Village Life, Farm Updates and Playing The Tourist

Well folks I've reached the midpoint of this journey. 7 weeks gone, 7 weeks to go. I've learned alot, and experienced some quite interesting things. What I've mostly learned is that those of us in the OD (Over-Developed) World aka the First World, have it so easy we should all punch ourselves in the face whenever we whine or complain about anything. I'll be the first one to admit I'd have two black eyes and a broken nose. This entry is a bit lengthy so I've divided it into 3 sections. Village Life, Farm Updates and Playing The Tourist.

Enjoy and thank you for your support.

VILLAGE LIFE:

Now that I've been here for over a month, all the things that were new, crazy, bizarre interesting and depressing are now starting to wear me down. Unfortunately we are still waiting for water and electricity on the farm so we are still walking through the village from the family home. At first it was fine, I wanted to examine everything, observe as much as I could and see what the hell is going on a round here. Well I've realized there are too many things I have no power to change and many others that even if I did would not last.

The most visually disturbing issue is the trash problem in the village. It is so ingrained in the locals mind that it is fine to just throw trash on the ground. There are actual rubbish bins and guys in trucks come by to collect it. Though you start to wonder if they just turn the corner and dump it in the gully. You'd be hard pressed to know the difference. You start to wonder, why am I carrying this piece of trash waiting for the next rubbish can when i'm surrounded by trash on the ground. And I've almost started laughing out loud after picking up a piece of trash and on the 5 steps to the trash can passed 10 other pieces of trash. You really stat to wonder what the hell the point is. Well I haven't given up yet because I still refuse to just throw something on the ground myself. And lets not pat ourselves on the back too much just because we know how to use a trash can. Our trash might not be right in front of our faces, but collecting it in big trucks and burying it in someone else's backyard doesn't make it any better.

Next is the auditory intrusions. Lets see, we have the 5 daily calls to prayer which blare out of loudspeakers at the mosques. The first one is a half hour before first light, so lets call that 4:45 am, then the two other calls before the actual first prayer starts. I think the closest thing to this I've ever experienced is church bells. But If church bells were going off at 5 am every day I'm pretty sure church bells would be getting blown up. Oh and there are at least a half dozen different calls to prayer from different mosques you can hear at any point in the village. There are probably over 20 total. There is the chorus of gunfire, Jordanians apparently love their guns and firing them into the air at all hours. The kids makeshift fireworks made out of a piece of pipe, bug spray can, banana ripening chemical, water and a lighter. I'm still not fully sure how it works but they cut the top off the bug spray can, shove it into the piece of pipe, poke a hole in the can mix water and the banana chemical in the can and then light what comes out of the little hole and it makes a big explosion noise not unlike a gunshot. At first i thought they were just exploding aerosol cans, but then i realized they couldn't afford to buy that many cans of bug spray. Then i thought they were igniting the gas from the bug spray similar to a potato gun. Then I saw one of the devices and noticed the hole in the bottom of the can and that the can had no top. Then my friend told me they ignite this chemical used to ripen bananas. Whatever the case its fucking annoying. Add to this the cacophony of screaming kids and its enough to drive you mad.

So needless to say I have had to resort to a sort of selective sensory ignorance. I've taken to listening to my ipod during my commute to and from the farm. This is something I never like to do because I like to hear what is going on around me, but in this case I relish the opportunity to turn off one of my senses. Other then the trash and the sound abuse, the leaking water pipes everywhere is disturbing, especially in a country that is so water poor. The leaks are obvious even when the water is off because they will be the only spots with something growing. I suppose if they planted fruit trees near all the leaks it would be a positive.

Oh and did I mention the cats. Apparently there is a story or section of the Quran where the prophet Muhammad was nice to cats. So cats run rampant. No one wants to be mean to the cats. They come right into the house like they are pets but these are feral cats. After a few weeks of me throwing rocks at them, er near them, they take off when they see me pick up a rock. So cats have free rain. They'll beat their donkeys, which they use for their livelihoods but kick a cat and you get in trouble. Doesn't make a lot of sense from my perspective.

