Received our first taste of home today. For handing over a little yellow slip, I picked up a huge packed-to-the-hilt box of goodness from the mail office. Black beans, tortillas, an antique tablecloth, photos in magnetized frames for the fridge -- my mom always knows exactly what to send. Chips, white-cheddar popcorn (both bags split open -- oops!), dog treats and a little plush monkey for Jabberwocky Chewbacca. And on and on. We're talking $55 postage worth of goodness! My favorite part? Seeing mom's handwriting. I've always loved her cursive, its loops and effortless connections.
*
Anger. Sadness. Shame. It's been difficult for me to post while so much recent media attention has been dedicated to the hoopla surrounding the Jones-led fringe group in Gainesville.
Fact: I'm an American living in a largely Muslim country.
Fact: Amman is a city of mosques, a city of disciplined prayer and worship.
Fact: I am not Muslim.
Fact: I've called populous areas like San Francisco, Washington D.C., Baltimore, SoCal, and Madison home.
Fact: I've never felt safer living in a cosmopolitan setting than I have the past two months in Jordan.
Fact: My greatest concern about residing in Amman is whether Jordanians mistake isolated instances of ignorance (threats to burn the Koran, Fox News commentary, for example) with general American ideology.
Fact: I'm relieved to find that while mystified by the Florida controversy, many Jordanians aren't that short-sighted. In other words, they recognize that people like the Mustache "pastor" are the exception, not the norm.
*
Currently reading:
Federico Garcia Lorca: A Life (Ian Gibson)
Collected Poems: Federico Garcia Lorca (ed. Christopher Mauerer)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Dear Record,
True, I've neglected you --
because I've been thinking.
because the sea freight came.
because I can't write when there are unpacked boxes; because during the move my wedding dress was smashed all to hell.
because I've been reading Lorca and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.
because heat waves cause power outages and I hate losing my train of thought....
because I want chocolate.
because there's only a week of Ramadan left, and it's cooler to venture out at night.
because I accidentally took a bite of the cookie during daylight in public and felt ashamed.
because the dog won't stop barking.
because repairmen won't stop knocking.
because our doorbell's loop features "Jingle Bells" and Pachelbel's Canon etc., etc., which frankly drives me nuts.
because I can't find a library and "bookstore" in Amman is code for "we-sell-paper-clips-rubber bands-dried dates-and-Backstreet-Boys-binders."
because I'm looking for the library anyway, which gives me extra time to make sense of what happened last weekend at the Turkish bath??!!
because I've been studying Arabic.
because I'm too busy writing friends and spend much of my free time calculating international postage rates.
because when someone passes me a set of DVDs with the current season of MAD MEN, I don't ask questions.
because I'm starting to realize chances for rain are unlikely.
because I've been thinking.
because the sea freight came.
because I can't write when there are unpacked boxes; because during the move my wedding dress was smashed all to hell.
because I've been reading Lorca and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.
because heat waves cause power outages and I hate losing my train of thought....
because I want chocolate.
because there's only a week of Ramadan left, and it's cooler to venture out at night.
because I accidentally took a bite of the cookie during daylight in public and felt ashamed.
because the dog won't stop barking.
because repairmen won't stop knocking.
because our doorbell's loop features "Jingle Bells" and Pachelbel's Canon etc., etc., which frankly drives me nuts.
because I can't find a library and "bookstore" in Amman is code for "we-sell-paper-clips-rubber bands-dried dates-and-Backstreet-Boys-binders."
because I'm looking for the library anyway, which gives me extra time to make sense of what happened last weekend at the Turkish bath??!!
because I've been studying Arabic.
because I'm too busy writing friends and spend much of my free time calculating international postage rates.
because when someone passes me a set of DVDs with the current season of MAD MEN, I don't ask questions.
because I'm starting to realize chances for rain are unlikely.
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