Adventures in the Holy Land

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Jerusalem - the pinnacle of cultural and religious significance for so many. The city itself was the most enchanting, magical city I have ever had the pleasure of visiting (better than Venice in my opinion!). It's no wonder that so many people are fighting over ownership of the city. I entered the country with a view to be as objective as possible, given the conflicting stories and opinions that I've been told. Needless to say, my Arab friends were disappointed that I even stepped foot into west Jerusalem (the more Jewish part of Jerusalem also known as the New City).

It was clear that the Israeli government has a lot of money -- the infrastructure was obviously newer and better kept. This was immediately clear once we passed the borders. We also decided to visit the Holocaust Museum. I wanted to compare how the Israelis would portray the tragedy (vs. the European museums I had previously visited). The quality and content of the museum was similar to my European experiences. Of course, some Arabs think that the Holocaust was fake, and if it were real, that maybe 2000 people were killed. I always laughed at such conspiracy theories, but I realized that weekend that even seemingly average Americans raised in a progressive city like San Francisco, can have such views. Even if "only" 2000 people were killed, how does it make the event any less horrid? But I digress.

I don't understand why the oppressed have become the oppressors -- the Jewish, of all people, should be more forgiving. Of course, we can't generalize the military actions of the Israelis as completely attributed to the Jewish. In fact, there are many Jewish people who believe that the land should be divided fairly. On the other hand, it is incredible how much rage and resentment the Palestinians feel against the Israelis. Even the mention of the country's name can make an Arab's blood boil. I must admit though, that their side of the story is rarely heard in North America. Given that my biggest history learning in school was of the Holocaust, I of course thought that the Jewish deserved their own land.

The Old City itself was such a fascinating place. The quarters were very distinct from each other and while people of the same religion lived together in these so-called quarters, there was clear intermingling of people on a daily basis. Speaking as a naive Canadian, I feel that Jerusalem has the potential to become a model of multiculturalism. People of all religions and cultural backgrounds have already lived here in harmony for centuries. To me, it is really the people that don't actually live in the city (who coincidentally have more power) that refuse to share it. But this of course, is only a superficial analysis. There are people who have spent almost their entire lives trying to resolve this conflict, yet the conflict lives on...

It was a weekend of intense learning (in spite of the food poisoning!), given my previous ignorance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I would love to visit again and would in fact, do it every few weekends if I could. However, the crippling inter-city travel and border crossing fees makes it unfeasible with my current salary. Well, we can't have it all!

Welcoming 2011 in the Middle East

Happy New Year everyone!! :) I hope everyone had a great celebration with their family and friends. While I was almost 10000 miles away from my close family and friends, I still managed to have a great time in the desert with friends. Last minute (an hour before departure), one of our friends decided they wanted to go to Karak the night before to break up the drive and see Karak castle (photos below) at the same time. So after work, I quickly packed up some stuff and we headed off. Karak is only about an hour away from Amman, but we hit a large patch of the thickest fog I have ever been in. We had to rely on the rock walls along the side of the road to gauge how parallel we were to the side of the road. But eventually we got there and the weather cleared up. We found a sketchy hotel (or the only hotel that we passed by) and decided to take an apartment suite (with a Jacuzzi!...that we never used due to its sketchiness). The next morning we drove up to Karak castle (Karak is essentially a gigantic hill!) and spent the morning exploring it. It was quite fun as we were allowed to crawl into the empty rooms, with some being so dark that it required a flashlight to explore. It is not often that you can do that in ruins! (These were from the Crusader era – not that I am a history expert by any means…).

After the morning of exploration, we drove towards the south of Jordan (Wadi Rum - the desert where we spent the night (see photos below)) for our New Year’s Eve extravaganza. It was a 3 hour drive but we had to wait awhile for the rest of the gang to get there. While we were waiting, the organizer of our Bedouin camping experience invited us into one of the employee’s home. He had 6 children, though I didn’t know which were his as the cousins and friends were running around as well. One of his daughters was extremely charming and wanted to practice her English with us. She served us the most delicious tea while we chatted and waited in their sitting room. Even in their tiny one-story bungalow that seemed so remote, the head of the household had a computer and was killing time on Facebook. Ah, how I underestimated the reach of globalization.

