Ramadan Mubarak!

Article about the police attack on journalists in Amman two weeks ago if you're interested:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/2011726115953543796.html

Today was the first day of Ramadan. Also, I was befriended by a Jordanian socialist who may have taken me to an X-Rated cinema. Maybe. Probably not. But maybe.

Down an alley near my hotel is a book stand with quite a good selection of used English language novels, and since I'm almost done with "Dracula" I thought I'd go pick up a few new books. After I attempted (and failed) to haggle with the guy there and handed over my money, he asked me to have a seat. I hesitated, because I'm still wary about the men here. (This is despite the fact that I have had no uncomfortable situations with men I've actually interacted with.) Damn you CIEE for making me so paranoid. Anyway, I decided to sit, because I have nothing better to do, and I'm certainly not going to get to know this culture by sitting in my hotel all day. But the man turned out to be adorable and even insisted on buying me a pepsi. It gave me a chance to practice my Arabic, and I promised to come back the next day.

So today, after I had bought some onions for 10 qirsh (that's 14 cents!) I wandered back over to the book stand. The same man was there today, along with the man who owned the book stand. It was obvious he already knew all about me - even my name - and told me that I could just swap the books I bought for new ones whenever I was done reading them. Which definitely makes up for overpaying for them in the first place! He had just brought some new books in today, which were a variety of British classics. His English was quite good, if heavily accented, and he explained how he tried to only buy famous literary works and prided himself on his selection. He went on to tell me that he was famous for trading in banned books, and that the LA Times had mentioned him in an article . . . hmm, I need to try and find this. He asked me if I wanted coffee, but I declined saying that it was Ramadan, and while I don't fast, I would never drink in front of them. "I don't fast either," he said to me. "Because I am socialist." Ok. "Come, I will take you to a place." Hmmm. I definitely wasn't getting a creepy vibe from this guy though, so I followed. He took me into a very run down building plastered in movie posters. It looked like cinema turned crack den. Or brothel. Upstairs there was a group of men sitting, smoking and drinking. Briefly the idea of gang rape slipped through my mind, but I quashed it quickly, figuring I was here now, might as well hope for the best. He immediately explained that there are many people that pretend to fast, but actually don't, and since all the cafes are closed during the day, this is a place his friends come to have a cigarette or a coffee. I asked if this was still a cinema and he originally said no, but I saw men coming out from behind a curtain, so I asked again, and he said "yes, for men only." Well. That makes me wonder. Anyway, nothing scary happened, and I had quite a fascinating conversation with this man about politics in Jordan. Poor man was born on the Gaza Strip, but has lived here for 45 years without being granted citizenship. He's obviously well educated, but still lives in a refugee camp. One of the first words I learned here was "wasta" which means connection. It's very hard to get anywhere if you don't have wasta, and it's a very, very obvious problem in society - and very much so for this man I met today. I wish I could have taped the conversation; it was very interesting, and I look forward to talking with him again.