To The Beach!

the Red Sea! From this vantage point, across the sea is the coast of Egypt, and if I turned my head to the right from here, I could see the coast of Israel. Then about 2 kilometers the opposite direction you run in to Saudi Arabia. Pretty incredible

Our hostel! Not too shabby.

This past weekend was yet another filled with adventuring. This time my friends and I took off to the farthest south point of Jordan, to the port town of Aqaba. Aqaba is located on the coast of the Red Sea, and is a super important port city for the country, because Jordan imports basically ALL of their products. We booked 2 nights at a hostel right on the beach, and it was a fantastic decision.

a mosque in the downtown area of Aqaba

First off, Aqaba is a great tourist city. It's funny how quickly I was able to notice the difference, and how obvious it was that this town was geared towards tourists much more than Amman. The taxi drivers all were extremely talkative and friendly, and spoke more English in general than in Amman, which was nice. The downtown area of the city was lined with shops upon shops tempting me to buy gold camel statues, scarves, and bottles of sand. We chose a restaurant based off a recommendation of one of our host moms, and had a great night exploring the city. 

Our second day we spent the morning on the beach and then decided to try snorkeling in the afternoon. Now I am not exactly the most gung-ho about swimming, open water, fish... etc. I am actually quite terrified. Even in the Dead Sea, where I knew nothing could possibly live, I was irrationally terrified a shark was going to come grab me. So I was ready for a slightly scary adventure. We got set up with a wonderful old Beduoin guide named Shark who spoke some broken english. He asked if we could all swim, and I said shway-shway (a little) and he said he'd keep an eye on me. We headed off, and it was pretty great. I definitely was pretty scared, but just kept thinking "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" in my head. We swam for about 45 minutes or so, with Shark pointing out things to us along the way. There was only ONE rule he told us, which was "Don't touch the Fire Coral" which was a bright orange colored coral amongst the other sea life. Of course, with that being the only rule, at least one of us had to break it. I learned that as I'm not the best swimmer, I have essentially no control over where my body goes in the water. So naturally I bumped right into the forbidden fire coral. By the time we got out of the water, a number of fairly massive welts had developed on my left thigh... Leaving an obvious trace of exactly where my skin came into contact with the coral. As soon as Shark saw it, he ran off to pick an Aloe leaf off of a plant nearby, and rub it onto the welts. It was a pretty hilarious experience. 

tank! I wish this was me... but I was too chicken to go down that far.

In addition to breaking the one and only rule, we swam out to a point where Shark pointed for us to look below the water. Sitting on the ocean floor, not that far from the beach, was a tank from WWII. Just sitting there, covered in little sea life. But it was great. We could swim down and touch it (though I chose not to). That was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen. 

After our snorkeling escapades, Shark offered us tea (which was the absolute best I've ever had) and we talked with him for a little while. He's an amazing old man, just living his days taking groups out snorkeling and scuba diving into the Red Sea. Pretty great. He speaks snippets of numerous languages.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing on and around the beach and hostel. It was a fantastic getaway from the city for a couple of days!

underwater camera = one of my best investments yet

This is a Palestinian flag. Aqaba is flying it essentially as a sign of
solidarity right here because it is visible right across the way on the
coast of an Israeli town. 

fishies

Beach Day! 

This upcoming week is Eid Break for students in Jordan, so my friends and I will be travelling to Israel and Palestine for the week. I will essentially be MIA until the 19th, but will be certain to document the travels when I get back!

