Eid ul-Fitr - I'm on vacation :)

I awoke yesterday morning (afternoon?) to an overcast sky. In Jordan? Beautiful day. After a lazy wake-up and a berry-peach-nectarine-banana smoothie (oh, the local produce!), I called Mary Ellen, and we walked downtown. To our disappointment and accurate prediction, most of the shops were closed due to the Eid ul-Fitr (the holiday of breaking fast after the holy month of Ramadan). Hameuda DVD was open, though, and we made a killing of an assortment of DVDs including a Rosetta Stone disc, a season of the Gilmore Girls and Amelie. We then walked to the produce market where the restless shop-keepers were almost bursting with excitement to see customers. And two western women at that. They kept offering us pomegranates and pistachios to taste until Mary Ellen purchased a pomegranate and some oranges and I picked some beans, onions, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a pomegranate, all for 4 JD. I know that I've mentioned that I had the best pomegranate of my life about a week ago, but that was epically shattered by the pomegranate I bought yesterday. Pretty soon, I'm fairly certain my taste buds are going to reject any American produce upon my return home. As we were leaving the market, one of the men asked us to take a picture. We awkwardly agreed, until we figured out that they were hoping that we would provide the camera for this picture. Sorry, boys.

When we arrived back home, it started to rain. The sky actually opened for a five-minute window and had a miniature catharsis. And we stood outside in it with our arms outstretched and our faces turned upward tasting the raindrops. Smelling the salty, sweet perfume. I think if anyone could have seen us they would have thought we were crazy. Later that night after Mass, one of the women was commenting on how she doesn't understand why the winter is coming so early. If this is winter, I'll take it!

I've been tired enough recently that I've started to sleep completely through the night. Even through the Mosque prayers that echo through the hills at 4:30 in the morning. Prayers happen 5 times a day and are impossible to miss regardless of your location in Amman. I find them really calming and a fantastic way of marking time throughout the day. I wish there were a way of capturing it, but I don't think any kind of recorded sound could effectively showcase this sound spread.

My Arabic is still terrible but showing improvement. Insha'Allah.

Good morning, Amman!

Lisa frequents an 8 AM daily Mass here and I tagged along this morning. Our walk there was so peaceful. I have never seen the streets of Amman so empty. For 7:45 in the morning, it makes complete cultural sense, especially considering that is Friday, the holy day of 90% of the population here. The vast majority were still asleep, in fact, at 9:30 when we were walking back from the Church. All except for the sanitation workers who were sweeping the streets and watering honeysuckle, and the guards who were standing with their machine guns attempting to appear as serious as possible. I think I might appear this way, too, if I was forced to hold a gun all day.

Mass was really lovely - quiet in the morning stillness and entirely in Arabic - and so peaceful. What a different vibe from this past Sunday. There were only nine people in the entire Church: Father Ya'koub, four Sisters, Lisa, myself, and two other women. Afterward, one of the Sisters approached Lisa and I and asked why we were in Amman. We told her we are teaching music, and she invited us to the Convent at some time in the future. It was at this time that Father Ya'koub motioned to us from behind the alter that we should come forward. He welcomed us, and surprisingly to me, remembered my name. He told me, "how could one forget such a face - you have the moon of Heaven in your face." I don't know that I've ever felt so flattered. He invited us to a delicious breakfast of toasted pita, labna (a soft cheese of cream cheese consistency), hard, salty cheese, honey, olive oil, sweet sesame paste, olives, tea, and coffee. He could tell that I was unsure of what to make of the cheeses, and he poured some olive oil into my dish, explaining that it is sheer sin to waste this olive oil. Once I tried, I understood completely; it was absolutely the best olive oil I have ever tasted. He then took both cheeses and poured them into the oil. He instructed me to watch Lisa, who was smashing the oil and cheese together with her fork. I was then instructed to spread this delicious mixture on the toasted pita topped with the honey. I felt like I finally found a taste for the soul of Arabia - the true essence of Middle-Eastern culture - in that first bite. What a wonderful meal. What a wonderful morning. What beautiful community. What hospitality and humbleness were delivered to me this morning.

I am fighting the temptation to go back to sleep, and am planning to be in bed early tonight. We'll see what actually happens.

I am missing the smell of the woods and autumn in the Northeast, but wouldn't trade my current experiences for anything.

Here, evening hangs heavy.

Air of women's

perfume, exhaust from cars,

Mosque prayers,

gasoline, coffee,

incense.

Spices, cigarettes.

Honeysuckle.

Getting Around Town

I keep thinking that my days could not possibly get any better, and then another day happens. I am amazed and blessed.

