround you during all your time there. If you do it, you will either love the city or hate it with all your will…think you can guess my opinion

Spotting wonders

A year ago the “New 7 Wonders” were elected and within these “new” human-kind wonders we can find Petra. Situated south of Amman, Petra was the capital of the Nabataean and after centuries of emptiness, it was rediscovered and opne to the eager tourist, being, actually, the main a ttraction in Jordan and one of the most important hotspots in Middle East tourism. Petra is, literally, in the middle of nowhere, but the mobs of tourist going there have generated a little city (called Wadi Musa) around the site. Nothing interesting can be found there, except supermarkets, restaurant and some hotels and hostels to accomodate the passing-by visitor. Prices are for tourist and 50% of the transports are also for tourist, however, Petra cannot be missed, it is just a incredible place that worths a visit. I am not going to explain anything, you must see it with your own eyes to understand the place.

Wadi Musa is such a funny place, everybody knows some sentences in english, and the children in the street are constantly impoving their language-skills asking all the tourist “where are you from?” and saying “welcome!”. One constant question after say that I am from Spain is “Real o Barcelona?”….football is everywhere, and actually is the first thing that poeple know about Spain. It is somehow curious here since Spain is such an important place for arab culture and History. For centuries it was the most advance part fo the arab world and many thinkers and politicians were born there. Internet and satellite TV has ereased this idea, depicting Spain as a country were football is the most important thing.

My “wonder-spotting” path has some further appointment, this weekend I am flying to Cairo, the capital city of the Arab world and the hosting city of the famous Giza Piramids.

Is it relative?

I grab a taxi after work, I go to the 3rd circle in Central Amman and I get off there…before go home I must stop in a shop, buy some arab bread and water, while I am walking towards the shop, a man, with the classical muslim outfit (tunic, sandals, long beard and a little white stitched-hat covering the head) gets off and closes his car, inside, a figure can be guessed. A women, in a burka waits inside. It is more than 40 degrees, the car is off, so no AC working, I keep walking to the shop, the man is inside chating with the people there, without warring about the heat his wife/sister is suffering into the car. I grab my bread and my water and I leave the shop annoyed by the situation, i would love to go into the car, open a window and ask the women…do you think this is right?…however, I am a western, they will tell me that I cannot understand it so I should just keep walking. To avoid that, I just keep walking, glancing at the women and feeling sorry for her. Then I ask myself…. Can we relativize the situation? is it cultural? is it just my western eyes so used to western habits?.

When living in this region the question is always around you, mainly when it comes to women-rights. The debate, as usually, is endless and you will find westerns defending the social function of the hijab, muslims considering it as a old-ages symbol of masculine domination and people staring at women because they are not covering their hair.

There is, of course, no right answer to this dilemma, and everybody will think that his/her opinion is actually the right one…so do I. I consider all human beings to be the same, with the same rights, the same capabilities, the same possibilities and the same natural processes; therefore, a labour division based on gender should not be natural. It is obvious that there are some differences between men and women, mainly, women can get pregnat, men cannot (so far…) but apart from that, everything is the same and all the differences are constructed by the society and the culture. These constructions can be adapted and changed to the current time and i will call that evolution. In the concrete case of the hijab, it obviously inhibit the freedom of women. It is argued that it is a tool to avoid harassment, however, the sole responsible for the actions are the actors, and not the one who suffer the actions. In this vein, the sole resposible for the harassment is the man who does it, and no the woman. Think the opposite will be like think that the guilty for a wallet-robbery is the owner of the wallet rather than the thief. Sometimes is also argued that they do to feel more confortable without men looking at them…but again, do we lock our car just without any reason or because we are afraid to leave it open? if it is open, somebody can take but….if we know that nobody will take even if it is open, will the cars still have a locking system? probably no.

However, as I said, this is just my “western” biased-opinion and probably people will have different ones…anyhow, I am still thiking about the woman in the car, her freedom and her choices and I feel somehow sorry for her, but of course, thats only my western-biased eyes….

