PAY IT FORWARD, MY VISIT WITH SABAH

When the sun had just rose to its fullest, Sabah quietly and hastily woke me up.  She explained to me that we were going on a hike to The Seven Hills of Amman, where one could watch the sun go down on top of an amazing hill. I was so excited. I quickly found my hiking boots and skipped to the living room to find two wraps on the table. I sat down and took a big bite. It was fantastic. I'm pretty sure it had egg hummus and some sort of spicy meat. It was really good and I finished all of it before Sabah was even half way done. 

After breakfast we walked through town to a trail leading off into the distance. Sabah started walking up and I followed, and followed, and followed until it felt like years of walking. Sweat was dripping down my face. I felt like I was panting like a dog and my side ache had grown from hurt to serious pain. We started to slow down and I was relieved when we actually stopped to take a break. We sat down near a small lake with a distant water fall, I could hear the loud pounding of the waterfall on the rocks in the back ground. Sabah opened the brown sack she had carried up the hill and handed me something round wrapped in brown paper. I thought and hoped desperately that it was food but I was completely off. It was a small silver coin that looked like a oversized chocolate coin you get in a candy store. Sabah held it up to the sun light, walked over to the lake, and tossed it in. She came back and said "It's your turn". She told me that it was considered good luck to toss a Silver Isfahan Kran into any river on The Seven Hills of Amman. I thought about it for a moment, then took the coin, closed my eyes, and hoped that we would get to the top soon. After I heard the plop of the coin and was satisfied with my wish we grabbed our backpacks and hiked on up the hill. 

During the hike Sabah taught me a song in her language called Mezdeke By Mashallah, it was her daughter's favorite song and she learned the lyrics quickly because her daughter sang it all the time. We also went over the words she taught me in her language to refresh my memory. Before I knew it we where at the top looking over the entire village. I ran to a drinking fountain and stuck my face under it until I felt refreshed and relaxed. Sabah and I found a spot under a large tree and ate pasta with spicy sauce and peas. We finished the whole pot. I sat back with a big sigh knowing I was full. On the way back down we took a shortcut and got back before it was too dark, but just dark enough that we could hear the creatures coming out at night. Once we got home I was so full of ideas and stories I wrote them down in a journal and did not get much sleep that night.