Update: Passport Not Stolen

In case you read earlier versions of this blog, here is an update about my "stolen" passport.  I sent the following email to update the people in my life:  

 

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm writing to you from Spain on the last two days before heading back to NYC after making a big discovery: my passport was stuffed in a book!  That means my assumption that it was stolen from the hotel in Jordan is WRONG.  I want to apologize for any bad seeds that might have been planted in your minds after hearing my woes about the stolen passport.  I'm feeling very sheepish!  I am also being humbly reminded to assume best intentions about people, which I didn't do about the hotel workers in Jordan.  It was an honest mistake and I learned a few lessons from it: use the hotel lock box anyway, get another set of eyes to help you look for your passport especially if you're looking frantically, and finally shake out your books. 

It seems silly to send out a message like this but I think it's important to set the record straight and I'm smiling as I write this email because it's just like me to get myself caught up in something this.  Oh well! 

Hope everyone is enjoying the change of season and all the best to those heading back to school. 

Happy Fall!

Workaway Grand Finale

We came to the Valley of Peace with very little expectation for what this would be and what we would get out of it.  Perhaps that is why we're leaving with so much.  The memories and stories we've captured with photos and in our minds will become part of our history that we've already laughed about thinking of our 65 year old selves reminiscing about this summer of 2016 experience.

If anyone out there has an interest in workaway or can think of someone who would be interested, please remember this amazing place.   Here is a list of the projects that we were able to accomplish from August 6th when we arrived until August 18th when we departed.

1. Feeding cats/dog
2. Watering date palms
3. Picking/selling dates
4. Creating order (tool shed, prayer room, kitchen, painting Mohammad's room pink)
5. Weeding
6. Roasting dates to make a date coffee
7. Hosting musical event and bonfire (fueled by weeds)
8. Making goat milk/date smoothies and dreaming up a brand name (Mary's Milk?)
9. Speaking English to the Children of the Valley and brainstorming ways to make it official
10. Researching information on date syrup manufacturing
11. Updating web presence and writing this blog
12. Immersing in the culture, history, and language of the land as a way of building cross cultural relationships and peace in the world which is arguably the most important ongoing project here.

Of course there are more project ideas to be born!  All you need to do is sit with Mohammad under the sharing tree or on the roof with the starry night sky above and they will come.

Andreas and Mohammad at war...the kind for pacifists.

Me loving the cats at every chance I could.

Andreas rocking a cap that says architect in Arabic.  

Mohammad working his people connecting magic in his air conditioned room behind the taxi cafe.

How to be happy...it starts with this pose. 

Another way to be happy is to get some cat love.   This is our very good friend Scott who came all the way from Brooklyn to be with us for the last 6 days of our stay.

Dates anyone?

This is the taxi cafe and a nice community of taxi drivers who take people from Amman to the Palestine border everyday.

The welcome sign to the farm

Scott and Andreas prepare for the bonfire.

Mohammad and his adorable son, Omar

Scott playing Bridge Over Troubled Water on his melodica to prepare for the musical event project

Scott and I are de-pitting dates for the Mary's Milk goat milk/date project.

Mohammad doesn't own this tractor but it would be nice for us workers if he did.

Andreas attempting to walk on water in the neighbor's fancy pool

Goat herder's camp at sunset

Some kids killing time in the town area of South Shuneh

Scott putting his tennis skills to work on this dusty old rug

Roasted dates (cooled) for the date coffee project

The rooftop music event project with the most beautiful setting of over 35 people, delicious food, and simple lighting (which everyone loved and commented on despite it being just a string of compact fluorescent bulbs covered with paper bags)

A red moon sets over Jerusalem with a beauty that cannot be captured with our little camera but the view has left a big impression on our hearts.  Our love for the people here, the Palestinians who have been displaced and their stories will keep us hoping and doing what we can to restore peace in this region of the world.

Many, many thanks to Mohammad for his unconditional love and generosity he showed us two strangers from another land.  We got much more than we bargained for and we leave with a sadness of saying goodbye to a good friend.  This place is certainly special and we wish all the best for its growth and continuation with great people and brilliant ideas.  

