leisa munasib

Hello, ya shebab! I have returned with another video. Sarah Silverman, as inappropriate as ever, reaches out to the great US of A and its Jewish voters in what hits close to home for most grandchildren of Jews. Enjoy:



On another note, this weekend was exciting and beautiful! After our Yom Kippur extravaganza, the following evening was a very serious game of Risk. But not too serious for Abe and Jackie--just a hint, this weekend is the weekend of Abe and Jackie owning. We conquered the world despite laughing the entire game while others took it very seriously. So this weekend begins a brand new world of empires: Risko Disco. Changes to the rules? You lose men from your highest country if you are not expressing joy through dance while the Arabic music plays. Got it?

Saturday. We went to Ma8tas! That is like Maghtas, but in English it is usually called Bethany-by-the-Jordan! At this site, Jesus was baptized by John...the Baptist. That's the story I got, at least. So we saw the Jordan river and got really close to Israel.

From Bethany-by-the-Jordan

That close.

Let me describe dinner, now. We walked along the road. This one:

From Bethany-by-the-Jordan

(Although this photo was taken on the way to the site, you get the idea.)

My camera died, so please forgive me that the following contains no photographs. I will do my best to paint a picture for you. I need no photos, as the memory is so rich that I will never forget it.

We followed a sign to a restaurant that took us quite near the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge--yup, to the Palestinian city of Jericho. Decided not to cross a border when a nice farmer informed us that the restaurant was back on the main road and that the one we had heard about was closed. Indefinitely. Oh well. So we had a beautiful spread of fish, hummus, and khobiz while watching the sun set over the hills of Jerusalem. We sipped our local wine and saw as the sun glared off of the Dome of the Rock, watched it sink behind the hills and saw the holy city light up as the amber sky turned to black behind it. It was beautiful and unreal.

A very interesting thing happened in my mind as I watched this magnificent munzar (view). I am okay with Jerusalem being there. I feel fine being in Jordan, with Israel over there, and me here. In fact, I feel wonderful. I know that every moment that I spend here, I am content and learning. My Arabic is improving daily, I am learning about the Palestinian and Jordanian narratives from nearly every person I see, and I am falling deeper and deeper in love with this country. Two things separate me from wishing to spend a great part of my life here and those are a) being openly Jewish is not safe or acceptable, and b) physical contact with women in public is extremely inappropriate. As well as the whole specific gender roles thing. I could not live like that forever. But Jordan is rapidly changing. All I hear is how quickly it has become such a modern place, and what does that mean when the next generation raises their children, and they theirs? What a great place to watch, and I am so glad I have a relationship with Jordan so that I will always get to watch it change for the rest of my life.

I want visitors so that I can share my life with them. Got a potential bite, any other takers? I got wastah, connections. Hit me up.

--Ibrahim