Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Phosphate Miners - May 28th

The large portion of our day was spent riding/sleeping on the bus as we trekked from Petra in south central Jordan (known as “The SC” to locals) to Tiberius in northern Israel. The desert stretched away in all directions to the horizon--gravel crusted, arid and barren except for power lines. It was beauty unrivaled in the U.S. except for certain large airport parking lots. The tour guide pointed out two sights during the four hour journey. First, he woke our group of sun soaked travelers to inform us the train tracks on the east side of the road were used to carry phosphates from local mines to the coast.

Some time later he motioned to the distant horizon to some small piles of dirt. These, he informed us, were phosphate waste piles. Other than these Jordanian tourist attractions The SC offered very little in the way of sites.

The road on which we drove was once a major trade route known at times as the Desert Highway or the Kings Highway. Thousands of years ago it served as the backbone of a vast and complicated series of roads connecting merchants in China and the Middle East. In its current iteration it was built in 1978 as a joint venture between Jordan and Iraq to serve their joint military needs while fighting against Iran. Today we use it as travelers have for millennia—to get through this area in as direct a route as possible.

Our guide, Hasan, entertained us with the story of meeting his wife. It was the classic Jordanian love story. Boy meets girl, er, boy’s sisters meet girl. Boy’s sisters obtain girls phone number. Boys mother and sisters visit girl and check (among other things) whether she has strong teeth and real hair. They also check the cleanliness of her bathroom and kitchen. Upon passing all tests the girl is then given the OK to serve coffee to the boy and his parents. Apparently this is an important step as the two potential lovers are able to steal their first few glances of one another under the watchful eye of parents. When the parents have determined that the young couple might make a suitable match, the fathers make preliminary arrangements for an engagement. As described to us this is much like any business negotiation—boy will rent apartment, pay the rent, buy food, etc. When this contract is signed the boy pays the first dowry of $3,000 in order to allow the girl to go shopping for new clothes. For the boy’s part in this scene, he then drives through the girl’s neighborhood with fifty of his friends honking their horns and flashing their lights. This informs the neighbors that the girl is now engaged and the neighbors are now on the look out for other boys in her company.

Now that the engagement is complete the couple may date openly until the wedding. At this point in the story our guide committed us to secrecy. The following detail apparently should not be shared outside of Jordan. After the wedding, the bride and groom drive to a prearranged destination in order to consummate the contract. The mothers of both parties tag along. Once the bride and groom are in the bedroom, the mothers sit outside the door facing each other until the groom indicates to them that the contract has been consummated.

We made a short detour in order to visit Mt. Nebo.

This location indicated in the Bible as the spot where Moses first saw the promised land of Israel is located in northern Jordan. It has a cobble stone path to the top and is maintained by some Franciscan monks.

On a side note, this is also the supposed location of the biblical incident involving Balaam and the “talking ass.” (Num 21:21-31) After a smooth and quick border crossing, we arrived at our Kibbutz in Tiberius.