So we're off to Madrid to see old friends.  We'll be back in Brooklyn on September 15th.  Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Watering the Dates

It's hard to imagine there is enough water for the thousands of date trees growing in South Shuneh but it's possible.  Below the earth there is what seems to be an everlasting source of brackish water that is used for irrigating the land all year long.  Mohammad explained that the water has 500ppm of minerals and salts that makes it unfit for humans but perfect for plants.  To compare, the water that comes from the municipality to the house has about 100ppm of minerals and salts.  In a quick google search, NYC's tap water ranges from 20-50ppm of minerals and salts.  So for drinking, we have to buy bulk bottled water which has been purified like Aquafina or Dasani.  Twice a week we go to the water store where the bottles are sterizlied with steam and refilled.  The price of these big plastic jugs in 5 JD and to fill them is ridiculously cheap.  Otherwise, you can buy bottled water and 1.5 liters only costs 0.35 JD.   I cringe at the site of all the millions of plastic water bottles that are trashed along the roadways and piling up in metal dumpsters.  Is there a way to reduce this plastic comsumption when it comes to one of our basic needs for survival?  There's not even a deposit on the bottle to encourage the slightest effort for recycling.  The only upside is that the goat farmer, who has his camp near a landfill, has an unlimited source of plastic bottles to store his goat milk and he uses this to his advantage. 

Going back to the date farm, I thought I should share about the irrigation system which is quite complex.  It starts with the well room which houses the pump.  From there one main pipe feeds 2 slightly smaller ones which then go to the four pipes that go to the trees.  If we removed all the trees and weeds, the irrigation system would look like a broken spider web the size of 10 football fields of black tubing that goes from big to little tubes.   The whole network is above ground which makes it vulnerable to damage and eventually tiny leaks that can get bigger.  The system ages quickly and water ends up going to weed growth rather than to the date palms in some places.  The amount of work and up keep is overwhelming!   In his past, Mohammad was a successful irrigation system businessman with a manufacturing plant but he didn't spend much time learning about their maintenance.  Luckily he has an expert team of pipe fixers in his friend circle because the other day I caused a pressure explosion in the system which was my worst nightmare.  The palm watering mantra is "open [vavle] first, then shut" which is said in English by non-English speakers who train us workawayers on watering the dates.  Anyway, the guys were working on a pipe that goes to the pool and they had closed off the main valve.  I didn't know and I turned on the pump and BOOM! a gushing geyser was coming from the main pipe outside of the well room which was a total shock for me and Andreas.  Ugh.  I felt so ashamed and sorry but it was fixed in no time using fire, date palm leaves, plastic pipes, and rubber tubing.  I'll tell you how because you never know when this could come in handy.

How to fix a broke irrigation pipe: 1. Obtain a metal inner joint. 2. Fit joint with a plastic tube (that is slightly bigger in diameter) to one side of the joint.  3. Cut plastic tube to proper length of damaged area.  4. Use fire to heat the inside and the outside of the plastic tube so it will slightly flexible.  5. Place other side of metal joint into the hot side of the plastic tube.  6. Slam together and pinch closed using rubber tube like a tourniquet.

Aside from using the brackish water for the dates, we also can use it for swimming.  The pool doesn't have a filtration system so when the water gets too gross, it can be pumped into the watering system and routed to the date palms.  It takes about 6 hours to fill this pool which is about the same to water all the dates so no water is wasted in this luxury (well except through evaporation as Andreas pointed out).

one of the many projects was to make this moon shaped pool into a fishing pond

and it worked but all the fish died

so the next project idea was to turn it back into a swimming pool so we got to work.

we managed to clean up all the slime and this was our first reward....the next is a night swim in our all natural pond like pool.

