Culture Shock?
I’m spending my weekend in Amman, Jordan with a few of my friends. It’s neat to be back in a ‘real’ city, and although Amman is notorious for being really expensive their ice cream is really cheap! yay!
Getting to Jordan was an experience in itself. I met up with a few of my friends in Jerusalem and we took a taxi service to the border. This is where the culture shock hit me. We made it to the turn off for Ramallah in half an hour! I asked them how long it takes to get to Ramallah from Jerusalem and they said it only took half an hour. From Bethlehem, because of all of the checkpoints, it takes an hour and a half! Bethlehem and Jerusalem are right next to each other! And then, before I knew it we were at the Dead Sea! It took us an hour to get to the Dead Sea but when we went with our group it took us over half a day! It is not only the checkpoints that make the trip longer for Palestinians but it is also because now Palestinians are being forced to drive on secondary roads. A lot of the main roads that Palestinians and Israelis used to share to get to places such as Ramallah or the Dead Sea have been proclaimed Israeli-only (even when they are exclusively inside what is supposed to be Palestinian-only territory). It was a real shock. I realized that I really don’t have a good grasp on Israel as a country now either. Everything is much much closer than I thought it was. I feel kind of stupid for not realizing it, especially because I’ve seen maps and heard a lot about the difficulties in transportation for Palestinians, but now I really can appreciate the anger they must feel in these new restrictions. When medical emergencies arise that extra hour it takes to get to the hospital (maybe more depending on the mood of the soldiers at the checkpoint) could, and has, cost people their lives. Women have given birth at the checkpoints because they have not been allowed to pass, even to Israeli ambulances waiting on the other side. The two stories I heard of checkpoint-births, the children have died. One time, the mother died too. Medical help was only 10 meters away. It makes me furious. Hopefully not all of the check-point births have turned out that way. Every human, no matter what their race, ethnicity or socioeconomic background, deserves the right to medical treatment.
The trip to Jordan also reconfirmed the Middle East’s theory that “eating is community”. I didn’t think it was possible, but even on the bus rides I managed to get stuffed with food by perfect strangers! We got ciak, a fresh bread with sesame, falafel and zatar, and even a really great pastry “cheese pastry” (? they didn’t even know the Arabic name) of sesame bread with melted cheese. yum. I love this place!
