new year - new words

It is 2010!

I have learned that like Christmas, New Year's is not really a big celebration here. It's nice - just another normal social evening, so there is no big pressure to "do something" the way there can be back home. I liked that - it was a relief.

That being said, I was actually invited to two different events last night to ring in the new year. One was for an outdoor gathering on the beautifully named Rainbow Street in Jebel Amman - a lovely part of town in the old city centre that comes closest to being 'hip' in a western sense and rapidly gentrifying as a consequence. Apparently it was the first time ever that a new year's eve was to be celebrated in an outdoor public open space. Like Time's Square, only smaller. About 100 people were expected. People in my office were excited at the prospect of such a public gathering.

The second, equally lovely, invitation was to the home of the brother of a colleague where a group of friends was gathering to celebrate. This group is an accomplished bunch, well-travelled, well-educated, and well-placed in all kinds of senior positions in government and business. I was curious to meet the brother. The family is originally from the west bank town of Nablus, but the siblings ended up in different countries throughout the region.

The brother lived in Baghdad for more than 20 years working as an engineer and his wife for the UN. They left a couple of years ago, the current instability finally pushing them out. They left everything - their house, furniture, cars - and cannot get anything back. There are no records left in Baghdad of the family ever having lived there, so reclaiming these belongings, for the time being anyway, is impossible. And so they have begun anew here in Jordan, building a new house, setting up again. (As an aside: it is really interesting how porous the regional borders are for well-educated people ... the number of people I have met who grew up here, studied in Beirut, lived in Damascus, spent some time working in Abu Dhabi or Dubai or Baghdad, and ended up in Amman - or some combination thereof - is impressive).

In the end, I accepted neither of these kind invitations, as nice as they were. I moved into a new apartment, instead - same building, different floor, more light, nicer layout. And I was tired after a long week, so I went to bed early, slept a long time and greeted the new year feeling sunny and fresh - like the day itself.

To make the most of January 1st, I headed 50km north to investigate some more Roman and Byzantine ruins. Again there was sunshine and cardomom-scented coffee and bedouin shepherds steering goats through the ruins. And delight as I watched my taxi driver, the excellent Ahmad, play soccer with some street kids in a first century amphitheatre. Ahmad made me realize that I am actually learning some arabic. He spoke very little English and let me practice my best phrases like "i'd like coffee, thank you" and taught me new words to name the things we were seeing around us - pomegranates, sheep, olive groves, lemon trees, churches, columns. A curious vocabulary.

And so 2010 begins. No pictures of ruins today, as I misplaced my camera this morning. Instead a picture with some nice fellows Hashem and Hussam - tourists from Iraq - who I met last weekend when we were all hiking on a trail overlooking the dead sea. Proof I am really here.

Wishing everyone peace, prosperity, good health and happiness for the new year! H