The Falafel Sandwich

The first Saturday after the end of the school year, Puanana had a call from a company she has contact with in Amman called SkyLark http://www.skylark-jo.com/ who were looking for a last minute Native English speaker to teach English on their summer programme for 4-6 year olds, as their teacher had just pulled out. I (Abi) spoke to the company director on the phone and went into Amman with Richard on Sunday to meet her, and then began the 2 hour English class on that Monday! It really was last minute. I took Richard with me as I wasn't used to travelling on my own and took advantage of my parents visiting for someone to take care of the children.

Half way through that busy first day we arrived back in Zarqa bus station and were due to go straight to the school to attend an end of the year staff debrief. We were very hungry and unsure if there would be anything to eat at the school, so we bought falafel sandwiches from one of the many street vendors there. We took our food to the school where Mum (Ann) was preparing some food, so we very kindly cut up or sandwiches so they could be shared with the rest of the food. I think that only four of us were unlucky enough to have some Falafal sandwich, because the week to follow was far more than we'd bargained for...

It hit me first early Tuesday morning, glued to the toilet seat, then in the evening came down with a fever. When you're feeling cold and shivering in 35 degree heat you definitely know that something's wrong. The next morning, with a bout of vomiting thrown in the mix, Richard ventured into Amman to take my English class. But then he also began to get the rumblings, along with Mum and Dad (Ann and Tim). Then the penny dropped, as we took turns racing back and fore the bathroom - The Falafel Sandwich!

Mum and Dad began they're journey home to Wales Thursday evening, still with gripes in their bowels, reminding them to never be too far from a toilet. And for us, despite being I'll, life goes on! Saturday morning I was anxiously going back into Amman to teach another English class. Back and fore the bathroom 4-5 times before I left, I feared I wouldn't last the journey. But I survived as I discovered I could hold it in. Woohoo!! What a revelation! I just felt physically very weak and still needed a bathroom whenever I could find one.

So on Monday, seven days after the first of my dreaded symptoms, after losing 10lb in weight, both Richard and I feeling at all time lows, I went to a pharmacy and bought an antibiotic a good Doctor friend (you know who you are) recommended.  Within a day we finally felt hungry again, began to see reason, and stopped being quite so cranky with each other and the children.  Richard went from one day being filled with self pity and home-sickness to the next day devising plans and visions for the future.  So now we know what to avoid, we hope to stay away from this kind of trauma and anguish in the future!

Author: A.E.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches, cockroaches, All around the house. 

They hide in little secret places, They're quieter than a mouse.

 Cockroaches, cockroaches, We find them in the bath. 

You find them when you least expect, I think they're having a laugh. 

 Cockroaches, cockroaches, They're running across my feet. 

Up the wall above my head, And going around the toilet seat.

 Cockroaches, cockroaches, We're not putting up with you. 

If you keep appearing, He'll splat you with my favourite shoe! 

 Author: Abigail Eynon (June 2012)

An interesting take on Education at present

We think we may have shared this before, but we thought we would share it again.  A very interesting take on education and how change needs to happen in order for the children and young people of today to have a fighting chance for success (depending on the definition of success??!).

Enjoy...

Meeting the locals and the Mansaf experience

From our experience so far, the local Jordanians' are very friendly and wonderfully hospitable.  Most people we have met have either tried to invite us around for coffee or for dinner.  The offer of food, particularly the middle eastern food is hard to resist, however after a long day/week, it hasn't always been possible to accept the invitations.

However this week we had the delight in going to a friends house for food.  Ibrahim, a gentleman that Richard and Fraser met randomly has been a wonderful example of the Jordanian people.  For a couple of weeks, Richard has been playing football with Ibrahim and his team, whilst also sorting a problem out with the school dishwasher.  Every week Ibrahim has invited us to eat at his house and finally this week we were able to go.

For those of you who have had the pleasure to eat with Arabs, you will know that an invitation for food is not just for food, but Arabic coffee, food, more arabic coffee, Sweet Tea and then cold drinks.  This was our experience with Ibrahim and his family.  Very honored to have us at his house, his family and himself, served our every need whilst getting to know us even more.  After talking for a while, we were invited to go into the dining room for food, there on the table was a massive platter of a traditional Jordanian dish 'Mansaf' (We have attached the recipe below) Ibrahim then gave us a demonstration of how to eat the food, using the bread available, your grab the rice using only your right hand and 'pop' it in your mouth. Your fingers should not go into your mouth for whatever reason. Ibrahim had shown us how to eat this meal the 'proper' way, he and his family left us in the dining room to eat alone. We had tried insisting on them eating with us, but we are not sure why they wouldn't.  The food was delightful, as you can see from the picture.

Mansaf is cooked in jameed (the Arabic word for dried yogurt), which is then mixed with water in a tray to produce a creamy sauce. This is poured into a large stewing pot with chunks of lamb meat. The pot is put over an open fire. As the stew begins to warm, it is stirred to prevent the yoghurt from separating.

