Our DukeEngage group gathered yesterday for orientation of the Southern Excursion that we will be embarking on in three days. Our SIT directors have arranged for us to tour in Dana, Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba, four major tourist areas of Jordan. Of course, besides being destinations where we can ride on camels (could not be more excited for this!) they are historical centers of Jordan and we will be given a guided tour of castles, ruins, and the great outdoors.
However, before we were briefed on our excursion the program had us watch a movie called "Amreeka", a film that was released in 2009 that documents the life of a Palestinian single-mother family that immigrates to America to start a new life.
I found the movie both incredibly amusing and poignant at times. Essentially, the mother Muna and the teenage son Fadi move in with Muna's sister during a time where Arabs are discriminated against due to post-9/11 fear of terrorism. The son is picked on at school and the mother, despite having two degrees and a decade of work experience in finance, is relegated to the fast food industry. Though the movie has heartwarming and funny moments, it just really made me think.
My parents (who I am sure are reading this blog post, so shoutout to you guys) immigrated with me to America around 17 years ago. They held minimum-wage jobs while taking care of me, still a toddler, and while being enrolled in university. Through a combination of hard work, dedication, brains, and luck they managed to piece together a quality living and somehow reached the American dream. But there are so many immigrants who come to America thinking it's a land of gold and riches, and I'm sure that many of them end up like Muna - working menially despite being very smart and passing on most of their dreams to their children. My heart breaks for them. And my heart goes out to my parents, who had to overcome the almost insurmountable!
Anyways on a lighter note, after all of the information regarding orientation and the movie, we headed to Habibeh, most of the most famous restaurants in Amman - and that happens to be a sweets shop. Located in one of the most touristy areas, it is a two story desserts restaurant. Which already sounds fantastic.
However, before we were briefed on our excursion the program had us watch a movie called "Amreeka", a film that was released in 2009 that documents the life of a Palestinian single-mother family that immigrates to America to start a new life.
My parents (who I am sure are reading this blog post, so shoutout to you guys) immigrated with me to America around 17 years ago. They held minimum-wage jobs while taking care of me, still a toddler, and while being enrolled in university. Through a combination of hard work, dedication, brains, and luck they managed to piece together a quality living and somehow reached the American dream. But there are so many immigrants who come to America thinking it's a land of gold and riches, and I'm sure that many of them end up like Muna - working menially despite being very smart and passing on most of their dreams to their children. My heart breaks for them. And my heart goes out to my parents, who had to overcome the almost insurmountable!
Anyways on a lighter note, after all of the information regarding orientation and the movie, we headed to Habibeh, most of the most famous restaurants in Amman - and that happens to be a sweets shop. Located in one of the most touristy areas, it is a two story desserts restaurant. Which already sounds fantastic.
But it was sooo much better than I expected. As we walked in to the vast expanse of sweets sitting at every counter, I realized that there were chefs behind each counter making desserts in real time. There were trays of knafa (see my earlier post on Jordanian desserts), and other nutty and caramelized pastries as well as huge displays of large chocolate and coconut truffles. I'm drooling just thinking back on it.
But even better - the escalator took us to the second floor which turned out to be a super fancy dining area. Except instead of meals, the menu was entirely desserts. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I found this to be incredibly lovely. Regrettably, I had indulged at dinner so I contented myself with an iced peach tea and mooched off of other peoples knafas. Fortunately I will almost definitely go back to that store, as my boss invited me on a desserts date with her!
This city keeps on presenting me with more and more surprises and I can't wait to see more of it. Though of course I'm also very eager to see the rest of Jordan as well.
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