Thinking about the World’s Largest Open-air Prison on Martin Luther King Day

A cold rain drizzles on the street outside the cafe where I’m sipping tea on this Martin Luther King Day. Of course, this holiday goes unnoticed here in Amman,

President Obama marks MLK Day at VermontAve. Baptist Church in Washington D.C. (NY Times Photo)

Jordan – it is a uniquely American recognition of the life and work of one of the world’s great civil rights and peace activists. MLK’s life’s work and ultimately his sacrifice in death paved the way for the positive changes in the circumstances of African Americans in the US over the last 40-50 years; and indeed race relations in general. While no one would deny that there is still much room for improvement, 46 years after King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington an African American serves in Washington as President of the United States. Yesterday President Obama spoke at Vermont Avenue Baptist church and invoked the memory of MLK’s hard work and influence .

Obama quoted a bit from a sermon King had preached at the same church almost a half century earlier, which itself was a quote from a poem:

Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.

With this verse, I couldn’t help but think of another anniversary that was marked today. A year ago today, Israel’s deadly offensive into Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) ended. The result? Shattered homes and lives.

Gazans among the rubble of destroyed homes (AFP Image)

1,385 Palestinans dead (762 non-combatants – 318 children)
13 Israelis dead (3 non-combatants – 0 children)

3,500 residential buildings destroyed in Gaza
20,000 Palestinians left homeless
(stats from B’Tselem the Israeli Center for Human Rights)

Israeli attacks over Gaza (Getty Image)

A bombed out medical center - note the destroyed mobile medical clinic in the background

Gaza school recieving incoming Israeli fire during conflict; children back at school after the conflict (AFP image)

Gazan climbs down from destroyed building (AFP photo)

A year later, the devastation still persists. A group of 8 NGO’s (Amnesty International UK, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, CAFOD,
Medecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK and Trocaire) recently released a report detailing the current abysmal situation in Gaza (T h e G a z a S t r i p : A H uma n i t a r i a n Imp l o s i o n). None of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents are allowed in or out of the territory and a strict blockade has prohibited the import of goods and supplies, including building materials, food, and much needed medicines. 95% of Gaza’s industry remains non-functional because of lack of power and supplies. Electricity is only available sporadically (8-12 hours per day). The Gaza power plant which at one time could produce 140mW off power now is only capable of 60mW. The Deep Poverty Line for Gaza is $2.3 per day – 70% of the population now lives on the equivalent of $1.2 per day. 80% of the population relies on outside Humanitarian aid which has been restricted from 200 trucks per day to 45 (500-600 are estimated to adequately meet current need). Millions of liters of sewage remain untreated daily and runs openly into the sea. The healthcare situation is horrendous with a lack of supplies and electricity and cases of easily preventable disease are on the rise. Doctors report a growing mental health crisis as Gazans cope with loss of life, livelihood, and the daily anxiety of trying to survive. 56% of the population are children who will bear the brunt of this mass imprisonment and humanitarian debacle for decades to come.

Gazan girl in damaged building (AFP photo)

The chief reason cited for this nearly complete blockade (imprisonment?) of Gaza by Israel is security, namely the on-going Qassem rocket attacks on Southern Israel by militant groups in Gaza. In four years these have resulted in 11 Israeli deaths. In the same time period over 2500 Gazans have been killed in retaliatory attacks. One of the objectives of Operation Cast Lead was to end this largely ineffective rocket attacks. A year later they still occur as a beleaguered populace lashes out against the decades old military occupation.

A network of smuggler’s tunnels that would put Hogan’s Heroes to shame has developed over the years beneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Everything from medecine to food to cement to guns are reportedly moved through this network. To Gazans these tunnels are a life line. Egypt recently began building a security wall which will apparently extend 20 meters deep in hopes of cutting off this activity. The project also includes pipelines which will flood any remaining tunnels with sea water with unknown consequences for the natural aquifer and already limited fresh water supply in the area.

And so to echo the poem in MLK’s sermon from so long ago . . .

Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.

The stark truth of the situation in Gaza is readily available to anyone who cares to find out, from any High School student with an internet connection to the halls of power in the the most affluent and influential nations in the world. Wrong remains on the thrones in both Israel and Palestine, and indeed around the world, as those who govern turn blind eyes and issue anemic policy statements and position papers. The future of Gaza seems not just a dim unknown, but shrouded in deepest night. Some scientists figure that the environmental toll alone will take decades to reverse – the entire area might be condemned as uninhabitable if American EPA standards were enforced.