The oldest capital of the world

Every corner of Damascus is carrying History, everywhere you can feel the burden of several centuries. Damascus is supposed to be the oldest capital city in the world. In its streets Romans, Christians, Arabs and Muslims have walked, dominated, assaulted and looted the city; in its streets writes, scientists and religious figures have created and maintaining a great percentage of the worlds-heritage and when you walk around the city all that is felt around you. The perfect example of this is the main mosque, in the old city; before the entrance, two Roman arcs mark the path at the end of a enormous souq; once you are in, a Christian-byzantine style impregnate every corner, however, it is a mosque, one of the most important mosques of the Muslim world and people from all over the world go there to pray in that sacred space.

But Damascus is not only religion, its also politics. In the entrance of the old city a big regime-ad, with the picture of Bashar al-Assad and the sentence “I believe in Syria” welcomes the visitors. Inside, the president is depicted in several signs, sometimes as the president, other as the commander of the country (with top-gun sunglasses and three days’ stubble), other as part of a biggest group, in which Hizbullah and Iran leaders are also included. In many shops there is a Syrian flag hanging, but also Hizbullah flags are around and the leader of Hizbullah also has its owns signs, claiming a future victory over the enemy, Israel. The Christian quarter of the old city is the only alive place during the night and there women do not cover their hair, either because they are Christians or because they can be there without the hijab. Iraq and Palestina are also present, in the feeling and in the flows of refugees hosted by the city. It is, summing up, a perfect example of what is the Middle East. Islam, Christianity Arabism, politics and the Palestine occupation are present in each corner and in each mind.

Damascus is my style, dusty, messy, dirty and chaotic..as I like. It is not a city created for tourism, it is over that, is bigger than that; the tourist is just an adventurer how decided to explore the city in his/her free time, but he/she is not welcome. That does not mean that Syrians are not nice, in fact, they are extremely nice, but Damascus is for them, is not for the tourist so you must adapt to the norms of the place. You must learn how to grab a cab, how to eat, to find places, to bargain in the shops and this helps to keep the spirit of the city alive. Sometimes touristic hot-spots have lost their identity, they have set up an stage for the tourist where things are not anymore following the daily-life path but rather, adapting it to the desires and wishes of the travelers. Luckily, Damascus is not like that and thats the reason why it is a extremely nice and interesting city.

There are some things you cannot miss there. Go, walk the old-city and get into their frenetic Saturday activity. Go to the door of the mosque after Friday praying, that will help you to understand why Islam is so important and finally, get lost, find a tiny restaurant, ask the waiter to bring you their best food (is going to be good, do not worry), grab a narguile (water pipe) and relax in the shadows of the oldest capital city in the world, you cannot do that all the days of your life!

Moving in

There is some defining elements of the ex-pats’ life, however, since I still maintain the student-like life style, I will not enjoy all of them. Yet, the expat-style accommodation will be one of the elements I will indeed enjoy during my stay in Jordan. After some mulling about how to find a place to live and were should I find it, we (with my flatmate) we decided to do things jordan-way…this is, heading out, walking in the street and asking people “merhaba, do you know some place to rent?” it looks silly, in some European countries they will even think you are insane, but here, where street relations are on the top of life-style, things can work out. Here street life is extremely important; the weather is hot, and people go out to the street to cold down with a bit of fresh wind and hot tea (surprisingly, hot tea works pretty well). Relations, both informal and formal, are done in that way, in a more friendly and hospitality way than in the Western world. So we did, and we got a flat, from some man in a tiny street shop how called someone. Now the man of the shop smile to us all the mornings and ask us how are we…He actually spend almost the whole day in the same plastic-chair under the shadow of the same tree…just moving along the shadow.

The flat is, well, wonderful, cheap and huge. Usually a student (a normal one) does not have the opportunity to enjoy space, commodities and affordable prices at the same time; luckily, in Amman that is possible and it probably worths to live like that two months, not enough time to get used to some luxuries but still time enough to enjoy it.

