Blogs from Middle East - page 866

I left Egypt on a hot evening and arrived in Jordan on an even hotter night. A quick word of advice to everyone: try to avoid going to the Middle East during summer time. I have no idea what I was thinking. One nice thing was the lack of tourist which made it easy to get around and really enjoy Petra in peace and quiet. I spent two days in Amman seeing the sights and researching a good tour to take to Petra (one of the new Wonders of the world) if you have never heard of it then google it or watch "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". I ended up taking a bus down the Kings Highway which ran through an assortment of Castles and monasteries and breathtaking views of the Dead Sea. After ... read more

Thursday, August 07, 2008 The summer yeshiva program officially ended today. We were fed pizza (not recommended by American standards!) and falafel for a farewell lunch and gathering. It’s really quite astonishing how quickly this program has grown. Not too long ago there were less than 10 students here for the summer. This summer, there were over 135. And the beauty of it is that while the name is under the auspices of Conservative Judaism, its mission and philosophy and resulting student body are diverse. We had everyone from unaffiliated to modern orthodox and everything in between. It’s been fabulous… But now, it’s time to go home. I’m ready. I’ve reached my saturation point and I’m ready to go home. I think this feeling started when I spoke to my brother earlier this week. Found out ... read more

Yep, we're alive. No a single suicide bombing, hostage incident or tractor ploughing into a bus on a city street (don't laugh, this happened twice in West Jerusalem in the week before our trip). Which is just as well for me since it was only through a relentless combination of suggesting, selling, guilting and begging on my behalf that Steph agreed to go in the first place, and had a crazed jihader come close to knocking one of us off, Steph may have finished the job... But after 10 incredible days (actually maybe 8 incredible days, and 2 'other' days that I'll get to) I think even the most die hard sceptics (read Steph) would agree this was an amazing experience. To float in the Dead Sea, to glimpse the Treasury at Petra in the morning ... read more

It was a shock when I got on the Turkish Airways plane in Tehran, to see the air hostesses bare headed and flashing fleshy legs. I along with all the other women who were wearing scarves under duress took them off as soon as possible. It was interesting to see who were happy to keep them on and who were not. Although I hardly ever drink on planes, I ordered some wine to celebrate new freedoms. Back in Istanbul in the Buyuk Londra Oteli, it was weird for a while to be drinking alcohol on the terrace, surrounded by men and bareheaded women in tight tops and short skirts. These are all obviously all illegal in Iran. What is seen to be morally right and wrong is affected by cultural differences. The next few days were ... read more

In the morning, the bazaar faction won the day, so we visited the bazaar in Kermanshah, there we found Kurdish sparkling clothes galore as well as sweets and cakes. It was great seeing everyone with the bright hats and scarves that they had found in the bazaar all waiting on the pavement for the bus to start. Iranian bazaars are fantastic, proper working places, the large ones are cities within cities. We drove to Sanandaj, the capital of Iranian Kurdistan, where we had lunch. Unfortunately we had no time to see more of it, as I would have liked. The women in the group were impressed with the locals’ fashionable dress and the general air of well being and order in the city. We arrived at Takht-e Soleiman late in the afternoon, as the sun was ... read more