A Relaxing Weekend in Salt

I've been enjoying a weekend-long stay at my friend's house in Salt; the same friend whose house I stayed at for a night this past Ramadan. She's been asking me to come visit her home all semester long, but things kept popping up on both of our ends--engagement party invitations, religious holidays, midterms, and on and on--so I knew I needed to make the trip happen before the end of the term. The idea of being away from Amman for three usually jam-packed weekend days was a bit daunting at first, but it proved to be a nice break full of catching up on work and way too much food. As I mentioned in my Ramadan post, this family takes the responsibility of hospitality very seriously, so I've left every meal stuffed to the gills. I tried to decline extra heaping spoonfuls as politely as I could, but her parents dish them out in the blink of an eye!

The tray of food given to me AFTER my ginormous dinner.

Aside from eating, we mainly spent the weekend doing homework and hanging out with her family. As part of a conservative family living on a small farm on the outskirts of Salt, there really aren't a lot of social activities that take place outside of the home. Rather, this family's social rhythms revolve around their family farm and the neighboring relatives who live on the same piece of land. It certainly isn't boring--I've met five different aunts and at least ten cousins in the past two days--but it gives me new perspective on why several of my female, Jordanian friends (both Christian and Muslim) who live in small towns outside of Amman think Jordan is "boring." As one explained to me, it's not because Jordan itself is boring, it's because they don't have very much "freedom" to go out on their own and walk in the streets because of a lack of trust of others. They explained that this is why they are mainly homebound and also why their curfew is "when the sun goes down." They don't really meet up with friends on the weekends and hang out at a cafe like girls in Amman are easily able to do (before their curfews of course).

One interesting aspect of this weekend has been seeing what an olive harvest is like on a working olive farm. The family hires Pakistanis who live in Gnaur (a nearby town) during the rest of the year to help them harvest the olives and turn them into olive oil. They are currently living in tents set up under the trees and their roosters, chickens, and dogs are running around the property. I must say that I haven't been woken up by a rooster in a very, very long time.

Roosters! I was eagerly anticipating what the cat on the right might do. It
ended up not doing anything. For the record, I think the roosters would win.

I was hoping to see a little bit more of the city of Salt which is a very old city in Jordan (named Saltus by the Romans) and still has many Ottoman buildings in the town center. My friend's dad gave me a quick driving tour as he drove us en route from the University, where he picked us up, to their home. I'll definitely be back in the spring to explore the city a little more, but in the meantime, I'll be leaving with an open invitation to move in with them at any time, a jar of olives, a bottle of olive oil, a few extra pounds, and (oddly) the Christmas spirit. I think it has something to do with hanging out in a warm, cozy, and familial space all weekend!

Or it could've been this mat the family had in their kitchen...