Photos from the Past

Two nights ago we went to Madaba for dinner at the Madaba Inn. I have been there several times before, but hadn’t looked at the old photos on the wall. A quick glance at one picture shows the recognizable Bedouin tent, several people, and what looks like a large pile of baseballs stacked on the roof of the tent! Of course those ‘baseballs’ had to be Jmeed. I realized that in all my years here I’ve never once imagined how they might have dried the salted balls of yoghurt into the familiar hard rocks that we all know. What an amazingly simple way to do it. Then my husband told me he remembered going to the encampment of his great uncle when he was a little boy. They grazed their sheep and goats between Madaba and Zarqa Ma’een in the spring. Daily they milked their cattle and made yoghurt which was dried on the roof of the tents. At night they would remove the jmeed, and as soon as the sun was up, they put it back to dry which took several days to complete.

Then my sister-in-law suggested we try to find her mother in another picture. It was one of about 10 girls posing with several nuns. I looked closely and everyone laughed when I threw up my hands in defeat. It’s impossible to recognize anyone in the picture. Even though it was an old photo, I could still distinguish features, but regardless, they all looked the same! They were wearing shapeless black dresses and headdresses; no expressions on their stony faces. Some were taller than others and a few had no shoes. They all looked in need of a bath. My sister-in-law then said that for sure each girl was wearing the only dress that she owned. Water was reserved for drinking and cooking not for bathing and laundry.

I don’t know why these images linger in my head. Possibly because they document some harsh realities from Jordan’s not too distant past. Possibly because this is part of my children’s and grandchildren’s heritage, and I need to tell them about it. Possibly because they depict a simpler life that I have never known.

ASH