And yet God himself is in the shadows keeping watch above his own. When, oh when, will justice roll down for Gaza? Justice will never be fully meted out by walls, rockets, guns, or the strong arm of man. It will only come at the merciful hands of the Almighty and in His time. When will the day of justice come for the weak and widowed and orphaned of Gaza? Not a day too soon. But on that day woe to any who has the blood of injustice on their hands. Those stains can be invisible in the normal light of day but will be shockingly revealed when the light of Him who watches from the shadows is fully revealed.

Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 on the day he deliveredthe "I Have a Dream" speech

I do not mean to say that the situation is fully hopeless on the human level. I firmly believe that one of the greatest gifts that God bestowed upon humanity is that of freedom. By it’s nature this freedom is a bit of a two-edged sword. It gives us the capacity for both great good and great evil. Both Israelis and Palestinians can still work towards peace and security and freedom. As the NGO report says, “The current situation in Gaza is man-made, completely avoidable
and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed.” Or perhaps as MLK said more eloquently:

“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

These words were spoken with conviction in the hours of dark night for the African American community, yet today a black man is President of the United States of America. What will the situation in Gaza be 50 years from now? From a human perspective the same or much worse than today. But if frail yet arrogant humanity would get out of the way of God’s mercy and justice then perhaps much, much better. In another part of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he recognized whites who had

“come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We can not walk alone.”

This truth resonates today as much as it did in 1963, but it applies not just to blacks and whites, but to Israelis and Palestinians and indeed, all peoples of the world.

We cannot walk alone, nor can we simply expect to lay down centuries of hatred and walk arm in arm singing kumbaya. No, we must walk together humbly in fear of God for the shadow we perceive around him is of our own making and will one day be laid bare. On that day we will be ashamed of the sufferings we have imposed on each other in the name of what we supposed to be right and dear and true.

When Cars Collide in Amman Jordan

We’ve only had our car for four months but I kinda expected this to happen sooner.  I was in a fender bender yesterday.  Don’t worry – the only thing that was hurt was my pride.  And a couple of bumpers and a radiator.  Unfortunately it was my radiator.

Yup, my radiator . . .   I rear-ended a taxi.

I was coming up to an intersection and the guy in front of me was going to go through it but then changed his mind at the last minute and slammed on his brakes.  His tires screeched on pavement and his car rocked forward and back.  I stomped on my brakes, but to no avail.  Our bumpers kissed.  But it was a rather forceful kiss.

We both jumped out of our cars to inspect the damage, and I expect it’s a good thing that only one of us was Arab.  He was angry and yelling and waving his arms.  One appropriate cultural response would have been  for me to return in kind.  I’ve seen this scene repeated before – fender benders are quite common in this city of steep hills, hairpin curves, traffic circles and a culture of offensive (rather than defensive) driving.  Typically both parties yell and gesticulate wildly as their faces get red and fisticuffs seem imminent.  Then bystanders pull the angry parties apart, face is saved, the police can be called ,insurance companies contacted. By the end the two parties usually are invoking the peace of God upon each other and making invitations to coffee.  (No joke – I know a family who’s son was hit by a car and put in the hospital.  The driver responsible is now a dear family friend of the victim).

I decided not to put my cultural observations to work and instead opted to be silent, look gravely at the damage to my car, and fiddle with my cell phone.  The yelling and flapping of arms in my peripheral vision subsided and the man took out his cell phone too.  He looked grumpy as he punched in some numbers.  From his appearance he may have actually been Circassian rather than Arab.  I hoped that he was calling the police or his insurance company instead of his cousins.

A motorcycle cop drove off the set of CHiPs and pulled up along our mess.  He instructed us to pull around the corner and to the side of the road.  The anxious looking Philippina  in the back of the cab used this as a good time to beat a hasty retreat.  I hoped I hadn’t cost the guy his fare up to that point.  The Officer surveyed the damage and asked me to pop the hood.  He looked at the radiator as it leaked hot liquid on the pavement like a dog that hadn’t found a hydrant in time.

“Do you want a police report?”  The guy had sunglasses like Frank Poncharello.

Without looking at each other or missing a beat both me and the cabbie said, “Yes.”