Anyway, the camping experience was great. We mostly hung out by the fire, took a couple walks into the dark of the desert to watch the stars and told hilarious stories. Dinner was SO delicious. They roasted the food in a barrel buried into a hole in the sand. The contraption had a two-story tray with holes – the top tray holding onions and other vegetables and the lower tray holding the chicken to be roasted. There was a rice pot at the bottom that soaked in the cooking juices of the ingredients from above. The rice was SO delicious!! The next day a few of us went camel-riding and I had the most boisterous camel! I was almost thrown off of him several times, but I still fell in love with him. Too bad I didn’t get his name or number :(

A few days after New Year’s I finally moved into my new place for the year. It’s a cozy flat that I share with 2 other roommates who are great (and very intelligent) people! It felt great to finally unpack my suitcase and make my living quarters more homey. Well, that’s all the update I got for now! Happy New Year!!

Happy Holidays

A couple more weeks of settling in and more trips to the Dead Sea (see pictures below), including a hike in Wadi Mukhairs (the first canyon next to the Dead Sea), I feel more used to the lifestyle. While I chose the wrong path and ended waist-deep in water, possibly permanently destroying my iTouch, I still had a great time hiking on Christmas Eve.

I spent Christmas Day with the British crew (a group of friends I met through my roommates) and one of the girl’s family who flew in from the UK/Spain. It was a very nice familial atmosphere with turkey and English sweets, tacky Christmas sweaters and board games.

More cultural reflections

I was both glad and disappointed that Amman displayed both globalization and unique culture concurrently. It is globalized in that all types of western brands have infiltrated the markets, while the social norms linger to remind one that they are in the Middle East. Of course, Jordan is likely the most progressive country in the Middle East. While I enjoyed the reminders of home with Twix bars and Herbal Essences shampoo, the expectation of having a completely unique cultural experience was demolished.

One evening I had a chat with two friends (one from Estonia and the other Brazil), and they pointed out that there is a huge difference between Arab culture and Muslim culture that I will come to learn.

Another thing that I have to get used to is the stares and singling out by Arab men. In the first couple weeks of being here, I was greeted with ‘welcome to Jordan’ by many random locals. I am sure that they will still be ‘welcoming me to Jordan’ the last day that I am here. While there are many Asians here, they are mainly house maids and of Filipino or of South Asian descent. There are also always significantly more men in any public place than women (either due to demographics or to social norms for public appearance), making for often uncomfortable experiences for me. However, I try to ignore the constant honks and the gross flirting.

More destroyed preconceived notions:

- One can be Canadian and bear extreme cold outside, but personally, it is difficult to bear the cold inside. Jordanians don’t normally heat their homes in the winter (0-10 deg C), meaning temperatures can be just as cold inside as outside. Needless to say, I sleep with many layers on each night.

- The buildings can never be ‘clean’ as Amman is situated in a dusty area. There is a reason tall glass buildings look out of place here.

Week One

I haven’t done too much sightseeing since I got here. People generally hang out at cafes (which is the catch-all term for restaurant, coffee shop, shisha café, tea shop etc.). The lifestyle is generally very chill here. I’m not used to it!

On the weekend, we went downtown and checked out the Roman Amphitheatre. Downtown really reminded me of downtown Mexico City, except this time I don’t speak the language. I really should start learning some Arabic. I’m not one for learning random words. When I want to learn a language, I want to learn how it ALL works!

My favourite shot taken from the Roman Amphitheatre downtown.

The malls here are also very westernized. The big mall here has many of the European brand names that we are familiar with, but they bring with them premiums on their price tags.

This past Tuesday was a holiday for the Islamic New Year. We decided to rent a car and leave Amman to a warmer place after a miserable day of rain on Monday. We found a nice spot on the side of a road next to the Dead Sea (only about 40 minutes from Amman!). Though I didn’t swim in it this time, I TOUCHED THE WATER! =D

Nature always seems to amaze me. Seeing the naturally crystallized salt was so cool. They crystallize into cubes just like the pictures in our high school science textbooks! The brine in the water changes the way it reflects light – I think it makes it more reflective as the Dead Sea seemed to be as light as the sky. I know…I am a nerd.

My favourite shot of the day: Crystallized salt on a rock.

We had a wonderful time smoking shisha, making instant coffee over a small bed of hot coals and listening to music – all while watching the sun set behind Palestine. Then we lay under the blanket of stars until the hungry grumbles were too loud to ignore. We returned to the city, getting out of a speeding ticket along the way, to have “Indian” food (the restaurant had “Chicken Tikka” in its name but we definitely were not consuming Chicken Tikka – more like Nando’s Piri Piri Chicken). It was very delicious nonetheless!!

Shisha on the Dead Sea.

Destroyed preconceived notions of the week:

- Eating salad washed by tap water is fine! The water is treated to a drinking standard (I know a North American who drinks from the tap everyday). Now I can eat more than just French fries for my vegetable intake!

- The roads are quite developed. In fact, there is traffic congestion every day! They have interesting road infrastructure, where parts of the city work on circles (roundabouts), while thru-traffic can go under the circles.

