Floating in Jordan

I spent this past weekend in Jordan with my father and sister. Turns out Sahar was in the Middle East for a conference for her job so Baba and I took a flight to Amman, Jordan to meet up with her. I really had no idea what to expect. So I didnt really get my hopes up, or do any investigating. I just went with the flow and was really caught by surprise.


Baba lookin sharp at a nice Restaurant in Amman


The trip out of Kuwait was really bizarre. Even though the day started out clear and calm, by the time we hit the runway for take off there was a sand storm so fierce I couldn't see the airport from the runway. It was literally like white out, blizzard conditions but with sand. We took off anyway, and even though the plane had a rough start once we were in the air everything was pretty smooth. For about an hour though we could not see the ground because the sand storms were so thick. It looked like we were floating across a sea of chocolate milk. When we landed in Jordan and called kuwait to let folks know that we got there ok we heard that the airport was closed soon after our departure because of the storm.
The sun setting beyond the Dead Sea


So our first night in Amman we spent with Sahar. We invited her and her friend, Valerie, to come out to dinner with us. We caught up with Sahar talked about her job and the grants she is working on. Turns out she is pleased with where she is at but looking for something more. I hope she can find what she is looking for. She certainly seems happy to be in the Middle East again and seems to appreciate working for grants and on projects to help Palestinians.

Me enjoying a tasty mojito

That night after dinner Valerie invited Sahar and I out to go to a cafe with her and some of her friends. Sahar could not make it but I went and had a pretty good time. She took us to this Place that was in the downtown area of Amman. It had four floors and a balcony with an incredible view of a part of the city. It was as though stars were blanketing the city and hills below us and rose up to meet the night sky.
We found Sahar at her hotel.

So after I took in the view I realized that I was in a bar, listening to 80's pop music, surrounded by arabs all laughing, smoking, and drinking, and ENJOYING the music. This came as quite a culture shock for so many reasons. The first one being that i was coming from Kuwait where it is illegal to enjoy music in public. The second being that that I am coming from an area in the states where I dont think that many Arabs exist in a 50 mile radius. The third one being that I didnt see that many cops. I mean there were some military folks in the area but no more than there usually were sprinkled throughout the country.
I saved room for a desert that I could actually eat. Sorbet.

So my night finished up relatively early. Some friends of Valerie's dropped me off at the hotel. They were really nice and I was really glad that Valerie invited me out for a little while.
The trip down to the Dead Sea

The next day we went for a trip to the Dead Sea. It was only about a 30 minute drive from Amman to where we stopped...and all down hill. Amman seems like a city with alot of green. It reminded me of all the photos and videos I have seen of Palestine with green hils and lawns littered with white rocks and olive trees. It was very similar to that but the area the city was in was surrounded by desert. Leaving the city we drove through hills and valleys of brown sand and rocky rubble until we came across the Lake. The water and hills beyond it (Israel) were blue and smoky, hazy in appearence. Very similar to the Appalachian mountains were I used to live in Virgina. Surrounding the lake were hotels and resorts taking advantage of the scenery and tourists interested in the area. There was also lots of construction happening in the area so it looked like more hotels were opening up. The place seemed as though it was developing, not quite finished having all the natural elements of the area surrounding the Lake diminished by development.
I guess this is supposed to be what the building used to look like in Jordan

We eventually made our way to the water and for how hot it was there weren't that many people swimming. Actually it is really hard to swim in the dead sea. Beacause of how salty it is everything in the water is insanely bouyant. If you walk out far enough into the water you just, lose your balance and your legs tip up becoming instantly weightless. I could have pretty effortlessly floated about 10 km to Israel without breaking a sweat. I probably would have been shot but I could have done it. I went through the ritual of covering my body in the black tarry asphalt mud that is found in the Lake there and then swam around until it was washed off. I liked getting dirty and swimming around. I floated quite a ways out and discovered that the water when you are in it does not seem blue at all like it does from a distance. Instead the water is this beautiful deep green teal color. Absolutely unlike anything I have ever seen before. Pool overlooking the view. Amazing view, the photo does not do it justice.
Dead Sea
the brown side is Jordan, the blue side is Israel

pic update

We spent the weekend at my aunts Shaleigh (beach house). Her families shaleigh is one of those places that I can still remember visiting from when I was a little kid. I probably remember it because it was one of the more comfortable places we would visit when living here. Luckily for me it still is one of my favorite places in Kuwait.
Lujain and I inventing a new style. Granted it is a bit of a reference to slick rick. ok honestly my sunglasses broke and it was fun for like 15 mins. I still think it is dope. This is on our way back from the shaleigh (pictures loaded backwards..oops.)


Lujain 'rockin out'


Sunset in well...actually i don't know where this is; Kaefan maybe? This is the view from the roof of Mama'ouda's house. This is the neighborhood across the highway from Adailiyah.


a not so great picture of the beach from my Aunt's shaleigh, including some of her garden.