The Sounds

The Narcicyst

I have officially discovered probably my favorite thing so far in Amman. The coffee is great, the desserts are amazing, the history is remarkable but this past weekend my friends and I stumbled on some incredible music at a cafe. We heard about some DJ playing a show at Taj Mall for free, and anything that says FREE will instantly attract college students. So we went to check it out, and it ended up being a DJ playing beats and a rapper named Fara3 (translation of his name is a little odd, but that's the best I can do). He is a young Egyptian guy, and all of his music has a very strong political message to it. As he was rapping I was trying my hardest to pick out any words I could, and among them were themes of: freedom, Egypt, revolution, Democracy, youth, and Ban Ki Moon (yes, the lovely Secretary General  of the United Nations himself). Basically, anyone who raps with such passion for politics instantly wins my heart.
My friends and I all bought his latest mixtape to share, and I am an absolute fan. If anyone is interested, the link to his facebook page can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/A5ook.El.Far3i
As well as the link to my favorite song of his so far, this has English too, so don't be scared off by the Arabic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9AcCUO4XPI

Following that awesome performance on Friday night, my program hosted a discussion today all about Hip Hop culture in the Middle East. This discussion was moderated by two local DJs, creatively named Arab MC's. One guy was wearing a Chicago Cubs flat-brim hat, and spoke decent English. The other referenced his favorite artists as Wu Tang Clan, Tupac and Immortal Technique (whaaaaat, Immortal Tech is my favorite, so I instantly loved this guy). The fact that they don't even have any local artists to reference is proof of how new this scene is in Amman. They showed a short documentary on what the hip hop scene looks like in the Middle East, and it was really interesting. Essentially the hip hop culture, of course, was imported from America and Europe primarily, and it is solely a youth movement here. The first guy (forgot his name already) said it really picked up within the last decade. Hip hop and rap music, along with break dancing and graffiti are all growing trends here as forms of self-expression for youth.
As the documentary showed a few artists talking about where their inspiration comes from and why they love the music that they do, I was struck by a profound respect for these guys. For most of my life I was turned off by hip hop in America because the 'main stream' of the genre is largely dominated by stuff I am not super fond of, and found really shallow. It was only after I discovered artists with powerful social and political messages that I fell in love with the genre. But here, hip hop is almost entirely an outlet for social and political grievances. It is a representation of the plight of Palestinians whose homes have been stripped from them, or the youth of Cairo who are seeing their country through a tumoultous time and an uncertain future. It is tiny group of young men who just love the beats of American hip hop, and then blend their culture in with it. Their identity is the ultimate basis of their music. One artist is Syrian but raised in American, and his Syrian identity informs his entire musical/lyrical style. Identity is absolutely essential in this music.
I also fell in love with this music so quickly because of the inherent poetic qualities of the Arabic language. Arabic, in general, just seems to flow a lot better, and prettier, than English. It is also a culture that has always been incredibly obsessed with, and appreciative of poetry. Even these young artists reference the lines or themes of old old old poets in their songs, and give nod to the old poetic style. That's something that is obvious in their lyricism (when I can translate it) and the flow of their rhymes.
Along with the growth of this hip hop movement, graffiti is breaking out as a form of political expression as well. I see words spraypainted around Amman, but I have yet to see any elaborate tagging. But it is something I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for.
So while this is only a small niche of Middle Eastern culture, it is something that I am really really interested in. It's also an important part of M.E. culture now because it is made up of the youth! It is something that is picking up steam, gaining credibility and recognition, and making itself known throughout the region, as well as globally.
Along with the first facebook page I posted, I have included a couple more artists:
This fella' is INCREDIBLY intelligent, with a Masters degree. He identifies as a an Arab/Canadian essentially. He also serves as one of the strongest voices of the Arab hip hop movement. He is highly present in the media through both interviews, articles, and has even tought classes about Middle Eastern history and the creation of the hip hop movement there. He does an incredible job of blending his cultures in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ISHZQJdeSw

And finally, the FB link to the Arab MC's page:
https://www.facebook.com/arabmcs

Even if you don't really care much for hip hop, I REALLY encourage you to check out any of these guys. They all have very unique but interesting stories, blending their view of their changing culture with an American style.

And because no blog post is complete without pictures, here are a few unrelated to this post, but of my week!

A gate I pass my by house every day, looking out onto the city. 

Can't get enough of this pup