Then... we found out that the Level 1 (formal) Arabic class was trying to work out a field trip to the zoo. The zoo? The zoo! I haven't been there! Level 2 of course got in on the action and, after a week or two of uncertainty, we got the word Tuesday afternoon that the trip was on. Hooray! Although the trip took place in the morning and our class doesn't start until 2:00, our professor kindly cancelled class for the day. Another hooray!
We were warned in advance not to expect a whole lot from the zoo. No San Diego, Washington, or Asheboro here. Other than not expecting a lot, though, I really didn't know what to expect. Things work here with a kind of vague spontaneity that you really just have to roll with. Sometimes you have no idea what's going on, but it's all okay. After getting on our bus, we drove for a few minutes and stopped at the side of the road. Some baked-good purchasing occurred on the part of the professors. Another few minutes on the road, and another stop. This time at Abu Jibarra (Mom and Dad, you may remember this as the place next door to Hardee's) for what appeared to be more takeout. Mmm, good things were surely to come.
We arrived not-so-shortly at a park - really, it felt like we were halfway to the airport. There were these lovely stone tables, and we ate our meal of (deliciousness of deliciousness) pitas and falafel and hummus and foul (خبز و فلافل و حمص و فول).
Back on the bus. More driving. Have we hit the airport yet? Pulled off, stopped, and began the zoo part of our adventure.
It was, well, not a lot. Mostly sad. There was little (read: none) of the lovely habitat imitation that characterizes all of the other zoos I've been to. (The one notable exception is the pandas in Washington, but I don't even want to start talking about that. Still too sad.) Regardless, we got to see buzzards and falcons, pelicans (storks?), baboons, tigers and lions and bears - you can go ahead and say "oh my!" There was an adorable baby baboon that pretty much had everybody captivated. True to our Disneyfied upbringing, most of us could only think of Rafiki when we saw that. The tigers, of course, reminded us of Rajah (Aladdin, anyone?), and the lions were straight out of the Lion King. Branching into Pixar, the pelican/storks reminded me of Finding Nemo.
Strangely enough, attached to the zoo was a... carnival? After the bears, the animal part disappeared and was replaced with a giant slide and one of those swinging-arm things. Yes, I realize that describes almost every carnival ride ever. That particular ride did a few too many loops and turns for me to be comfortable with - especially thinking about how stringent the Jordanian inspection codes probably are. The Ferris wheel, on the other hand, seemed like a safe bet. Let me confess to you: I've never been on a Ferris wheel before. First time for everything, I guess. We noticed, from our lovely new vantage point, several things about the zoo.
First of all, it also had bumper cars and a teeny roller coaster. Hey now. And there were farms all around us. Even though they were green and pretty, they still felt desolate, in a way. I wonder how the (North Carolina) State Fair looks from the top of one of its Ferris wheels. Does the surrounding area look empty? Is the view full enough of fairgrounds and cars and Carter Finley that you don't notice? This zoo looked so lonely from the air - like a little oasis of moving metal parts and sleepy animals. I'm still trying to figure out what felt so strange about it. It was pleasant, though, definitely, and I had a ton of fun this morning.
After leaving the zoo, having had our fill of animals and Ferris wheels, we drove back to where we had eaten earlier in the day. As another classic example of rolling with things that we don't understand at all, our professors handed out balloons and instructed us to blow them up. Say what? Okay. When we reached the park, we were given string to tie the balloons onto our legs. What? Okay. Then we lined up, Level 2 facing Level 1, Team Eagle versus Team Lion, in an intense competition over...
Who could pop the other person's balloon first. Oh yeah. We did it one-on-one. (I lost, but in all fairness, I was going up against Vanessa, and she's a superhero.) There were a few standout matches. The one where our bus drivers battled each other was epic. They were both good at it, so especially good that I began to suspect that this was a regular pastime for the Jordanians. The best match of all, though, was the Muna-Amjad professor face-off. Amjad tied his balloon to his leg, but, because Muna wears the jelbab (full-length dress), she couldn't tie hers on. Solution? She held a balloon in each hand, and, while trying to stomp on Amjad's balloon, was also waving her arms furiously to ward of his attempts at popping one of her balloons. Awe. Some. Truly spectacular. I think more professors should act this way. It was, to say the least, mumtastic.
The morning really was a lot like elementary school - that trip to the zoo that every kid at Lead Mine went on during the second grade. And it was like middle-school youth group - I think we were just a few minutes away from a game of Cross the Ocean or dodgeball. And it was also like fifth-grade gym class - they taught (tried to teach) us some dabkah (traditional Arabic dancing). Flashbacks all around, and I loved it all.
I can't even express how cool Amjad and Muna are for having organized this for us. There was supposed to be an Arabic showdown between the two classes, but the educational part of the trip mysteriously faded away, and balloon games took precedence. I'm torn. The competitive part of me is sad that we didn't get to prove ourselves to the Level 1 kids. The practical part of me realized that it's a lose-lose for our class. If we had won, we would have looked like a bunch of bullies on the playground, and if we had lost, we would have looked like sissies. Please note the elementary school imagery - seriously, flashbacks. In the end, maybe I am glad that we played balloon games instead of language ones.
(For any CIEE employees who might be reading this, we ran flashcards on the drive back to campus - I swear. There was an educational portion in there.)
Anyway. This Thursday was considerably more interesting than the average Thursday. I don't know many people who can say that they've been to a Jordanian zoo, or who can say that they've battled with balloons since they were twelve. But I can!
I loved hearing about this! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnd another rhyming title!
Hugs - but "air" hugs so as to not pop your balloon!
Mom
Ferris wheel perspectives on the world. Don't know if you've seen Orson Wells in The Third Man (you know, the film with the all solo Zither soundtrack), but I couldn't help flashing to the scene on ferris wheel (or was it a sky-tram) where our protagonist meets with Wells' Harry Lime character. I reccomend the film, and the scene. Here's hoping that at least some of your unsettled (or unsettling) perspective on the zoo an surroundings is NOT like that of Lime.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to recall your food issues. I suppose it is inevitiable at some point during an extended stay filled with culinary exploration, but no fun at all, I'm sure.
So, do you have an opportunity to address the recent "excitement" over settlements and East Jerusalem housing policy in class? Or are class topics directed at more a more historical range of events?
I think it fair to say the largest part of the US reaction had to do with the discourtesy of making the announcements during Biden's visit rather than fundamental concern (awareness?) over the substantive moves as such.
Is there still a good deal of tension between the government's recognition and ongoing relations with the State of Israel and the sentiments of what I believe CNN likes to refer to as "the Arab street"?