(This post was written over a two day period, so mind the timeline)
I was surprised when my mother told me that my father was coming last night. He’s been out of town for 19 days, his planned visits being cancelled and postponed alternatively every few days. In these 19 peak-summer days, dad has missed weddings, gatherings, dinner outings with family friends, and Friday lunches.
Then this morning as I was driving to the office, it hit me why my dad is here this particular weekend. Tomorrow is the one day a year alongside the day of mother’s birthday that my dad never misses coming home for: the 30th of August is my parents’ anniversary.
My parents met at the wedding of my mother’s friend, Raeda, who coincidentally happened to be my father’s niece. Both in charge of refreshments at that wedding, my parents got married a year later.
Today, it’s been 23 years, 22 of which I’ve personally enjoyed with them. These years were full of lots of love, lots of happiness, and lots of the most wonderful memories. I really do not think that anyone in the world could have had a childhood as amazing as mine. My parents made sure it was both fun and fulfilling. They were supportive and encouraged our personal endeavors and experimentations. Thet let us grow as individuals in whichever direction we felt like growing, and in that way, they cemented our bond as a family. They have made our life truly perfect.
Happy anniversary Mama & Baba. May there be many more happy ones to come. We love you.
August 29, 2007 at 12:18 pm
· Filed under Roba, Me & Art
This video, done in early February, was supposed to be cut into segments and posted consecutively on Wednesdays, but the stream of life continued and not much nagging was done. In May, the issue that Wednesday nagging revolved around came to a much anticipated end.
Today, when I look at this video, I just smile. It’s amazing how the days always manage to pass, no matter how slowly, no matter how quickly. They always pass. There’s always something else to wait for.
Even with all my probably-unnecessary attempts at trying to find the brightest side in everything, two issues that are visually constantly springing up have been bothering me.
All the closed chicken shawerma stands around town, for one; in the peak of the summer season, with all the tourists in town, with schools and universities off, when the whole country is summery and is in the “going out mood”. I do not eat chicken, and so my thoughts do not arise because I miss it. I just wonder how many thousands of JDs that made up the direct and indirect incomes of how many thousands of Jordanians have been lost in the past several weeks. How fair is it to collectively punish so many people because of one person’s mistake? I understand that health is an extremely important issue, but I do not think that the issue was handled correctly or justly.
Today, while discussing this topic with a friend, he mentions that he thinks that the main problem was actually the hospital that dealt with the salmonella outbreak than the shawerma vendors themselves. I also agree very much with Khalaf, maybe they should prevent people from drinking water. And maybe they should not allow people to sell liquorice juice on the streets downtown. And maybe they should ban corn on the cob in the little carriages.
The other issue upsetting me is that of ATV. Their ads anticipating their launch on August 1st still cover many billboards around town. They are still in the August issues of most local magazines. It is almost September, and the channel is still not on air. I guess the audio-visual commission keeps asking for more paperwork. Or something.
August 27, 2007 at 11:38 am
· Filed under Urban Reviews
Taste
Style
Vibes
Price
Parking
Staff
Average Price: All items on are under 3 JDs. Average 1.5 JDs.
We admit it, Cups & Kilos is our favorite coffeeplace in town, beating even international star coffeehouses like Starbucks. Their coffee, in both varieties of hot and cold, is awesome, and they have many just-as-delicious options for people who would opt to stay away from all the caffeine including smoothies and Italian soda (a personal favorite). Plus, we gotta support the local initiatives ;)
We would recommend you try their Caramella de France coffee, Raspberry Italian Soda, and brownies.
That anyone who appreciates Western-style steaks has never had the pleasure of experiencing the tender, savory goodness of Kharoof Ma7shi (stuffed mutton). That Blue Fig is one of the most overrated places in the world. That Ctrl + 8 does wonders in Illustrator.
A couple of weeks ago we were driving around behind Mecca Mall and we came upon this harrowing sight. It is unbelievable that in the 21st century where education is compulsory for all school-age children and is free of charge, gypsy children are roaming in garbage cans. The gypsies have set up a small “camp” a few streets down to where I shot this video. Someone seriously needs to take a serious step to put at end to such things.
I have set up a little linguistic survey that I’d really appreciate if you fill up and forward to friends. The survey has 15 words we use often in Jordan, written in both Arabic and English, with the meaning next to them. I would appreciate it if you take the time to tick each word that is an active PART of your local dialect, ex. being familiar with it is not enough. Please also be very careful with which country you associate your dialect with, for example, if you are a Palestinian living in Jordan, try to choose the country that you think you picked most of your dialect from.
Last year when I was in Egypt, I was very overtaken by how HOT it was. So every few minutes, I would burst into a rage of “Kteeer showb hown!” Then, on my fourth and final day in Egypt, an Egyptian friend asks me, “Before you leave, can I ask you one question? What does ‘Showb’ mean?” I was amused. It had never occurred to me that “Showb”, a word we often use for “hot”, isn’t actually Arabic.
The case is the same for many other words we use. For example, it is very probable that the word “Mnarfez”, which means anxious, came from the English word “Nervous.” Khalaf has a little post about Arabized English in Jordan, and Ahmed has a similar post about language in Saudi Arabia. Being of mixed background and having lived in Saudi Arabia myself, I have my own hoard of words that most Jordanians do not use, such as “7assabet”, “bishweish”, and “Ja7ad”.
Arabic is very fascinating, and I would really appreciate it if you fill up the survey and forward it to your friends. I am especially interested in the answers of people from countries other than Jordan and Palestine. I am also interested in the answers of people who speak Hebrew.
