It's A Wedding!

The last few nights here in Jordan have been pretty cool. One night, my friend's counterpart and her husband took us out for a ride around and felafals. They pointed out some pools of lights in the distance that were coming from Israel. (It's kind of disconcerting - not in a bad way, though - to be so close to the borders of Israel and Saudi Arabia! Makes me want to visit so badly!) Then the last two nights I was invited to a Jordanian wedding. The first night was a celebration by family members and close friends but the bride was not there. First, there was time to say hello and get to know each other, to chit-chat. Then food was served. Afterwards there was dancing. All this was done with women only while the men in a separate part of the house had there own celebration. It was pretty darn cool to see some of the women remove their hijabs, kick off their high heels and start ululating and grooving! Boy, and when they groove - can they shake and shimmy! I'm still holding to the belief that they remove a vertebrae when they're really young to get their hips to flick like that!! No wonder they have to keep the women and men separate! :-)

The second night was similar except that the bride was there and the celebration took place in Ma'an instead of at the family home. First, we went to the home that the bride was at. Some of the women sang to her while the rest of us hung out. Then we all caravaned it to Ma'an, blasting music, clapping and honking horns to announce the marriage. Once we got to the reception hall, women from the groom's family danced and sang for the bride. (Again, the men and the women were segregated into their own celebration parties.) Then it was the bride's family and friends turn. After that, all the women close to the bride sang and danced. All of this was done more formally then when they were at the family home the night before. The bride was then cajoled into dancing for everyone. (Ugh...I, as with the night before, was also coerced into dancing. I felt so awkward! Don't get me wrong...I love dancing but it's so nerve-wracking in front of people that I don't know in a more intimate setting than a club! And dancing Arabic-style? Uh, yeah...about that... At least this time I wasn't being coaxed into that!) Once everyone stopped to cool down and mingle, the food was then served. Afterwards, the groom and only the groom joined us. Many people queued up to give their well-wishing, love and support for the new marriage. Since we were trying to catch up with my friend's counterpart's husband, we missed the rituals that the bride and groom went through. They did have a dance together under her veil, though.

Although I couldn't really have conversations with the women it was all so amazing to have been privileged with this opportunity to share a more intimate detail of the lives of the people here. The women were all so welcoming.

On another note, Petra was more spectacular than I could have imagined it. My friend informed me that to fully explore Petra one would need about 7 days. But I got a chance to take the walk to see the Treasury (the stone "building" that was the final shot in the Indiana Jones movie I mentioned previously) along with a hike up to see Al-Dayr (the Monastery). It's just as impressive as the Treasury, in my opinion. But for me, the most awesome visual came after a hike up to this triangular point at the very edge of the mountain for Sacrifice View. It was even better than the view I got at Jebel Musa. You can see the different colors of the layers of rock exposed by the uplifting eons ago. Dark gray, green, red, slate, beige... Again very breathtaking.

Anyhow, I'm in Amman hanging out with my friend waiting for when I leave (flight's at 3:00 a.m.!). This has been a trip of a lifetime! I have seen places that I have only dreamt about for so many years, met many beautiful people, and have experienced so much that I believe has made me a fuller woman. I am so glad that I did this! I am so completely grateful to all of you for your support and encouragement throughout this. (Especially to those that has financially helped me complete it after the thieving.) I miss you all but I will see you all very soon!

Much love, Cristella

Winding Down

Yes, this may very well be my last posting on this blog. I'm well into my last week on this amazing trip. I am very very sad to be leaving soon, especially this place where my friend lives. She's been acting as my interpreter here but strangely enough, I am starting to get the gists of the conversations and am able to pick out some of the words if everyone speaks slowly enough.

Anyhow, I've been chilling here at At Tabiyyah. It's near Wadi Musa near Petra. (Petra is the closing scene of one of the Indiana Jones movie with Sean Connery...) But let me give you a brief run down of the places and things I've seen and done.

After Op Smile, I left with my friend and another volunteer to this volunteer's village Ma'adi (in the county, so to speak, of Deir Alla). Ma'adi is located in the Jordan valley. Descending into it provided a lot of eye candy. It's so much greener than here in Tabiyyah. There's quite a few farms of various crops. In her village, we were greeted by many a folk. Lulu apparently is the "Norm" of her village. Actually, she gets teased by the other volunteers as she's gradually working her way into becoming the "Norm" of Jordan! Also, that night we got a chance to glimpse at the festivities of a wedding that took place. (The newlyweds ended up moving in next door to Lulu.)

Since Ma'adi isn't too far away from the Dead Sea we spent the next day there. Again, many a weird moment wandering around and hanging out in my swimsuit! Not to mention receiving stares, the three of us, as we came out of the Sea covered in its alleged medicinal mud from the neck down! The Sea was pretty incredible, though, as was the day. Very nice to just float on my back, staring up at the overcast sky. When we got back, we tried our hands at barbequeing. Hysterical trying to get the coals lit. The fish turned out pretty tasty but the vegetables were a fiasco.

From Ma'adi we took several different buses to get to Tabiyyah. I got another visual overload coming into Wadi Musa. The mountains here are very similar to those of the Sinai peninsula but with villages dotting some of the sides. Not too far from the doorstep of my friend (just across the street) you can see several peaks and ranges. It's much, I imagine, like living on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Breathtaking beyond words. I'm constantly smiling, giggling and laughing everytime I get an eyeload. I still can't believe that she lives here! And everyone that she's introduced me to has been so kind and generous.

One of the things that I'm most happy about with my traveling is that I was blessed with so many opportunities of meeting people. Whenever asked by others traveling or by residents about what is the best part of my trip, I always reply that the best part of traveling and one of my primary objectives is meeting the people, getting to know them a little bit and touch lives for a while. Don't get me wrong...the places that I've seen, the food that I've tasted, the bus rides and other various modes of transport has also been fascinating and educational for me but the thing that I will carry with me always are the people.

So, I'm just chilling out, preparing myself for my return home. It's been very relaxing. I'm looking forward to visiting Petra myself this Friday, inshallah. But it's been such a blessing giggling with my friend, watching movies (like "Jarhead" and "Syriana" which is very surreal to be doing so here), sleeping and simply being silly.

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