Like a sailor, sailing over Jordan

Well, the last day is here at last. Actually the last couple hours. I fly out from here back to Frankfurt for a six hour layover. If you have been watching the news you know about the foiled attack on the Frankfurt airport and the U.S. military base there. Hopefully this will not cause too many difficulties with security and such. We have one paranoid Sgt with us (my roommate actually, and second in charge) who thinks there is a conspiracy around every corner- born a tool, lives as a tool, will die the same. Hopefully he will not interfere too much. I learned to wipe my own ass long ago...

Speaking of which, I finally discovered what all the hubbub is surrounding the stomach cramps and diarrhea that have been going around. Reminds me of when I was in India. I was afflicted the other day while we were in the middle of Petra. None of that wimpy getting sick in the hotel for me. Good thing I have to get on a plane in a few hours.

Petra is amazing by the way. I took some really awesome pictures (I hope). Anyway, the walk out of Petra was interesting to say the least. Oddly, or not, it turns out that the Bedouins speak amazingly fluent MSA. We spoke to some of the vendors and camel guides at Petra. On guy looked almost exactly like the guy in the Mummy (the new one), the one who was charged with maintaining the secret of the location of the temple. Anyway, what is interesting about this is that most people in the Middle East speak a dialect. What we learn is the language of the Quran, the language if the educated. I have no idea why they speak it, but I have had it confirmed by a number of source (mostly other Bedouins and taxi drivers). Maybe I will return and live with the Bedouin for a year or so. Set myself up in a nice little bayt sh'ar ("house of hair"...tent), buy a few sheep, some goats, a camel. I am sure my Arabic would shoot through the roof.

I have a new pen pal as well, a girl named Souad who accompanied us on the trip to Petra. She works at the University in the English department, though her English is not the best.It was interesting talking to her. She said that talking with us was the first time she had ever actually spoken Modern Standard Arabic in her life. Everything is written in MSA, and most can read it, but dialect rules the day as far as speaking. While Dialect is certainly more practical, I find MSA to be far more beautiful. You might find a similar difference comparing the language of Shakespeare with Cockney. Frankly, I have a difficult time with the dialect, though the Jordan dialect is fairly close to MSA.

After class today, we (Jeremy, Niz, Jen and me) went to the Dead Sea, an adventure in itself. We hired a taxi for 30 Dinars (40 USD), but he decided he wanted to switch out with his brother due to his being tired, so we waited by some random bridge for about thirty minutes. When his brother didn't show up, he finally gave in and took us himself. We went through numerous checkpoints, and he managed to get himself a fifty dinar speeding ticket. Not his best day, though through it all he remained calm and collected. Truly an easy going guy. He waited for us while we played in the sea for thirty minutes. It is difficult to describe the sensation of first having your body rise and then floating effortlessly in the sea. It is also hard to describe the level of burning that much salt causes to a certain part of the body due to constant diarrhea, a feeling we all shared. We gave the driver fifty dinar (71 USD) due to his being such a good sport about it all, which covered his ticket, but left him with only a random trip to the Dead Sea with a bunch of crazy foreigners snapping pictures of random camels, goats and Bedouin tents to show for it

Furses, Coiled Again

All,

Our plans were once again thwarted due to illness. Upon waking this morning, we discovered that a few others had been stricken with whatever bacteria is going around. So far, out of eleven, only two of us have managed to escape the dreaded ashal and tqa'ya (diarea and vomiting), myself and one of the girls (Nabila/Amber). She is one of those crazy types who was reared in a closet somewhere and believes that the world is only 8,000-10,000 years old and that it will end soon and all of people who do not share her extremely narrow world view will end up rather toasty of the rest of eternity. She condemns the Muslims, but does not hesitate to eat in their restaurants or shop in their souqs. She also believes, for some reason that there are still dinosaurs in Africa, though how this fits in I haven't the slightest idea. Perhaps as some feeble attempt to justify the existence of fossils. Insanity or religion? It's a thin line really.

