Gov. Mike Huckabee (Republican who will be running in the upcoming US election) came and spoke at the Knesset about the Israel/America relationship: What it is and what it may become. What he has to say is very interesting, and it emphasizes the struggle I discussed in an earlier post about being an American Jew (notably one who is/was in support of Obama).
Jonny, one of the subjects in my aliyah documentary, hooked me up as the video guy for Knesset member Danny Danon, and to composite a short video about the Huckabee ceremony. So here it is, with introductory remarks by Danon himself:
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
bROke aRaBIc
On January 26th, our program ended. And since then, I’ve been homeless. And what happens when a Jew is homeless…? We wander the desert. So me and my two friends planned a trip to Jordan. Visiting a third-world Muslim state may not have been what Moses and my nomadic Jewish ancestors had in mind when they themselves wandered the desert for 40 years searching for a home for the Jews. But hey, times have changed.
We didn’t have anything planned. We knew we wanted to see Petra—the ancient city/world wonder, we wanted to visit Wadi Rum—the desert in which they filmed Lawrence of Arabia, and we wanted to stay in Amman—Jordan’s capital city. We wanted to stay in Jordan for 4 days. But, of course, nothing goes as planned.
The best way to describe our trip is to describe Jordan itself. So below, I’ve compiled a list of national “whatevers” to describe our Jordanian experience.
National Currency: The Jordanian Dinar
This little fucker is as strong as the Euro. Who would have thought? This meant that our seemingly large exchange from shekels to dinars left us with less than 100 dinars. Of course, we didn’t realize our problematic money situation until we were already well into Jordan. A 20 dinar cab ride here, a 30 dinar Turkish bath there. Before we knew it, we were pooling together coins to buy cookies for dinner. “Dinars for Dinnar” is what we called our charity drive. We needed to reconsider our options if we wanted to last more than a day in Jordan. What would Moses do?
National Slogan: “I don’t understand why not!”
It wasn’t long before this phrase emerged from our lips. And with every ridiculous circumstance that arose, it continued to naturally find its way out. The phrase was first mumbled at the gates of Petra. A friend of ours went a few weeks earlier to Petra, and told us that the entrance fee was 21 dinars. So we budgeted accordingly. However, upon arrival, they said it cost 34 dinars. We wanted to know why the sudden jump in price. At first we thought they were giving us the “American” rate. But after talking to everyone on the Petra chain of command, we finally got an explanation in English. The manager told us that as of 2010, they made a “special deal." Wait until you hear this... Before 2009, you had the option of seeing Petra on your own, which only cost 21 dinars. If you didn’t want to see it on your own, then you could pay for a horse ride and for a tour guide (which would have cost you an additional 20 dinars). But now, as of Jan. 1, 2010, it is mandatory that you pay for a horse and tour guide -- which they give you at a “special” rate of only an additional 13 dinars -- bringing the cost of admission to a mandatory 34 dinars… What kind of bass ackwards deal was this?!
“Well what if we don’t want a horse ride or guide?” we asked furiously.
“Then you don’t go,” they replied.
“But do we still have to pay for it?”
“Yes.”
“Can we go in without the horse or guide for 21 dinars?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand why not!”
And it began…
National Bird: The Middle Finger
There was no way around the Petra “special.” So we paid. But our money situation got worse. When we arrived to where the horses were, we showed them our ticket and hopped on.