I realize this all comes off as overly negative and it is at the moment. I could have painted a rosier picture projecting into the future of what my ultimate evaluation will be, but it feels better almost therapeutic to just be brutally honest at the moment, good, bad or indifferent. Thankfully the farm is in an area less densely populated and the work on the farm is relaxing in comparison. I do have complete faith that when I return home, I'll look back on these experiences and they will seem comical and interesting again and I'll be glad to have had the opportunity to test my patience, perspective and comfort level. But not right now.

FARM UPDATES:

Still waiting on the donations that came in to be transferred to the bank account in Jordan so no major developments on the farm. I have mostly been troubleshooting the irrigation, installing some water harvesting earthworks and fine tuning things as much as possible. I devised a solution to the problem of checking the drippers that irrigate the trees. We use mulch around the trees to retain moisture and eventually build soil. So to be effective the drippers are placed underneath the mulch. Well running around digging through mulch to check the irrigation on the 100 or so trees gets old fast. I wrote a field research article for the permaculture website you can read if you are interested. My solution also makes use of one of the lovely items of trash decorating the landscape.

Click Here for article.

PLAYING THE TOURIST:

I was able to take a few days off and explore Jordan. Muhammad, Wade, Tael and myself went on a trip down south to see Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra. We drove to Aqaba first. A resort city on the red sea. It wasn't as nice as I was thinking but still a good break from the from and the village. Plus having a swim felt pretty damn good. We arrived at night and the next day walked around a bit then got some fresh fish and lamb for a BBQ on the beach. Then just before sunset we were off to Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a crazy desert filled with wind sculpted rock formations. They filmed a lot of Lawrence of Arabia here. I guess I better see that damn movie now. After getting lost we arrived around 10 pm and after some food and tea went to our tents to sleep. It was bloody freezing and the three blankets I had just barely cut it. The next morning we hired a guide to drive us around the desert. We originally were going to take a camel tour but were informed there are too many things too see and given our short window of time a 4 x 4 was a better option. i was excited about the camel ride but hey our driver was a Bedouin so who cares if we traded Camel for Toyota. Apparently when it is warmer here it is quite a scene. There were only two other people at the camp when we arrived.

After tearing around the desert and scampering up some sweet rock formations we were off to Petra

We arrived here at 3:30pm and after parking and buying our tickets we finally entered the park at 4pm, We basically had and hour and a half of daylight to explore what you should minimally give yourself half a day. Oh well what are you going to do. Otherwise we would have had to stay overnight and I was just ready to be done with the trip for other reasons we need not discuss here.

Anyway we just started walking and none of us even had any idea where we going or how long it takes to get there. since it was late in the day we were the only people walking in our direction, everyone else was on there way out. Once we entered the Siq, the narrow gorge that brings you to the city the anticipation was getting high. Then we came around a bend and you could see this massive faced peaking through. then when you walk into the open you realize how massive it is and then you realize this was carved by hand a few thousand years ago. But no time to reflect times a wasting so after a few photos we were off. Luckily someone was kid enough to litter a brochure on the ground for me to pick up and see what the layout was. Well we were not even half way though. So we can either call it a day and walk back or keep going. well I was determined to get to the end for some reason. Probably because I realized I'm most likely not coming back so I want to see the end. And what is the end, after about 800 steps up a mountain you get to the Monastery the last site in the park. And that was running 800 steps. Muhammad was with me and did damn well for someone who smokes like 2 packs a day. Although I'm pretty sure he wanted to throw me off the cliff when we got to the top. He said we ran up all those steps for this? Taban lak. (fuck you) I think the grandeur gets lost wen you think your lungs are going to explode.

I don't recommend trying to see all of Petra in an hour and a half. Or running up 800 stairs that are thousands of years old. But I did, so there.

