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MANENA S WINDOW
Amman bajo el Haboob
Omar’s Jordan
Omar is the name of our guide—a burly man
bursting with vitality and a great sense of hu-
mour. From the moment we meet, he calls us
habibis, a term of endearment that stays with us
throughout the journey. I find Omar’s way of ex-
plaining his world quite peculiar, his vision of the
Maghreb shaped less by the borders of countries
and more by ancestral tribes that continue to tra-
ce their lineage through a primordial family tree.
In fact, Omar tells us that his wife belongs to a
tribe from the country we know as Tunisia...
He leads us to the Citadel, perched atop Jabal al-
Qal'a, just as the monotonous call of the muezzin
begins to echo—a sound that, under this stran-
ge light, makes our visit to the spectacular Ro-
man Theatre feel even more ghostly. Omar says
that children often play among the ruins of this
ancient site, and that he spent part of his own
childhood playing hide and seek, or football...
between the Temple of Hercules, the Umayyad
Palace, the Byzantine Church, or the incredible
Archaeological Museum. And really, where better
to unleash childhood imagination?
Apocalyptic setting
From Amman, we travel toward the Rift
Valley, heading for the Dead Sea. Its very
name evokes mysterious, biblical chap-
ters. A strange and alluring place we’ve all
thought about at some point—after all, who
hasn’t wondered whether it’s really possible
to sit and read the newspaper while floating?
Because of the Haboob, the Dead Sea looks
deader than ever, under the dim light of a
sun struggling to pierce through the sandy
veil. The day oscillates between eerie and
terrifying. Yet still, it delivers the thrill of a
new experience, one that releases a good
dose of adrenaline. Part of the group sits in
the soothing waters of the Dead Sea to read
the newspaper, as tradition dictates: “Care-
ful not to fall in—you might not make it out.”
Others of us cover ourselves in mud—
healthy and exfoliating—perfectly mat-
ching the gloomy setting, since we end
up looking like those zombies that are so
trendy these days.
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