Jordan

Allan’s parents arrived in Jordan January 1, 1952. They had expected to work in north Lebanon, but were sent instead to replace another family who hadn’t stayed in Jordan. They weren’t told until later that the family had stayed one night and immediately returned to the United States. The Darnells were shown around by a pioneer missionary who believed in roughing it, so he took them to the little restaurant in the back of a butcher shop or he would bring them an Arab sweet made with sheep fat for breakfast. My vegetarian mother-in-law had a hard time swallowing that.

Their guide stayed the two to three weeks it took to find an apartment on the edge of town where the cold wind blew in off the canyon. They had shipped an easy spin washer/dryer and a kerosene stove. The stove came in handy while Mom stayed home alone on the long nights when Dad was traveling between the two churches he pastored.

They lived across the street from a Muslim high school that served several hundred boys. The boys were Dad’s introduction to Islamic theology. They would report to Dad what their religion teachers said and take Dad’s ideas back to their teachers. As Palestinian refugees poured into Jordan, some of the boys from the school became involved in guerilla warfare against Israel and they would tell Dad about their experiences. Other boys were frightened that Dad would tell what he knew to the Zionists, so they sent him a threatening letter. Dad showed the letter to the boys who confided in him, and they worked it out between themselves so Dad was not threatened again.

In the meantime, Mom was learning Arabic from a church friend and what to buy from a Palestinian merchant who told her what the British people purchased. Mom grated soap for her easy spin washer and learned how to combine tomatoes and eggplant in as many ways as possible as those were the only produce available in the summer.

At some point, they told me, Mom and Dad moved into an upstairs apartment owned by the minister of finance for the Jordanian government who was also the head of the Muslim brotherhood. When there were riots against Americans because the government was considering signing the American supported Baghdad Pact against the wishes of the common people, their landlord stood at the gate, blocking anyone who might consider going up the steps of their apartment to harm them. The Darnells lived in Jordan for five years before they were evacuated and spent the next twenty years in Lebanon, where Allan and his brothers were born.

Jordan has similar food to the Lebanese food I learned to cook for Allan: falafel, humus, labanah, baba ghanouj, stuffed grape leaves, kabobs, and other grilled meat and fish. Besides these things and my favorite salmon salad at the Jordanian restaurant Desert Moon Grill in Anaheim, I’ve ordered things I haven't tried before - muthawama (pureed garlic and potato dip) and makdous - pickled eggplant stuffed with walnuts, red pepper, garlic, olive oil and salt.

Another Jordanian restaurant I tried is Petra Middle Eastern Cuisine in Livermore. I asked the owner the difference between Jordanian food and Lebanese food. He told me with pride that his wife cooks Jordanian food. This just might become my favorite stopping place for food when I drive between NorCal and SoCal. I was so happy to get vegetables on the road! Allan's mom makes fried cauliflower and I've also made it a few times, so that wasn't new to me. When I ordered the fried vegetables, it came with cauliflower, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers (the last two not fried) on a bed of rice and the wife also threw in a couple falafels. All delicious!

Even if the mezze, entrees, and vegetables are similar to Lebanese food, the Jordanian desserts are like nothing I’ve had before! Last Monday, I took my nephew and his friends on a college road trip and we stopped on the way home at Knafeh Café in Anaheim, in the same strip mall as Desert Moon Grill. We shared the Crispy Knafeh (cheese topped with shredded filo and drenched in syrup), Soft Knafeh (cheese topped with buttery dough and drenched in syrup), Hareeseh (semolina cake drenched in honey and syrup), and another dessert with shredded filo and Nutella, also drenched in syrup. We enjoyed everything so much that Gladys and I went back today and picked up more of everything for the family.

Here are some Jordanian recipes to try this amazing food at home: https://wanderingwagars.com/easy-jordanian-recipes/ especially the knafeh for dessert: https://www.redpathsugar.com/recipe/knafeh-middle-eastern-sweet-cheese-pastry

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade may have given the world a glimpse of Petra, but there is so much more to see! Allan has been to Petra several times, the most recent when he was 14 years old. This week, we watched Petra: Secrets of the Ancient Builders by National Geographic on DisneyPlus. Petra is also a highlight of the Jordan Trail on the series Epic Trails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp4o5LzAYoo

Another ancient engineering feat, the Roman amphitheater in Amman, can be seen as the setting of this full concert by Jordanian pianist and composer Zade Dirani as he plays with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnPjo_VSYV4. The concert was my favorite, and these two additional Jordanian musicians are also fun to watch. You can have YouTube auto-translate the lyrics into English by turning on the closed captions (CC), then choosing Settings, then English.

· Omar Al-Abdallat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lYoYRrjkbE&list=PLvcazWgooJX_zYWLyx7jJZTYTuBrqwvED

· Diana Karazon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en_NxZeYhOc.

As Allan remembers it, the people of Jordan are the most hospitable and friendly of any of the people in the middle east. Being stable, Jordan took in Palestinian refugees. Allan’s parents met many during their time there and I have some stories to share about them when we get to Palestine. Currently, Jordan provides a safe space for Syrian refugees. Kanopy has two thoughtful and sometimes painful documentaries on this subject, Watan: Portraits of Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Terror and Hope: The Science of Resilience. Jordan has given itself a big job to have compassion for refugees.

Remembering that compassion and hospitality, I was sad to find that the libraries I use are short on books by Jordanian authors. Here are a few ideas if you want to track some down https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/jordan/articles/expressions-of-identity-the-best-contemporary-jordanian-writers/. The autobiography of Queen Noor might also be interesting. Instead, I took what was at hand on CD from the San Bernardino County Library. The Triple Agent: The Al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA by Joby Warrick is fascinating, but next time I will work harder at finding appreciative resources. This Amjad Nasser interview about Amman fits my objective better: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/the-city-and-the-writer-in-amman-with-amjad-nasser-nathalie-handal

After the serious works I've listed on Jordan, May in the Summer has some refreshing comedy mixed into the drama of a Jordanian American coming home to her Christian mother in Jordan to plan a wedding to her Muslim fiancé. You can watch it without advertisement on Kanopy or with advertisements here: https://tubitv.com/movies/602400/may-in-the-summer

May in the Summer gives me the best view of what it would be like to visit Jordan today, and TheCrazyTourist allows me to get more specific about any plans I might make: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-jordan/#more-24721. As with all travel, a local travel advisor is helpful. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive. May we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Jordan and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Ahmad Qaisieh https://unsplash.com/photos/dnNSg7qxhV0