History of this Land

Mohammad's date farm is located in a very special place with a tragic history.  The years 1948 and 1967 are fused in the memories Shuneh's older population because for many as teenagers they and their families became refugees of war.  Forced out of their land, they took up residency here, in Shuneh, Jordan, right near the border.  It is a difficult for me to imagine the unresolveable confusion and pain that these people face when they look out their windows to see their old home towns but are not allowed to go back to them.  We have met many Palestinians who were born and rasied in Palestine but cannot live there because of the Israeli occupation of their homelands.  It's one thing to hear about the situations on the news and then a completely different experience to hear it first hand.  Mohammad is actively working with a group of Jordanians to ensure border control between Palestine and Jordan will give more leniancy to the Palestians who are dying to go home or at least visit their old stomping grounds.  He too would like to go back his old home. for a visit.  In this article, you can read about two men who have been locked out of Jericho for more than 50 years.  Technically they can try to cross the border here at the checkpoint located 5 minutes walking from the farm.  However, to make the attempt is to succomb to a round of long hours waiting in lines, uncomfortable questioning and possible humiliation because Palestinians are often treated like criminals by the Israeli border police.  The stories here are real; the two guys from the article can be seen sitting outside of the mosque everyday in the town center of South Shuneh.  Last night we drove by them during the last of 5 daily prayer times and one of the men encourage Mohammad to go in for his prayer.  With our permission, Mohammad left us in his car and took the old man's suggestion.

The people in Shuneh are religous but not radical despite what's in the news about Muslims and Muslim culture.   We find them to be curious, desperate to communicate, and open to sharing their stories.  For instance, when we're at the date stand, the taxi drivers come over to say hello in English.  They smile, ask where are you from and offer a strong hand shake and say welcome.  The other night  by the poolside, Andreas and I sat with an older man who wanted to tell us about his family and ask us about ours.  We used hand gestures; my favorite was his to ask if Andreas and I have kids.  He did the motion of a pregnant belly and pointed his finger at both of us.  We learned he's a proud father of five children, 2 boys and 3 girls, and he's been married for 35 years.  Finally, just yesterday we sold some dates to a man and his old mother.  They came into the farm and Andreas made a fresh cut from a bunch they wanted to buy.  While we waited for Mohammad to show up and give the price, this man talked to us about his story.  He spoke pretty good English which is not so common outside of Amman.  Anyway, he is Palestinian and his mother's family was kicked out of Palestine twice and until they gave up.  Tears welled in her eyes as she passionately tried to convince us of the injustices she faced and still faces.  She really wants to go home and there is a very good chance that will never happen.  We also met a goat farmer and his 18 children from three wives who has a similar story of being forced out off his family's land when he we younger.  It's a sad situation but clearly people here are making the best of it.  Often when this topic comes us here or anywhere people ask what should be done.  Clearly, a two-state solution will not work because neither side will be completely satisfied by the outcome of land division.  Mohammad is sure that a union between the countries is the only option and democracy must be implemented to give all people an equal voice.  The hope lies within the youth of Israel and Palestine to set Palestine free.  We can only hope we don't have to wait much longer.

This the mother and son who came for dates and left their story in our hearts.

The nomadic farmer's goats and this is only a third of his herd.

We sat in their tent and enjoyed the freshest ever goat milk with tea as the herder introduced us to his 10 sons. 

Here's the view of their surroundings as we left the herder's camp.  In the background is a landfill.  The metal containers on the left are filled with drinking water.  The biggest impression we had was how happy people with so little can be.  This really put things into perspective!

Life on the Farm

Life here is simplified but comfortable or maybe we're just getting to use to everything.  There is so much dust in the air and on pretty much everything that has a flat surface.  It's pointless to clean.  In fact, the first hurdle of giving up modern day comfort is forgetting about what it means to be and feel clean.  We just embrace the grimey feeling of our skin and ignore the sweat stains on our clothes.  There will be a time and place again for more diligent personal upkeep.  So here's the routine we're into now which basically defines life on the farm.  It's August and that means the dates are ready to be picked and sold.  So the sun wakes us up at 7am but we try to ignore it until the heat is unbearable.  Then we spring out of bed already covered and sweat then head to the house.  There are 6 meowing cats who want to be fed.  Then we head to the date palms and pick a large box full.  Mohammad packs them into 800 gram portions and sells them for 1 dinar.  The special varieties always sell better than the more standard ones.  To explain, Mohammad's date trees come from a lab in France.  The trees are products of cloning so that the desired fruits are predictable and consistent with the types of flavors he likes most.  He only has a few trees of the most delicious varieties but we haven't ask why.  After the dates are picked, packaged, and sold, we think of other ideas for projects around the house.  Today we dusted and cleaned the prayer room because there are ideas of maybe having the big musical event there.  It's too bad we didn't take any before/after photos.  For the evening, we were invited to Mohammed's friend's house for a swim.  This guy transformed his desert land into a tropical paradise.  It was a far contrast from our life on the farm.  Without a doubt, we prefer it here where roughing it is a kind of an ego boost.