I suppose this seems intolerant, though I am not sure if not tolerating intolerance in others is a sign of intolerance in oneself...hmmm...It is a tad difficult not to feel at least a tinge of intolerance for someone who tells you to your face that you will burn forever in hell and who sits in class and whispers "die, die, die" under her breath. Of course, obviously, some Muslims aren't much better, and others are much worse. It is always the crazy fringe; the terrorist suicide bombers raised and "educated" in the madrasas, or the Christian nutballs I saw in Texas who protest in the streets against gays and maintain shooting ranges and bomb abortion clinics...same mindset exactly. Fortunately, whatever they believe most people are moderate and just want to live out their lives and not hurt or change anyone else.

Yesterday, one of the other girls mentioned something about Islam being a cult without realizing that Christianity can as easily be considered the same. It is all a mere matter of perspective if one takes the time to step outside of oneself examine the entire picture objectively. "When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." (Stephen Roberts)

I will have to go with the Buddhists though. It is rare indeed you hear of Buddhists condemning people or bombing anyone. When something irritates them, they set themselves on fire.

Anyway, we all voted to stay in Amman this morning rather than go to Petra without our comrades. We are hoping that we can change the schedule and go sometime later in the week instead of going to class (hopefully missing the class on tribal laws...). If not, oh well, next time. Wadi Rum is a no go no matter what. Tomorrow's subject is Arabic Literature and I finally gave up after 30 or so pages of the 40 pages of Arabic we are supposed to read. I may resume at a later time. It is actually a rather interesting subject, but the information we have is extremely high level stuff, and, frankly, my poor brain is fried.

Earlier in the day, our teacher, the one who came with us from the states and whose family lives here, took us to the Mecca Mall. Not terribly exciting, it is just like any mall in the U.S. Mostly a day for resting and such. I think Wednesday we will take a trip to the Dead Sea after class, In Sha' Allah.

The other day Jen (Inas) and I were talking to a guard at the University and he asked if we were Christian. Jen said that she was, but that I was not. This did not leave me with many choices. Quick lesson- Most Muslims respect the "People of the Book" ( i.e. Jews, Christians, and other Muslims), but not other religions. Of course there are those who are more tolerant and understanding, but...It's like being in some weird club. He jokingly asked if I were Jewish, to which I of course replied that I was not. I finally settled on Buddhist (Buthi), rather than reveal that I am an Atheist. One of my Lebanese teachers (a member of the Druze religion, a small esoteric group that splintered from Islam and includes beliefs from various other religions in the region, including a belief in reincarnation, very secretive religion) cautioned me to never, under any circumstances, tell anyone in the Middle East that I am an Atheist (or even Buddhist actually). Craziness, to be sure, but not a huge deal. After all, the Dark Ages weren't so bad. They gave us all manner of innovations in torture devices.

All in all, Jordan is a wonderful country with amazing people, all very generous and friendly. I wish I had some time here alone to simply wander around and talk to people. As it is we are limited to groups of at least two, which is usually fine, but somewhat limiting. Being the introverted soul that I am, it is at times tiring being around people all the time (at least people that I know and cannot escape). In my travels I seldom travel with others, only those I meet in country, and then only for limited amounts of time. More than two (sometimes more than one), almost always eventually leads to conflicts and differences in opinion and desires. This is not hard if the group can split up for periods of time, but we are rather shackled to one another. I am extremely laid back and don't much care, but this is sometimes misunderstood, and the others are irritated by one another much more easily than I am. Plus, in that we are all in the military, the vast majority are extremely independent and of the take charge/I know best sort (and young), always with something to prove, though I am not sure what that is exactly. All in all it is rather draining and ridiculous. It has taken some getting used to, but I think it is a good experience. I am ever trying to increase my understanding, tolerance and patience.

-Joel