The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
It has been a week, so I suppose it is time for another update.
I have had several positive and negative interactions here in Jordan. Most of my positive interactions revolve around taxi drivers and every day normal people.
Most of my negative ones revolve around interactions with government officials, institutions, and neighborhood urchins (or children as most would call them).
But I will describe this in further detail later on.
The Weather Outside is....
Cold, very cold. I didn’t think I would believe my colleagues when they said this about the middle east, but the weather has turned very chilly. This has caught me by surprise for 3 fundamental reasons. First, living through 2 Hong Kong “winters” has stunted my perception of what cold ought to be. In a city that has seen snow... well never, I found that winter was only a few weeks, perhaps 8-10, and then that was all. Furthermore, the last two winters there had been mild, though each one has become colder. So when I got to Amman, a region that did not significantly border any temperate bodies of water, I found it to be quite cold.
The second reason is seems so cold to me, is because the houses are just made of slabs of poured concrete. There is no insulation. To translate, it takes very little time to heat, or cool the house due to outside weather. In short, it can get very cold in my apartment very quickly.
Finally, while I am thankful for an apartment, and one that is as inexpensive as it is - I basically live in a glorified “hole in the wall.” Now, its not as miserable as that description makes it out to be, but one friend once remarked, “You live in alleys.” Which could accurately depict the process of getting to my place. To make it less comfortable, I live on the bottom floor, and the backside is a against a sloping hill. So, when it rains everything in the apartment feels damp... making it seem colder than it ought to feel.
How damp? Well, I have the rare luxury of watching paint bubble on the wall, as water seeks to seep inward. Yes, it is that exciting.
Mew Mew, let me in!
In addition to my experiences with people, I have had a unique experience with a cat here. I found her in her teenage “years” really, months -- she was in the stage of kittyhood not quite a kitten, not quite a cat. She seemed nice enough. After showing her affection for a few minutes, she quite decided that I was her human and she followed me home. She hasn’t stopped following me since.
Cats are treated well in Amman, the city is full of them. Though neighborhood children can be quite cruel. Anyway, I made a home for her, it sits outside my window sill. The house, I believe, is comfortable. Its a box inside another box, with its own little door flap (I made the cardboard to swing freely). And there is two towels inside. As the weather turns even colder, I’ll replace the towels with a fleece blanket. It should be adequate living conditions -- though she is quite adamant, she should come inside.
I named her Honey Comb. A name for three part reasons. 1.) To remind me to memorize the Word. Psalms 19 declares God’s judgement to be sweeter than honey in the honey comb, and Psalms 119:103 declares his words sweeter than honey. 2.) I named her such as a shout-out to Honey, my neighbor in Hong Kong that took care of cats. Finally, 3.) Melissa’s name gave me the idea from her name in Greek -- it means “Honey Bee.” So that set the wheels in motion.
Well I believe that all names have significance and meaning... but so far Honey Comb hasn’t quite lived up to it yet. She is a very friendly cat, but has become quite crafty in opening up my screen windows, and racing inside when I open up the door.
The biggest reasons I don’t let her in, is because she has fleas AND I am leaving in March. If she gets too accustomed to me, she starve when I leave.
The Process (The Bad)
As I alluded to previously, I’ve had several pleasant experiences with government institutions. From the multiple trips to police stations, to the post office. It’s difficult to adjust. *Edit before I even post this... i did make 3 friends in the police force today... so not everyone is bad, mind you, just the Process is frustrating!*
Here in Jordan, the Americans call the post office here the “foreigner tax”, I call it a “colossal rip-off!” Anything you import here to Jordan will be taxed the estimated price of purchase elsewhere. So if you import, for example a crock-pot, and it costs $60 dollars in the state, and $100 dollars to ship, here in Jordan they will charge you at least $80 to collect it. It’s absurd, and I’ve never heard of this being done anywhere else in the world.
I’ve tried to keep a pleasant demeanor about it, yet I haven’t quite mastered complete control over the place in my brain that says “lets make a moody, scowling face at them!”
My own mother, shipped up some protein powder for me, some Christmas cookies, and a first aid kit, and a few warmer clothes. I was charged $20 JD (or $30 US) to pick it up. I didn’t want to pay, but I felt like I ought to, since she went through all the trouble of shipping it to me.