Fresh picked dates for sale.

 

It's hot!!!

and dusty!

These mixed goat and sheep herds pass through here almost daily.  It's not clear what they're eating.  They belong to a group of nomadic herders that pitch a camp in the middle of these fields.  It seems they are poor but we learned that each goat or sheep is worth about 200 dinar which is a lot of money.

The kittens who want to eat all the time.  They are pretty cute and I'm in love with all of them.

 

 

 

 

Back to the city with Mohammad

A few years ago Mohammad left the city of Amman for his beloved family's date farm in South Shuneh, Jordan.  It's a beautifully simple way of life here and it's pretty clear he has no regrets.  On the trip to drop off Christine at the airport, Mohammad took me on a wonderful journey to his past and gave me a chance to meet many of his relatives.  It all started with an hour long drive beginning at 3:30am to the airport in Amman.  We dropped off Christine before the sun came up.  There was a lot of time to kill before he and I could accomplish the things we needed to do while in the city.  We made 18 stops before returning home to the farm.  

Stop #1: It's still dark outside and we're at the central produce market in the city.  Here everything is sold in bulk to smaller food companies to be resold.  Our aim was to surprise Mohammad's brother who works at this stand but he wasn't there yet.  Instead we ate the most delicious sandwich rolls from the guy on the left in the background.  We also picked up a tray of these cactus fruits.

Stop #2: Breakfast is served here from 4am to 8am only in an area of an old refugee camp.  There are just 2 dishes and both are chickpea based.  When we arrived the place was packed and there were no tables so two young men offered us to sit with them and eat their food until ours arrived.  In the end they decided to pay our tab. This is just unheard of in the US.  All we could say was "Shukran!" (Thank you in Arabic).

  Stop #3: Because we hadn't slept, Mohammad's nephew who was with us for this trip but lives in the city, offered us a snooze on his couches.  Before that though, we picked some fresh figs from his garden.  Mohammad calls figs the fruit of heaven and it's clear why.  They are juicy and sweet with an extraordinary texture that is indescribable.  The sleep was equally as delicious.

Stop #4: We made a quick stop at Farah's house, a musician friend of Andreas and the reason we're in Jordan to begin with, because I had to pick up some equipment and my passport. 

Stop #5: Mohammad needed to get a visa photo and we eventually found a photo place after driving around in tons of traffic.

Stop #6: So this is where we went to kill some more time while the photos developed.  Mohammad has friends here and around this area where he used to have his comic writing business for many years.  There were still comics painted on his top floor office windows.  He also knew many of the artists whose work was in the museum including the man who designed the Jordan currency, the dinar.  The dinar is stronger than the dollar and euro.  1 dinar is worth 71 cents or 0.79 euros.

Stop #7: The visa office is located in a busy section of the city.  Mohammad parked his car illegally and assured me that he wouldn't get a ticket if I was in the car.  I got a quick lesson in how to say wait just 5 more minutes please in hand motions and facial expression.  I didn’t have to do it luckily.

 Stop #8: I got to meet Mohammad's older sisters and a few of his other nephews.  They fed us and Mohammad's sister who had lived in North Carolina most of her life told funny stories of when Mohammad, at 19, moved in with her.  She surprised him with some newspaper clippings she had been carrying around for over 40 years which included a story about his first business, Jerusalem Exports, that he opened in the US.  It was a very special experience to be so welcomed by his family.

Stop #9: Now it was my turn to run an errand.  We went to the hotel where my passport was last seen.  It wasn't there but we managed to get a copy of it at least.

Stop #10: Amman Police Department was next to report the passport missing.  I was so grateful that Mohammad was there to help explain the situation.  Unfortunately, the office for foreigners was closed.

Stop #11 was at real estate office who is working with Mohammad to market land in the valley.  The agency has a long history of working with Mohammad and the agent we met had followed in his father's footsteps.  It was fun to observe them speaking in Arabic and throwing in English words occasionally.  I even met a Jordanian woman there who spent most of her life in Virginia.

