Caroline and Marlise were busy last week setting up an art gallery displaying the works of Dutch painter Piet Gerrits. Piet Gerrits lived in Husn for 5 years in the early 1900's. He is known for painting Biblical scenes with a particularly Eastern flair, using the locals from Husn as inspiration. For example, Piet Gerrits had witnessed a Husn woman holding her murdered son in her arms as she mourned. He transformed this memory into a painting of Mary holding the already crucified Jesus in her arms. Abouna Imad plans on including a Piet Gerrits gallery in a community center he is currently raising money for. This is Caroline and Marlise's project while they are in Jordan. Attending the gallery was the acting Dutch Ambassador to Jordan, who's a nice guy interested in maintaining the link that Jordan and Holland have throug
h Piet Gerrits. I was able to practice German with the Ambassador's secretary, which was great because most Jordanians don't appreciate the language. All of the girls complain that it's ugly because "I love you" is "Ich liebe dich." Girls. A group of us went with the Ambassador to lunch at the Touristic Castle. It was a pretty interesting place. It doesn't really cater to walk-ins; it's more for group reservations and large-scale celebrations. Speaking of which, Caroline, Marlise and I were able to see a wedding. The wedding took place in the Al-Husn Church (I am currently a flight of stairs and 10 steps away from it), and the guests were all Christian Arabs. Wa'il was there, of course, because he is related to and / or knows everyone in Husn. We went ahead and got in line to congratulate the bride, groom, and their family. I got a lot of "okay . . . don't remember seeing you before" looks, which is pretty understandable considering they haven't. I also took some of their chocolate. I don't think I'm a very good wedding crasher. At the end of the ceremony, the audience erupted into Bedouin-style cheering (think "aiiilaiilaiiilaiiilaiilaiii
"). It was altogether a good experience to see how things were done over here marriage-wise. The thing I like best about Jordan so far is the importance the people place on family life. Divorce is almost unheard of, and families are always spending time together. A typical evening for an Al-Husn family is to spend a few hours relaxing outside in the cool air, drinking tea and coffee. Neighbors will drop by, and there are always enough chairs to go around. Even the sitting rooms inside are remarkable. I have yet to see a sitting room in any house that will seat fewer than 12 people. There are some that I've seen that can sit around 24. Families are bigger here, and there is a tremendous respect for hospitality. I haven't met most of my neighbors. I couldn't tell you what their last names are. It's pretty ridiculous. I love technology, but I think it comes at a price: we can connect with a person anywhere in the world, but that makes us unwilling to walk out of our homes to meet the people to whom we live next door. Weird.
h Piet Gerrits. I was able to practice German with the Ambassador's secretary, which was great because most Jordanians don't appreciate the language. All of the girls complain that it's ugly because "I love you" is "Ich liebe dich." Girls. A group of us went with the Ambassador to lunch at the Touristic Castle. It was a pretty interesting place. It doesn't really cater to walk-ins; it's more for group reservations and large-scale celebrations. Speaking of which, Caroline, Marlise and I were able to see a wedding. The wedding took place in the Al-Husn Church (I am currently a flight of stairs and 10 steps away from it), and the guests were all Christian Arabs. Wa'il was there, of course, because he is related to and / or knows everyone in Husn. We went ahead and got in line to congratulate the bride, groom, and their family. I got a lot of "okay . . . don't remember seeing you before" looks, which is pretty understandable considering they haven't. I also took some of their chocolate. I don't think I'm a very good wedding crasher. At the end of the ceremony, the audience erupted into Bedouin-style cheering (think "aiiilaiilaiiilaiiilaiilaiii
"). It was altogether a good experience to see how things were done over here marriage-wise. The thing I like best about Jordan so far is the importance the people place on family life. Divorce is almost unheard of, and families are always spending time together. A typical evening for an Al-Husn family is to spend a few hours relaxing outside in the cool air, drinking tea and coffee. Neighbors will drop by, and there are always enough chairs to go around. Even the sitting rooms inside are remarkable. I have yet to see a sitting room in any house that will seat fewer than 12 people. There are some that I've seen that can sit around 24. Families are bigger here, and there is a tremendous respect for hospitality. I haven't met most of my neighbors. I couldn't tell you what their last names are. It's pretty ridiculous. I love technology, but I think it comes at a price: we can connect with a person anywhere in the world, but that makes us unwilling to walk out of our homes to meet the people to whom we live next door. Weird.
1 comment:
you know what ...the wedding was for my first cousin :P his father and my father are brothers :P
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