knafe connoisseur
OK, the Rudolph Valentino guy just told me I have to sleep here at the internet cafe tomorrow and then fixed my chair while I was sitting in it. We are close, I see.
Here I am again because I am so desperate to have a conversation where people understand me and I understand them that I will just reread all email. I went to the knafe/knefeh place nextdoor and the guy approached me after we got through the simple business of ordering and said, "Fondo?" Um, WTF? I have no clue what he was saying, and he got disgusted and walked away. Then I stopped at the store for water (all these desserts have so much sugar that they require lots of water) and the shop clerk said, "What go you for in Jordan?" Um, WTF? I'm so confused. And I feel like an idiot because it's all my fault for not speaking Arabic. Sigh. And Mahmoud was feeling under the weather today, so my only chance for real conversation didn't happen much.
The only cute boy I've mentioned (who hangs out in the stationery store) I've now made blush (again, I think Roberta would be proud). He's probably young enough to be my son. Oh - good news - I've apparently aged significantly in the time I've been gone. People now guess my age to be about 35.
Wow, Temple University Law School just also waived my application fee for law school. Too bad, Temple, I'm PhD bound.
So, after my last time here, I went to the stationery store to ask how late buses run (thinking of my stranger visit tomorrow and my lack of desire to sleep with her despite her enthusiasm). Mahmoud actually looked concerned about who this stranger is that I'm going away with. "You have to decide if you trust her," he said. "Mahmoud, I did not know you AT ALL." "Yes, but that was ok." Hm. In my mind, showing up in a completely foreign land with him as my only contact, and that only after having met him once briefly while serving me food and then an afternoon together in Davis - THAT is a leap of faith and trust. Now that I'm here and believe Jordanians commit no crimes, do no bad things - to get on a bus with a total stranger seems fine. (Although, I did know his connection to UC Davis and he's not some random person completely.) (He asked if she is the woman who works at the cafe ... the same woman who asked me yesterday where my friend is ... am I sensing a love connection in their inquiries about each other? I like her - she's smart and friendly. Hm ... how can I hook these two up?? But no, it's not her.)
But, I'll have her leave contact number and address at the hotel so he can reach me or call out the Jordanian National Guard before I'm whisked off to be held hostage in Libya or something. Oh wait, are they still axis of evil? I always get confused, since the one proclaiming that whole BS is the most evil that I know of. And I picture the rescue as interesting as the time I was rescued by Search and Rescue in the Oregon wilderness - only before the offical S&R guys could get there, my friends Lara and Jacque came roaring up with food and water for both me and Selma. This time, it would be Mahmoud with the stationery boys and IT boys, Rudolph Valentino leading the charge. I wonder if they would ride camels or horses, or steal a diesel minivan.
Anyway, boys are funny - they get this paternal thing going sometimes. And it can be entertaining in VERY small doses, but I already have a father and don't need more. And my father doesn't tell me what to do, and neither do my closest friends. Because, I think I'm Arab at heart. I was going to use the Net2Phone thing, but Mamoon's brother said it's always a crappy connection, so I didn't. Mamoon later said, "Oh, you listened to him? I thought you would be like an Arab and do the opposite of what you're told."
Bee Gees playing. Staying Alive. As long as nobody talks to me, I could be anywhere in the English speaking world. The other IT guy, with one leg and you can imagine how badly I want to ask him how he lost his leg, was trying to make conversation, but I'm here with a mission to find a hostel in Thailand. Oh - think I found one - above an internet cafe.
Oh, there's Hotel California again. Mr. One Leg does love me.
Oh, Rudolph Valentino just offered me coffee and said, "This song for you." Um, it might be time for me to mosey along soon. I know I'm extremely slow about realizing when people are "friendly" but I'm not a complete idiot.
OK, found an excellent hotel in Chennai (India) for me - $10/night and airport pickup and breakfast and tours arranged from there and centrally located. Perfect.
OK, time to head back and read some more of Beloved. Yes, Toni Morrison's. I finished Jude the Obscure, then The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich, and then Gemini by Nikki Giovanni (not recommended). I'm on a roll. I like Beloved - I think I started to read it almost 20 years ago and it made no sense to me, but now I'm enjoying it and while it's definitely deep and multi-layered, not inaccessible. Tomorrow I need to walk around and take lots more pictures of cool shops and all that.
