Florence hears a new tune....

I heard an interesting story from a traveller recently. The person was talking about moving into the world of travel and how leaving the familiar attracts comment and action from others who remain in the same motion as before, just without the traveller.
She said,

It is like a dance, you know, Your family in particular is like being part of a dance where everyone knows the steps, the rhythmn and the outcomes when the memory tune  begins to play. I was in a dance, she said.... I was in a dance where we all took our places, the music began and we danced. Some "friends" are like that too. When I move this way, then you do this- oh, she said... the familiarity and comfort of these actions because everyone knows where they are. If I say this then you will do that because that is how it works.

Then someone decides they want to Samba when the others waltz... this of course means they are listening to a new rhythmn, a different beat, a silent tune that makes them do things that do not fit. Immediately someone tries to pull them into place- get those steps right, hear the tune that they hear... but her music continues as the lure of change means that she is out of step and others cannot move in the same way. She said it is like the beat of a different drum and how interesting are the ways that others use to make you stay the same so they can can continue  a same interaction with you.
She said, I heard that different tune. I wanted to travel, leave the familiar because I wanted to hear more new tunes, dance to many different beats and find different ways of dancing with new partners....
So she said, she left the familiar and went......
The story caught my mind and my thinking as I began to ponder how often we remain because we do not hear the changed beat.
Just thinking...

Florence and the Feast of Jordan

How much hummus can a person eat? Well, actually, quite a lot! I love it ! The food of Jordan is wonderful - like most of the food in the Middle East. What was interesting in Jordan was the range and variety of fresh fruit and vegetables.
When you see Jordan, and the stony hills, the soil that looks as if it nothing could work its way through the rock, it is a mystery how you can end up with the food that appears. However, there are the "oasis" places- I guess they are he waadis, where the water is. In one huge area , outside of Amman, there is a whole valley floor full of greenhouses, and here the valley is green and almost lush- a sharp contrast to where I live!
And seafood? I indulged greedily! Jordanian red wine? Love it- quite a lot of emotion involved there!

We stayed in a little hotel called The Boutique Hotel. It was right in the middle of everything in the oldest section of Jordan. We could have stayed in a more modern area but this was the best place to be. There were very few Westerners there so our exposure to the reality of Jordan was quite intense and certainly memorable. Up from where we stayed, there is a street called Rainbow Street- here there is  agreater Western influence of the food offerings but it is still excellent. We sat up in an arty cafe, as it poured with rain outside( rain is a rarity in Kuwait- 2 times this year actually) ........and drank Turkish coffe!
Each evening we made out way over to Zorba's- a restuarant up numerous stair flights but with the best service and food and drink.... most nights were very long!
There is a cafe , Jaffre, across from the Boutique Hotel. Here you can smoke sheesha and drink great coffee. I learnt how to make Turkish cofffee ! The smoking of sheesha is ritualistic and this enhances the pleasures of smoking  flavoured tobbacco.

Breakfast at our hotel( it was like a hostel actually) was hummus, flat bread, another chickpea dip, fennel seeds mixed with sesame seeds and something else, hard boiled eggs, and falafel... and coffee!

Amazing......

Entrance to the bathroom at Zorba's

Seafood feast

Jordanian Red

Florencia and the Romans( and the pagans, and the Greeks)

Well I failed to cross the Jordan River!


BUT

I was close. 

So much to say! I think this weekend calls for several separate posts... 
My school days consisted of many hours in church- private boarding school of Methodist denomination( initially)- many hours spent singing hymns and reading  from the bible- I think it fair to say that I am pretty familiar with biblical tales and such. 
This weekend was all about these very places- there was a some humn about Joshua and the walls of Jericho- I saw the earliest known carved figurine in the museum atop the Citadel and it was from Jericho where Neoliths had lived for a very long time......
The land is old in stories and in culture. The times gone are those that are imparted in the christian bible-  and all who pa\assed through left their mark- the  Egyptians, the Nabateans, Romans, Greeks, Turks.... all made a mark that seemed to want to echo down through time , like Ozymandias -

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

But the majesty of the empires has not been denied- it stands still, monumental in its reminders of colossal and powerful worlds.There is no meekness in the columns, there is no weakness in the towering granite It was designed to stand and to remain powerful in the visual world.

