Wierd and Wonderful Pt 1

There have been so many wierd and wonderful things that I've seen here, I've got a growing list of blogs that I've been meaning to write and haven't gotten around to ... so here is the first of a new mini-series to celebrate the strange, the funny and the very very odd things that the Middle East has to offer.

Today - gruesome practices from the past. I suppose that some of these have been practised all over the world, but if this isn't the only place where people did such things, it may certainly have been one of the first places in the world where they happened. Makes you glad that we've moved on ...

1. Plastered skulls


Found in Jericho and dated to the neolithic period. People used to take the skulls of their dead ancestors and cover them in plaster so that they could keep them in a corner of the room to be worshipped by their descendants. Check out the eyes ...

2. Child burials in pots


I've put a picture of one of these on the blog before, but they fascinate me - this one dates back to the chalcolithic period (or Copper Age, around 5th millenium BC), and archeologists think that the pots may have been buried under the living room floor to keep the child within the family circle ...

3. Trepanation


Trepanation, also called trephining, really makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end just to think about it - drilling holes in a person's head to make them feel better??! The poor guy who used to own this skull (dated to the early Bronze Age) underwent four operations - according to the museum blurb, he survived the first operation as witnessed by the small hole nearer the forehead which is almost completely healed over. As they say though, "The latter three operations were apparently less successful and he died shortly afterwards." Understatement of the century ...

Food Pt 6

The Bedouin do a good line in comfort food, and we tasted one of their dishes during a stay last week with my Mum and Alan - this is called Zarb, and is basically fantastic roasted chicken and veg ...

So, first of all you make a hole in the ground and get a good fire going in it - not sure what they did before, but these days they use a cut down oil drum to make the fire in;






Then you let the fire die down to coals, and put all the chicken pieces and veg onto a grill to put into the hole over those lovely glowing coals;



Lower the grill in, then cover with a metal lid and sand for about and hour and a half;





When the time's up, sweep all the sand off the cover (don't want sand all over the goodies);


And voila! Oodles of juicy roasted food to tuck into on a cold night in the desert ... yummy ...

Under the sea ...

One of my Xmas presents was an underwater camera mask, and I got to test it out this weekend! Unfortunately the sun decided to play hide and seek, so it was a bit too cold to stay in for very long, and I also didn't have a Micro SD card so was limited on how many photos I could take, but here are the first attempts ...

Different corals, with a purple clam shell nestled in one of the cracks

Coral covered in multicoloured Christmas Tree worms (real name!)

And last but not least, a few fish swimming around for you!

New year, new adventures

Well, another year has gone and a new decade is upon us ... no new year's resolutions again this year, apart from continuing to love and appreciate being loved by all my wonderful family and friends around the world. My world adventures continue, and I continue to learn and grow from them, even if it's sometimes a lonely road - so once again, can I invite you all to come and share them with me at any time, there are things of wonder to behold, do and eat!

If there is one thing that I wish for this year, for myself and for all, it is that we seek and find happiness, our own and that of the world around us. I keep going to go back to the Dalai Lama on this, and his wonderful book on The Art of Happiness;

"1. The purpose of life is happiness

2. Happiness is determined more by the state of one's mind than by one's external conditions, circumstances or events - at least once one's basic survival needs are met.

3. Happiness can be achieved through the systematic training of our hearts and minds, through reshaping our attitudes and outlook.

4. The key to happiness is in our own hands"

Sounds simple really - not easy, but I actually think that it may be as simple as this - all coming back to the basic question of "DOES IT MAKE ME (REALLY) HAPPY?"

So please, be happy and remember the love that I and others have for you - and have a wonderful 2010!

Xmas in Amman

Seasonal cheer and peace to all! Many thanks to all for the many wintery and Xmas-related messages, and in return let me share with you part of the atmosphere in Amman on Xmas day - sitting in Amman Citadel perched above the centre of town, listening to Friday prayers echoing from the hills all around us, truely magic ...

Food Pt 5

If there's one thing I'm eating probably a bit too much of here, it's meat ... but it is good meat! For your delectation, here are a couple of the many ways in which meat is eaten here ...

So, probably the most common meaty meal is the kebab - apart from the shwarma, there are some damn fine plain kebabs with just the right amount of slightly burnt-ness. Below a variety of kebabs, including chicken chunks and minced lamb;


Slightly wierder (but not if you're French) is the Middle Eastern equivalent of a steak tartare called kibber niye - basically raw minced lamb and spices. When I ordered this, the waiter checked that I knew what I was asking for, and after bringing it to me he suggested that it might be a bit strange ... he then advised that the locals eat it with olive oil poured over it (but then they do pour olive oil over everything!), and actually it was pretty good - really!

Dolphins!

During the evening of one of my days down in Aqaba, we went on a sunset cruise out into the middle of the Red Sea, looking out over Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Egypt as the sun went down. We were joined on our return to the harbour by a pod of dolphins (I think spinner dolphins, but if anyone knows better?), who stayed a while to play and show off - the whole thing with the red skies and remnants of a warm day was magical ...

Not sure if these videos will do it justice, but here is a dolphin playing in the wake on the prow of the ship (are those the right technical terms, sailor types?)



And here is the dolphin / landscape/ sunset combo - bliss ...