Eventually, I'll get used to this.
Am I a good man? (The Good)
This question has actually taken me by surprise. If you would have asked me this question a few years earlier in my life, I would have answered with a convincing “YES”. But I’ve lately begun to question this.
Taxi-drivers, in particular, have responded that they believe I’m a good person. I’m here in Jordan, not making money volunteering my time and money to be here. Last night, I had been waiting to grab a taxi and two women were in front of me. I spotted a taxi on the other side of this little street, and I motioned to them to take it. They walked over, and the taxi soon departed without taking them.
They stayed on that side. A little later, another taxi approached from my direction. He stopped to pick me up, but I motioned for him to pick them up. I don’t think he understood me... so reluctantly I got in. I felt bad for those two women. And I really thought not very highly of myself.
The taxi driver surprised me, by speaking in good english. He asked me if I knew those two women, and why I wanted him to pick them up. After explaining, he said, “You’re a good man.”
I then explained that I’m not really a good man, but God in me is good. This also surprised him and he agreed.
He then explained the reason he didn’t pick them up is because he doesn’t like women. (A few minutes later, he was worried that I’d jump to the conclusion that he was a homosexual, he emphatically explained that this was not the case, he just didn’t like haggling over the set prices with women and so he preferred driving me.)
Well, I got to share a little about myself. And before I knew it, he was at my street. I wanted to pay the full share, but he only allowed me to pay 1 JD. I tried three times the full amount, but he said “You’re a good man.” So I thanked him, and was on my way.
Street Urchins - (And The Ugly)
Now, I’ve taken to calling them street urchins, but they are truly not that. The kids here, for whatever reason, just seem unruly (with the exception of about 4 junior high aged girls who think I’m the coolest person ever... I really don’t know why, I don’t even talk to them but they think I’m awesome and say hi to me whenever I pass by).
As I was walking home last night, my little cat came running out to great me. She had been waiting on the corner for me to return. Yes, that is how sad and pathetic she truly is. Mew Mew! (She follows me out when I leave, and follows me home when I come back). As we were walking back to my apartment, about six neighborhood boys came running over to her. Bissa! The shouted (Cat). Well, I didn’t trust them (I had seen two of them being mean to her when she was a kitten), so I stopped them in their tracks, held out my hand and shouted “HEY!” This startled them and got their attention, so they turned to leave. As they left, one of them threw a rock at me.
(They must have been Palestinian eh? Haha, oh, that really shouldn’t be funny, but I laughed about it later. I could get in trouble for that joke... I’ve heard, and told, and laughed at enough jokes about Jews and Israel to be off the hook).
Well, I had my gym bag and my briefcase in either hand, but then I dropped both. Spun around and began quickly walking towards them, with my hands outstretched on either side. This got their attention quite quickly again, and they took off running. I had no trouble with them later on. Some kids are just stupid.
(A friend of mine told a story, that a few kids had been throwing rocks at cars and when he glared at them, they thew rocks at him. So he chased them... he chased them all the way back to their home. They ran inside and locked the door. So he patiently knocked and their mother opened up the door. He told her what they had been doing... though he’s American, he could speak some arabic at this point. I’m guessing they got whipped by their father when he came home later that day.)
I have my own little street urchins who live in the house over from mine. They scream all day long. I can hear their mother and those three kids screaming until 11:00 - 12:00 o'clock. It gnaws away at my spirit. They used to throw rocks at my door, until I complained to my landlord, who told their landlord. They don’t come around anymore.... but I can still hear them every night.
It’s hard to get sleep... fireworks go off until 11:00 - 12:00 at night. They scream until that long. Then the call to prayer is blasted at 4:30, the actual prayer goes off at 5:10ish, my cat starts meowing at 6:00-7:00 ish for food. So in a given night, I’m woken up 4-5 times a night. Its unpleasant to say the least.
... in case you’re wondering, the last three titles was in the order of the closing scene from the movie (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly).
Yes, I bought that movie here in Jordan... good quality too for $1.42 US (1 JD); though don’t ask me about the legality of it. Errr... if you want legal, you pay triple the actual price in just one location that I know of.