But it is only parts of these places.

I marvelled at the engineering  at Jerash- columns built to withstand earthquakes and supporting large rectangular stones that would sing, when the earth vibrated, warning of things to come; the music stones that were rhymically pounded, the visual architecture that sang of power and grandeur; the m

oonstones and semiprecious stons planted in the walls of the souk so that when the sun shone the reflected light would dance amid a fountain in the front......

These were indeed inspiring.

The citadel that stands above Amman in ancient- built firstly upon a pagan site then gradually accommodating each new wave that crossed into Jordan- the stories have been left- and it is the a museum of enormous fascination - my next post will speak of this.

I leave you with the images

Florence and Worldly Women of Kuwait....

So.... National Day celebrations in Kuwait?

This woman has black braids and I will be her blonde image in September

The Sheik

Kuwaitis are hugely proud of their country. If you are not aware, the Bedouins originally came to the coast to escape the horror heat  of the desert( I get that).... and , it was a strong trading country for a long time with fishing as a major industry. Britain discovered Kuwait and oil was discovered in the 1930's ( I think)... the rest is history. This country has the 3rd richest oil reserves in its huge Burgan Field. No wonder it has been courted and supported by the US..... it is also one of the most forward of the Arabian states with women achieving the vote in the 1990's...
I loved the feel of celebrations and the huge pride that my girls show for their world.... something to really see.

And the women I work with? I am so lucky! What  a diverse and amazing group of women we are!
We are Muslim and Christian... we are black and white... some of us are very pink... and we are everything in between... but we are all teachers . We are Syrian and Lebanese, we are Yanks and we are Poms... and there is a blonde Aussie right in there...... we are Canadian and South African....

You know ? How strange that we all work together ..... we do not need a government to criminalise language nor to denigrate religious difference..... we recognise and respect our humanity...

Straya and Lebanon

Strayan and USA

Girls in their dresses for National Day

Mixing it up with Syria and .... OMG Rosie!

Chanel at ACA via Lebanon

Awesome mix! Egypt, Syria, Canada, USA, Lebanon

Lovely A'laa

Spontaneous art !

Karen...

In the beginning all was quiet.....

We ladies of ACA...

Florence and the Sandilands

Sand...

 you might nod your head sagely and inquire of me....,"What did you expect?"
Well, I did not expect the sand to be so constant- some days it is like a haze across the city and other days you just know it is there.... sneeze!

I took a little hike this afternoon, up to the roof... I guess you would call it the 12th floor

and this is Kuwait from above...
Constant construction- building removed , steel scavenged.... an di no time at all there will be a new building....
Cant offer much more this week as we head into Kuwait National day and all associated activities.

But today brought some serious sand..... there was even a haze in the building.....

It is not beautiful at the top!!!!

Night of the Floating Florence

Come cruising they said! Come cruising and have some fun , they said...... Those who know me well are aware of my feelings about water, and sea and all that swim beneath the waves.. 

It was with a brave heart that I entered into this arrangement.

Off we set, accompanying the Britsh Ladies League of Kuwait and the Canadian Expats- mixed with the odd Australian and others.  The evening was beautiful  as now the weather is definitely headed towards summer again . It has been a very short respite.

It was a dinner cruise

around Kuwait Harbour - The Arabian Gulf

and seeing Kuwait City from the water adds a whole new perspective on this place. 

My words will be inadequate

but as the sun goes down over the Gulf, it spreads a golden light that seems to fade into  every pastel colour you can think of.....

And three hours later we returned

to park amongst the toys and playthings of the very rich....

each screaming massive wealth and privilege.

Loving this place!