[note: all the exchanges here happened in Arabic - I didn't bother to play my "I foreigner me no speak arabee" card, not sure if that was good or bad]

For inquiring minds – in Arabic a police report is called a “croaka.”  It’s easy to remember because they give you the green part of the quadruplicate form.  Green – frogs – ribbit – croaka!  But don’t confuse it with “Kurkaw” which sounds similar and can also be green (a turtle).

Ponch left and a few people began to congregate.  Two teenagers wanted to know where I was from and what my job was and if I wanted their brother to fix the damage to my car.  I made small talk with them to avoid talking to the cabbie who was on his phone talking angrily with someone.  I was still hoping it wasn’t his cousins.  The two guys asked, “Don’t you know how to stop quickly?”  I stopped talking to them.

An affable pair of middle aged gentlemen walked up. They seemed to be friends.  They asked if the police were on their way.  We indicated that one had been and left, Lord willing to fetch another to make out the police report.  They asked what happened.  I told them that I thought the cabbie was going through the intersection but he stopped quickly and I hit him.  They chuckled and said, “This is simple – it happens all the time in Amman.  Do you both have insurance?  Then. No problem.  Besides he should have kept going.  He shouldn’t have stopped.”  The cabbie glowered at the two men and I nodded and fiddled with my cell phone.

As it turns out these two had also had a fender bender on the other side of the intersection and were also waiting for the police to return to make out a police report.  They had apparently dispensed with all the posturing and grumpiness and decided to be friendly with each other.  Can’t say the same for me and the cabbie.

The officer finally showed up to make the report.  He wished peace upon us and praised God for our health.  He snapped some digital pictures and looked under the hood of my car.   As he asked us what happened he warned us not to lie as there was a camera at the intersection.  I retold my simple story, the cabbie said that of course he was stopping for a red light and I should have known that.  The officer beckoned us towards his van.  The middle row of seats had been taken out and in it’s place was a small table.  He quietly and efficiently wrote up his report, complete with a nicely drawn diagram of the scene of the accident.  He asked for phone numbers and addresses.  We both simply told the name of our neighborhoods and that sufficed.  He asked for 5 JD from me to cover the cost of the report, gave us both our green copies and once more praised God for our health.

I was kind of waiting for the point when he was going to issue me a traffic citation, but it never came.  I inquired about locating a tow truck (winch as they are called here) and he directed me to inquire at the police station a couple of hundred meters away.  Rather dubious I approached the guy out front with the sub-machine gun and the riot helmet and told him of my inquiry.  He praised God for my health and directed me to an office inside the building.  The policeman inside called a tow truck for me and instructed the officer outside with the big gun to direct the the tow truck guy when he arrived.

About 10 minutes later the winch arrived.  It was a bright yellow truck.  It had a big Mercedes cab with a flat-bed that sloped down a bit at the back.  The tow arm was big and red with a rather large industrial-strength fish hook hanging on a sturdy cable. The driver’s name was “Jimmy”.  Not really – but close enough.

We were at the police station about 200 meters from my car.  Jimmy asked if it was still operable.  In Arabic the idiom is actually, “Does it walk?”  I replied that in fact it did still walk, but water was falling from the radiator onto the ground.  “No matter,” came Jimmy’s reply, “Bring it here.”

I drove the car up to Jimmy’s rather formidable flat bed.  It was definitely designed to handle vehicles larger than mine.  I started to get out but he motioned me to stay.  He flipped a few levers that released some legs and jacked up the front end of his truck to stabilize it.  He pulled down some ramps and aligned them with my car tires.  He motioned to me and told me to drive up the ramps.  Now, I’ve driven my cars in pretty stupid places in my day, but as I slowly edged my already damaged car up the metal ramps onto the flat bed I thought for sure this was going to end poorly.

It did not.  Maybe I have a future in towing or repo if English teaching dries up.

I was going to get out again but Jimmy told me to stay in.  He attached some chains and told me to do something I didn’t understand,  but guessed that he wanted me to put it in neutral.  This seemed to work as he nudged my car farther up onto the flat bed and told me to turn off the car and put on the parking brake.

I got into the cab not sure what to expect. My experiences in tow trucks have always been . . . well . . . interesting.  If you’ve ever had the pleasure you know what I mean.  My most memorable ride was sandwiched between a tow truck driver and my pregnant wife on a 80-mile tow in the middle of the night in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere on the way home for Christmas one year.  But that’s another story.  Jimmy’s cab was actually pretty clean for a tow truck.  The green and gold brocade fringe was first thing to catch my attention.  Green along the bottom of the dash board hanging by our knees.  Gold up above hanging down from an instrument panel above the window.  It sort of obstructed the view of the road, but only if you were tall.  Arabic dance music blared from a micro-DVD player and screen mounted on the dash.  There was a woman shaking her hips and singing as only Arab divas can.