Large trays are covered with the doughy flat Arabic bread and dampened with yogurt. On top of this, a layer of rice is heaped. The meat is then piled on top. Almonds, pine-kernels and other nuts may be sprinkled over the dish, which is then ready for serving.

Ingredients:

• 6 pieces jameed (about 1/2 pound)
• 3 quarts plus 2 cups water
• 10 tablespoons clarified unsalted butter
• 4 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder on the bone, cut into approximately 3/4 pound pieces and trimmed of excess fat
• 2 tablespoons all spices
• 3 cups long-grain rice, soaked in water to cover for 30 minutes and drained or rinsed well under running water until the water runs clear
• 3 to 4 cups boiling water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 cup blanched whole almonds
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 2 pieces shrak (Arabic flat thin bread/Saj bread)

We cant wait for the next culnary experience....

Author: R.J.E.

Happy Birthday Jordan

Jordan is 66 Today......

History of Jordan's Independence

On May 25, 1946 the United Nations approved the end of the British Mandate and recognised Jordan as an independent sovereign kingdom. The Parliament of Jordan proclaimed King Abdullah as the first King.

On April 24, 1950, Jordan formally annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem, an act that was regarded as illegal and void by the Arab League. The move formed part of Jordan’s "Greater Syria Plan" expansionist policy, and in response, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Syria joined Egypt in demanding Jordan’s expulsion from the Arab League. A motion to expel Jordan from the League was prevented by the dissenting votes of Yemen and Iraq. On June 12, 1950, the Arab League declared the annexation was a temporary, practical measure and that Jordan was holding the territory as a “trustee” pending a future settlement. On July 27, 1953, King Hussein of Jordan announced that East Jerusalem was "the alternative capital of the Hashemite Kingdom" and would form an "integral and inseparable part" of Jordan.

Abdullah I was assassinated in 1951 as he was leaving the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Jordan became a founding member of the Arab League in 1945 and, as an independent country, it joined the United Nations in 1955. In 1957 it terminated the Anglo-Jordan treaty, one year after the king sacked the British personnel serving in the Jordanian Army. This act of Arabization ensured the complete sovereignty of Jordan as a fully independent nation.

(taken from Wikipedia)

Visa, visa visa....

Well, we've heard of when people come into the UK struggling to understand the system of getting a visa and/or securing asylum, after yesterday they have my complete sympathy. We needed to go to the Police Station to extend our 'tourist' visa, and so on a very hot day we went with our wonderful Jordanian taxi driver friend, to get our visas renewed. We thought, or maybe hoped, it would be a quick and easy sign a piece of paper process.  Boy were we wrong!!

So we roll up at the main police station in Zarqa, as we entered the grounds we were met by armed police officers who point Abi and the children to one entrance and myself and our taxi driver to another. The children were cooed over  - blonde hair, blue eyes is a rare in Jordan, especially Zarqa.  After a very relaxed vetting, we were all taken to the main building where we searched for the right office.  But in the mean time the children were both "desperate" for the toilet.  Our taxi driver found a male toilet, so Rich was on duty and Lilian experienced her first hole in the ground style lavatory.

Now we're walking down a long corridor of offices with officers sitting around, looking at us and smiling about the children, no office has real signs and those that do are only in Arabic, which we couldn't read if we tried.  Our levels of anxiety were not helping as we couldn't understand what was going on as our taxi driver acted as our advocate. The police officer we met said we needed to go to our local police station first to get our fingerprints and I.D processed and then to go back with a confirmed letter that this was complete..... so our driver took us to the nearest possible station hoping they would help us.  This police station looked just like a house from the outside, inside we could see one room that had a cell which looked like it was from a western cowboy film (4 men in handcuffs were taken in while we were there, which was of great fascination to the children).  The Police were somewhat reluctant to help us but one was told he had to by his boss. This officer then told us that we needed passport photos so that he could attach them to our records (despite having pictures taken as we arrived in the airport).  Not aware that we needed these, we went a shop that did these sorts of photos and had our passports photocopied (because our first copy we took with us wasn't enough).  We then went back to the police station, where the children were cooed over by 2 ladies and we had our finger prints taken.  With the appropriate piece of paper signed we got back, once again, into the hot taxi and went back to the main police station.  Vetted as we entered again and back in to find the office we went to originally.  After a bit of jabbering between the officers and our driver we finally have the extension we went for!!  Phew!!

Author: A.E.

School Open Day

Every year, the school, hosts the families of the pupils that attend the school to join in the building of the school community and enjoy a few cups of coffee together.  Many activities are provided by staff and volunteers, children enjoy the day whilst parents meet others and get a better feel of the value and atmosphere set by the school.

This year we were privileged to be part of the family day. Abi had the wonderful task of face painting, whilst Richard used the minimal artistic talents to help the children create an outside mural, based on the theme that the children had been working on over the last month, ‘The Ocean’.  Though the day was very busy, with the majority of the pupils and their families attending, it was a great experience to get introduced to the parents and share our heart for the work at the school.  It was also great for Lilian and George to spend more time with the other children, cementing friendships.

Here’s a picture of the wall mural that was completed by the children.