The other workforce

Earlier this week in the JT (this stands for Jordanian Times and not "Journal Televise" - the abbreviation used for the French TV news), there was a very interesting article about "Women participation" in the Jordanian labour force. Feminists out there you better take a seat: only 14.9% of the workforce is represented by women - really bad considering the average in the whole Middle East - North Africa region where it's 28% (not glamorous, but slightly better).

I don't really know what kind of positions women hold in this country. I guess where I have seen the highest concentration is at our bank. Wherever you go, it is always men serving you: bars, restaurants, the baker, the fruit stalls. I have seen one female police officer since we arrived 5 months ago, even in baby shops, shoe shops or female clothes shops you have young men - and with it really loud music, usually techno. When you do groceries you'll see a woman here and there, but even most cashier positions (which are typical a woman's job in Europe) are held by men. Higher skilled positions, like teachers, journalists, lawyers, I don't have any relation with at all so I don't know.

The same goes for driving, for exemple. When we arrived to Amman, I started straight away - I thought I could as well just do it. The first day or so when I took the car and Bobs wasn't there, the doorman very sweetly commented on the fact that I was taking the car by myself and added something along the lines " my wife has always lived in Amman and she doesn't know how to get to City Mall!". We joked about it and I have asked him since if he has paid some driving lessons to his wife!? Probably not. But then there is the other problem what does she do with her 9months old baby while she is driving anyway? The use of baby seats is not wide spread and you usually see the kids crawling around in the car, poking their faces out on the windows and the mums sitting with the smaller ones on their lap (those ones also poking their faces out).

So why is it? Can Jordanian women not work and have a family? Don't they want to? Is it pure sexism? Just tradition? Are the Jordanian educated women leaving Jordan to get a well paid job somewhere else? I don't have an answer for all these questions, I certainly don't know the Jordanian population well enough to comment on them. But I know that in France for exemple, every year new reports come out and wage discrimination, job parity are always discussed.

Am no feminist - am a stay at home mum, I liked working, but I don't believe that I can work and give 100% and be a mum and give 100%. Of course if I had no choice I would have worked, but I can stay at home and I love it! However some women crave for independence, want to have their own money, a career, get out of the house - all this I totally understand - and they should have the possibility, no, the right to work, make good money (or at least as much as men!) and enjoy it as well.

Amazing Petra - Part 1: Bab el-Siq

Somewhere lost in these mountains, is the Nabataean city of Petra

As I went a long doing this post, I decided to make several parts. There is so much to tell, so many things that I think are interesting. I haven't decided how many parts there will be, let's see. It's also because I don't like when my posts get too long, I get bored, a bit confused and can't remember half the things I have written or pictures I have added. Anyways, I hope that you'll enjoy the read.

Apart for the locals and the Bedouins probably, Petra was completely forgotten and lost to the world until a Swiss traveler, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, rediscovered it in 1812.

No words are strong enough, none can pay tribute to what you see when you exit the Siq, a 1200m long and narrow gorge and arrive at the entrance of the rose-red city of ancient Petra. Petra is unique. Petra is beautiful. But we are not there quite yet. We have to walk for a couple of kilometers first.

The entrance to the site is located at the bottom of the new city of Petra. It opens at 6am in the morning and closes late as it is possible to be on site during the evening as well (camping is not allowed though). It is said that the best pictures are taken in the early morning sun or at sunset, because of the light and the colours, but I would say also because less tourists are there, because it gets busy. For the moment it costs JD33 to get in for one day (you can also buy passes for 2 or more days), this is for tourists. That will change in November 2010 (I think the 1st) where it will cost JD50. As residents, we paid JD1. The site is huge, there are many things to visit - we only made it to The Treasury. It was hot and Bibs thought it was so exciting that she wouldn't sleep in the backpack. One of my friends was there a week before us and she has allowed me to use her pictures so that I can show you most of the things there are to visit.

As you enter the site, you have the possibility to make the first half mile on horse or donkey back or in a carriage. If you want to do it, I would strongly advise to do it on the way back, though. Right now you have plenty of energy and it is going downhill! Count JD6 for the horseback ride (that's more or less, depending on how rich you look...)

Bab el-Siq or the "Gate to the Siq" is so named by Petra's Bedouin inhabitants. The journey down to Petra begins with a modern gravel road. It runs along the Wadi Musa, "Valley of Moses", which is dry most year, but there can be water during flash floods (this used to bring water down to Petra). The Bedouins believe that Ain Musa, the "Spring of Moses", is the spring that gushed forth when Moses smote a rock (Numbers 20:11 - Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock (...) Water gushed out ... ). This path contains several monuments and memorials.  

As you pass the first corner, you get a first glimpse of Nabatean rock-carving, called the Djinn Blocks.

Djinn blocks, also called god blocks

These god-blocks stand 6 to 8 meters high. There is a lot of different information online concerning these blocks: some suggest they were shrines to the gods to protect Petra's water supply, others say that they are tower tombs and they might be symbols of the supreme god Dushara. The Bedouins, however, call them "Djinn blocks", as they believed they contained "Djinn", desert spirits. More than 20 of these blogs were found in and around Petra. 