- Maps and directionality (N/E/S/W) are almost useless here. People don’t really use street names or north as a reference point to describe locations. Instead, they use landmarks and other descriptors. The main street names are known and used, but I still don’t know the name of the street where I currently live – if it even has an official name!

Goodbye Canada, Hello Jordan!

I see that my last post was about Florida. Since then, I have been lucky enough to visit Arizona/California/Nevada for a geology field trip. I should probably at some point post pictures from my favourite places: the Grand Canyon, Sedona and the San Francisco Volcanic Fields. I've also been to a few new cities near Toronto (relatively): Chicago and Stratford.

And now, I am sitting in my new office in Amman, Jordan, detailing my experiences so far.

Pre-Departure

Despite my traveling experience, I was quite nervous about coming to Jordan for no real reason. I knew that I wasn’t going to a remote village with no running water or electricity, yet the uncertainty was unnerving. As I joined the crowd that was boarding the plane, it was also strange to wonder whether my attire was too tight.

Air Travel

The plane ride was like most other flights, with a few interesting observations:

• The stewardesses in our cabin were oriental (i.e. they looked Chinese and working for the Royal Jordanian). I could only tell what they were not speaking: Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean...
• The second interesting story: After I boarded and was settled down in my seat, an airline employee with a suited man came over to a young man sitting across the aisle from me and whispered something. Then the young man took his carry-on luggage and was asked if that was all he had with him. All 3 left, but the suited man came running back a few minutes later. He tore up the seats where the young man was sitting, and even took out the life jackets that were underneath, then disappeared again. After about 15 minutes, the young man was allowed to return to the plane and exemplified courtesy to everyone around him upon disembarking. False alarm. While it could have been a safety protocol for all passengers leaving the plane for whatever reason after having boarded, it freaked me out a bit.

Arrival

Upon arrival, the sun was already setting. AIESEC people were too busy to pick me up, so my company sent a driver instead.

First observations:

• Amman is truly a city that is developing rapidly. There is construction literally everywhere.
• While there are marked lanes, an additional one or two lanes of traffic will quickly form and dissolve without notice. The driver that picked me up was certainly one that would create extra lanes and even drove on the shoulder to avoid traffic.
• Average high beam usage is significantly higher than in Toronto. It is normal practice to shine your high beams to signal that you want to pass the car ahead of you or to signal to potential cars in upcoming intersections that you are passing straight through (the latter was a similar practice in Mexico, but honks were used instead).
• It is a cosmopolitan in a different sense in some ways. While the majority of the people living here are Arabs, there are distinct differences socially. I’ve also seen the odd Chinese or Korean and a handful of Caucasians. Of course there are also major western chains such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Mango, Zara etc.

Other than that, my first day of work is tomorrow. I will provide more information as I settle into my new home for the year. Good day!

Around the World in 7 Days

I will try to be better with my travel blog because I am too drained to go through my email now and I wanted to get some things off my chest. Disclaimer: Some of this content will be detailed in ignorance, based on pure observations intertwined with my personal experiences and sometimes negative in tone. I will first capture the highlights of the day -- what we did, notable rides etc. and in the latter part voice the "deeper insights".

Day 1:

Flight was described in a post below. lol.

Due to flight delays, we didn't get into Orlando until the evening. We incurred $440 USD of unanticipated car costs =[ for insurance, gas, and whatever other bs fees. Slight bump in the road I suppose. We eventually agreed to it since some man in line was being impatient and rude. Plus, we had already paid $300 for the rental fee with Dollar. Well, what can we do? After the little fiasco, we did not have time to visit Epcot as per our original plan. Instead, we started our week off with some light shopping at Premium Outlets. I bought 2 pairs of Levi's and a Henley for only $43 USD! We ended off the night with a steaming bucket of Popeye's chicken. SO good, but SO bad.

Day 2:

After our ridiculous sleeping hours from the night before for the flight, we slept in a tiny bit and hopped on the hotel shuttle to Disney's Animal Kingdom. The sun was hot and I brought a sweater and a jacket. -_-" (Needless to say, I ended up mixing up all the days for the various things I should have packed but didn't or packed but didn't need.) I was slightly disappointed with Animal Kingdom. I thought the park would be bigger, but I suppose to a kid it would seem humongous. Some memorable experiences include the Everest ride and the Bug's Life 3D movie. I love the special effects they add e.g. the "bee stings" and the "bugs" crawling under everyone's butt. Could this be the future of movie theater experiences? Their 3D graphics were amazing -- Avatar is basically the embodiment of Disneyworld's 3D graphic film rides. We also visited Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Finally, we went through a Safari ride with real safari animals. We were finished the park quite early, so we went to Millenia mall so that Eric could find his Tiffany charm (they didn't have it =[ ). I managed to pick up a Fisheye camera at Urban Outfitters. I'm looking forward to developing my first set of lomography photos! Dinner was at Cheesecake Factory. My first time there and we loved it. Their tiramisu cheesecake is to die for!!!