Me gettin fancy with the camera that Lauren got me. One of the more stunning plants that resides in my Aunt's garden


This is the back of the shaleigh. It is split between two families. The right is my aunt's, the left is owned by a family friend.


View of the beach. Meshari and I sat here on one of our first days in Kuwait about 3 years ago. We were really jet-lagged and could not sleep so we stayed up and watched the sunrise right out of the ocean.

View of the front. The left side is my aunt's.

Lujain and I...

Mama'ouda one of my favorite Kuwaitis, originally from Iraq . Lujain took this photo.


Lujain and Baba reading the paper together.

My uncle Mithqal and my cousin Mai. Luain took this picture as well. it is my favorite one in this post. My uncle is from Palestine and is an amazing card player. I gave up because the game they were playing was over my head and I wasnt too fond of it. Its kind of like a mix between spades and hearts. Anyways I sat to the side and fiddled with a nutcracker enjoying time with the family.

Happy Anniversary

Today marks the fifth year of the American occupation of Iraq. I wish there was something epic and profound I could say to mark this day. I also wish I could say that experiencing this day in Kuwait was unique. I do not, today was ordinary.

How pathetic.

Waynee?

I think Waynee is the way you say "Where am I?" in arabic. This is where I am...


This is my grandmothers house, where my father and his family stay. Mama'ouda lives on the first floor and Baba's family stays on the second. They live in Adeliya and this is where much of the extended family comes on the weekend to have lunch together. It seems like the house is always receiving and hosting get togethers. These past couple nights have been pretty busy with family members visiting from Bahrain and Iraq. My uncle (Emi) Mahmoud was in town, it was my first time seeing him this trip. It is always nice seeing him but I did not get too much of an opportunity to talk with him unfortunately. Also visiting is Mama'ouda's sister Maha. She is visiting from Iraq. She used to live in Southern Iraq, Naseriyah, and in Baghdad, but currently lives somewhere in Northern Iraq where things are much quieter and safer. She moved out of Baghdad about 2 years before the recent occupation and war. My father explained to her that I participated in protests against bush and his policies and she seemed pleased. She said to him that "Bush and Saddam are the same person." While things are much quieter where Khalti Maha is my father related a story to me from her about how the US dropped bombs in her neighborhood. The missiles struck each of her neighbors houses on either side of where she lives but luckily her home was not harmed. It turns out the the US was responding to an 'insurgent' who had fired a missile at US forces.

In the picture, the building on the left is our family's Diwaniya. This is the official Alnouri Diwaniya where my father, his uncles, his brothers, and all their male children, get together to bullshit, talk politics, schmooze, and keep up with the family news and biz every week. It is also a place where I feel really awkward being the only guy dressed in a suit while just about everyone else is standing around in Distashas. This is a place where I am often asked "what, you dont speak arabic?" and "do you know who i am?" Yeah, its awkward...its kind of like those Christmas reunions but every week..minus the presents.


This is the street I live on. ...its my street. Its named after my great grandfather who was a pretty important religious figure in Kuwait. Hopefully I will have more on him later. I thought I was named after him but my father explained that he actually named me after the street.


To be fair though it is a nice street. It has its own Mosque, literally just down the street from where I am staying, and its own little soccer field. Pretty sweet.

I would like to add more pics of the house soon but the weather has been really overcast and dusty these past few days. Not very good for up close pictures. More soon I hope. To be contin

Footloose City

I went to another concert this year and felt as though I was living a modern version of Footloose. I saw three arabic singers. They were from Tunisia, Lebanon, and UAE. I like arabic music but i cant help but feel like alot of it sounds the same to me. A very similar beat with lyrics I don't understand. It all sounds like blahblahblah ya habibte habibte blahblahblah. habibte means sweetheart (refering to a girl, habibe for a guy) and its presence in an Arabic song is mandatory. I think it might actually be a law. I did get a chance to see people get all dressed up and look fancy. I think that is the main focus of these thingies anyway. More opportunities for Kuwaits to surround themselves with each other, stay up late, get hopped up on caffeine and stare at each other for hours. Except this time there was music and CLAPPING involved. The arabic music may be repetitive but it is pretty catchy, and some of the songs were done well enough that you could dance to them. I remember last year there was a really good singer, Ahlam, who really tore it up. I liked her alot; there was alot of range in her voice and she moved around a bit on stage.

Anyways the footloose part...so the final act is this guy who everyone in Kuwait loves. I dont know his name but to be fair he was the best one of the three. Well he was so good that every single one of his songs were all ready known by everyone in the crowd, except for me. They guy didn't even need to sing; the crowd could have sang the songs for him. For some of his songs there was alot of energy and people were really grooving to his tunes but nobody would get up and dance. Turns out dancing is illegal in Kuwait. I had a real urge to get up and start a Conga Line to see what would happen but i didn't want to find out if they make wearing a distasha in prison mandatory in Kuwait. I have a feeling i may 'loose' my mind one of these days and try doing the Kevin Bacon dance routine from Footloose at one of these concerts. Seriously though it was really sad to see all these folks having a great time and not being able to get up and dance to music they obviously enjoy.

