The Food is mostly Yum!

We were late back to the hotel tonight so a little behind schedule. Tall El-Hammam has Highway 40 running past its northern boundary. This is one of the main routes from the rich agricultural area of the Jordan plains to Amman. Although it is desert like where we are, water does wonders. There are numerous springs with both hot and cold all around the place that have been expertly tapped into for millenia to irrigate the land. We look down on banana plantations and at the moment they are planting some kind of other crop we can't make out. The agriculture is still very labour intensive although there are heaps of Massey Ferguson tractors around with an assortment of ploughs, grubbers and discs. Down where we are the land has to be managed carefully due to a high salt content. In places that haven't been cultivated hardly anything grows, but where generations of water management stretching back hundreds even thousands of years to leach out the salt has applied, its good to grow. About 20kms further up the Jordan valley towards Gallilee the soil turns to a deep reddish colour that grows three crops a years with irrigation. Amman has a population nearing 5 million, and that's a lot of mouths to feed. Highway 40 is a very busy road that has a constant stream of traffic. And the most common vehicle are little 5-10 tonne trucks piled high with produce heading up the cruel climb to Amman. On the way home on the bus as we speed past (relatively speaking) up the inside lane, we pass lots and lots of these little trucks that are straining in first gear. Today we passed 65 vegetable trucks in the 12 kms up the hill. Piled high with tomatoes as in the picture, cabbages red and green, broccoli, cauliflour, green peppers, red chilis, sugarcane, oranges, apples, courgettes, potatoes, rocket, plus two or three fruits and vegetables we don't know what they are.

In the markets and road side stalls and in the supermarket, the vegetables are top quality, even the "Italian Kiwifruit". In the meals we are having big quantities of different vegetables served, cooked and raw. The most common meat is chicken, but the way they cook it leaves it really dry everytime. We have mutton which is at time so tough it is literally inedible. We always get it the next day cut up in small pieces in some other dish. We have fish regularily and it is always really good. Hummus is always served, boiled eggs are big for breakfast, or scrambled eggs and sausage. Lots of cheese and yoghurt. Good healthy food. At night they serve a kind of pastry filled with a soft cheese centre that has been soaked in honey. Very moreish although I managed to keep to one tonight.

The big news in Jordan today is all about the bombing raids on ISIS in retaliation for the murderr of their pilot. I think every available F-16 is being used for two raids a day, up to 70 or so planes. It was announed that today was the third day of big raids and they are going back to normal coalition raids tomorrow. The Queen of Jordan led a march of thousands in support of the war against ISIS on Friday. Prince Charles is visiting Jordan today and tomorrow. From what i am picking up Jordan is doing a great job in leading other Arab countries to commit to the war on ISIS. Reports of what ISIS is doing to people being reported here is terrible. NZ papers aren't reporting it as far as I can see.

Helen stayed in the hotel today with the flu and infected cut. She was feeling better tonight but will have another day off tomorrow. It was windy at the Tall today and the dust storm it caused was just like you see on the movies. The digging is doing OK. I topped scored with 337 sherds of pottery plus another 12 that were good enough to be used for dating purposes. I excavated a 2 by 4m area down 60cm. It was ash all the way down full of broken and burnt pottery. Something bad happened there. Other interesting features are popping up including a domestic cooking fireplace in the next door square.

We have three weeks left here and overall we are both enjoying it. Being dig fit now it is easier going and seeing the newbies struggle and moan about the pain brought back our first week. Still got rain and snow forecaste but everyone is saying it will fade out before it reaches here.