Postcards from the Middle East

Chris Naylor

Description

Newly married, Chris and Susanna Naylor set off for a new life in the Arab world - living first in Kuwait, then Jordan and finally Lebanon. In a region never far from the news, they discovered their expectations - of war, terrorism, desert sand dunes, men in white robes and veiled women, camels and Kalashnikovs, indeed their own reasons for being there - were to be constantly challenged. As they found out, the reality bore little resemblance to their pre-conceptions. Postcards from the Middle East is a tale of love from one family's experiences: a story of work, schooling, friendships, worship and shared family life, lived out in precious communities against a back drop of world-changing events and spectacular scenery. The Naylors had never experienced such hospitality, danger, wildlife spectacles or snow before they moved to the Middle East. Their story provides a multi-coloured window on an extraordinary and rapidly changing Arab world.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• Travel writing
• Middle East

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 20 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780745956503
• Langue: English

Extrait

For Susanna, Sam, Chloe, and Josh
Text copyright © 2015 Chris Naylor
This edition copyright © 2015 Lion Hudson
The right of Chris Naylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Lion Books an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England www.lionhudson.com/lion
ISBN 978 0 7459 5649 7 e-ISBN 978 0 7459 5650 3
First edition 2015
Acknowledgments Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. “NIV” is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Extract p. 85 taken from Lawrence of Arabia . Courtesy of Columbia Pictures.
p. 8 Map of Lebanon © Samuel Naylor.
Plate section: photographs of the White Stork, Short-toed Eagle, and the Honey Buzzard © Peter Harris
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover image: © dkaranouh/iStock
“ Postcards from the Middle East is inspiring, challenging, and valuable. It’s not easy to pigeon-hole as it’s autobiography combined with a hugely helpful and well-told narrative about the politics, ecology, cultures, and religions of the region at the crossroads of the world. If you’re puzzled by what’s on the news concerning Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the rest of the Middle East, this is a great place to start. It’s told with humour and empathy, and most of all with deep love for the people and the places where many of today’s global tensions focus. Read it soon and you’ll not only be better informed, you’ll see the people and region quite differently.”
Reverend Dave Bookless, Director of Theology, A Rocha International
“This is Christianity bringing real hope to the wildlife, wild places, and the people of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and beyond. It is an extraordinary tale of faith in action with cultural and historical insights sandwiched in regional turmoil.”
David Chandler, co-author of RSPB Guide to Birdwatching
“This is a very readable and compelling account of a family living through tumultuous events in the Middle East. I can’t think of a better way of getting beneath the surface and understanding something of the culture, religion, and politics of the region than through the very varied experiences of Chris and Susanna and their family. Having lived through some of these same events and seen their creative conservation work in Lebanon, I can vouch for the fact that it made a very significant contribution in a troubled country.”
Reverend Colin Chapman, formerly lecturer in Islamic Studies, Near East School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon
“The environmental condition of the Middle East is easily forgotten amidst the maelstrom of politics and conflict. This rich and inspiring account of the Naylor family’s adventures in Lebanon, and the setting up of A Rocha’s project to help protect the priceless Aammiq wetlands in the Bekaa Valley, will help put many a conservation battle into perspective. It is thoughtful, wise, and compelling reading, with enough name-dropping of exciting fauna to make you thirst to go there yourself.”
Dominic Couzens, bestselling natural history writer and author of Secret Lives of Garden Birds
“More than the story of a remarkable and pioneering family and the conservation organization they led, Postcards from the Middle East gives a hard-won and deeply grounded perspective on a beautiful and troubled country whose history has come to affect us all. Chris Naylor’s knowledgeable affection for the landscapes and cultures he gave so much to understand, and for the Lebanese people whose current diaspora are found all around the world, shines through every page. With every chapter, we become the beneficiaries of his many years in the region; the extraordinary legacy of his working years there give him a wise and moderate voice that deserves to be widely heard.”
Peter Harris, President and co-founder of A Rocha
“Chris Naylor has reminded me of a carpet weaver in Medhat Bacha market in old Damascus. He was able to skilfully weave in various threads of culture, family, history, religion, mythology, and politics to produce a colourful carpet. Naylor’s lucid and conversational style makes the book an enjoyable reading. I appreciated his cultural sensitivity and authentic sincerity as he shares his and his family’s experiences and adventures. This book deserves to be placed next to Edward Said’s Orientalism , but I assure you that you will read it with lots of smiles and laughter!”
Dr Riad Kassis, Director, Langham Scholars Ministry, Langham Partnership
“Weaving together colourful anecdotes and astute observations, Chris Naylor explores themes of faith, community, and nature conservation in the beautifully written and evocative story of one British family’s life in Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon. This warm-hearted and honest book is a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the cultural, political, and religious complexities of the Middle East.”
Dr Hilary Marlow, Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
“This well written book is an inspiring story of life in the Middle East with many interesting details about the people, the natural history, and the religions of the region.”
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, FRS, Former Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
“Like the best tapestry, this book has so many beautiful elements weaving through it. It is a colourful description of an amazing time spent in the Middle East, blended wonderfully with an exploration of the history and culture of that significant part of the world. His love for, and care of, the people who live there, the land they live on, and the other creatures they share that land with, shines through in everything he writes. As the troubles in that part of the world just keep escalating, this is a book we all should read.”
Dr Ruth Valerio, author of L is for Lifestyle: Christian living that doesn’t cost the earth
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Map of Lebanon
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration of Arabic to English Texy
Introduction: To Picnic or Not to Picnic?
Chapter 1: The Middle East and Back Again
Chapter 2: The Keys to the House: The Arabic Language
Chapter 3: Lebanon After the Civil War
Chapter 4: A History Told in Stone
Chapter 5: Grounded in the Valley
Chapter 6: Mission Impossible
Chapter 7: “ Salaam Alaykum and Merry Christmas and Thanks Be to God”
Chapter 8: How I Got a Gun
Chapter 9: Crossing Cultures
Chapter 10: The Day the World Changed
Chapter 11: Myths, Legends, and Superstitions
Chapter 12: Valentine’s Day
Chapter 13: A Summer War
Chapter 14: The Final Departure
Chapter 15: A New Country
Appendix
The Naylor Family and the Middle East Timeline
Suggested Reading
Last Word…
Photographic Insert

