Friday, April 27, 2018

Secret Asian Man- It's Raining Mud, Hallelujah!


It’s rained 3 days this week.  Not only rain, but thunder and lightning.  Something I’ve not seen in my time here.  Something I’ve missed.  The tense space between the flash and the deep rumbling in my chest.  Bob Seeger ear worms and counting to five to figure out how far off, I sat and wondered.

Something I’ve not seen is the rain mixing with dust storms. From on high, it rains down mud, obscuring views through glass like cataracts.


Jordan is one of the most water poor countries on the planet. It’s also home to huge numbers of refugees that that has increased the population by 87% in the last ten years. They all need to cook, drink and bathe.

The people here descend from masters of water. Nabateans collected the rain into trenches and cisterns dug across much of southern Jordan.  Later Roman ruins indicate pools and fountains. Public baths were a regular fixture.

Modern Jordan will proceed soon with an ambitious project to pump sea water uphill 230 kms to the north for energy and desalination.  An immense expense of money and energy.

Keeping up will be a challenge. 
  
Rain averages less than 10 inches per year,falling only for 6 months of the year. In recent times, it’s getting dryer. This year’s rainfall is less than last year’s, which was less than the year prior.  A few months back, rain was so stingy that the country came within days of running out of surface water.  Much of the country is on year-round water rationing.

A freshwater lake, once the size of Rhode Island  and a stopover for the birds migrating from Africa to Europe has been drained to the size of a small city park.

There is a fossil aquifer hundreds of meters below. It has been there for eons sealed off by time and sandstone.  It is not being replenished at any appreciable rate, and has been tapped legally and illegally. It is being drained at an unsustainable rate.

Mrs. S.A.M. remarked to someone about the rain and was informed that perhaps the cloud seeding was finally working.  

“Did they just start?”

“No, they’ve been doing it for 2 years!”

We visitors often look out the window and see clouds and think ‘Oh no! Rain”, but here, when it rains it is a blessing. In a land of arid misery, the later in the seasons the rains come, the more the feeling of a miracle.

It’s raining mud, Hallelujah!

Friday, April 20, 2018

Secret Asian Man- Wadi Mujib on the Downside


I’m nearing the end of my time here at “the crossroads of Armageddon”, as some have put it.  And while we approached Amman with a good deal of trepidation, we’ve grown to enjoy the place. As long as one pays attention, it’s not too hard to live a normal-ish life.  A life quite different from that of the TV screen.

Of course, once there’s an end date, there is also the sudden appearance of a list. A list of all the the things you still haven’t seen or done or eaten.  Or the things you said you’d do again when so-and-so visited.

“Man! They’d love this!”

Hiking Wadi Mujib was one such place. Closed ½ the year due to high water and restricted to those over the age of 18. Lifejackets are required. Guides are sort of posted at the hard parts. It’s only a couple of hours hike.  One hour in. One hour out.  Hiking or slogging up stream like spawning salmon into a canyon only a few meters wide. Scrambling up waterfalls.  Fording deep pools hand-over-hand on a rope. Terminates at a waterfall.  Sometimes you can slip behind for a good natural Hammam experience.  Today, though it was closed. Too much water coming through.

You head out the way you came in. Back down the ropes and ladders or if you can, sliding down the rocks and floating.  Letting the current carry you along. Back down to the car and dry clothes.

Today, was a repeat experience. The water was high from the rain a week ago. It felt at times like every river and stream in the country was pouring through this slot. But, it was as much fun as anticipated.  

If you come, plan on April through Early-December and plan on getting wet. There is no way around it, though it is gentler as the season wears on.

Here are some shots from the day….

Entering the Siq








Small water fall

Crack in the sky. 
Fording the rough parts with ropes.






Monday, April 16, 2018

Secret Asian Man- Who Wants Ice Cream?



Spent a long weekend with family, including a 7 and 10 year old, spending their first time in Jordan.  

After showing them around an Embassy and explaining why we were so well secured, because the American government does things that upset some people, we headed out into the desert.

And maybe because we’d unplugged them from electronic devices for a couple days and, and maybe because the desert is so gosh dang quiet, but little ears hear everything.

So, when one remarks about bombs falling in Syria, little ears perk up.

Child: “Wait. What? Bombs in Syria? Why?”

This is where explaining warfare gets hard.  As an adult we can make all sorts of justifications, but a kid’s world is much simpler. 

Adult: “Well, the US, Britain and France are bombing Syria because their president used poison gas on some of his own citizens. And they believe that’s cruel.”

Child: “Weren’t they bombing them before with regular bombs or starving them?”

Adult: “Yes. But, there is a belief that being gassed is an inhumane way to die?”

Child: “So, is it like a video game where if you use a special power and the other person doesn’t have it, it doesn’t make it fair?”

Adult: “Something like that….”  I sensed difficulty ahead in trying to explain a conflict I have a hard time understanding myself.  I felt like reverting to an age old trick, one that, as I thought about it, seems to happen way more than it should. 

“Hey kids! Who wants ice cream?”

Friday, April 6, 2018

Secret Asian Man- A Brief Squee!


This entry may come as a disappointment.  Especially for those of you who've anxiously returned to find out the answer to last week’s puzzle - namely, do I feel cooler with a shaved armpit or not?

But it's still a bit cool to reliably test that, so allow me a brief squee.

Because of the way things are, I sometimes need to move around from place to place in a helicopter. Usually, this is done in big helicopter with small windows, where everyone sits with their backs to the windows facing each other. 

There's not a lot to see.  We get in, we go up, we go down, we get off.

I'd heard there was a smaller chopper - A UH-1 Huey, they use when the number of passengers is low. I never thought I'd get a chance to ride. There were always too many people. 

I was thrilled my last time, though. I walked out and saw the Huey waiting on the tarmac. An airman buckled me into the back seat with a lap belt. A length of rope was fashioned into sort of a handle and hung from the ceiling.

Strapped in, we lifted off and banked out over the city, my toes hanging out over the edge, the sun rising over the cool morning as millions below wake up and try and get through another day.

The job has its hassles, but a boyhood dream fulfilled is worth it.

No photos allowed, but here is what I imagine it looked like.


Wheeeee!!!!!