Happy 2014! I have been slacking a bit lately on blog posts because we have been spending time with our visiting family; but, I'm on a mission to catch up this coming week, starting with a recap of my trip to Jordan with my brother, Andrew.
As Americans, we tend to have a preconceived notion of the middle east that often calls unpleasant words to mind. Personally, for me the middle east has always been a mysterious place I have wanted to visit but I have been afraid to because I had a multitude of doubts in my mind around safety, the perception of women, and the ability to travel given my complete lack of knowledge of the language.
My impetus for overcoming most if not all of my doubts was my brother's study abroad experience thus far in Jordan. He has been living and studying in the country since September and has shared his positive experiences with our family throughout the past few months. His knowledge of the country assured me that Jordanians are peaceful, friendly, and accepting of women and Americans. Furthermore, Andrew now speaks conversationally fluent Arabic (which is SO impressive to me!), so he is easily able to navigate traveling situations.
The resulting impact of overcoming my doubts and going on this trip can be described in one word: eye opening. I am now able to better understand and appreciate the cultures of Jordanian, Islamic, and Arabic people in general. Here are a few examples of the many eye opening experiences I had:
The hijab worn by many Islamic women previously appeared oppressive to me, but now I understand that the hijab is a cultural tradition, that Jordan as a government doesn't force women to wear it (in fact, Jordan is a secular country that) and most women wear it as a form of respect for their own bodies and it prevents unwanted male attention. In an American culture that celebrates Miley Cyrus' twerking, I can appreciate that Islamic women treasure their bodies and don't flaunt them to anyone and everyone.
I learned to appreciate and find immense beauty in the Islamic call to prayer chants that are broadcasted 4+ times a day across the country from the neighborhood mosques - while the western world seems to be rapidly losing its religious identity, the significant majority of people in the middle east are still strongly bound together by their religion and beliefs, which then drives their culture.
Jordanians are extremely friendly - I was greeted at the airport by Andrew's host father with a big hug and kiss on the cheek as he exclaimed "Welcome to Jordan and to my house!". Andrew's host family continued to welcome me with open arms, cooked me traditional meals, and gave me with handmade gifts (scarves and jewelry handmade by his host mother). This friendly and warm nature was a continuing theme throughout the trip, where we would constantly be greeted with a smile and "Welcome to Jordan!" by taxi drivers, restaurant owners, and pedestrians. Once people would hear Andrew speaking Arabic, the welcome was even more heartfelt. Not once did we come across anyone who was mean or aggressive towards us during my trip.
To be clear, my experiences are only based on my experience in Jordan and I am well aware that there are many countries and people in the middle east which have significant problems related to the oppression of women, acts of terror, violence, government corruption, human rights violations, etc. that need to be addressed; but, this trip taught me the continuing importance of being open to other cultures and people - and to not automatically stereotype someone because of their religion, appearance, or country of residence.
Cultural impressions aside, its time for some pictures! We spent the first day of my visit exploring the capital city of Amman (where Andrew lives). Amman is a HUGE city bustling with people, buildings, and cultures.
Looking over the city of Amman from the top of a historical site in town
Andrew's host mom made us a traditional Jordanian meal, "mensaf", a dish of lamb and rice
We then took a bus down to the coastal town of Aqaba, which is known for being a resort town and having beautiful snorkeling and views of neighboring Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Although it was too cold to swim or snorkel, we loved the views and enjoyed hanging out by the water.
After Aqaba, we took a taxi to the desert of Wadi Rum, the largest desert in Jordan and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Having never been in actual desert before, this was the experience of a lifetime - the highlights being a camel ride, spending time with the local Bedouin people, and marveling at the beautiful landscape. I would love to return to this area and do a week long guided camping excursion in the desert.
Camel riding!
Exploring one of the gorges in the desert
Walking down a sand dune, check out the car at the bottom of the dune to understand how tall this was
After Wadi Rum, we took another taxi to the famous site of Petra, one of the 7 wonders of the world. The Treasury building is the site most often seen in tourist pictures but I had no idea Petra was an entire ancient CITY, you could literally spend a week exploring this gorgeous, fascinating site.