There wasn’t any need for the horses. In fact, next to the horse trail was a perfectly good walkway for people that somehow got around paying into the tourist trap. But since we already paid good money, we took the ride. We were literally on the horses for 5 minutes. It was like a carnival pony ride. But instead of little kids, 3 grown men in their mid-20s were the subjects of a Jordanian circus. We got off the horses, but before we could walk away, the guys who took care of the horses stopped us. “Now you tip us,” they said. “For what?” we asked. “For the horse rides.” “No way. You didn’t do anything. And we didn’t even want to take the horse ride in the first place. Your guys up front made us.” “You tip us!” Damnet. So we looked through our dramatically thinning wallets for some money. We each gave the three horse guys a dinar each for doing nothing. We started to walk away, but they stopped us yet again. “A dinar?! Give us more. At least 2 dinars each.” We couldn’t believe it. We give these guys a tip they didn't even deserve, and they give us the middle finger in return. I’ve never been harassed as much as I was in Petra. We’re tourists, yes, but we’re also on a budget. People that truly need the money are grateful for whatever they are given. These pricks just happen to work in a giant tourist trap where they’ve learned to guilt people into paying them more than they deserve. Well we stood ground and gave them the middle finger in return by walking away.
National Dish: Quarter chicken with rice
Now, the people who work in Petra don’t represent the people of Jordan. For the most part, people are very friendly, polite and truly like you visiting their country. Granted, I wouldn’t want to walk around Jordan handing out latkes and kepahs declaring my Judaism. But as Americans, they really had no problem with us. Except for one instance, which I will soon explain.
After the first day, we had to make a decision. Given our money situation we could either go to Wadi Rum for the day and then return to Israel, giving us a whopping 36 hours in Jordan. Or, we could take our chances and go to Amman for a few days, hoping that it would be cheaper than the area around Petra. We took the chance.
Amman is a cool city. It’s poor, but it’s an interesting place to walk around in (for a short amount of time). People are on the streets screaming at each other and selling shitty items for 4 times the amount they are worth. We walked by this “shoe store” which literally consisted of a blanket on the sidewalk and old, pairless shoes sitting in a giant pile. I guess shopping there would entail picking out two mismatched shoes and then walking away feeling good about your purchase.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter what food you order there because you’re automatically getting a quarter chicken with rice. You could order a cheese pizza and you’ll be given a quarter chicken with rice. The night we stayed in Petra, the owner of the hotel was a Bedouin. We told him that we were really hungry after walking around Petra all day. He nodded at us and told us that he had a big Bedouin meal for us. He came out with a puny plate of a quarter chicken with rice.
So in Amman, we asked our hotel owner for a hearty Jordanian dish. She recommended a place that featured “mansaf,” which is Jordan’s national dish. Great, we were hungry. We got to the restaurant and ordered the mansaf. “Would you like a quarter meal or a half meal?” “Definitely a half.”
While we were waiting, we couldn’t help but notice a Jordanian man from across the restaurant staring. This wasn’t any stare, though. It was a death stare. He could have cooked a quarter piece of chicken in under 30 seconds with that stare. We kept glancing over, and then glancing away. Similar to how a young guy and girl who have a crush on one another might glance. Is that what he wanted? A relationship? Perhaps he was on J-Date. Username: ObamaFan#1. No, but seriously he was about to kill us.
We were starving and felt uncomfortable, so the half order of mansaf couldn’t have come soon enough. The national dish was revealed and… bloody hell! It was a quarter chicken with rice.
Many things didn’t go our way. The hotels that promised heat were 35 degrees. The hotel that promised cable had only one channel – Palestinian news. There was no soap in the bathroom, so we couldn’t shower. Our trip was cut short (actually in half) because of money issues. And we were interrogated at the Israeli border about our expired visas. But with that said, things didn’t NOT go our way. We’d gladly sacrifice ALL (and more) of the little nuisances mentioned throughout this post in order to have our safety and health. Jordan isn’t Cancun. So the fact that we were Jews who safely traveled through an underdeveloped Arab country that only recently signed a “peace” treaty with Israel means we were pretty damn lucky in the end.
The border that separates Israel and Jordan is more than just a government line. On one side is a Jewish state and the other is a Muslim state. There are many differences in the way the states are run, but the similarities are what really stand out. Both are lands of midday tea, hummus, hookah bars and casual conversations that begin with a yell. Both are lands of desert and pasture, blue skies and basins. Both are lands of street vendors and over-priced broken merchandise. And, most importantly, both are lands that are immersed in religion, but really just want to live safely and happily with their loved ones. Traveling to your “enemies” land and seeing what the people and culture is about is one of the main things that leads to acceptance. The solution to our world’s problems is in the act of traveling and taking in culture. And for people who continue to hold onto hatred without venturing into the world of others, I have one slogan for you: “I don’t understand why not!”