Obelisk Tomb & Bab as-Siq Triclinium

A few meters away from the Djinn blocks are 2 monuments on the top of each other. The official Petra sign date these between 25-75 AD. However after a bit of research I have found that not everybody agree. I think that is the case with many things in Petra. The upper-half, the Obelisk Tomb, is clearly of Egyptian influence. These pyramids represent "nefesh", the Nabataean signs commemorating the deceased. The bottom half, of Nabataean style,  is called a Triclinium and is a chamber with 3 benches - a funerary dining hall: it was where celebrations took place to honour the dead, ancestors or a god. The niche in between the obelisks is of Greco-Roman influence. 

In between the god blocks and the Obelisk Tomg there is something called the snake tomb. There should be stairs leading to that tomb. I have been looking on my pictures, but cannot located it. Inside there are 12 graves. It is called the snake tomb because there are representation of a snake on the floor attacking an animal. 

All the way down to the Siq you have tombs appearing here and there

Eventually you will arrive at a dam and the entrance to the Siq. The dam was built across the entrance to avoid water for rushing down and destroying the city of Petra. The Nabataeans made a tunnel through the rock in order to divert the water into another valley. However the old dam collapsed at some point after Petra was deserted and floods have rushed through the Siq during centuries and have done much much damage to the center of Petra. The dam was reconstructed in 1963 and also in 1991. 

Entrance to the Siq and the dam

It is here that ends the horse back ride and that you will have to walk; unless you have taken a carriage. 

Wadi Al Muhlim

Just before you enter the Siq, and I end my first post about Petra here, on your right you can see Wadi Al Muhlim, which is the valley into which the Nabataeans diverted the water. It is thought that the water flowed through this valley all the way down to the Numphaeum (which would have been arranged to furnish water supply) in the city centre. You can also see another Djinn block.

In my next post I will take you through the Siq and all the way down to the famous Treasury. 

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I really try to be as accurate as possible, but there is a lot of information online and they don't always agree! I also use the official signs at Petra, the official Jordanian sites, the fliers you can get at the tourist center as source. There are numerous interesting websites about Petra, some I have used to find info on, I will post a list them all at the end of my last post as I discover some new ones as I go along.

It makes me sick!

The palm goes to Tony Hayward - the most hated corporate figure in the US and CEO of one of the most profitable companies in the world: British Petroleum. It should go to Carl-Henric Svanberg really, that's the Chaiman - but apparently he is gone into hiding and it is Tony who is in trouble. He probably deserves it as much anyways.

So you got it, it's the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That makes me sick. The environmental side is terrifying. All the jobs lost terrible. The poor animals, it breaks my heart when you see the birds, the fish suffocating to death. But what really gets to me is the money side. 

BP has announced that they are now making significant progress (about time, it's only been 2 months) and is now capturing 10'000 barrels a day. But the question is: how much is that compared to what is still going into the sea? 20%, 50%? Well nobody knows, because BP is not saying how much oil is actually being spilt everyday. They are too clever for that and there is a very good reason to that! The US government is fining BP $4'300 per barrel of oil in the sea. So if BP keeps secret the amount of oil, well they keep their fine to a minimum as well. 

BP will have to pay a minimal fine of $2 Billion. In 2010 they are expected to announce a profit of $24 Billion. Yes, 24. So BP's fine is what we can call a drop in the ocean... Money and Oil!

Petra - A poem

Petra - by John William Burgon (1845)

It seems no work of Man's creative hand,

By labor wrought as wavering fancy planned;

But from the rock as if by magic grown,

Eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!

Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,

Where erst Athena held her rites divine;

Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,

That crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;

But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,

That first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;

The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,

Which Man deemed old two thousand years ago.

Match me such marvel save in Eastern clime, 

A rose-red city half as old as time.

"There is more to life than increasing its speed" - Mahatma Gandhi

How true is that? And that's exactly the reason such places as the Hot Springs in Ma'In and The Six Senses Hotel exist. To forget that we live in a world where everything must always go faster and faster. In a world where we don't take the time to truly appreciate all the things we enjoy. It is the second time we visit and are still as impressed by the tranquility of the place. You feel serene as soon as you enter the resort. Despite having brought my walking shoes and my friend's backpack for Bibs I didn't get to do the walks I wanted - time just goes so fast and it's difficult to plan with a baby isn't it? Well is actually mission impossible! But I keep faith, I will succeed before we leave Jordan to get up at the top of these mountains and see what's up there. I have always liked walked around in the mountains, the village where I grew up in France is surrounded. Anyways back to Ma'In. Never the less I have brought back some pictures of this gorgeous place. You can read about our first visit here.

Like most hotels, in order to save money they propose you to not change your sheets, your towels everyday. At this hotel they are very eco minded and I feel they are going the "extra mile" to preserve the environment.

