I offer you two explanations, of which you can pick one, for the title of this post.
The first is that sleeping on a felafel sandwich, noom fi shautiirim felafel in arabee, is a profound metaphor meant to describe the underlying relationship between all of the different communities in the Middle East. It is meant to suggest that no matter what your religion, ethnicity, or nationality, you have likely fallen asleep on a felafel sandwich in your lifetime. It is an expression infused with the hope that instead of focusing on the differences between cultures, you must focus on the commonalities.
The second explanation is that at the end of the tour of Amman yesterday, I fell asleep on the bus. I shifted in my seat to find a more comfortable position having forgotten that I had placed a felafel sandwich in my seat just an hour before. I woke up upon arrival to the AMIDEAST building with felafel and sauce on the seat of my pants.
...
We toured Amman yesterday and saw some interesting things. It was less of a tour and more of a drive with some stops. From the window of our bus we saw the US Embassy, one of HRH King Hussein's palaces, Al Husseini Mosque, and several different neighborhoods. Amman is broken up by neighborhoods and proximity to roundabouts, referred to as circles, on one of its main roads. I'm nearest the 7th Circle. I haven't gotten used to the terminology yet so when I hear that I reference Dante's Inferno and laugh to myself at the irony.
We stopped at the Roman Amphitheater and The Citadel near downtown Amman. Both are quite old. The Citadel includes one of the earliest churches in the world on its grounds and its likely one of the highest points in Amman. There you can see an enormous flag flying over the King's residence. It height and size were meant to make it the tallest flag in the world. My understanding is that is now holds 3rd place.
In the evening a few of us headed downtown for some shopping. With the advice of a very friendly taxi driver, Iman, and two new acquaintances, Mohammed from Gaza and Dylan from the States, managed to get a few good deals on a keffiyeh and a pair of sandals.
Apparently John Cena, the wrestler, is a big deal here so there were a few shops selling t-shirts with his face on them. Conor mentioned John Cena on the street and a young boy near by gave a big smile and a thumbs up and repeated his name. I can't wait to have a greater grasp of arabee so that I can interact better with the people I meet here.
...
A story I promised to tell in the last post was about an incident that occurred in Hyde Park.
My classmates and I lived in a flat overlooking Hyde Park and we took advantage of that almost daily. A few of us would go for runs in the park. Some of us rented bikes. In my second and last attempt I began my run looking for an excuse not to do it - those who run know the feeling. About 4 minutes in I reached the opposite end of the park and noticed a crowd forming around a man who was lying on the ground and bleeding from the head. I ran over to see what was going on. Someone had knocked him to the ground.
I asked if anyone had anything bandage-like and upon their blank stares I took off my shirt to use as a an alternative. This shirt became the most expensive bandage I've ever used. He wasn't bleeding much but he had been drinking so it was thin and flowing at a gentle and continuous rate. The laceration was about an inch and a quarter long near his left temple. He was in and out of consciousness but I had stopped the flow of blood and maintained his airway - about all I could do. It took the police around 25 minutes to show up and the ambulance 40 minutes. Despite knowing the nature of the incident I had to ask the police to go get a first aid kit with real bandages for me after they arrived. When the ambulance arrived I gave a verbal report and helped move him on to a scoop - something they called a backboard (semantics I guess) - and into the rig. They have lifts similar to trucks so they don't have to lift the stretcher. Luxurious, eh?
I asked the police for a ride back to my flat since I was now shirtless and they unconvincingly said they were headed in the opposite direction. I felt so weird on my walk back to the flat because no one walks around shirtless in London. I walked 15 minutes across Hyde Park and out onto the street without my shirt on. I was uncomfortable the whole time.
So if you ever see me without my shirt on I'm either at the beach or providing emergency first aid.
The first is that sleeping on a felafel sandwich, noom fi shautiirim felafel in arabee, is a profound metaphor meant to describe the underlying relationship between all of the different communities in the Middle East. It is meant to suggest that no matter what your religion, ethnicity, or nationality, you have likely fallen asleep on a felafel sandwich in your lifetime. It is an expression infused with the hope that instead of focusing on the differences between cultures, you must focus on the commonalities.
The second explanation is that at the end of the tour of Amman yesterday, I fell asleep on the bus. I shifted in my seat to find a more comfortable position having forgotten that I had placed a felafel sandwich in my seat just an hour before. I woke up upon arrival to the AMIDEAST building with felafel and sauce on the seat of my pants.
...
We toured Amman yesterday and saw some interesting things. It was less of a tour and more of a drive with some stops. From the window of our bus we saw the US Embassy, one of HRH King Hussein's palaces, Al Husseini Mosque, and several different neighborhoods. Amman is broken up by neighborhoods and proximity to roundabouts, referred to as circles, on one of its main roads. I'm nearest the 7th Circle. I haven't gotten used to the terminology yet so when I hear that I reference Dante's Inferno and laugh to myself at the irony.
We stopped at the Roman Amphitheater and The Citadel near downtown Amman. Both are quite old. The Citadel includes one of the earliest churches in the world on its grounds and its likely one of the highest points in Amman. There you can see an enormous flag flying over the King's residence. It height and size were meant to make it the tallest flag in the world. My understanding is that is now holds 3rd place.
In the evening a few of us headed downtown for some shopping. With the advice of a very friendly taxi driver, Iman, and two new acquaintances, Mohammed from Gaza and Dylan from the States, managed to get a few good deals on a keffiyeh and a pair of sandals.
Apparently John Cena, the wrestler, is a big deal here so there were a few shops selling t-shirts with his face on them. Conor mentioned John Cena on the street and a young boy near by gave a big smile and a thumbs up and repeated his name. I can't wait to have a greater grasp of arabee so that I can interact better with the people I meet here.
...
A story I promised to tell in the last post was about an incident that occurred in Hyde Park.
My classmates and I lived in a flat overlooking Hyde Park and we took advantage of that almost daily. A few of us would go for runs in the park. Some of us rented bikes. In my second and last attempt I began my run looking for an excuse not to do it - those who run know the feeling. About 4 minutes in I reached the opposite end of the park and noticed a crowd forming around a man who was lying on the ground and bleeding from the head. I ran over to see what was going on. Someone had knocked him to the ground.
I asked if anyone had anything bandage-like and upon their blank stares I took off my shirt to use as a an alternative. This shirt became the most expensive bandage I've ever used. He wasn't bleeding much but he had been drinking so it was thin and flowing at a gentle and continuous rate. The laceration was about an inch and a quarter long near his left temple. He was in and out of consciousness but I had stopped the flow of blood and maintained his airway - about all I could do. It took the police around 25 minutes to show up and the ambulance 40 minutes. Despite knowing the nature of the incident I had to ask the police to go get a first aid kit with real bandages for me after they arrived. When the ambulance arrived I gave a verbal report and helped move him on to a scoop - something they called a backboard (semantics I guess) - and into the rig. They have lifts similar to trucks so they don't have to lift the stretcher. Luxurious, eh?
I asked the police for a ride back to my flat since I was now shirtless and they unconvincingly said they were headed in the opposite direction. I felt so weird on my walk back to the flat because no one walks around shirtless in London. I walked 15 minutes across Hyde Park and out onto the street without my shirt on. I was uncomfortable the whole time.
So if you ever see me without my shirt on I'm either at the beach or providing emergency first aid.
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