I taught a lesson today at 11 to a woman who is in her forties and has only been playing for a year and a half. Her intuition is fantastic. It was in fact one of the most pleasurable lessons I think I've ever taught. Afterward, we had our first quintet -quartet? where is our bassoonist? - rehearsal. I feel that this chamber music opportunity is going to be a really beautiful experience. It will be even better when all of the parts are present!

After quintet, I ate a light lunch and walked around the conservatory and the concert hall taking some pictures to post here. I was sitting with Allyss and waiting for Jonathan to get out of a meeting when a fifty-something, confident, smiling, Japanese woman entered the room. She said hello to Allyss and then announced that she was looking for me. We had a lesson, and no one told me! Not a problem. This lesson was also incredibly enjoyable. The entire time, this woman, the wife of a diplomat, referred to herself only in the first person and was INCREDIBLY enthusiastic. She doesn't know all of her scales yet, but was able to play the first movement of the Bach Partita down - flawlessly. Jordan is full of surprises.

I went home by myself today, and the sun was shining in all of its 5 o'clock wonder. The sky is so blue. A cab pulled up, and gave my directions entirely in Arabic. I was very happy about this (though I know it's not difficult, it still made me smile), but to my surprise, the driver spoke perfect English. His cab smelled like old cigars and sweat. He told me my Arabic was quite decent (fooled him! or he was just trying to lay on the charm...), and then asked why I was in Jordan. I responded on business, and he welcomed me. He then asked my nationality, and I told him that I am American. He began to tell me what a horrible man George Bush is, and I agreed that George Bush has made some terrible decisions, but then he ceased speaking to me until I said, "Han Henna" (Stop here). I said "Shookran" (thank you) for the ride, and he grumbled something that sounded like "you're welcome". It's the first experience I've had here like this - I'm intrigued to document them as time goes on. I don't think I'll stop telling people that I'm from America to avoid an awkward encounter. Somehow, and who knows how, I'd like to learn to show people that just because I come from a certain physical place or have a certain background does mean that is who I am. It does not represent ME. And I wonder about how many times I've absent-mindedly written people off the very way this cab driver wrote me off this afternoon. You really never know who will teach you a valuable lesson.

After I got home and devoured pita, hummus, and green beans, Mary Ellen and I met up with Agnes and Jon at Books at Cafe. We stayed for a few hours where I ate a piece of carrot cake (!!!), had the most delicious cup of coffee I've had since arriving, and enjoyed an apple-mint argehla. Oh, my head. It's good, though. On our walk home, I finally bought a cell phone! Jonathan can now stop his services as my personal secretary, for which I'm sure he's grateful.

Every foreigner I've met here has a spark about them. We're building our own little community and really growing through each other. Each personality is different, yet somehow perfectly balanced. Like a hand-woven tapestry. It's strange - I've only been here a week, but I'm already starting to feel very settled and comfortable in my surroundings. Almost as if I've been here before. I am so blessed. Nothing by chance. Truly.

Pictures (slightly out of order) for those of you who wanted to see them:



View of Amman from outside the Conservatory

View "up" from inside the Conservatory. Winding!



View from Amman from the Conservatory #2


My "studio space"

View of the Concert Hall from my practice room

Arabic is Interesting

Arabic ice cream: delicious. My attempt to get back into eating dairy is going really well, I must admit. I had some pizza on Friday, goat cheese on Saturday, and some ice cream tonight. Relatively little headaches considering the amount of time that has passed since I've consumed dairy on any kind of regular basis. The ice cream that I ate tonight came from a place called "Licky Licky", and was an interesting concoction... something along these lines, I do believe:

4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch or sahlab
1/8 teaspoon ground mistika
1 teaspoon rose water

Mine had pistachios in it. A really large scoop for JD 0.70.

The hummos I had today is the best I've ever tasted. Ever. And the pita! Today I bought about 10 pitas for JD0.25. In the past few days I've taken to shopping at little side-of-the-road stands for produce. It's so fresh that I'm finding I'm buying more than I can eat before it spoils. I really can't believe how cheap and amazingly tasty the fruit is. :)

Tonight, Lisa, a music therapist who lives upstairs, and I went to Mass together about a 5-minute walk from our apartment. The Church is quaint and charming. Just small enough for a congregation to feel really snuggled into a Sunday evening Mass. Not too ornate. Two large pictures of Mother Mary. Really beautiful. The priest, Father Jacob, met us outside and talked with us briefly. After we walked into the Church and were about to sit down, Lisa told me the Mass would be entirely in Arabic. Though I knew what was happening because the Mass almost always follows the same format, I didn't understand anything verbally. I felt like a small child. As in, I knew where I was supposed to be and what I should be doing, but not how to respond. Even so, it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had in Church. It brought me to tears.

