Jordan photos: Friends

Jordanians are extremely friendly. Here are some of the photos of people we met on the holiday. We spent most of our time with Ashraf and Nabeel, our instructors, who were extremely generous with their time, stories and food. Nancy and Per were with us on many dives and evenings. And the Jordanians on the photos would "adopt" us after a five minute conversation, insisting on feeding us, and allowing us to hold one their babies (great trust!), and opening their homes to us.

This is Obeid's family, in their home.

 

The grandmother sports the traditional Bedouin face tattoos.

 

Obeid is 35 years old, and has six children. He was asking us about our age and family, and we felt a bit guilty...

 

On the photo below is Omar and his family. We met Omar on a street in Karak, and we asked him where we could buy some food. He bought us food, he took us home, he let us play with Farah, his only daughter, he even introduced his wife to us. She cooked us a meal. Then we had some Arabic tea, then he guided us around the Karak castle. He insisted on paying even the entrance tickets.

All along we tried to protest and we kept saying that we didn't really have the time and we really wanted to pay for our tickets and food and we really needed to move on etc, and he just smiled and talked on and... we just had to learn to accept this incredible hospitality.

 

I walked past these people on the beach, taking photos of their kids playing in the water. As you see, I was not quite decently dressed in their terms. I thought they will be a little upset, so I kept a polite distance. The women came up to me, and started trying to make a conversation. They kept repeating "welcome welcome", and after five minutes they invited Andreas and me to visit them in their home in Madaba. We didn't go, but the whole episode is typical of these people.

 

 

Here Ashraf and Nabeel are cooking us a traditional Jordanian "turnover" dish. On the second photo, Ashraf with his stepfather Rod, also a Padi Master Instructor.

 

Andreas and I during one of the many exams.

Back in the Beach Club, waiting for the night dive.

The two amigos.

 

 

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Silvija Seres, 19 July 2002