A Taste of Things

As the sun sets on our time in Jordan, we’ve been reflecting on the diversity of both the country and our experience. One of the things we loved about living in Melbourne was the diversity of ethnicities and cultures of those that call Australia home, and as much as we love living in Launceston, Tasmania, it would be fair to say it’s not the same. Take food for example – in Melbourne we had a category called ‘cheap and good’ – and it might be a steaming Vietnamese Pho, or a plate of Chinese pork dumplings, or Lebanese or … (you had options). The category ‘cheap and good’ does not exist in Launceston (our category is ‘relatively cheap and good’) and culinary options won’t span the breadth of the globe. It’s not a complaint, it's just #island_life (and it is improving).

Amman has much more of that cultural mix even though the population is still mostly Muslim and Jordanian or Palestinian. We’ve had the opportunity to share conversations with those from Iraq, Syria, Israel, Eqypt, Germany, England, Scotland, Uganda, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, America, Canada and others. And we’ve been reminded that the relative isolation of Australia cuts both ways – we are so blessed with the stability, safety and wealth enjoyed by the vast majority of Australians and we are so often ignorant of the state of affairs of much beyond the Pacific (Ok – maybe that’s unfair – I’ve been confronted by my own ignorance of the state of affairs beyond those beautiful shores of Australia – thanks to those who have, often unintentionally, helped me realise this).

In the same way, we have thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of daily life, notwithstanding the challenges of a lack of rhythm (see previous blog post) as a departure from the relative sameness of life back home. We see it for the gift it is and have tried to set expectations accordingly for our return.  To try and convey this somewhat – here are just a few of the things we have been up to over the last couple of weeks:

Walking the backstreets of downtown Amman with a renowned graffiti artist admiring the incredibly vibrant and always meaningful underground art scene.

Re-visiting Wadi Rum (possibly our favourite place) and climbing the highest mountain in Jordan (see Ana Laura’s blog post) and exploring some of the crusader castles.

We got to spend 3 nights in the Galilee region of the land across the river with some special friends of ours. This included a visit to Magdala, where Sabrina, a passionate German volunteer helped bring the excavated site of a 1st C Jewish town to life. We also visited the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus taught the crowds of what the kingdom of God looked like, and what it meant for God’s people to live God’s way. For example, in the Beatitudes, Jesus said ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’ And we spent some time, sitting on the hill looking out over the sea of Galilee reflecting together on what were the different areas of our lives where we could grow and work to bring peace.

Speaking of the Sea of Galilee, it was so enjoyable to see blue and green after months of browns and reds, and of course we needed to jump in for a swim, which was delightful, given that although we are in Autumn now the temperature was still 38C.

Galilee sunset swim. Photo Credit: John Loudon

Undoubtedly the highlight was a morning spent at Capernaum, a town where Jesus lived, and used as a ‘home base’ for so much of his ministry. It was also home to several of his disciples, including Peter, for which there is strong evidence for the exact location of his house. We arrived early, beating most of the tour buses, and it was so nice just to wander around. We were struck by how relatively small the town/village was, how compact the dwellings were and how close it was to the shores of Galilee – which makes complete sense for fishermen. We sat in the ruins of a 4thC synagogue, built directly on top of a 1stC synagogue that Jesus, himself would have attended (and the disciples) and taught. We looked up the many references in the Gospels (first four books of the New Testament in the Bible which are the biographies of Jesus) and read of the many references to Jesus coming and going from this town. It was marvellous. We couldn’t stop reading the Bible – it was gripping as we re-saw and reimagined what it may have been like. Our experience of the Galilee region was a welcome contrast to the tension and intensity of Jerusalem.  

Talking about the life of Jesus whilst sitting in the ruins of the Synagogue. Photo Credit: John Loudon

Aside from our travels across the river, we have been fortunate these past few weeks to assist a number of Iraqi refugee women who are learning English. Some of these women have been in Jordan for 9-10 years. One woman we met last week, fled across the border just 20 days ago. We have heard the desperation mingled with hope, as, through tears, they shared parts of their stories, the grief of losing husbands, their longing to be reunited with children, the helplessness of not having a voice, not being able to advocate for themselves. In the midst of this, is a fierce determination and resilience – exemplified in their commitment to learning English in the hope that they might yet call Australia or Canada or the U.S.A home. The organisation is called Al Hadaf which means ‘the purpose’ or ‘the goal’ and we think it does just that – offers women (and their families) a purpose, gives them a goal. Coming back to Australia, one of our goals is to be a voice – even if just a little one – for these people who, in very difficult circumstances are deprived of their own voice.

We have continued to meet with Ahmad for language lessons and it is always one of our very favourite times of the week. Even when some of us (James) might turn up tired and a little grumpy, by the end we are full of smiles and laughter. We may not have impressed Ahmad much with our language learning (there’s been very little) but we have gained more insight into the culture and have welcomed a place we can freely ask questions. As our lessons conclude we have shifted from learning useful words and phrases like ‘mashii al hal’ (‘It’s ok’) or 3al ya miin (on the right) to phrases like trikini b7aalii (Go away!) and sakkir buuzak (Shut your mouth!) which were requested by our daughters to use on each other (with much hilarity) and I’m sure will probably remain as part of Hornby vocabulary into the future.

Our last days are full of farewells – not something we expected being here such a short time, but again reflects the generous open-hearted embrace we have received. We have met some very special people and will miss them greatly, so it has been a joy to savour the remaining time we have with them. Every single day until we leave is filled with a coffee, a lunch, a dinner in which we get to express our heartfelt appreciation and thanks. We have done our best, as a family, to give of ourselves in helpful ways, but as is so often the case, we have received so much more in return. Jordan will always hold a special place in our hearts, and as Jenelle said, on one recent evening walk, “I now have three homes, Melbourne, Tasmania and Jordan.” Well said, Jenelle. Well, said.