Following the Map in My Feet
As a student and later during a two-year stint volunteering with a study-abroad program, I spent hours wandering Jerusalem’s streets and alleys, finding new shortcuts and dead-ends, faster ways to get to the falafel stand near Damascus Gate, quieter ways to cross the Old City’s four quarters.
‘You Have to Start With Coffee’
In Jordan, as in much of the world, coffee is a symbol of hospitality, but the custom takes on greater intensity in the Arab world. “No matter what you want, you have to start with coffee,” Shahrouri told me. “If you don’t offer coffee to your guests, locals will know you are not a true Jordanian Arab.”
The Wells of Wajir
“The presence of water in the desert leads to legend and myth, tales of miracles,” writes Rachel Pieh Jones. “The control of that water, or lack of it, leads to eternal conflict.”
In Jerash, History and Music Among the Ruins
North of Amman, the Roman ruins at Jerash have become a major attraction and the site of a popular music festival.
Notes From an Indian Cot
In rural Indian villages, the family cot is many things: a table, a pulpit, a seat of honor—an object so ubiquitous its beauty and versatility often goes unnoticed