Day 3:

We went to Universal Studios this day and it was frickin' awesome!!!!! I loved all of the rides there -- especially the 3D Simpson's motion simulator ride and the Return of the Mummy. The new ride, Rip, Ride Rock-It was overrated. The line up was way long and our music didn't even work when we went up! We finished all of the good rides by about 4pm, grabbed a late lunch and headed off to Epcot. We only got to go on 2 rides in this park because 1. we didn't want to miss the fireworks and 2. we were freezing our butts off. Waiting for the fireworks was worth it though! We finished the night with take-out from Olive Garden. Their chicken gnocchi soup was AMAZING!

Day 4:

Today was our 3.5 hour trek to some huge outlet mall called Sawgrass Mills. We also used the opportunity to visit the beach in Fort Lauderdale (absolutely beautiful! But still cold..). This was a long day of shopping and running around looking for good deals. Bought 3 pairs of shoes for $60 USD o.O The ride there was me brainstorming for my essay, and the ride back was me typing up my essay that was due the next day. Brutal.

Day 5:

The boys slept in a bit while I woke up to finish my essay that was due that day. We headed out to Millenia once more so Jason could exchange his blackbird camera at Urban Outfitters. We then headed out to MGM Hollywood Studios and headed straight for the Tower of Terror. Fantastic! Loved the lead-up story with their special effects and the rapid rises/drops of the ride. The Aerosmith ride was unfortunately too long of a wait for us, so we enjoyed such attractions as the Muppets 3D (love). We ended the day with Fantasmic, their much anticipated show. It was absolutely magical! They used a cool projection technique where they projected videos onto spewing fountain water. It looked sick! Well worth the freezing 2-hour wait (on the bright side, the crowd got a wave going across the 2000 seated people for about 5 minutes or so. It was fun while it lasted!) Dinner was again at Olive Garden.. we are so creative with our food choices!

Day 6:

Island of Adventure -- my favourite park of them all! Awesome rides: The Incredible Hulk (high-speed incline), Spiderman 3D (detailed 3D graphics while moving through a track), Dueling Dragons (roller coaster where 2 tracks intertwine and 2 coasters come awfully close together), Dr. Seuss (memories of childhood -- a reading of the Cat in the Hat animated by moving figures), Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls (we got soaked but it was awesome). We had decided in the morning that we wouldn't go on wet rides because of the weather. However, after we saw the ride, we were convinced that we had to go on it. It was well worth the shivers and uncomfortable dampness!! Of course our day would not be complete without Olive Garden or Cheesecake Factory, so we went again to Cheesecake Factory, this time trying the Snickers chunks cheesecake. Good, but nothing beat the Tiramisu one.

Day 7:

Our last day already! Magic Kingdom was saved for last (also because it closed at midnight that day). It was HOT! I got a little burnt even! The rides weren't as good as those at Island of Adventure but that was to be expected. At the expense of the fireworks (due to wrong time assumptions), Space Mountain was the most awesome ride. The coaster takes you into a huge dome that is pitch dark, simulating space. You have no idea where the coaster takes you and it goes FAST. It was outrageous! We watched a show (Poseidon) that was basically an attraction that used the projection onto water technique again. It was mind-blowing how they put it all together! We went through It's A Small World but unfortunately were not able to convince any one to drink the water lol. Some of the rides suddenly reminded me of some of the ones I went on when I went to Disneyland in LA. Good to know I remember some of that trip! =P We starved until about 6.30 and each had a turkey leg for dinner. It was really for the novelty of it and for our picture-taking hunger. However, the huge portion of meat made me feel sick and I barely ate half of it. =[ Because we missed the fireworks we stayed for the 9pm light parade. Perfect way to end the night/week. Because Eric and I were not hungry, Jason went to McD's for dinner. It was a McD's bistro so they also offered such things as pastas, cheesecakes, waffles, paninis etc. It blew our minds!

Day 8:

The journey home was way smoother than the way there. We played Monopoly Deal (wicked game) the whole way, except I never won a single game. =[ It was all good until Jason and Eric's bags got left behind in DC during our transfer..

