The Sights of Karak

Greetings,

Today we did not go to the field, so some of the team spent some time walking through the city of Karak doing some shopping and window shopping. I thought it might be interesting to see what our home away from home looks like.

Here is a sign in the center of town pointing the way to the Dead Sea, Amman, Petra, and Aqaba. Since Karak was a castle town there are very limited ways in and out of city still today. Karak is at the top of the wadi Karak which runs down to the Dead Sea and from there it is not far to Jerusalem. So the castle here guarded the eastern flank of Jerusalem.

In the center of town is a large statue of Saladin, a hero in Karak because he drove the Crusaders out of the city. Unfortunately the sword in his hand is now broken, this has happened since 2001.


In the center of town the traffic is busy so often you see police officers directing the traffic. This police officer agreed to pose for my picture today.

In cities in the Middle East, instead of large department stores etc., small shops are group by type. So the auto repair shops are small and side by side, same for wood and lumber, clothing, etc. Today we walked through the clothing and food sections of Karak. Above you see a fruit and vegetable shop with all of the various items on display in along the street.

Much of produce comes from the Jordan River valley, where the climate is semi-tropical. Where they grow bananas, dates, etc. The produce is trucked into the city.


Also along the way you find food vendors and shops, this is the "fast food" of Karak. This is a french fry stand.

Here is a falafel stand (you might call it a chickpea hushpuppy). These can be eaten alone or place in pita with humus and vegetables to make a sandwich.

This is a shawarma shop, this is chicken shawarma but it can could be lamb. The meat is grilled and then sliced off and put in a piece of pita along with vegetables and yogart to make a sandwich.

The chickens for the shawarmah are right next door, alive in cages. People in Jordan like to look the chicken in the eyes before they buy them.


Here is a meat market, most of the time the sheep hangs up in the street, but this is a "fancy" shop because the meat is inside in a case.

People like to see the head and eyes so they know the meat is fresh and in good condition.

Here is a picture of a pastry shop, with the sweets displayed on round trays. Much of the sweets are made with honey and nuts.



These cars look like taxis but really they are called servicees, which means they run a set route much like a bus. The car does not leave until it full, unless the passengers pay for the empty seat.

Often displayed in shops are pictures of royal family of Jordan, King Abdullah II and Queen
Rania and their children.


Here we see pictures of Prince Hussein and King Abdullah II. Since we have been in Jordan Prince Hussein had his 15th birthday (June 28th) and is now officially the Crown Prince of Jordan.

We stopped at a local bakery and they graciously agreed to let me look around and take photos. Karak is famous in Jordan for its bakeries. Here we see the dough being processed and flattened out. They place the dough in flat pieces of wood and stack them near the oven.

Here you can see the dough stacked on the wooden racks near the gas fired oven. The dough is tranferred to a long wooden paddle and then placed in the oven.

In just about two minutes the bread is cooked and it puffs up and is removed from the oven to cool.

Then the bread is ready to purchase. They sell it by weight, most people buy their bread every day or two by the kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). I think the price is is less than a half of dinar per kilogram (about 70 cents for 2.2 pounds) quite a good deal because the government subsidizes the price of bread.

Right across the street this bakery is a another bakery which makes the traditional Bedouin style bread cooked on an inverted dome of metal.


We stopped in to a rug shop where a man was weaving some nice rugs in traditional style on a hand loom.


The man is this shop caters to the tourist trade in Jordan, with his designs and colors.


I will end with some of the children of Karak, this boy saw my camera and asked me to take his picture.

This boy was seated outside a shop today in a display area.

That is all for tonight, we get up early tomorrow again for our last full week of work in the field.

We added six to our number this evening as the "Kansas City 6" (Dr. Randy Cloud and 5 students) arrived in Karak. They are from Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas. All of them arrived safe and sound. They will join us in the field tomorrow.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan