Tag Archives: Jordan

Ma’Salama Jordan!

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Make it so Your Excellency

Make it so Your Excellency

There are a couple of angles I could take with this particular country wrap-up. One is: Jordan – the only country we’ve visited to be ruled by a former guest star on Star Trek (It’s true – King Abdullah is a huge fan of Star Trek and worked his connection to get an appearance on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Which episode? I’m glad you asked: Episode 36 – “Investigations“.

A Second Angle: Jordan, the tiny country that keeps getting bigger! Jordan borders on some, well, let’s call them “tricky” parts of the world. It has Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Israel for neighbors. When bad things happen in those countries – have you read the news in the past 60 years? – people come to Jordan for refuge. As a result it’s actually a little tricky finding a Jordanian in Jordan. There’s a constant influx of refugees so it’s sometimes easier to find an Iraqi, or Palestinian than a real Red, Green and Black Jordanian. Interesting Factoid – in 1947 Amman, the capitol, had a population of 35,000 people, today it’s 3 million – The Middle Easts pain is Jordan’s gain.

A Third Angle – Jordan, It’s Holy in three religions! It’s in the Torah, the Bible and the Koran. It’s geographically small, but full of places referenced in the Good Books of three major religions. Give yourself a week in Jordan and you’ll give yourself a refresher course in just about everything you need to know about Allah, Yahweh and JC.

A Day Out with the Asads

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Lee Anne & The Asads

Lee Anne & The Asads

There is no denying it. The best way to explore a city is with a local. Not only do you get the insider’s persepctive, but you get to see things that you may not seek out on your own. Lucky for us parents of my college friend Faris live in Amman and offered to take us out and about for a day. As it turns out, Laila Asad is quite the accomplished tour guide. She’ll try talk your way into the closed Royal Automobile Museum, convince the security guard that tells you not to take a picture of King Hussein’s mosque that he’s wrong and encourage you to take it anyway, and negotiate your way out of a sticky situation with the British Embassy after you’ve snapped a few scenic shots out front of their fortress on September 11th. Oops!

But seriously, a day out with the Asads is not to be missed. After a divine lunch of vegetarian mezze at a local restaurant, we saw and learned quite a bit about Amman. You see, Amman used to be a relatively small town, but over the last 50 years it’s absorbed huge numbers of immigrants and refugees from it’s neighboring countries – particularly during times of conflict – like say, now. And it’s not poor refugees. The Kuwaitis and Iraqis who’ve made their way to Amman our fueling major economic growth and development in West Amman.

New Amman is full of massive newly built villas, fancy shopping malls and possibly the largest Starbucks in the world. The contrast between the old downtown area and newer areas like Abdoun in West Amman are drastic. Dowtown women, at a minimum, wear a hejab that covers their head, markets bustle with people buying fresh produce and little eateries serve up amazing, cheap hummus and falafel. In Abdoun, you can drink a pricey capuccino, eat any kind of food and watch young couples, who could very well be from the US, flirt and socialize with one another.

Indeed the only thing that reminds you you’re not in the west while touring West Amman is the security you pass through to walk into a restaurant or mall. Don’t forget to pop that trunk before you park your car in the garage!

Looking for the Promised Land

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Let Their Be Water!

Let Their Be Water!


7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Numbers 20:11

If you’re a biblical site junkie, you should think about a visit to Jordan. Once you’re Petra-d out, you can take in a few local biblically referenced sights compliments of Moses trek through the area with the Israelites en route to the Promised Land. Though not universally accepted as the true site, you can see the rock that Moses struck and the accompanying spring. I bet that water was looking pretty good after 40 years in the desert! Don’t get too excited though. Today the spring appears to be a popular source of water for car washing.

And from atop one of the many mountains in Petra you can see Jebel Haroun, Aaron’s mountain, where a white shrine marks the alleged location of his burial – a popular pilgrimage site for Christians, Jews and Muslims.