General Thoughts:

In general, I felt so wasteful and consumptive during my time there. I appreciate that Toronto even with its issues is a greener city. I felt bad throwing out recyclables because there was no recycling bin around (especially at the hotel). I can't even imagine how large the theme parks' ecofootprints would be! Imagine all of the emissions from the thousands of people flocking to Orlando, their wasteful practices staying at hotels and all of the energy consumed (both building and operating the park) and waste produced at the park. I am such an econerd now. =P

At Animal Kingdom, I felt sorry for all of the animals in the safari ride. Of course it was enjoyable to embark on an imaginary journey through the African Safari. However, I am sure the animals don't enjoy it. They are confined to their own areas and have thousands of tourists flashing photos of them every minute of the day. They barely have any privacy nor any room to roam freely. At least this 'safari' is located in a place that is relatively hot year round. Imagine the Ontario African Lion Safari? Are they just stored inside for the winter? -- Even less room to roam around. Poor guys..

On the drive to the mall we saw a lot of Barbie doll house-like homes. We also noticed that many old people worked (at service stations, toll booths etc.). I suppose that once they retired and moved to Florida they realized they were bored, so they went back to work. Very admirable. =]

Disney World owns the 2nd largest parking lot in North America. It was literally a sea of cars. Related to my Day 2 post below, all this wasted land for parking lots! Although I don't know much about the significance of the ecology in the surrounding area of Orlando, what a waste... But if you have money, you can do anything like buy out acres upon acres of land to build a theme park.

This a little bit mean, but it was in Florida that I realized that the issue of obesity is indeed rampant in America. It made me sad that these people don't realize what they are doing to themselves. People need to stop focusing less on short-term gains and more on long-term ones. They need more public education about eating healthier etc. I wonder how effective their public health departments are and what they tend to focus on? Of course, corporations don't help. There were $1 value menu items everywhere! This is also related to how the city is built. I mean I haven't been to that many American cities, but most of them are quite sprawled. Well, forget active transportation and perhaps a significant part of one's daily exercise. If only we'd all realized sooner, we'd build our cities from the ground up differently. The question is what to do now?

On the way to the beach we passed by a project housing area. It was literally an area between expensive beach homes along the coast and a suburban area further down the road. A random thought occurred to me during this car ride. It is obvious that putting all the government housing together does not necessarily help build better lives for these people. What if governments invested in building homes for these people but avoid communities of them? What if governments built 1 or 2 houses in normal suburban areas spread throughout the metropolitan? Perhaps that way these people would have the opportunities to mingle with people different from themselves and abolish the mindsets that would otherwise be created by being with the same people living in near poverty. Of course I can already see problems with protesting from suburban parents who don't want to lower the value of their homes or for the government to acquire land in this way (although I am not sure how this system works down there either). There is also possibility that children attending the normal school would be scrutinized by wealthier children. However, there are many cases of this even in Toronto. I have personally seen this and these people have turned out fine..

Well, I'm starting to ramble now. I had other reflections as well but this post is getting awfully long and I don't remember any others at the moment.

On a brighter note, check out the most amazing wedding proposal ever at Disneyland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itPfJWCdyBI

Failure to Illuminate Headlights

Day 2 (February 15):
Me: "Yo, police."
Jas: "I know. I'm not even going that fast." (We're going at 35mph)
*siren blares
-- waves of commotion and panic penetrate the car --
We pull over.
Police: "Driver, turn right at the next street."
-- panic envelopes the car as we turn into the street --
Jas: "Hi officer.."
Police: "You know that your headlights are off right?"
LOL

My heart was pounding for another 10 minutes after, while we laughed hysterically at the 2nd lesson of our trip.

Mood thermometer :: Feeling a bit old around all of these kids! It's definitely fun to be on the rides yet I think the magic and glitter of Disney and amusement parks in general has already worn off for me. It just feels too commercialized and artificial. Ugh, my grown-up-ness is such a buzz kill! (Probably because I have the burden of a possible phone interview in the next few days, which I don't know how to handle or prepare for!)

Observations :: Sprawl, sprawl, sprawl! The part of Orlando where we are staying is completely commercialized and built upon tourist revenue. There are hotels all over the place and I doubt that they are ever fully occupied. Even if they were, it would probably for a few events of the year. Imagine the waste! The land, the energy for all of the unoccupied rooms?

Without regulation, sprawl will just happen. It makes business sense. Why would anyone bother to invest in building up, when you can just build horizontally for cheaper? Now I see why planning policy is so important. Yes, it's great they have all this land to build horizontally upon. However, I am sure that this does not contribute to the quality of life of these citizens. They have to drive everywhere because the infrastructure requires them to. All of this combined with ubiquitous McDonalds results in the obesity problems of the US today..