I like this much more than the boring fliers large hotel chains use!

The information board, outside the hotel. All boards used are in wood.
I know that you wouldn't expect to see wooden boards in a business hotel.

Most of the furniture (maybe all the furniture!) in the hotel is in wood.

The Lobby

The Brown Bar

I just can't get enough of the views

That mountain on the right is the one I want to get up on

As last time we had an amazing dinner. They have a Thai chef staying for 18months, so if you crave for some good Thai food you know where to go.

We had a red duck curry, a green chicken curry and sauteed beef.

Because of Bibs, we always have room service. A part from the Thai main courses we also shared some traditional cold mezze. The red curry was definitely the best, but all were really good. 

We enjoyed some really nice massages and of course a swim in the Hot Spring before leaving the next day. I find the road absolutely amazing as well, so here are some pics! 

It is not only rock mountains you see on the road...

I would guess that this was also a spring, unfortunately there is no water running there now

And then... we saw these camels out for a walk!

Notice the Baby Camel in the middle!

Hope you have all enjoyed your week-end. We certainly did!

My sis-in-law is flying back home. tonight. It is going to be strange not to have her around anymore. It was easy when we were in the UK. My sister and her kids just up the road. Now we are all over the place again. Europe, Middle East... Am not nostalgic at all, but it is a strange feeling when you don't really know when is the next time you will see your loved ones! 

a thought about expat life

Everyday I am learning a bit more about expat life. Most of the time it's good stuff, but the occasional difficult thing comes up as well... I have found, I guess, The Thing I don't like about this lifestyle.

By the end of the summer, I will have lost 3 friends that I have met since we arrived to Amman! If I am loosing friends, it means that Bibs is loosing her friends as well... And that gets me wondering how it will be for her when she grows up. I am used to it, usual it's me leaving though, but how will Bibs react when she grows older? Seeing her friends come and go again? Will it make it easier for her to meet new people, a more sociable person? Or on the contrary will she get shy and fed up because she has to make efforts every time? Will she become restless and a globe trotter? or will she find a small village somewhere where she'll stay because she has done enough travelling and she wants stability?

I guess all this depends on the character, but I do wonder... Of course today with all the social networks it is easier to stay in touch with people: Facebook, MSN, Twitter, Skype... All this makes it so much easier to follow people around, know where they are, what they are doing, keep the contact so that friendships don't just disappear. I am back in touch with many people I had lost contact with because of these networks. When I was kid we had to exchange addresses and write letters. You do it a couple of times if you are motivated, and then you stop because there are other things to do...

One of the good things with this lifestyle, is that Bibs will know people from everywhere, and I hope that she'll grow up to be tolerant and curious about the world. I also hope that she won't be too angry at us when we will be going from one country to another! Is it selfish from our part to "oblige" our daughter to follow our lifestyle? Well well... so many questions and they will only be answered in many years! Until then I'll just have to do my best.

Well, well anyways. Tomorrow we are off to the Hot Springs in Ma'In, you can read about last time we were there here. Going to enjoy a nice massage and this time I have the backpack for Bibs and my walking shoes! So I hope I'll bring back some new stunning pictures.

A day at the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar

Now I couldn't have my sis-in-law visiting and not bringing her to the dead sea, could I? So yesterday morning with left straight before Bibs' nap so she could sleep all the way down there. I have to say that my daughter is a treat to take somewhere: she slept in the car both ways, had a super time in the pool and enjoyed sitting at the table the whole time we had lunch! I hope it will continue, lol! It makes it so much better and easier to go somewhere.

View of the terrace on the lobby level at the Kempinski Hotel

After the Marriott last time, we decided for the Kempinski Hotel; and what a good choice. We really had a lovely day.

We met up with one of Bibs' friends little M. The girls had a swim together at the one of the hotel's many many pools... I think Bibs stayed in the water for at least 45 minutes. It was nice and with the palm trees there is a little (tiny, tiny bit!) of shade.

Notice the tiny bit of shade! 

We then had a lunch at what I would call the main pool, the Akkad Pool Grill. The lunch was nice, the price was a little expensive (2 soft drinks & 2 main courses: JD42). I have to share the picture of my sis-in-law lunch, we thought the presentation was definitely worth a photo!

The presentation is funny! (it's the mixed grill)

After that we went down to the sea - the hotel is very nice to walk around in. Lot's of trees, a nice path - very stroller friendly!

To the left: main pool - which is very, very deep; to the right a view of another of the pools

The beach at the Kempinski is far better than at the Marriott as well as is the access to the sea. I went for a swim... didn't have any magazine with me - but my sis-in-law tried with her "Glamour" magazine and I think it remained dry for about 15 seconds! It is not an easy task to keep the balance...

My sis-in-law reading her very wet magazine!

When we left, we had complementary bottles of water as well as some tissues in the car. I thought that was a very nice touch! Specially, considering the external temperature marked 40 degrees in the car, as we were on our way back to Amman.