Saturday life

Fridays are sacred in Muslim countries, shops are closed, people have the day off and it is the time to visit your relatives, have dinner with your family and so on…after the sacred friday, it is time to go out, shop around and enjoy the summer. In Amman things does not work exactly like that since on friday quite a lot of things are open, and modern Jordanians rather than visit their relatives go out to have a beer with some friends. Nevertheless, Saturday is still the shopping-day so I spent the day doing as Jordanians do. Around King Hussein Mosque, right downtown Amman are the best streets to get lost and wander for hours, watching Jordanians buying everything and having food and tea. Several things worth a sight. Tea-boys are everywhere serving, of course, tea, and sometimes food to the shop-keepers. They don’t use to be older than 14 and are extremely skilled to carry plates with ten boiling-temperature glasses. Another interesting thing are the shops, you can find anything you can imagine, they sell the stick that crown the dome of the mosques (I saw two shops dedicated to that), old-style tapes with middle eastern music hits, a shop that only sells pray-rugs or clothes for (conservative) Muslim women….everything that you could imagine is there. However, Amman lacks a proper Medina. The shops are along the street, with the cars passing by and without the shadow provided by the medina-roof. It is the problem of new cities, any attempt to reproduce a middle-ages medina are useless, so better keep it as it is and avoid any embarrassing  creation

Part of the culture

They say, and after some years traveling a bit around the world I say the same, that two things define a culture, its language and its food…and my ethnographic eye does not allow me to miss any of them now that I live in the Middle East. Today I register for an Arabic course here in Amman. I know, I am not going to learn Arabic in three months, but at least I will do my best to learn as much as possible and be able to communicate with the taxi drivers…or at least guide them to my work or house…and who knows…maybe I am born to learn Arabic and after these months I will keep studying (thats for sure) and become a master in this sacred and symbolic language (this is more difficult…).
The food part is not a problem, I am always willing to try any sort of food, wherever I am and here I am not making an exceptions. As someone said me a couple of days ago, “if you try a traditional dish and you don’t like, don’t blame the dish, blame the cooker because this people has been eating it for centuries and it cannot taste bad”. So far, I haven’t had to blame any cooker…

Far from the sky

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth, or in more romantic words, the farest point to the sky. It really doesn´t feel anything different than in any other place in the world, the sky is just up there pretty far and you breath without problems (well, the 45º can be a problem sometimes) but still the feeling is there. The Dead Sea separates Jordan and Israel and Palestine, so in front of you, in the Jordanian side, you have Palestine and Israel and in the car you tune palestinian and israeli radio stations.

There are some remarkable things in the Dead Sea that can shock a European like me. First of all, the road is full of military check-points. I don´t know exactly why, but I guess the proximity with Israel entails some sort of security…you can actually swim to Israel if you want/can to do so. Other interesting thing is already in the “beach”. We choose the cheapes option to swim in the Dead Sea and we were sorrounded mainly by Jordanians. They tend to swim with their clothes, and of course, usually only man do so, the women stay outside and dry taking care of everything. Even, some of the women wear a burka under the 45º sun. Appart from ethical considerations, you wonder how can they survive with that clothes. After a bath, wearing only my swimming trunks and in the shadow I was about to melt due to the sun and the heat so, what about the same heat but without bath, with all your body covered and wearing only black clothes?. I guess they get used, or they just cannot complain (how can they if they are “forced” to wear that!?). Appart from all of these, the uniqueness of the Dead Sea is provided by it amount of salt it has, that allows you to literally float…quite wierd feeling, but worthy to try once in your life.

Just one more experience from yesterday…drive in Jordan. Although we always have the image, and for someone who has been in Morroco or Egypt, the expierence of caotic traffic in the arab world. Drive here was actually pretty easy, just keep your eyes open and honk several times to communicate with the other drivers.