Some pictures:
"Where the hell is Petra?"
Amman from a hilltop
Jordanian mountain range
We didn’t have anything planned. We knew we wanted to see Petra—the ancient city/world wonder, we wanted to visit Wadi Rum—the desert in which they filmed Lawrence of Arabia, and we wanted to stay in Amman—Jordan’s capital city. We wanted to stay in Jordan for 4 days. But, of course, nothing goes as planned.
The best way to describe our trip is to describe Jordan itself. So below, I’ve compiled a list of national “whatevers” to describe our Jordanian experience.
National Currency: The Jordanian Dinar
This little fucker is as strong as the Euro. Who would have thought? This meant that our seemingly large exchange from shekels to dinars left us with less than 100 dinars. Of course, we didn’t realize our problematic money situation until we were already well into Jordan. A 20 dinar cab ride here, a 30 dinar Turkish bath there. Before we knew it, we were pooling together coins to buy cookies for dinner. “Dinars for Dinnar” is what we called our charity drive. We needed to reconsider our options if we wanted to last more than a day in Jordan. What would Moses do?
National Slogan: “I don’t understand why not!”
It wasn’t long before this phrase emerged from our lips. And with every ridiculous circumstance that arose, it continued to naturally find its way out. The phrase was first mumbled at the gates of Petra. A friend of ours went a few weeks earlier to Petra, and told us that the entrance fee was 21 dinars. So we budgeted accordingly. However, upon arrival, they said it cost 34 dinars. We wanted to know why the sudden jump in price. At first we thought they were giving us the “American” rate. But after talking to everyone on the Petra chain of command, we finally got an explanation in English. The manager told us that as of 2010, they made a “special deal." Wait until you hear this... Before 2009, you had the option of seeing Petra on your own, which only cost 21 dinars. If you didn’t want to see it on your own, then you could pay for a horse ride and for a tour guide (which would have cost you an additional 20 dinars). But now, as of Jan. 1, 2010, it is mandatory that you pay for a horse and tour guide -- which they give you at a “special” rate of only an additional 13 dinars -- bringing the cost of admission to a mandatory 34 dinars… What kind of bass ackwards deal was this?!
“Well what if we don’t want a horse ride or guide?” we asked furiously.
“Then you don’t go,” they replied.
“But do we still have to pay for it?”
“Yes.”
“Can we go in without the horse or guide for 21 dinars?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand why not!”
And it began…
National Bird: The Middle Finger
There was no way around the Petra “special.” So we paid. But our money situation got worse. When we arrived to where the horses were, we showed them our ticket and hopped on.
There wasn’t any need for the horses. In fact, next to the horse trail was a perfectly good walkway for people that somehow got around paying into the tourist trap. But since we already paid good money, we took the ride. We were literally on the horses for 5 minutes. It was like a carnival pony ride. But instead of little kids, 3 grown men in their mid-20s were the subjects of a Jordanian circus. We got off the horses, but before we could walk away, the guys who took care of the horses stopped us. “Now you tip us,” they said. “For what?” we asked. “For the horse rides.” “No way. You didn’t do anything. And we didn’t even want to take the horse ride in the first place. Your guys up front made us.” “You tip us!” Damnet. So we looked through our dramatically thinning wallets for some money. We each gave the three horse guys a dinar each for doing nothing. We started to walk away, but they stopped us yet again. “A dinar?! Give us more. At least 2 dinars each.” We couldn’t believe it. We give these guys a tip they didn't even deserve, and they give us the middle finger in return. I’ve never been harassed as much as I was in Petra. We’re tourists, yes, but we’re also on a budget. People that truly need the money are grateful for whatever they are given. These pricks just happen to work in a giant tourist trap where they’ve learned to guilt people into paying them more than they deserve. Well we stood ground and gave them the middle finger in return by walking away.National Dish: Quarter chicken with rice
Now, the people who work in Petra don’t represent the people of Jordan. For the most part, people are very friendly, polite and truly like you visiting their country. Granted, I wouldn’t want to walk around Jordan handing out latkes and kepahs declaring my Judaism. But as Americans, they really had no problem with us. Except for one instance, which I will soon explain.