You can find the words in the comment section too. Thanks a lot! :)
August 20, 2007 at 11:51 am
· Filed under Urban Reviews
Taste
Style
Vibes
Price
Parking
Staff
First, here’s a review by my friend:
The Milano experience was excellent , but with a few little things that hurt its overall rating. The loud noises from the next door construction site may ruin the fanciful atmosphere you seek when going for an Italian dinner.
The overall setting of the place was very cozy (although I preferred the table covers when they where checkered red and white, other than the current green and white), and the chairs were not very comfortable.
The food was good, but make sure to avoid the Palmito Salad (we still cannot decide if that was actually palmito slices or boiled egg whites), but the staff did not mind replacing it and they suggested a delicious Greek salad with an excellent dressing (although we kept wondering why all their salads are served warm) . The fettuccini was the best we had in Amman and the Salmon was good, but not exactly worth its cost.
I will also chime in with my own 2 cents: Milano was one of the restaurant landmarks of Amman at a point in the early 90’s when the locals first started getting acquainted with the “eating out” culture. Sadly, other restaurants that opened around the same period and which had its status have mostly either gone out of business (Mama Mia, Leonardo Da Vinci) or turned into nightclubs (New York, New York, Alfredo).
Although I’ve heard people talk nostalgically about first dates in Milano when it was one of the most expensive restaurants in town, last night was the first time I try it, and I daresay that the place is quite enchanting. We sat outside in the courtyard, where a faded out attempt at an Italian-style wall mural that covers the fence has started looking like an ancient fresco and where the facades of the building itself are covered with gorgeous evergreen foliage. The cobblestone floor, the dim lights, and the effortlessly graceful airs of the restaurant are lacking in the newer Ammanite Italian eateries. Empty but for 3 tables, it is easy to imagine the happier days of the courtyard of Milano; the crowded energy, the chaos of voices and tinkling glasses, and waiters bustling all over the place.
I really enjoyed the time we spent there, and will definitely visit it again; if not for the lovely ambiance at the courtyard and the very good pasta, then for how I feel when I am at Milano. It reminds me of all the good things I used to love about Amman as a child, it reminds me of my parents taking us out for dinner to Tom and Jerry’s down the street from Milano, and of the first time I tried fettuccine.
Personally recommended item: Fettuccine Alfredo with Mushrooms.
Location: Shmesani, Culture Street subsidiary street Reservations: No Phone: (06) 5680670
This weekend we got acquainted with the appallingly horrible world of the Jordanian theatre works. I have never in my life witnessed such horrendous attempts at entertainment / art (it kills me to even mention the word “art” in the same sentence as “Jordanian theatre”). I have seen many, many, many elementary school plays that were in much higher standards than the ones we saw yesterday, which were apparently performed and directed by some of the most highly regarded and respected players in the field.
WOW.
Thursday night, a couple of friends and I went to Masrah Il-Thaqafeh to watch a “comedic” play entitled “‘Alam Digital”, directed and acted by “Professor” Mizher Yassin, who, in his own words, wrote over a hundred novels and over 15 plays. Half an hour after the scheduled time of 8:00, we get a very unpleasant surprise. The director has decided that for entertainment purposes, the audience will first be put “in the mood” with Habayeb, a Moroccan singer way too overdressed for the occassion and who successfully managed to give us a headache after 30 minutes of off-chord oldies.
It was then that we decided to check out a different play happening in the theatre next door called “3elmi 3elmak”, directed by Ghanam Ghanam. We had initially refused to go to that one because we think that its director is an imbecile, having been subjected to his inane company at the documentary screening of “Sabra and Chatila: The Past Continues” at Mohtaraf Al-Remal, where its director, Lebanese Hicham Jurdi, was a guest and was thus answering questions at the end of the documentary. That night, Ghanam asked a series of hey-I’m-a-great-director-and-I-think-you-suck-type-of-questions along the lines of “Why was there a river in the background in the first scene when the experience of Palestinians in the 4th scene is heart rendering?”
Walking into the second play, and with Ghanam’s disdainful questions to Hicham Jurdi in mind, I was expecting something of professional grade. Ha. HA! From the glittery party cones used as hats on the set to that over-exaggerated acting, the play at least successfully had me laughing my ass off at the sheer absurdity.
Unfortunately though, my friends could not handle more than 10 minutes of such high degrees of non-intentional humor, and so we decided to go back to the first play, in hope that the Moroccan Habayeb was done with her screeching. Needless to say, she wasn’t, so we hung around outside the theatre for 15 minutes, and went back inside only when the play had started, hoping that our hour of time wasted waiting for it to play were worthy.
The play opened with a man wearing a purple Halloween mask with the curly pink hair started blabbing on stage, with jokes along the lines of “Ma 3endo dameer, la motasel wala monfasel.” After Habayeb and Ghanam, we weren’t very surprised, but what really horrified my friends and I is the fact that the audience was actually laughing (their unexplained laughter eventually sent me into a wave of giggles, and in the end, we agreed that the audience is the funniest part about the comedy in Jordan).
Regardless, we decided to stick to the first 10 minutes of the play anyway, until sometime in the 5th minute, the actors started reading Quraan, reciting Hadeeth, and telling the audience to be better Muslims, prompting us to leave. I would have understood if the morals part of the play came towards the end, but in the 5th minute of a play tagged as comedic?
And that is the sad case of the Jordanian theatre scene. What really makes it much sadder is that it was much better 15 years ago.