The ride to the service center was uneventful.  I found out that Jimmy had started doing this as a second job 3-years ago.  In his day job he works for an insurance company.  I found that  rather amusing but didn’t say so.  He was married with 5 kids and really in need of the extra income.

The sun was dipping below the horizon as we dropped the car at the service center in an industrial district on the outskirts of town.  It was after hours on Friday.  Nothing around was open and no taxis in sight.  The nearest main road would be a 20-minute walk so on a whim I asked Jimmy where he was heading.  He asked where I lived and I told him the neighborhood but that I just wanted to go somewhere I could find a taxi.

Jimmy:  Do you have money for a taxi?

Me: Yes?

Jimmy:  Really?  I didn’t just take all your money?  [for the tow charge of 30 JD]

Me: No, I still have money in my pocket.

Jimmy: Ok, but if you don’t have money I will take you to your house.  It’s on my head.

Me:  Thank you – you’re a very good man, but I just take me to a place I can find a taxi.

A little way down the road Jimmy pulled over and offered to buy me something to drink – a pepsi or a juice.  We drank our orange juice and bantered about our kids as we drove back towards Amman.  About half-way to my neighborhood I told Jimmy I didn’t want to trouble him and that he could drop me off anywhere.  He said he would take me to Jabal Amman where he lives (and closer to my neighborhood) and find me a taxi there.  If not he would take me to the main road running into my neighborhood.  It was on his head.  I thanked him very much and he invited me to his house for coffee.  I declined the coffee which resulted in him giving me his card and telling me to call him to come for coffee at his house anytime.

In the end Jimmy the tow truck driver got out of his truck and waved down a cab for me on one of Jabal Amman’s busiest circles.  I could have done this myself, but he felt it was his responsibility.

I’m not too happy that I was in a fender bender, but I’m sure glad I met Jimmy.

Happy New Year and 2009 Site Stat Review

Happy New Year!  2010 is here and so are the comments about lack of flying cars, robotic maids, and other technological advances predicted waaaay back in the 70s and 80s.  I wonder how far things will progress by 2040.  Probably not as far as we would expect in most areas – but surprisingly far in others.  I’m not sure anyone accurately predicted or anticipated the advent of the internet or web 2.0 back in the day, yet today many of us can’t imagine our lives without g-mail, facebook, twitter, or wordpress.  My mom even has a blog!  No offense mom =).  I have a feeling 30 years from now my son will be asking when I will be getting on BrainBook so I can be mentally bombarded by his latest news or when I’m going to update my antiquated blog with a Neural Subscription Syndication (NSS) feed so he can instantaneously absorb the latest content while on the daily commuter shuttle to Mars.

Until those days arrive here’s a bit of a stats review for the blog this past year.  I don’t expect anyone else will find this terribly interesting but I started doing this last year and think it’s a nice way for me to mark milestones on the blog.  I’ll start off with a horrendously cobbled together low-tech graph.

2007-2009 Pilgrim w/o a Shrine Stats

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I am pretty pleased with the growth of the blog since I started piddling around with it almost 3 years ago.

2007 Avg hits/month: 45

2008 Avg hits/month: 700

2009 Avg hits/month: 1585

As you can see in the graph my biggest month in 2008 was April.  This was the month that I took a 2-week trip to this side of the world to visit Dubai and Jordan.  I posted a lot and included a bunch of pictures.  The blog didn’t get nearly that much activity again until January of 2009 when I wrote a series of posts reflecting on Israel’s horrendous bombardment of Gaza at the time and the local response here in Jordan.  The really surprising (to me) peak of activity, however, was just back in November.  The draw?  Well it just so happened that the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha fell in November this past year.  I had written a little reflection on the festival back in December of 2008 but a year later it was drawing a ton of traffic to the blog – go figure!

So without further ado – here are the Top 10 Posts of 2009!  (sorry – no drumroll, but by 2040 we’ll have that sorted out)

Notre Dame du Paris

#10 – 384 hits – Notre Dame du Paris pics (April 25, 2008): #4 on last year’s Top 10.  A gallery of pics from a layover in Paris.  Notable to me because although this post is #10 on the list this year it beat last years #1 post by over 130 hits!