Stop #12&13: Mohammad made some paperwork errands and I sat in the illegally parked car again to help him avoid getting a ticket.

Stop #14 was to meet Mohammad's brilliant 28 year old daughter, Nada.

Stop #15 put us at another of Mohammad's sister's...he has 7 of them and 4 brothers.  Nada and I hung out in the car and chatted away about everything.  Then we dropped her off back at home.

Stop #16 was for buying veggies and fruits.  I stayed in the car in order to not trigger tourist prices.  Apparently that happens around here.

Stop #17: This was the stop for pita and falafel balls from Falafel Place.  10 pitas cost 0.25 dinar and 20 falafel balls are only 1.5 dinar.  Pita bread is heavily subsidized by the government in order to make food more affordable for the poor.  Big points for food justice!

Stop #18 was the last stop before getting home.  We went to the police department in Shun to get a police report that I could take to the embassy.  We were greeted by young policemen with machine guns strapped to their chest.  Then we were led to the main office occupied by only uniformed men.  Everyone was speaking over one another and it felt pretty chaotic.  The report was written on a blank white paper which surprised me because it seemed so unofficial.  It was a great cultural experience to go through.

Finally we made it home to Andreas who stayed at the farm and had a quiet, peaceful day unlike us.  It’s truly amazing how this man of 60 something years has so much energy even on just three hours of sleep.  He is sure that the high levels of oxygen here has something to with it.  Well, we ate the falafel together and had an early bed time.  Andreas and I found a new sleeping site where we could hang a mosquito net.  We slept like babies.

Our farm palace among the date palms.  You can see our mosquito net tent on the right.

 

 

 

Work and Play

The projects at the Valley of Peace are pretty much never-ending especially if you sit with Mohammad under the 'sharing tree' and imagine all the possibilities together.  For Andreas and me, setting up the kitchen was our next mission accomplished.  We cleaned and set up shelves to create an organized and aesthetically pleasing place for us to work our cooking magic.  It wasn't too far from a scene of a silly household makeover reality TV shows we thought.  Next project was to haul many bunches of dates to the farm stand outside of the Taxi Cafe.  Mohammad mans the selling station and it's our job to cut down the bunches for sale.  Each are individually cut and hauled out of the palm grooves by hand and foot.  Dates are incredibly heavy and one must try to cut them carefully to avoid letting them smash to the ground.  One trick is to straddle them on a palm leave and allow them to slide down for a more delicate landing.  After cutting down over 20 bunches, Andreas and Christine returned completely drenched in sweat and red in the face.  By the afternoon, the valley was scorching hot which paralyzed all work activity until sunset.  The people here must be adapted to this heat because it seems only the foreigners are sweating all day long.  I felt bad that I skipped out on this project but offered my veggie curry as consolation.

 

For the evening, we all went to the Dead Sea for a mud bath and to honor Christine's month long dedication to the Valley of Peace.  The Dead Sea is a natural wonder of the world.  The water is packed with dissolved minerals that makes it incredibly dense.  As a result, it's impossible for a person to sink in these waters.  It's also impossible for life to flourish in it hence the name.  Mohammad drove us there in the night for a dip.  There aren't words to completely paint the picture but imagine entering a very warm bath with slippery mud under your feet.  If you step in some places, your foot and leg is swallowed whole.  Eventually as you wade out you can no longer touch the bottom but you're still standing upright!  I decided to put my head in to swim which was a terrible mistake.  The water singed the delicate tissues of my nose and dried out my lips instantly.  Luckily I was wearing goggles.  The taste of the water can only be compared to eating salt and vinegar chips but multiply the intensity by 100.  The best part is the mud which makes your skin silky smooth.  All around Jordan you can see Dead Sea products including mud face masks for sale.  We got ours for free and for Mohammad, it's his fountain of youth. 

Because Christine had to leave the valley at 3am, everyone pulled an allnighter.  There was some guitar playing under the sharing tree and a bonfire using the dead weeds that tumble and tangle themselves into piles along the farm.  For the last hours of the night before driving Christine to the airport in Amman, Andreas and Mohammad were dreaming up a summer musical project.  More to come on that.