Life, medicine and stuff

The road south to Madaba gave me my first glimpse of Jordan’s upper country. Outside Amman, you see modern, large houses for the commuting upper classes. There are many fields, and surprising amounts of green. Madaba is quite a large town, but very quiet. The map mosaic [6th century, oldest Holy land map known –…

Camped in a thorny field with views to the hills, and a bench to sit eating my dinner on. Crossing the Allenby bridge was certainly an experience, and worthwhile if unpleasant. Half past six in the morning, walk past a queue of maybe fifty Mercedes taxis, loaded with baggage and bodies, bluff my way through…

After a  few jobs in town, took the bus for Jericho (Arikha) and got off at Ein Qelt with a Dutch and a Scottish girl. Was walking happily in completely the wrong direction when picked up by Brits/Ozzies in a taxi. So much for the lone trek. Waded up the wadi to one spring (24…

Taking the bus into town, I realized the reason I got lost yesterday (and had to tramp across a wadi) was that there is no longer open ground between Ramat Rahel and the rest of the city. Houses all the way. Walked around Mea Shearim, trying to get pictures, but difficult and awkward. At that…

I remember that sleeping in Neve Yaakov was as simple as taking your clothes off and pulling a sheet over you. Last night it didn’t work quite as well because the window next to my bed let in a stiff, chill breeze. Didn’t hear any muezzin either. Went to the Holy Sepulchre, and followed a…

The clamour as we walked out of customs, the crowds glimpsed through the bars and the glaring lights aaginst the night sky were a memory jerker. Only this time there was no one to greet me, or a group to join. Had to wait over 2 hours for the first bus, and though desperately tired…

Packing things in Sheffield didn’t make me nervous. Of course, the fact that I didn’t go to bed at all that night may have been a sign of my excitement,. But getting ready to catch the train to London did make me feel nauseated, which surprised me because it’s not as if I’m going somewhere…

Forgot to mention an incident yesterday. Coming out of Jenin in the service taxi, we came to a checkpoint. As usual, there wasn’t a barrier across the road, but the soldier lounging on the bonnet of a parked van pulled us over, and called the driver out. After he had talked for a few minutes,…

Caught an early service with Catherine to Gaza. You have to pass a sort of border control, with lanes and booths, then the road becomes very dusty and sandy, you pass between orchards and palm trees before the city sprawls out beneath you. The roads are narrow, traffic (mostly old white Peugeots, it seems) heavy…