#9 – 393 hits -The Citadel (Jebel al qala’a) in Amman on Friday (April 18, 2008):  #3 on last year’s Top 10.  My thoughts when looking out over Amman from the Citadel.  Includes a small gallery of pics.

#8 – 403 hits – Barack Obama at the Western Wall (July 31, 2008): #5 on last year’s Top 10. Just a couple of thoughts on Barack Obama’s visit to the Western Wall during his presidential campaign.  The prayer he stuffed into the wall was stolen and printed in the media.  This post got a ton of hits early in 2009 around the time of his inauguration but surprisingly peaked in November, coinciding with all the Eid al-Adha hits.  Hmmmm.

#7 – 420 hits – Random Pics from Amman (April 20, 2008): #10 on last year’s Top 10.  Just what it says a gallery of 20 or so pics from Amman.

Martin Luther King Jr.

#6 – 467 hits - A message from Martin Luther King Jr. to Israel, Palestine, and Obama on Inauguration Eve (January 20, 2009):  While perhaps having the distinction of Longest Blog Entry Title, I wrote this in honor of MLK Day 2009.  It applies a snippet of a speech MLK made a long time ago to the current world situation.

#5 – 541 hits – Recent Thoughts on Osama bin Laden and Marthin Luther King Jr. (April 5, 2008): #8 on last year’s Top 10.  A look at two people who say they were fighting for the oppressed.  One by violent means, another by waging peace.  Posted in remembrance of MLK on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his assassination/martyrdom.

#4 – 832 hits – Pope Benedict visiting Jordan (May 9, 2009): A half finished post about the Pope’s historic visit here.  It has some pics of the Pope with the Jordanian Royal family and this earned it a link from a forum for royalty aficionados and quite a few hits.

#3 – 1215 hits – The Bake House – Jabal Amman  Restaurant review (October 15, 2008): #1 on last year’s Top 10.  Ok, this post fell two notches – but it earned almost 10x as many hits this year!  If you want an American style breakfast in Amman this is the best place I know of.

Scary!

#2 – 1373 hits – Scary Rooms (November 21, 2008): This one cracks me up!  Basically this was supposed to be the 1st part of a 2 part post about Jordanian culture.  It has a poll about what room people thought was scary in their childhood and a story about my fear of the basement.  I was supposed to follow it up with a 2nd post on what room Jordanians typically consider scary, but never did.  You would be very surprised by how many people google the term “scary rooms.”

#1 – 3,332 hits - Eid Al-Adha, the Hajj, and life in Amman (December 15th, 2008)

Muslim pilgrims holding a nighttime vigil on the Mountain of Arafat

The clear winner this year!  Basically, an outsiders summary of what Eid al-Adha is all about with a few personal reflections about life in Amman during the festival.  This got a crazy amount of hits in October and November.  I wish I knew more specifics about who is reading this post – my gut tells me it was a lot of high school students looking for information for projects.  Hopefully they used proper citations!

*******

So 6 out of the 10 are making repeat appearances on the Top 10 and although they shifted around a bit on the chart they all generated way more hits this year than last.  Interesting to note that only 2 of the Top 10 were written in 2009 – everything else was in 2008.  As I am only looking at hits from 2009 this intrigues me.  It’s good on the one hand b/c I think it indicates I’m getting a lot of traffic from web searches, but it also concerns me a little about the stuff I wrote in 2009.  Maybe it wasn’t as interesting or relevant.  Or perhaps next year posts from 2009 will be more popular.

In any event, thank-you so much for reading!  I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to what 2010 will bring.  I’ve got some new ideas to implement this year so be looking for those (but next up a Top 10 Image Gallery from 2009).  And check back in 2040 for links to flying car dealerships, robotic maid employment agencies, and my fancy new Neural Subscription Syndication button.

Christmas Lights and Nativity Scene near Amman Jordan (Fuheis)

Merry Christmas!  Or as they say here in Jordan:

كل عام و انت بالخير

Kul 3aam uw inta bilxayr!

An exact translation is a bit tricky (like most sociolinquistically significant phrases), but the the basic gist is: goodness/wellness to you all year.  This is a standard greeting for almost any holiday – Muslim or Christian.   It is used at Christmas and New Years and for the Muslim Eids.  A Muslim friend of mine actually called me today, just to greet me b/c he knew I was celebrating Christmas.  This is the phrase he used.   There doesn’t seem to be a direct equivalent of Merry/Happy Christmas in Arabic.  Actually, many Arabs just say Merry Christmas in English, especially if they know you are a  foreigner.

