From Petra to Border Crossing into Israel Blog #9

Blog # 9

FROM PETRA TO BORDER CROSSING INTO ISRAEL 

We pile into Jim’s car and with the help of our hotel porter manage to get another suitcase into the trunk. Jim decides to drive back on King’s Highway that goes through Madaba where he lives and works. He entices us by telling us about a great restaurant there that has hummus (chick pea dish) and Diane assures us is “to die for”.  We dream of Palestinian food in anticipation of Madaba’s Haret Jdoudna restaurant. During our drive I find it amusing to listen to Jim arguing with his MapQuest voice lady (not Siri but maybe Cleopetra) who tells Jim to drive down nonexistent roads and Jim tells her off when she leads us astray. There is no irrigation on this desert and in contrast with Oman it seems very desolate and isolated. I wonder why anyone would live here and what their daily activities would consist of. We arrive in Madaba, best known for its mosaics and carpets and because of its irrigation is like an oasis.  Jim drives us through the 2-year old university where he works which has just had palm trees installed. We arrive at the restaurant and have what John says is the best Palestinian food we have had on this trip. We share hummus that is definitely a religious experience, pickled eggplant with walnuts, sundried tomatoes and garlic (Makdous); tabouli (parsley, vulgar wheat, lemons); fresh salads and freshly made pita bread and taboun flat bread.  Diane increases our food appetite by telling us about various spices and other incredible Palestine dishes such as ensaka (chicken dish) and a fruit dish (pomegranate, bananas, ½ cup of lemon and 1 tsp of brown sugar) that she says is crack cocaine. She reminds us we can get pomegranate and pomello (type of grapefruit) at Costco. We end our lunch with bread pudding (Um Ali) the best Diane has found in Jordan or Israel. Diane tells me she is trying to get the recipe. She says we can ship incredible spices home ~ she may make a cook out of me yet!

Border Crossing

We head for the border and John worries about not having shekels and I worry about left over Jordanian dinars we have not spent because we haven’t had time to shop.  This time Diane rescues us loaning us shekels and assures us the bank machines will be plentiful in Jerusalem. We have to pay to get out of Jordan as well as to get into Jordan. I have been worrying about going into Israel because our passports contain Arab and Muslim stamps from Dubai, Oman, and Egypt.  Or, is the more difficult problem entering Muslim countries with an Israel stamp in our passport? Since we are going home through Jordan and Dubai I wonder what we would do if Dubai refused us entry. With the Arab world in a state of ongoing revolution, policies seem to change daily. However, I do understand from our travel book that we can’t have our passports stamped with an Israeli stamp on the way in and must ask for an entry stamp on a separate piece of paper.  But first we must get through 4 different wickets on the Jordanian border, a model of gross inefficiency as we go from police 1, to police 2, to police 3 then back to police 3 -all before getting onto the bus on the Jordanian side. They take our passports and tell us to get on the bus. Thankfully we have Diane as our coach who tells us this is normal and as we start for one bus we are told to get on a different bus.  Interestingly we read in the Haaretz newspaper the next morning that Israel is enforcing separate buses for Palestinians and for Israelis. These discriminatory travel regulations remind John and I of the racial segregation of the 50’s when African American people had to sit in the back of the bus.  John comments on Israel becoming apartheid.

We drive 5 kilometers to the Israel border where we go through immigration. Coach Diane has practiced with me what to say when they ask questions such as, “why are you coming to Israel?” “Why did you go to Dubai?” “ Are you going to West Bank?” She cautions us not to expand on our answers.  While I have rehearsed my answers, John is the one interviewed by a woman and not me.  She asks John why he flew into Dubai and is perplexed when he explains we got free tickets on air miles. Then he adds, “the Seattle Dubai flight is direct, you should try it.” She replies she cannot or she would not get back into Israel. She asks for a copy of our return e-ticket and John tells her he doesn’t have it because with computers and Internet you don’t need paper any more. As I watch this I am hoping she has a sense of humor and doesn’t react to his attempt at humor. Luckily after a few more question about going to West Bank and we lie saying “no” she passes us through. Then we wait for 20 minutes to get the luggage and mine is the only one not to arrive. I am thinking of Italy when my luggage never arrived but coach Diane tells me to use my positive self talk and that it will eventually come ~ which it did. Next we take a bus for about 20 minutes into town and I notice all the others on our bus are Palestinians. One lovely, helpful man helps us with getting on the right bus and not paying an outrageous price for a taxi. He and John talk on the bus and he tells us his daughter is at university in United States and passes John his business card telling him to call if we need any help. I notice the wall with barbwire on top separating West Bank from Jerusalem… I am thinking of the Berlin wall. This so called “security barrier” which cost billions of dollars separating the Palestinians from the Israeli population is a temporary illusion. It would seem to breed fear and paranoia rather than safety. Arriving in downtown Jerusalem with our 2 large suitcases, 2 backpacks, my purse and camera and my ridiculous bag with my camel basket in it, we are let out on the sidewalk just opposite the Old City.  All my senses are in turmoil. Diane calls her friend, a Franciscan nun who picks us up and takes us to the American Colony hotel, an old lovely colonial leftover that has been thoroughly renovated.  We are exhausted and I feel brain damaged – John suggests we watch a movie (Campaign)on his computer, and I fall asleep. Tomorrow we will see the Old City and John will search for data to prove where Jesus was buried.