Time marches on and it’s already almost the end of January. I’m behind several entries, seem to have time during the next couple of weeks, so hopefully I’ll catch up before too long.
December started with heading to Jordan for the Region 9 meeting for FAWCO, the umbrella organization for American/International Women’s Clubs Overseas. I write up-dates on citizenship issues for their website. As a new member to the region, I was looking forward to the meeting in Amman. Richard came along and went back to Petra to do some hiking and exploring while I was at the meetings. We were there about five days. I met new people, got to know others better and all in all had a fabulous time!
The theme of the conference was “The Displacement Dilemma” as the region – Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have taken in more their share of refugees, principally from Iraq and Syria. The situation has reached critical mass as quite frankly there is no more room at the inn. The UAE does give lots of money to (I believe) principally Jordan, but haven’t taken in the refugees. There were speakers from a number of individuals representing different organizations who work with refugees – housing, emergency services, supplies, etc., the US Department of State, the UNHCR and a Turkish graduate student studying the situation.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Collateral Repair Project (CRP). It provides emergency services to refugees – food, supplies, blankets, etc. They are a private organization, so are able to provide services almost immediately without having to deal with the red tape of governmental organizations. We did some volunteer clean-up at the center, purchased knitted hats from their knitting group, donated knitting supplies and were rewarded with a home-cooked Iraqi dinner. Yum! Donations were made not only to this center, but clothing, craft supplies, were given to other places as well. I only went to the CRP.
Meeting the people at the CRP was truly a highlight of the trip. The Center director, Amanda, gave a drinks party for us at her home. One of the CPR teachers invited us to her home to meet her mother and we had refreshments. A lady who is a Syrian refugee with a darling daughter we all fell in love with invited us over for tea. Her husband was on his way home and so we got to meet him as well. This was really special as I don’t know when I would otherwise get an opportunity to visit people’s homes. One is extremely isolated from the Emiratis in the UAE. Not so in Jordan.
One of the women who is living in Doha brought orange scarves left from one of their meetings. Orange is the color that the UN picked to represent their anti-violence against women campaign, thus the orange scarves in many of the photos.
The FAWCO group went to the Citadel, the temple that overlooks the city. I didn’t get to the amphitheatre, but could see it. We got there close to closing, so skipped the museum as well. I have heard good things about – it’s simple but interesting.
One of our group members, who lives in Abu Dhabi, had met an art gallery owner a few weeks prior to the conference. This lady invited us over for refreshments and to see her gallery. Very nice interesting local art – not all fro m Jordan, but Syria, Iraq and other places.
Richard came along, but spent a couple of days in Petra while I was at the conference. We got there a day early and hired a taxi to take us to the place where it is believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. It is a particularly narrow point in the Jordan River – quite strange to see Israel – you could have walked across the river at this point – but there is a line of stones that no one crosses (there was a guard to make sure). We attempted to go to another site, but it was closed and quite honestly more for an outdoor person than this writer. The driver tried to make up for it by taking us to a local hot spring. It was literally that – a natural hot spring. Local truck drivers pull over to the side of the road, visit the hot spring, then are on their way. Quite different than the vacation/camping area near the hot spring we’ve visited in the UAE. It was kind of an adventure as there really wasn’t a path, both the driver and I stepped in the spring – yes, it is HOT – but it was a fun detour nevertheless.
We made an obligatory stop to stock up on bath products from the Dead Sea. They are quite nice and it turns out this was the same store we stopped in a few years back during our first trip to Jordan.
Richard really enjoyed his days in Petra. He got to hike around – got a little lost – but found the locals entertaining – and some actually helpful. The less than helpful one was a guy who thought Richard needed to ride either a horse or camel around Petra (Richard didn’t agree). The man’s kids were cute, but not very helpful for directions. A young woman, who learned her English by selling things to tourists, was helpful so he felt obligated to buy a couple of stone statuettes and necklaces made from camel bone to thank her. I’ve never quite gotten the reddish stone dust out of his socks, so we have yet another souvenir…
If the people we met are any indication, Jordanians are kind, generous people. It is clearly not a rich country, but its people are treasures.
Judy and Richard - 1001 Arabian Nights 