(In case you are wondering Christmas in Arabis is “Eid Al-Miilaad” which not surprisingly means “festival/feast of the birth.” The use of the definite article differentiates this from Eid Miilaad which means birthday.  Basically, Jesus’ birthday is THE birthday, and rightfully so.)

Many westerners would be surprised by the outward signs of Christmas that can be glimpsed here in Amman.  Christians hang Christmas lights and put up trees.  There are Christmas stores where you can buy decorations.  The stationary guy down the street from us who mostly sells dafaatir (Notebooks) and pens totally transforms his shop into Christmas central for 2 months out of the year.  He happens to be Christian, but Muslim run shops and businesses get into the Christmas spirit as well.  It is not unusual to see many stationary and book stores selling Christmas decorations.  Others decorate their stores with a tree or ornaments  or lights.  Even the mall has some trees and some stores play Christmas music.

From an outsiders perspective it seems like the Muslim majority here is more than happy to let the Christian minority (maybe 5% of the population) have their celebration.  And as in America – the commercial aspect of Christmas is very appealing to retailers – even Muslim ones.  I think the government schools get one day off for Christmas – which isn’t much, but at least it’s something.  Private schools can have a more generous holiday and those of more Christian or at least Westen persuasion seem to have a few days t a week off.  (Side question: I wonder if Muslims enjoy the same cultural leeway in America?  I mean what if retailers started hanging up Eid decorations and playing Islamic music?  Or if the American gov’t decided to give all schools a day off for Eid al-Fitr?  Freedom is a funny thing. . . especially when it comes to the practice of religion – isn’t it?)

But I digress . . .

A couple of days ago we had the pleasure of looking at Christmas lights in a little town called Fuheis (pronounced Foo-highs <but with an s sound, not z>).  It’s located just north of Amman and it’s claim to fame is having the largest Christmas tree and Nativity scene in the Middle East.  It is one of two predominately Christian towns in Jordan (the other being Madaba).  According to Wikipedia the population of Fuheis is 60% Greek Orthodox and the remainder is divided between Muslim and Catholic.

Every year the residents of Fuheis put on a Christmas festival featuring a variety of activities, but everyone knows the main attractions are the lights, tree, and nativity.  It was nice to drive through the town the other day and look at houses and streets decked out in Christmas lights.  It almost, almost, felt a bit like home.  I must add that it was a comparatively modest and perhaps reasonable amount of Christmas lights compared to what Americans would typically be accustomed too.  I doubt you could spot Fuheis’ lights from orbit like you could some American subdivision’s.

One interesting side-note: The nativity scene was sponsored in part by USAID.  Yup – that’s right US gov’t $$ being spent on a Nativity Scene at Christmastime!  I laughed out loud and took a picture of the sign.  Could you imagine the uproar if federal money was used to sponsor a Nativity Scene on American soil?

Actually that’s one of the refreshing things I noticed about Christmas here in Jordan.  It’s actually Christmas.  You don’t have to wish people a Happy Holiday.  Christmas is what it is here – the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth.  Maybe it’s because Christianity is in the majority back home so everyone has to walk on eggshells and make sure no one is offended.  Here it seems much more pragmatic.  If you’re Christian you celebrate Christmas and that’s what everyone calls it because that’s what it is

There’s probably a lot more I could write about this – but it’s Christmas Eve, and even though I have all my shopping and wrapping done, there’s still a couple of things that need to get done before I go to sleep.  So without further ado – here’s a gallery of our pics of the Christmas Lights and Nativity Scene in Fuheis.

Zuwaiddah Restaurant – came highly recommended, but we found it mediocre. Will try another place in the future

Christmas lights ‘inside’ the restaurant

We three kings of Orient Are . . .

Popular Jordanian symbol – now as a Christmas decoration.

Is it just me or is this angle creepy!?

Kids looked thrilled to be there, eh?

And closer

The stable scene a little closer

Glowing Reindeer and Santa in a weird wheel barrow with his designated driver.

This old Opel Rekord was powering up the sound system and perhaps the lights too!

Not the biggest tree – but a big one!

Snata Claus like this were all along the roads – so were other designs – sorry no pics.

Note bottom right corner – the US gov’t sponsors Nativity Scenes? Who Knew!?

Can’t miss the tree!