OK, "Hotel California" for the third time is starting to get creepy.
Here I am again because I am so desperate to have a conversation where people understand me and I understand them that I will just reread all email. I went to the knafe/knefeh place nextdoor and the guy approached me after we got through the simple business of ordering and said, "Fondo?" Um, WTF? I have no clue what he was saying, and he got disgusted and walked away. Then I stopped at the store for water (all these desserts have so much sugar that they require lots of water) and the shop clerk said, "What go you for in Jordan?" Um, WTF? I'm so confused. And I feel like an idiot because it's all my fault for not speaking Arabic. Sigh. And Mahmoud was feeling under the weather today, so my only chance for real conversation didn't happen much.
The only cute boy I've mentioned (who hangs out in the stationery store) I've now made blush (again, I think Roberta would be proud). He's probably young enough to be my son. Oh - good news - I've apparently aged significantly in the time I've been gone. People now guess my age to be about 35.
Wow, Temple University Law School just also waived my application fee for law school. Too bad, Temple, I'm PhD bound.
So, after my last time here, I went to the stationery store to ask how late buses run (thinking of my stranger visit tomorrow and my lack of desire to sleep with her despite her enthusiasm). Mahmoud actually looked concerned about who this stranger is that I'm going away with. "You have to decide if you trust her," he said. "Mahmoud, I did not know you AT ALL." "Yes, but that was ok." Hm. In my mind, showing up in a completely foreign land with him as my only contact, and that only after having met him once briefly while serving me food and then an afternoon together in Davis - THAT is a leap of faith and trust. Now that I'm here and believe Jordanians commit no crimes, do no bad things - to get on a bus with a total stranger seems fine. (Although, I did know his connection to UC Davis and he's not some random person completely.) (He asked if she is the woman who works at the cafe ... the same woman who asked me yesterday where my friend is ... am I sensing a love connection in their inquiries about each other? I like her - she's smart and friendly. Hm ... how can I hook these two up?? But no, it's not her.)
But, I'll have her leave contact number and address at the hotel so he can reach me or call out the Jordanian National Guard before I'm whisked off to be held hostage in Libya or something. Oh wait, are they still axis of evil? I always get confused, since the one proclaiming that whole BS is the most evil that I know of. And I picture the rescue as interesting as the time I was rescued by Search and Rescue in the Oregon wilderness - only before the offical S&R guys could get there, my friends Lara and Jacque came roaring up with food and water for both me and Selma. This time, it would be Mahmoud with the stationery boys and IT boys, Rudolph Valentino leading the charge. I wonder if they would ride camels or horses, or steal a diesel minivan.
Anyway, boys are funny - they get this paternal thing going sometimes. And it can be entertaining in VERY small doses, but I already have a father and don't need more. And my father doesn't tell me what to do, and neither do my closest friends. Because, I think I'm Arab at heart. I was going to use the Net2Phone thing, but Mamoon's brother said it's always a crappy connection, so I didn't. Mamoon later said, "Oh, you listened to him? I thought you would be like an Arab and do the opposite of what you're told."
Bee Gees playing. Staying Alive. As long as nobody talks to me, I could be anywhere in the English speaking world. The other IT guy, with one leg and you can imagine how badly I want to ask him how he lost his leg, was trying to make conversation, but I'm here with a mission to find a hostel in Thailand. Oh - think I found one - above an internet cafe.
Oh, there's Hotel California again. Mr. One Leg does love me.
Oh, Rudolph Valentino just offered me coffee and said, "This song for you." Um, it might be time for me to mosey along soon. I know I'm extremely slow about realizing when people are "friendly" but I'm not a complete idiot.
OK, found an excellent hotel in Chennai (India) for me - $10/night and airport pickup and breakfast and tours arranged from there and centrally located. Perfect.
OK, time to head back and read some more of Beloved. Yes, Toni Morrison's. I finished Jude the Obscure, then The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich, and then Gemini by Nikki Giovanni (not recommended). I'm on a roll. I like Beloved - I think I started to read it almost 20 years ago and it made no sense to me, but now I'm enjoying it and while it's definitely deep and multi-layered, not inaccessible. Tomorrow I need to walk around and take lots more pictures of cool shops and all that.
OK, "Hotel California" for the third time is starting to get creepy.
posted by NOLA at 10:46 AM
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