In Cairo, just around the corner from the building where I lived for nearly a year, is a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf franchise. It’s in the Om Kalthoum building (named for the famous Egyptian singer who rose to international stardom in the 1950s and whose house used to sit on the site of what …
In my rental apartment in Amman, I’m making use of the odds and ends left behind by the previous tenant — a few pots and pans, a coffee ibrik, a rackety little blender. In the living room, there’s a toy oud, a few books (including The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara), a hexagonal jewelry box …
A couple more images from today’s blustery weather in Amman. Very little was accomplished in this town today. Most people stayed home. But we got a lot done.
It’s snowing in Amman. Big thick snowflakes, plopping wet on the ground in a slushy mix. It seems out of place on the palm tree fronds, out of place for the Middle East. On the grass, the inch or so of moist snow is perfect for snowballs and snowmen (but way too wet for snow …
Me in Francis Ford Coppola mode, with Carolyn Robinson at Jafra coffee shop in Amman, where we shot the host segments for the Arab House television program we’re working on. As I noted in an earlier post, a young lady came up to me after I finished directing the three-camera shoot and asked “how can …
I took this photo yesterday at sunset, looking out at the Basilica of St. Paul from Harissa. I shot the photo from below the grand bronze statue of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Lebanon (see post below), who has stood here with outstretched arms since the 19th century.
While working here in Lebanon, we are staying north of Beirut in the village of Harissa. Our hotel is called Bethania, a mountain retreat center next to a statue and sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The hotel is a modern building that most often houses pilgrims who come here on spiritual retreats. It sits …
Earlier today, I went to the old part of Amman, where Roman ruins mingle with the trappings of a modern Arab capital: the honking horns, bustling businesses and blaring music. Modern streets surround a Roman theater which rises up the hillside, blanketed with homes. Jebel Al-Qala is the citadel of Amman, and on its top …
Things I learned on my visit home to Ohio. — Over the summer, hornets made their home in my mom’s basement in a cubby hole that she had long used for canned foods. The hornets nest is huge — about three feet high and a foot and a half across. There was some talk about …
Here are some images from the last two days here in Jordan, as a host and crew from Jordan Television, others from a local production company, an anchor from the Lebanese Broadcasting Company, myself and two others from the International Center for Journalists, produced the host segments for a program called “Arab House.” The program …