"...and here is where I beat-up Amir Suli-Rajah in fifth-grade"

Ahhh, the interpersonal dynamics of touring.

Quick story.

In order to offically "tour" in many countries, Jordan included, you need to be an officially "licensed" tour guide. Enter "Stefan" (American-ized version of his Arabic name which he mentioned only once, and leaves me unable to pronounce or spell.) He was our "licensed" guide for several days.

He lives in Jordan, and even grew up in Jerash. He obviously knows many things about his country. However not always with the in-depth knowledge for which some might hope. That made for some interesting moments. Case in point:

At Jerash, ""Stefan" gave a broad overview of the ruins. When they are dated from. What the structures are. A little overview of what the culture may have been like. Interesting, but pretty concise. Interspersed were a number of stories such as "You see that round area with all of the columns down there? That is where I played soccer ever day when I was a young boy, before they excavated more and made this whole site protected."


OK.... good to know.





Then, every half-hour, we stop and sit for twenty minutes or so, so that Sr. Barbara and Rabbi David can give a more detailed lecture on a topic or location. (As graduate school professors, they both have been here many times, studying on their own and leading groups. In fact, they both have lived here, as well. They have multiple graduate degrees between them: Sr. Barbara has a Ph.D. from Harvard, Rabbi David has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. To say they are pretty well versed in the subjects of history, archeology, religious studies, etc., would be an understatment.)




I don't think "Stefan" enjoyed playing second fiddle one bit.

First of all, there was a palpable sense of unease he seemed to have in taking direction from a female. Often on the bus, if Barbara said, "We should all be back on the bus at 5:30", he would get on his microphone and say "No, better that we all be back here at 5:40. That will be the time." Little things like that popped-up over and over again. Barbara was well aware of the gender and cultural dynamic and did the best she could to respect it and allow him to lead. (I am guessing she has teeth marks deeply imbedded in her tongue by this time.)

During our on-site lectures, at first, Stefan would wander away from the group. Once, when Barbara was talking about some archeological finds that led to sociological insights about the Decapolis residents, Stefan had to interrupt and talk about where he had found a shard of pottery as a teenager. "We would come up to this area my friends and I, sometimes sitting and smoking when we did not go to our schools for that day, and once I found a shard of pottery that we took turns throwing at each other......" .

This went on and on, repeating itself with regularity. Barbara or David lecturing on topics of sociology, religious practices, historical signifcance, and Stefan getting his two-cents worth in. They were good at respectfully pausing and letting him share.





At one point, they were explaining the sewer-system that the city had devised. Interesting info. The mechanics, the architectural design, etc. (Pictured below is an actual "sewer cover" in the middle of the stone street.) Stefan listened, then at the end said, "We used to find places to crawl down there all the time. We thought they were secret little tunnels. You mean that was the sewer?" Barbara nodded.


He walked away, much more quiet for the rest of the day.