Tomorrow I am teaching a lesson and then having a quintet rehearsal (minus the bassoonist, who has yet to arrive in Amman). I'm excited!

Around town

Yesterday afternoon, I traveled downtown for the first time with Jonathan and Mary Ellen. The trip began right outside of my apartment with a long descent down the Al-Rainbow Street stairs. The hills here in Amman remind me a lot of Ithaca's; I'm hoping this will keep me from becoming too homesick! Once we reached the bottom, I felt like I had entered another world entirely. The shops each specialize in one item or set of items. For instance, Mary Ellen needed some sheets, so we entered a store no bigger than my kitchen at home that only sells bedding. The shop keeper makes everything there himself. Mary Ellen picked out some sheets and a comforter and agreed to come and pick them up later. When we returned, he threw in two hand-sewn pillows that he had literally just finished for free. The entire trip cost her around JD35, or $48.

Something I find really interesting is that piracy is not illegal here, and so there are DVD shops where you can find literally any movie you'd be interested in watching for only JD1.

Traffic is interesting... there are cars everywhere! Before coming here, Christina was telling me about how she was going to have to drive to her job and how that was nerve-wracking. I now understand why that would even be a concern. Drivers are crazy here. I can actually hear my dad yelling at other cars when I'm riding in a taxi. Though there are lanes on most streets, no one really obeys them. Sometimes on two-lane roads people will either drive directly down the middle or drive three to a lane. Crossing the street is interesting, too. One has to trust that drivers will see you and stop for you. Insha'Allah.

This morning I was both excited and nervous to go to my first rehearsal, only to find out when I got to the Conservatory that it was cancelled yesterday afternoon. Welcome to Jordan!

Tomorrow, Chih-Hao, Yoo Jin, Jonathan, and I are headed up to the Citadel and to the Roman theater. I'm really excited.

I'm still trying to get on some kind of regular sleep schedule. I'm forcing myself to stay awake until at least 10 PM tonight.

Welcome to Jordan

I arrived here in Amman on Sunday evening just a little after 4 PM after a really wonderful flight. I sat next to this retired man named Gabe who was originally from Syria and had been living in Connecticut for the past 35 years or so, and we talked for almost two hours about my journey to the Middle East. He explained some hot topics concerning culture, customs, hospitality, food (and tips on how to best wash lettuce), and attempted to teach me some Arabic. He was traveling with his eighty-something-year-old mother who was going back to Syria to spend some time with his sister. Gabe was continuing on to Germany by car with one of his brothers a few days after arriving in Syria. His mother offered me (in Arabic and translated through Gabe) a place to stay if I ever found myself in Syria somewhere around three hours north of Damascus. Good to know.

In my experience so far, everyone I've met is just as hospitable.

After landing, I made a fairly smooth transition through customs and collected my baggage. The Conservatory sent someone to pick me up, and he brought me to my apartment on First Circle. My roommate, Jonathan, helped me move my baggage into the apartment and get relatively settled. Our apartment has three bedrooms and is HUGE - far more space than we really know what to do with!

We made a trip out to a place called Carefour that night - a Jordanian Walmart-type store. And by that I mean, they have everything you could ever want to purchase at an unreasonably low price (but hopefully without my concerns for the workers)... We bought much produce, lentils, beans, bread, juice, and a blender. Beautiful.

I honestly don't remember going to sleep that evening. The next day, after a trip to the Conservatory and practicing, I forced myself to stay awake to fight the jet lag. Allyss, Artie, Tim, Christina, Yoo Jin, Chih-Hao, Jonathan, Mary Ellen (one of the music therapists here), and I all went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was delicious. I was kind of amused (and still am) that my first "real" meal here was not Arabic-influenced at all. Since it's Ramadan, it seems like you have to go out of your way to find local cuisine, especially since they aren't open until after 8:30 or 9:00 pm. I'm still looking forward to this.

Our stove wasn't working our first few days here, but it is now, and we made a feast of lentils, rice, and a hodge-podge of delicious fresh vegetables and tomatoes. So delicious. The produce here is so organic and the fruit is seriously the best I've ever tasted. Fresh pears, plums, peaches... and local bananas! Needless to say, my smoothies have been pretty fantastic.

I made my first visit to the downtown today - I will write more on this later after my first rehearsal!

Seriously, life could not be much better right now.