All in all an interesting trip but now i need a vacation from my vacation.

until next time.

for photos click here

Reality Check...one two, one two

If you were to get up and walk to the sink and turn on the faucet, there is a pretty damn good chance that water will come out. And if it didn't you'd be surprised to say the least, more likely pissed off and annoyed at the inconvenience. You'd then wonder who is to blame for this unacceptable turn of events. I mean it is your god given right as a human being to expect water to come out of the tap when you need it....right?

Well.....Salaam Alaykum. Welcome to Jordan.

It doesn't work like that here.

Not where I am anyway, sitting in a former Palestinian Refugee camp 400 meters below sea level. In the Jordan Valley, the lowest place on earth. Yep that's right the ocean is 400 meters above my head. I'm currently working on the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project started by Geoff and Nadia Lawton. The intention of the project is to create a Permaculture demonstration site/education center that will enable local residents to replicate the techniques in their homes and add a layer of security that no arsenal of modern weaponry can touch.

The city water turns on maybe twice a week. So everyone has tanks on the roof they fill when it does. And if you run out then you either buy in a truckload or do without. Yeah do without in an area with average yearly rainfall of 200 mm, and temperatures in the summer of 50 degrees celsius (122 Fahrenheit) lets see the residents of Los Angeles or New York City deal with that.

I've been here for 3 weeks now and perspective shift is an extreme understatement. It is quite literally another world here. Just like southeast asia is another world, the middle east is another world. Another culture, another language, another way of life. There are different ways one must conduct themselves, especially when it comes to male and female interactions. You can save your women's lib comments, the women here don't want to hear it. On the outside it seems that the women are repressed and forced to cover up. In reality its all done for their protection, the covering from head to toe is actually for the men's benefit. As they say, a man cannot resist looking at a pretty women so the women cover up to save the men bad credit. Oh and a respectful man would never approach a strange woman, you get one look for free and thats it, if she wants to approach you then you can talk to her. Basically to be safe you spend a lot of time staring at the ground.

Its a far cry from the demonized portrayal we get on the local news back in the states and in most of the western world. Speaking of which a prime example is the War on Gaza. I can only imagine the tired attempt at reporting the news stations back home are doing. Watching the news here you get a bit of a different story. First off on the BBC they say 1000 Palestinians DIED, and 13 Israelis KILLED. on Aljazeera they say 1000 Palestinians KILLED, 13 Israelis KILLED. So what does the BBC think those thousand Palestinians died of? Cancer?!

On the news you hear "Israel is not targeting civilians". On the news, I see Schools and UN buildings, yes thats right United Nations Buildings used as safe houses for women and children destroyed by Israeli air-strikes.

We could go on all day, but sitting here eating dinner, made to feel like part of the family, watching these atrocities on the tv and thinking, jesus christ, this house, these people, these smiling kids are the same ones losing limbs, losing family members, losing any hope at a dignified existence.

So this project here in Jordan, whose population is one half displaced Palestinian refugees, is a real, practical, on the ground attempt at basic human security. Clean water, healthy food, appropriate energy technology, and proper waste management. Something no political leadership can provide.

And a special note for all those change-aholics ga ga for Obama. I'm glad to have a president that doesn't speak like a moron now, but sorry to burst your bubble, REAL change starts from the bottom up not the top down. That day has long since passed. So if you want to participate in REAL change then please feel free to donate to the project.

click here for a break down of items needed. Its tax deductible, so do something positive with those tax dollars before Uncle Sam gets them. We know what that sponsors.

And if you really want a change then come volunteer on the project. Volunteers needed by end of March. Contact Geoff@permaculture.org.au for details. Permaculture Design Certificate required.

wanna see some pictures now? Ok just one more thing before we go....

Check your over-sanitized anti bacterial everything, toilet paper wiping, isn't it dangerous-what about Al Queda?, bullshit at the door and come along for a ride. I promise its an experience you never knew you needed.

cheers, Masalama

Eric Seider

for pics click here