St. Barbara's Day

My Rotary host counselor, Yousef, invited me to his home tonight to celebrate St. Barbara's day with his family. During a night of pistachio-scented hospitality and home-made wine, I learned more about Christians in the Middle East.

Yousef's front porch glows with the light of a 7-foot Christmas tree, lit up in red and green glory. Yousef and his family live in several different large apartments which comprise one stand-alone house. They are Palestinian, from Jaffa, and have been living in Jordan for several generations. Though this does not preclude Yousef from talking about his childhood in Palestine or the land that they lost there. (When I mentioned my project to donate heaters to poor Iraqi refugee families in Amman, he agreed to help me present the idea to his Rotary club, but he also said that he "hoped I would also be doing something for the original refugees.") It is a concern which presses strongly on his mind.

Yousef and his family make up a portion of the small minority of Christians living in Jordan. He estimates the number to be somewhere in between 2.5 and 5% of the Jordanian population, still gradually decreasing.

Yousef told me that the Christian population in Jordan had once been much higher, but due to a large number of people leaving the country and lower average birth rates than Muslim families, the percentage has gradually lessened. Christians in the region are stilly known for their high quality of education - the best private schools are often Christian ones, and the one across the street from Yousef's house is actually 90% Muslim students (all being taught by nuns.)

Though around this Christmas season, the number seems much higher than this to me. Christmas has essentially become a secular marketing tool here - the majority of the large stores are wrapped in holly wreaths and with jolly Santas entreating you to buy things. The atmosphere is complete with the same ten bad Christmas songs that I know by heart from the States - I know that by the end of December, I would be happy to wait another year before hearing "Santa Baby" or "Deck the Halls" one more time... As I drove by the Marriott today, it had a huge life-size Santa in his sleigh with reindeer, hanging above the driveway filled with arriving guests.

Just as in America, the actual Christians seem to manage to celebrate the season despite all commercial interference. We arrived in the home of Yousef's 90-year old mother to warm family chatter and another modest Christmas tree in the corner of the living room.

We were there to celebrate St. Barbara, someone whom I had never heard of. Yousef explained to me that she is famous for helping persecuted Christians during one of the first several centuries after the birth of Christ. She cooked a special whole grain for them which nourished them when they did not have the time or money to farm for themselves. Every year on December 16th, Yousef and his family commemorate this story by gathering and eating a (tastier) version of this dish, spiced with cinnamon, anise, and a little bit of sugar, and topped with pistachios, almonds, pine nuts, and raisins.

After eating one small dish, I could understand why this food had been so valuable to a persecuted group of people - I felt completely full and well-fed. The spices were a complex, wintry mix that I could not tease apart with my tongue (I had to cheat and ask), and they were beautifully complimented by homemade wine! After much chatting and some rich Turkish coffee, I left, once again touched by the ubiquitous hospitality of this region.