nlgyon – Page 2 – GW Blogs from Abroad

A Sleepy Week

AdminSeptember 18, 2013

After walking through a small garden of insignificant ruins, we stood in a group of about 20 others, who had just made their way from the nearby mosque to the entrance ot the cave that stood before us. The guard opened the door, and we crowded in to a small, hot room filled with small pieces of ancient pottery, and also body odor. A man started reciting a memorized script and gesturing to the 7 sarcophagus-shaped holes in the stone floors around the room. I think he was saying something like this:

The Seven Sleepers, commonly called the "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", refers to a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus* around 250 AD, to escape a persecution of Christians being conducted during the reign of the Romanemperor Decius. Another version is that Decius ordered them imprisoned in a closed cave to die there as punishment for being Christians. Having fallen asleep inside the cave, they purportedly awoke approximately 180 years later during the reign of Theodosius II, following which they were reportedly seen by the people of the now-Christian city before dying.

Muslims firmly believe in the story as it is mentioned in the Qur'an; however, some aspects of the story are not covered in its account, including the exact location of the cave. Some allege that it is in Ephesus, Turkey; others cite a place near Amman, Jordan. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sleepers)

So I went to the place near Amman on Saturday with a couple friends from my program and a new friend—the manager of a restaurant we frequent called Talielet Baladna (between 2^nd and 3^rd circles if you ever go). Yeah, we frequent a cafe. I've been wanted to find a bar to frequent for over a year now, but I never found one in DC cheap or cool enough to turn into my own personal set of Cheers. But I digress. The cave was pretty neat, but I really enjoyed touring the accompanying mosque more. I've actually never witnessed an Islamic worship service. It wasn't so different from other services I've been to. There was kneeling, listening to a dude up front, standing up, praying, kneeling, dude says more stuff. It was kind of meditative to chill in the green (a rare color here) of the garden and the singing of Koran verses.

Admittedly, this week was not packed with cultural insights, but I'm going to attribute that to the fact the I mostly stayed indoors to study for a final (one of our classes is super intense for like a week and then there's a final), and two quizzes. This weekend is our program-wide trip to Petra/Wadi Rum. Hopefully I'll have something a little more exciting than a Wikipedia article upon my return. You can at least count on some camel pics, for sure.

Unqualified for the Qualifier

AdminSeptember 9, 2013December 14, 2018

By nlgyon

I went to a Columbus Crew game once when I was a kid, and that is the only exposure to live soccer I've ever had. From what I recall, there were plenty of seats around us (who would've thought?), stakes were low and the crowd's enthusiasm was mild.

Local Jordanians ham it up for the foreigner with a camera.

On September 6, the Jordanian national soccer team played Uzbekistan in the fifth round of the Asian Football Confederation's 2014 World Cup Qualifiers at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Amman. The winner would go on to challenge the fifth place South African Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) team to attain a berth in the 2014 World Cup Finals in Rio next summer, which I've heard is kind of one of the more important tournaments or something. I, in a moment of pure genius, realized that this game would be more popular than other soccer games, so I should probably head down to the stadium early. Nothing gets past you, Nick. ...continue reading "Unqualified for the Qualifier"

أهلاً و سهلاً–Welcome to Amman.

AdminSeptember 7, 2013December 14, 2018

By nlgyon

Before I left for my new home in Amman, a good friend and mentor told me:

Navigating the streets of your host country is something you'll not soon forget, accumulating tales of frustration punctuated by small victories--leading to the discovery of some sort of internal cultural horizon by which to navigate. You will be forced to live in the present, and your mind will be unburdened by other considerations.

A view of Amman from the Citadel, ancient ruins atop the city's highest hill.

See, hear, and taste all you can. Return with stories worthy of being told.

This is by far the best advice I received while preparing for life in a foreign country, and these are the same words I would use to describe my experience in Amman so far. There is a daily struggle to avoid paying the “American price” for cabs and goods, to find the best stores and cafes, to discover typical Jordanian night and weekend activities, and to make friends with a limited knowledge of the colloquial dialect. These have all accumulated in short moments saturated with triumph—walking away with an extra dinar or two after a haggling match, biting into a delicious and cheap falafel sandwich, or laughing with locals after a well-placed joke.

While most of my stories so far revolve around the sweetness of small victories and are relatively boring, something about the wild west atmosphere here, perhaps imparted by the desert sand and lawless traffic, promises a semester filled with more than enough stories worthy of sharing with the world.