At the entrance to the Treasury building
Residential buildings at the city of Petra
Beautiful camels on site at Petra to give tourists rides
I'm so glad I made this trip and would definitely recommend Jordan as the perfect location for a beginner's exploration to the middle east! Thanks again to my marvelous brother for being my host for the week and continuing to amaze me with his sense of adventure and kindness.
Andrew and I arrived back to Switzerland on Monday morning from Jordan (much more to come on that in a separate post later this week!) and the three of us have entered full vacation holiday relaxation mode - hitting up the gym, sleeping in late, baking cookies, cooking dinners, drinking wine, and just enjoying each other's company. Also, as I mentioned last week, Ryan and I exchanged or annual Christmas tree ornaments and below are this year's choices...
My ornament to Ryan -- "Noel" in French means Christmas
Ryan was a tad indecisive in his ornaments and ended up buying the 3 ornaments above because they had a "Swiss flair" to them.
We will be spending Christmas morning at home opening the pile of presents (!) that is under our tree then we head to the mountains of Verbier to share a Christmas dinner and evening with our good friends and we will ski together the day after Christmas.
This is the first Christmas away from home for each of us, so we are missing being back home and spending time with our friends and family VERY much - however, we are finding ways to make it special and unique and it is comforting to know that at least the 3 of us can be together. So with that said, MERRY CHRISTMAS (or JOYEUX NOEL in French), to you and your family! We miss and love you all more than ever during this holiday season.
And if you find yourself with some extra time on Christmas, give us a call on Facetime to exchange some Christmas joy -- we would love to hear from you to brighten our Christmas -- just beware, you may find these faces on the other end!
After a hectic week of training and traveling to Chicago and Ryan's work Christmas party last night, I spent today relaxing, Christmas present shopping, and getting into the Christmas spirit. We went and picked up a little Swiss Christmas tree and decorated it with ornaments. When we moved in together 3 years ago, we decided to make it a Christmas tradition to give a surprise ornament to each other every year that symbolized something unique about the past year. We slacked off last year (2012) since everything was still so busy with our move to Switzerland; but, I love our 2011 ornaments that we brought with us to Switzerland: I gave Ryan a key with a ribbon on it that said "2011, our first home together" and Ryan's ornament to me was the ring box that he put in the Christmas tree when he proposed. We haven't exchanged 2013 ornaments yet, but I'll be sure to share them when we do. In the meantime, Ryan found an adorable cat ornament for Pumpkin so that he could join in on the ornament exchange fun :)
I only have 2.5 more work days standing between me and my trip to Jordan and then the holidays! I can't WAIT!
Last weekend Ryan's friend hosted his 30th birthday party in his hometown of Berlin, so we took the opportunity to explore a new city with friends. Before heading to Berlin, I didn't have many expectations, but I was very pleasantly surprised by our visit to this city. Berlin has a distinctly edgy feel it, coupled with a unique history that creates in a melting pot of of funky styles, architecture, tourist sites, fantastic museums, creative food, fantastic shopping, and bustling night life.
In case you need a refresher on Berlin's history, after being significantly damaged during World War II, Berlin was separated between East and West by the Berlin wall. The division created two very different "cities" which were heavily impacted by the political environment at the time. The wall stayed up until it was taken down in 1989 and the city was reunited. Walking around the city you get the feeling that Berlin's history has definitely contributed to its funky environment. Its residents dress in an edgy style, there are a multitude of unique restaurants, museums cover the city, and the architecture is a mix of damaged buildings from WWII and new construction from various phases of pre and post-unified Berlin. The city is also extremely cheap compared to Switzerland, we couldn't get over the prices -- kebabs for EUR 2.90, huge lunches for only EUR 25 a person, and EUR 60 a person for an amazing flat in the center of the city is unheard of in Switzerland.
We spent the weekend mainly doing walking tours around Berlin and viewing the sites, including the numerous Christmas markets that were set up for the holiday season. The Christmas markets are basically stalls of vendors selling various gifts, trinkets, food, wine, and holiday decorations -- they were all over the city!
Berlin is famous for its late night kebabs
We found a little piece of Boston in Berlin! Who knew Dunkin Donuts existed in Europe
In front of the Bradenberg gate
Bradenberg gate
The Reichstag building
In front of the Reichstag
Enjoying the night life at Philipp's birthday party