After the first day, we had to make a decision. Given our money situation we could either go to Wadi Rum for the day and then return to Israel, giving us a whopping 36 hours in Jordan. Or, we could take our chances and go to Amman for a few days, hoping that it would be cheaper than the area around Petra. We took the chance.
Amman is a cool city. It’s poor, but it’s an interesting place to walk around in (for a short amount of time). People are on the streets screaming at each other and selling shitty items for 4 times the amount they are worth. We walked by this “shoe store” which literally consisted of a blanket on the sidewalk and old, pairless shoes sitting in a giant pile. I guess shopping there would entail picking out two mismatched shoes and then walking away feeling good about your purchase.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter what food you order there because you’re automatically getting a quarter chicken with rice. You could order a cheese pizza and you’ll be given a quarter chicken with rice. The night we stayed in Petra, the owner of the hotel was a Bedouin. We told him that we were really hungry after walking around Petra all day. He nodded at us and told us that he had a big Bedouin meal for us. He came out with a puny plate of a quarter chicken with rice.
So in Amman, we asked our hotel owner for a hearty Jordanian dish. She recommended a place that featured “mansaf,” which is Jordan’s national dish. Great, we were hungry. We got to the restaurant and ordered the mansaf. “Would you like a quarter meal or a half meal?” “Definitely a half.”
While we were waiting, we couldn’t help but notice a Jordanian man from across the restaurant staring. This wasn’t any stare, though. It was a death stare. He could have cooked a quarter piece of chicken in under 30 seconds with that stare. We kept glancing over, and then glancing away. Similar to how a young guy and girl who have a crush on one another might glance. Is that what he wanted? A relationship? Perhaps he was on J-Date. Username: ObamaFan#1. No, but seriously he was about to kill us.
We were starving and felt uncomfortable, so the half order of mansaf couldn’t have come soon enough. The national dish was revealed and… bloody hell! It was a quarter chicken with rice.
Many things didn’t go our way. The hotels that promised heat were 35 degrees. The hotel that promised cable had only one channel – Palestinian news. There was no soap in the bathroom, so we couldn’t shower. Our trip was cut short (actually in half) because of money issues. And we were interrogated at the Israeli border about our expired visas. But with that said, things didn’t NOT go our way. We’d gladly sacrifice ALL (and more) of the little nuisances mentioned throughout this post in order to have our safety and health. Jordan isn’t Cancun. So the fact that we were Jews who safely traveled through an underdeveloped Arab country that only recently signed a “peace” treaty with Israel means we were pretty damn lucky in the end.
The border that separates Israel and Jordan is more than just a government line. On one side is a Jewish state and the other is a Muslim state. There are many differences in the way the states are run, but the similarities are what really stand out. Both are lands of midday tea, hummus, hookah bars and casual conversations that begin with a yell. Both are lands of desert and pasture, blue skies and basins. Both are lands of street vendors and over-priced broken merchandise. And, most importantly, both are lands that are immersed in religion, but really just want to live safely and happily with their loved ones. Traveling to your “enemies” land and seeing what the people and culture is about is one of the main things that leads to acceptance. The solution to our world’s problems is in the act of traveling and taking in culture. And for people who continue to hold onto hatred without venturing into the world of others, I have one slogan for you: “I don’t understand why not!”
Some pictures:
"Where the hell is Petra?"
Amman from a hilltop
Jordanian mountain range
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