Update #8 Middle East

Hi folks, Kit here (or, Kayla P. to my friends and family reading from back home) with one of our team’s last updates! We are nearing the end of our time in the Middle East and I have to say that we have been quite busy! I feel like we just got here yesterday, but at the same time it also feels like we’ve done enough activities at the library to fill up a month. Many of us also had summer classes that started at the same time we left on our trip, so we didn’t find much solace in the due dates looming over our heads on top of work at the library! I can’t wait to get home, see my family, boyfriend, and dogs, and take some well-deserved time off from summer school work. As much as I enjoyed working with the children at space camp, I think I had the most fun when I got to take an “introverting break” and reshelve or organize books. It was very much needed!

We had a fun-filled day touring historical Christian sites on Friday. Thankfully, we were able to wake up at a reasonable (read: cockroach-free) hour and hop in the vans for the 45 minute drive to the River. I don’t want to speak for most of us, but I think this was the most anticipated stop on our trip—especially since the River is the place where Jesus was baptized. It was really cool to see the cross-shaped basin at the bottom of the marble staircase and think about what it would have been like to see the Holy Spirit descending upon the open space and hearing God’s voice declare Jesus as His son. We then moved down the walking trail to see a Greek Orthodox church with many pretty mosaics and stained glass windows. At the front of the church were the well-preserved bones of an unknown saint who, according to the tourist next to me, “had a really great set of teeth!” We then finally reached the actual waters, where we had the opportunity to step in and wade around in a small, roped-off area. Although we didn’t get to touch the water at the baptism site, getting into the water at the bank was still a highlight of my day. I learned that a lot of people have this on their bucket list, so I consider myself really lucky to be able to enter the historical river and leave my footprint there. I don’t think the weather was that hot, but our sweaty selfies in the car afterwards would say otherwise. Rose told me that because we were almost 2000 feet below sea level, despite the mild weather we’ve been lucky to experience up until this point, the air density makes the sun feel so much more intense. We’re not really strangers to that kind of thing in California, though! 

Our next stop of the day was Mt. Nebo, a stark change in elevation compared to the River valley. Our fieldworker, J, told us that no less than 200 years ago, they would have walked the distance from the River valley up to the top of Mt. Nebo—2,680 feet above sea level; meaning the net difference in sea level between the two sites is about 4000 feet! I barely made it when we walked 10 miles in Petra, so I can’t imagine traveling any further than that on foot like the people in the Bible would have. Speaking of the Bible, the biblical significance of Mt. Nebo is that this is the location where Moses first stood at 120 years old to look over the Promised Land. Our group certainly loves 0.5 group photos, so we had to get a photo with the view and the abstract art installment of Jesus on the cross that stands at the top of Mt. Nebo in 0.5, of course. 

After Mt. Nebo, we were greeted in Madaba with tea, tea, and more tea. I think I probably drank at least 6-8 cups of tea while we were there, and that’s even more than how much water I had for the day. Madaba is a historically Christian city, which was mentioned in a few places in the Old Testament of the Bible. In Biblical times, it was a Moabite border city controlled by the tribes of Israel. J knows the people of Madaba very well, including our servers at lunch, who had to get in on the 0.5 action too. I tried liver for the first time, which has the texture of ground beef. It was very flavorful and definitely (surprisingly!) my favorite part of the meal. While we were at lunch, we got the great news that our luggage had (finally) arrived at the library after 9 days of waiting. Of course, it had to be while we were gone! The crisis was averted by field worker M, who accepted the luggage delivery at her apartment. After lunch, we visited Y’s shop. Y told us that his family has been in Madaba since 1908, and his shop began selling locally handmade works shortly after that. Y told us that selling handmade products from this country helps give back to the woman and families that made them, keeping them employed! I could tell that Y simply radiates a humble kind of generosity that only someone who knows he is giving back to his community could own. This country places a huge emphasis on local products as well as handmade, and I noticed that in my time at Jerash as well as the second place we visited. This was M’s mosaic shop, though he also owned two or three other storefronts with the help of his brothers. M walked us through the process of making a mosaic piece and told us that only 1/10 pieces clipped from a large stone will end up in the final product. He also taught us to differentiate between man-made mosaics and mosaics created using machines, the quicker, and unfortunately, more profitable way to make mosaics. One of his hand-made pieces cost 150 JD compared to what you could have bought it for in Jerash or Petra at 30 JD. I ended up falling in love with a black iris mosaic—which just so happens to be the national flower. Now, not only can I hang this up and remember my trip, but I can hang it up and tell a story along with it. I see the allure of all the relationships J makes with these local shopkeepers and I already know I will want to return. On our way back to the library, we went to a place ironically called Black Iris that sold lots of Dead Sea beauty products, where B gave us this fantastic lemon tea. I didn’t end up purchasing anything there, but B gave us gifts anyways, demonstrating the hospitality of the culture here once more. 

Our long day came to an end and J surprised us with mosaic mugs from M’s… yet another way I can remember my trip! Thank you J, for having us over for showers and laundry and “cap-o-cocoas” while our water was out! I won’t forget the conversations we’ve had and the time we’ve spent with you, and I can’t wait to use my new mug for a good “choco-cuppa.” Thank you for hosting us! 

We tucked into bed for an early morning—although J said we could sleep in until 8:30, field worker M had already told us to be down by 7:30. Despite being down there 2.5 hours early, prep for the huge book sale never actually ended, as we were constantly working to improve the appeal of the books for sale and rotating out books from inside to fill empty shelves. Rose and our new friends JT and JS built and rebuilt plastic shelves and there were waaaaayy too many youth books for Shaynna, Sharon, Alina, and Eliza to fit on one bookcase. The start of the day was busy, but that had died down by the middle of the day (1-3pm) and people trickled in and out at their own pace. While I was sitting outside and manning the book sale station, I met a man who had just moved to the country with his wife and son. I’m not used to being approached by men in this culture, but I was also really happy that I got to have a conversation with him as if we were locals. In fact, in my experience here so far, it seems like anytime we are just working in the library and we aren’t with J, the locals here believe that we’re locals. They don’t speak to us in English because we’re American, they speak to us in English because almost everyone here speaks English. J and M then helped that man set up a membership with the library, as I had seen a few people do throughout the day, so I’m assuming this book sale not only helps clear out the surplus of books, but also helps bring in new interest, regulars, and relationships to the library. By the end of the day, we had sold almost 400 books.

The library seems to have a unique way of bringing many cultures together, which isn’t something I saw very often in my two weeks here. One of the questions that man asked me was “What kind of community do you serve?” and I didn’t immediately understand what he meant then, but I get it now—the library is here to serve locals, Americans, and any people from all over the world; visitors, residents, friends, and strangers, and unite them by offering “reading for all.” 

Ma salama, everyone! See you in a few days! <3

-Kit (Kayla P)