Shmaghs and Christmas Eve Mass (Yes, in Jordan!)

Where to begin...well, first I'll throw up a picture of Tom and me in shmaghs (the last sound, the "gh," is similar to the sound you make when you're gargling water), which are traditional Jordanian head wraps that men wear. Actually, men in many Arab world countries wear them, but the red and white pattern shown below is specific to Jordan. Technically, this picture was taken yesterday, but I figured I'd just tack it onto my Christmas Eve post.

Right before this picture, Tom and I had agreed to do our best impression of the lack of smiling here (in general, and more of joke--people do smile), but somehow I failed...Also, I totally plan to wear my shmagh all the time. Inshallah, I will soon buy a thobe (the traditional dress-like garment) to complete the look.

Now on to the crazy part. So I just got back from, believe it or not, a Christmas Eve mass in a church in Madaba city. Madaba is a largely Christian city despite its nearly all-Muslim surroundings, so there is a fairly sizable Christian population. I felt weird taking pictures of the inside or outside of the church, but I snapped a few...

A "Christmas tree" outside the kaniza (church) in Madaba

There's something anachronistic about a neon santa adorning a centuries-old Christian relic...

It's interesting to see a mosaic of Jesus with Arabic writing, but I suppose I forget that Jesus would have likely spoken Aramaic, and this was his neck of the woods.

Another angle of the church showing the cross

I couldn't find a placard explaining who these two are, but someone told me it was Jacob and Joseph...this doesn't seem right though.

One of the two shots of the inside of the church I quickly snapped when no one was looking--Tom and I were lurking in the back because we felt uncomfortable. The whole service was in Arabic, and I think people didn't want us to be there (see below for story relating to this).

The second picture I was able to take of inside the church--a very beautiful painting.

So, as promised in the caption above, here's the disheartening story from our evening. First, I will say that going to Christmas Eve Mass in Jordan was certainly a cool experience, especially to hear the Arabic, and listen to the songs, many of which have familiar sounding melodies. That said, we had a very unfortunate experience with the priest.

When we entered, the women went to one side of the church, and the men (Tom, Rami, and I) went to the other. At first, we thought this was because we had to, but it turned out not to be the case. Regardless, Tom, Rami, and I ended up together in the back of the church. Shortly after we had entered and were standing in the back minding our own business, just observing, one of the priests (who had been in the confessional box behind us) came up to the three of us and asked us where we were from. Tom and I replied America, and Rami explained that he was from Jordan and gave his last name. Apparently, the priest knew he was a Muslim by his last name. He gave us a stern look. Rami asked if there would be a problem if he wanted to observe the service, and the priest coldly replied that there WOULD, in fact, be a problem. So, Rami, not wanting to cause any issues, left and said he would wait for us outside. Tom and I looked at each other in disbelief that this had happened. We stayed only for a short while longer (in retrospect, too long--we should have left directly after this ridiculous comment by the priest), and met up with Rami and the others outside.

I relay this story only because I'm very confused by it. Of course, Rami was upset, as were we. As far as I know, it's fundamental to Christianity to allow anyone to come to church. This, too, goes for Islam, as Tom and I have been invited several times to join our Muslim friends at the mosque (we haven't gone yet, but plan to soon). I know we have to keep our blogs anti-confrontational, so I will merely present this experience as one that I have not yet fully understood and will try to get some answers from the community. 

After our upsetting experience at the church, we all went out to get shawarmas (delicious wraps with meat and veggies and...they're hard to explain--wiki them) and the like. While we were eating, Rami left and came back with a surprise desert of kanafa (also worth wiki-ing, a delicious cheese, mini-macaroni, and sugar-sauce desert) to say "Happy Christmas." It was so thoughtful, and I had two plates' worth! Rami is the best, which is why it's all the more disheartening that he should have been treated so badly, by a priest no less! Anyway, here are some pictures of our Christmas kanafa feast...

Rami (here playing Santa) distributing the kanafa! (From foreground to background, the group from my village: Sarah B., Alison H., Rami, Sarah L., and Tom)

Same crew, new view. Haha.

Me and the Ram-ster...my eyes indicate that I forgot how to look at the camera when taking a picture of myself.

The almighty kanafa. So good.

I would love to write more, but I'm so exhausted. Tomorrow we have class early, but then we have a few hours at the center in Madaba to do Christmas things (woo!), and there's a rumor that someone might be buying us all pizza! I know it's not the traditional holiday meal, but I'd kill for some pizza (not actually of course...well...nah).

It's especially hard being away from home during the holiday season...it was great to Skype with you all yesterday, fam, and I love and miss you all very much! I'm thinking of everyone always, but during this time especially, and I hope everyone has happy holidays!

Love,

Conor or كمال

(That's right, I set up Arabic keys on my computer! No more copy-paste from Google! Oh yeah!)