I got my Kuwaiti license recently. It was a piece of cake. I aced the written part and the driving part was..well..non existent. There was an obstacle course and I guess your supposed to drive around it with an instructor but the guy who got into my car to give me the test had me drive around in a circle, let him out, and told me to exit. At first I thought something was wrong but he just told me to get out. He took all my papers and just ran off. A couple hours later my license showed up at my dads office and everything was peachy. The bureaucratic nonsense of this place really sketches me out sometimes.

So i found a replacement for my CELTA course. I am taking Survival Arabic at a university here. its a five week course that meets three times a week. I had my first class yesterday and it went pretty well. I have a feeling i will be able to get by relatively easily in the class because many of the words we are going over I already know. I figure it will be nice to have a little bit of a foundation for my Arabic and I can see how things go from there. If things go well enough I am going to get a private tutor as well as continue with the classes.

I played soccer with one of my younger cousins today, he is 18 years old and so are just about all of his friends who play soccer. Man did I feel old today. I kept up with them but they possess a finesse and understanding of the game i doubt I will ever have. I looked like an idiot at times Im sure, stumbling around out there with them, but I had a good time. Ill be sore tomorrow but that is comforting in a strange way. It is certainly better than going to the mall for the hundredth time. I hope to keep playing with these guys.

Sandy Meditation

Sometimes I am glad for the little bit of language barrier that exists between my father and I. I think I would go crazy if i really understood just how much we misunderstand each other. I know that a big gap exists between who I am and what my father knows of me.. and vice versa for me to him. I am glad that we can still appreciate each other though.

I have to admit that I feel a little guilty about days like today. The weather was incredible. I think my body feels like somehow I stole time itself and jumped about 3 months into the future. Felt like one of those spring days that are just on the verge of turning to summer. The sun was hot but the air cool enough to keep being outside enjoyable. When the sun sets here time jumps back a bit again to mid spring where the air is cold enough to need a jacket. The wind was coming in off the sea so it wasn't dusty at all. The past few days its been dry and dusty with wind from the north east. On those days I can feel a light film of dust over my teeth any my eyes and nose dry up. If its particularly bad it feels like a small dune has begun to collect in my stomach.

As nice as the weather has become its scary how quickly it has changed. literally each day is warmer than the last. My cousins tell me that in about two more weeks it will be too hot to be enjoyable in the afternoons.

Reading log: finished both 20th century ghosts and Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. Highly recommend both of them. I was really surprised by how much i liked the Batman book. I usually dont like superhero graphic novels but this one was really well done.

So today i went to one of those meditation groups where i use my chakras to send "loving kindness" to planet earth. It was cool. We met near one of the nicer beaches in Kuwait City. Some people were obviously bothered by my choice of mediation mat; plastic. I had like 3 people mention that i should bring a better mat and I got the impression that a few folks were complaining about it to the mediation guide. It was in Arabic so I cant be sure. She did respond that as long as there weren't any crystals everything should be fine for the other participants. It was a good chance to meet new folks and an interesting way to start the day but definitely not my thing. I could be mistaken though. My energy might have been blocked by the usage of a plastic mediation mat. Maybe with the proper mat I will have better results. Maybe.

Leap Day Poisoning

So that thing i said about feeling a little sick. Turns out I was really sick. Sicker than anything I can ever remember. I woke up later that morning and was up tossing my cookies for about 6 or 7 hours. It was so bad I had to go to the hospital and get an IV for dehydration because i couldn't keep anything down. Just looking at water made me lose it and i couldn't even think of trying anything solid. It was pretty dramatic.

After about 30 hours of feeling like i was being dragged through hell, heaven was waking up in the morning and being able to drink a glass of water and keep down a bowl of rice crispies. It's been about 3 days now and i still dont have my appetite back, and i still dont know what caused my sickness. All the food I had that evening was shared with other people and nobody else was sick, so...i dunno. I do know that it will be awhile until I eat green olives again. Those things are disgusting coming back up.

Also in the realm of bad news: the CELTA program I was planing on taking here at AUK has flaked out on me. I responded to an e-mail i got from an admissions person awhile back with my current phone number and was "kindly informed" that the program has been delayed until June. so..that sucks. I am really disappointed. I was looking forward to getting that certification. I think the course would have helped for me to do some international exploration, traveling around and teaching English possibly help me pick up a language or two. I guess i need to find some other way to do it. I need to find something else to do while Im here too. That was supposed to be about a months worth of my stay here... fuckin a! stupid school.


since i have been pretty sick i have been taking it easy, not up to too much so not too much to share. I did learn something new today, pretty interesting. Kuwait University and all the public schools in kuwait are segregated by sex! how ridiculous. The private universities here are integrated but there is a push from the more conservative parts of society to make the private universities segregated as well. pretty lame. Insecure politicians with their stuffy dist'ahas.