Celebrating Ramadan in Amman

This country seems to have it all. History, des(s)erts, seas and an extremely close proximity to other middle eastern nations. Most memorable seems to be their sense of ingrained hospitality and honesty that runs true to the Middle Eastern and Bedouin traditions of the Jordanian people. However, the Jordanian market sellers and touts are extremely creative with their advertisements. To our amusement, donkey rides in the 40 degree heat of Petra were advertised as “taxi rides”, “Ferraris” or “air ...

Let The Rabbit Read Your Fortune

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on a rooftop patio overlooking the Bosphorous Strait. Rusty cargo ships crawl through the water as storm clouds follow them. Bob Marley is singing “No Woman No Cry” in the background. The hostel owner smokes a cigarette and tickles her daughter who giggles and shrieks. But first let’s back up by looking at my first few days in Istanbul. My flight from Edmonton to Chicago was beautiful; the guy next to me moved so ...

Borat Homero Mama and an Islamic Phil Collins.

Dinner 144 and bed number 61 August 27th 2010 Homeros has been the type of Pension that can hold you up for a few days. It is a family run place, of sorts. Over 4 days I am not sure I comprehend the exact nature of “family” as the cast of characters appears to come from far and wide. However sitting in the centre of it all, dutifully preparing breakfast and dinner for 25 each day is “Mama”. With a ...

Day Two Legitimately

Tonight was orientation. found out some cool things. – all first year instructors in Abu Dhabi have been placed in Hotel Apts. with full kitchens AND the bonus is that utilities and world wide web are included. More $$$$$$ to save!!! YES!!! – Medical plan kicks in as soon as we set foot off the plane and so does our salary (another YES!!!) Also, tomorrows orientation is at 9 a.m. and apparently schools will be assigned…finally!! Then the ideal ...

Hattusa och Ihlaradalen

Den hr helgen brjade med att vi kte med de andra p kursen till Ihlara-dalen ungefr 3 timmar bort. Det var en fin plats, en grn spricka i det annars bruna jmnt bljande landskapet runtomkring. Precis som i Kappadokien fanns det gott om kyrkor och bostder uthuggna i klippan. Men tyvrr hann vi inte vara dr mer n kanske en och en halv timme innan det blev dags att borda bussen igen. Dagen drp, i sndags, kte vi till den ...

Travel Stoke

In 61 days I will be boarding my flight to Istanbul beginning a 1-monthy journey through the Middle East. I rarely get excited this far in advance of traveling internationally, but this morning I may have met representatives of the Middle East’s Tourism Bureau in disguise as Gyro shop owners. Sausalito Express in the Financial District is a favorite lunch spot of mine. This restaurant is a short walk from my office that offers basic, but very good Middle Eastern ...

Some Final Thoughts from Jerusalem

30 August 2010 1948 (GMT +3) Jerusalem, Israel With my time in Israel quickly coming to a close, I’ve been spending the last few days making the rounds of various sights one last time, as well as trying to see a few new things. Yesterday I spent some time exploring Mt Zion, which is just south of the southwest corner of the Old City. Here you will find two particular areas of interest, the Church of the Dormition, and the ...

Rocking our way through Turkey

Yeah, lame title I know but I cannot really think of a better one at the moment so it will have to do. Thank goodness we are back in the digital world. The new netbook that Chris purchased for the trip did the dishonourable thing and stopped working last week. After days trying to revive it and wasting hours on the phone to the samsung “helpdesk” he decided to cut his loses and purchase another. Hopefully this one will do ...

Monday in Istanbul

Monday: John was up early and out the door of the hotel for a trip around the waterfront. He walked for about two hours, along the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus, completely circling the Topkapi Palace and getting fabulous views of the extensive traffic on this narrow intersection of waterways. And there were plenty of people fishing along the waterfront. Of particular interest was one group that had set up a mobile tiny grill, ready to receive any catch they ...

Budapest and arrival in Jerusalem

It’s already been more than one month since I left the Netherlands. Even though I was very much looking forward to studying in Israel, leaving was hard. Most of all of course because I had to state goodbye to my boyfriend Markus, but also because during the last three years I got very attached to living in the Netherlands. Before starting the Ulpan (Modern Hebrew language course) in Jerusalem, I made a one week long stopover in Budapest (luckily, Malv ...