Friday 11th December
AMMAN-JERUSALEM
Highlight of the day: Any time I didn't have to sit down, but most especially arrival at Notre Dame because that meant a shower and bed.
Lowlight of the day: Discovering just how long we had to sit on the bus to get to Jerusalem from Amman.Favourite quote/word: Not polite enough to put here – but the tour guide at the Mount of Olives was apparently put out at us having a different guide.
Favourite photo: view of Jerusalem at sunset from the Mount of Olives
Cultural-shock moment: THE ARAB-STYLE TOILET. Also the pure amount of garbage by the side of the roads in Jordan, and the overfilled cars (I saw a people mover with twelve people in it, including three kids in the boot).
Favourite purchase: Water at the Amman airport. It tastes very chlorine-filled, but was fabulous because I really needed it.
New food consumed: A runny type of tzatziki Random act of crazy: The number of times my bags went through the Israeli checkpoint. I think I had more than anyone else, and all three bags were searched.
Something I want to remember: The awe I felt when I saw the cliffs outside Amman.
The tour guide for the bus took our passports from us (which became a recurring thing through the various checkpoints we went through and each time I felt a twinge at surrendering it) and we received our visas and stamps for Jordan. He then said he would talk to us for fifteen minutes and was still going strong after three hours although I did fall asleep mid way through. I did find some of his commentary about the nation of Jordan interesting though, especially when he contradicted himself, and was very tetchy about it being considered by many as the Middle East (”It's the Near East – you check your history books!”).
Jordan is a very brown nation, but Amman is a city of white. The shops and the streets seemed filthy and as we drove I often thought of Christine and the Salisbury's and their mission field there. The streets often reminded me of the worse parts of Honiara, back after the conflict from before we arrived there.
It is such a Muslim country though, and the buzz when we passed the midday prayers at a local mosque was very loud. The shoes spilled out of the doors and the car parking outside was simply manic. The streets had interesting vendors, and a large quantity of fresh produce (and the odd caged chickens). There were many trucks with painted designs on the sides, and apparently the rule for cars is to see how many people you can fill in it, and then to spring it!
The desert around Amman was hilly and reminded me largely of pictures I have seen of Qumran. Before long we had entered the Jordan valley which was the most fertile area but still not terribly prosperous (especially compared to Israel). Leaving Jordan brought some rather new experiences.
To leave Jordan we had to take our bags through another metal detector, but I'm not sure it was even on, and the inspector might as well have been asleep he was that interested. We got back on the bus and then had to get off again to go into an office and have our faces scanned and passports stamped (a couple of people were asked questions and our guide did end up offering baksheesh to them when one of the groups' passports caused a problem.
The toilet there was a true experience. I knew of bidets but I don't think I'd really ever known what Arabic toilets were like. I have to admit I didn't expect a hole in the floor and some sort of shower nozzle on the left. I found myself far too curious about how Muslim women manage it with their clothing.
We got back onto the bus for a short distance before being greeted over the Israeli side of the border by a soldier with his gun. I see guns so rarely that they seem like toys, but it is chilling to realise what power a person can hold in their hand.
We had to process through the checkpoint very slowly, and my passport was confiscated (Kerri and most other people's weren't). A number of the bags went through the metal detectors up to about three times but they weren't satisfied with my bags until after five or six times. The questions weren't that intimidating, but I was very conscious of my food. Nicely enough, I was allowed to keep everything, but it did take a long time because of the repeated searching and wiping down of the cases and objects inside.
We then started driving towards Jerusalem and the change in environment in Israel compared with Jordan was considerable, and Israel was the winner there. There were many crops growing and I didn't see any technology being used, just rows with people doing the back-breaking work. We drove past date palms and houses, the city of Jericho and a number of Bedouin camps.
Ears popped as the quick descent to Jerusalem was made. The hills were chalky, whereas up in the north of Israel (Samaria) there was more green. It was going sunset (at 4.30pm!) and so it was a lovely sight.
We stopped off at the Mount of Olives which provides a panoramic view of the city, but Kerri particularly was disinterested by this point – we had been bemoaning the desire for a shower for some time by then. The Pontifical Institute of Notre Dame, our location for the next fortnight, is a place for Catholic pilgrims and just on the outskirts of the old city, very centrally located. The building itself has some lovely echoing hallways and despite being a C19 building, the rooms are a nice size and decorated in a modern fashion. We haven't much of a view from our room, but from the roof it is pretty amazing.
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