Acknowledgments
This book covers a period of two decades and so implicates many family and friends. My greatest thanks go to my wife Susanna and children Samuel, Chloe, and Joshua for allowing our family story to be told and for their advice, recollections and arguments that helped shape the book. I am also grateful to Barbara Mearns, George and Mary Kopti, Tom Rowley, Stephen and Marianne Raikes, Colin Chapman, Michel Skaff, Richard Storey, Chris Walley, Peter Harris, Andy and Laurel Sprenger, Joy Mallouh, Colin Conroy and Jennie Evans who read either parts or all of the text to check that my memories weren’t too far from the truth.
The fact that our family musings have progressed to a book is thanks to Lion Hudson, and particularly to Tony Collins for believing in the project and to my commissioning editor Ali Hull for the Herculean task of sharpening the text and straightening out my idiosyncratic grammar.
My greatest thanks go to the people of Lebanon for taking us into their hearts and changing us for good.
A Note on Transliteration of Arabic to English Text
Recording Arabic words in Roman script is fraught with challenges, the greatest of which is consistency. Let me give you an example. The region of Aammiq that looms large in the central chapters of the book is variously recorded on maps, road signs, reports and in literature as Aammiq, Ammiq, Amiq, Amik, Ameek and even 9amiq!
In an attempt to remain consistent and give the reader a chance to sound out the words I have attempted to stick to two simple rules: The transliteration is phonetic but does not make use of special symbols for sounds which have no English equivalent. Thus the Islamic holy text is written “Qur’an” not “Ķur’ān”. Where Arabic names have wide use in English I opt for the English form that is in most common use, even if it is not the best transliteration – e.g. Bekaa Valley.
A note on names
The stories and incidents in the book have been recorded as accurately as my memory allowed. However, a few of the names of people and places have been changed to maintain anonymity where that is important.
I NTRODUCTION
To Picnic or Not to Picnic?
Summer, 1995 Aammiq wetland, the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
It was time to explore. We had arrived in the Bekaa valley a month ago but, without a car, had only got to know the village and a taste of the surrounding countryside. The panorama of fertile plai