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Movement of Coffee

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Greetings. I am Ali; I have a story about my Uncle Salama, owner of a café unique in the whole world, the tolerant merchant and faithful fighter for the sake of democracy and peace. The good friend who had a great hope and bet on his friends or those who considered them as friends over the past decades of time, but they let him down and disappointed his hope perhaps without realizing it.

I lived some episodes of this story with my uncle, whilst the rest of the episodes were told by him till the night of his death. Consequently, I am glad to be able to narrate this story in the memory of my uncle, as I experienced the events with him. This of course relates to the other episodes that he keened to tell me them once I met him. Hopefully, this may alert his friends, awaken them from their slumber, and motivate them to continue the march in which he tried hard to enlist them as partners, to achieve even a little bit of his lost dream.

The Beginning from the Village

Along the road overlooking the holy River of Jordan, extending from Umm-Qayes (Jaddara) in the Far North, to Amman which is full of antiquity and history, Amman that shadows the Baptism on the river of Jordan by its right wing, while the left wing shadows the miracle cave of boys whose story is mentioned in the holy Qur'an, those who slept there for three hundred years; through Madaba, the city of mosaics, the first Christian churches, as well as Mount Nebo and Mukkawer. Then to Karak and Tafila, where are located the shrines of the companions of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Then south to Petra City which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, where one of its mountains embraces the shrine of the Prophet Aaron, peace be upon him. Along this same route, old Jordan was located and most of it is today.

Jordan was and still the eastern twin of the holy lands in the west bank of the river, where the road of the Christians' pilgrimage to the holy land begins with a sunrise in Jordan to end up with a sunset in Palestine. Hence, the beginning of that holy day is in Jordan whilst the beginning of the quietness of night and holy prayers is in Palestine.

Therefore, one of the scattered villages that is immersed with the Lord's blessings and tranquility is my village, which is called Al Ain Al-Baida, "The White Eye," located in the directorate of Tafila, 200 kilometers south of the capital, Amman.

Herein, there is a water spring in my village which stems from the foot of a White Mountain; another name of spring in Arabic is the "eye" So my village took its name in reference to this spring.

This water spring was the only source of water for drinking and domestic uses in the village, in addition to irrigation in the valley down from the village. It is also used for watering livestock and building houses. The spring used to flood and increase in winter season because of rainwater and snowfall that met the water demand of the villagers. Winter was very long, cold, and harsh when I was little kid, but now it passes by unnoticed. Without a doubt, the blessings of the West have played a big role in creating this newly fast, warm winter. In my lifetime, the spring's water has decreased in the villages to about a quarter of what it was.

Since Jordan's foundation date and until the end of 1982, there were less than ten telephone lines in my village. There was no power supply as well in the village. But by the beginning of 1983, the village was lit with supplied electricity, and the communication system was also updated. This led to an increase in the number of telephone lines. As a result, the worldwide technological and communicative revolutions had finally reached the village. Consequently, mobile phones and the Internet are now also common fashions in the village, but many villagers in the generation of my father and my uncle see life in the present as far different compared with the past. That is, life in the past was more tasteful and much better than it is now due to the current effects of technology.

When I was a little kid, there was only one public clinic in the village, attended by the doctor once or twice a week. There was no dental clinic in the village, and patients with dental problems had to travel to the city of Tafila for treatment.

Also, the village had only two public schools, one for boys and the other one for girls. These schools included all grades, from the first primary grade to the last grade of high school. In spite of the fact that children were largely preoccupied in helping their parents in the fields with tending sheep and cultivating crops, their parents were very keen to send them to schools so they might learn.

I still remember that many of the children who were living outside or at the edges of the village had to travel for several miles a day back and forth to schools. Even severe cold and harsh heat did not prevent them from attending schools. As a result, the village of Al Ain Al-Baida became an example and a status symbol of education for the rest of the villages at Tafila directorate.

One of the main reasons that led parents in the village to teach their children was to compensate for what their parents could not achieve in terms of education in the early establishment of the Kingdom. I remember that some parents in the village felt ashamed when one of their sons failed in his studies or did not reach the level of his father's expectations. Most of the parents in the village wanted their children to become doctors and engineers in the first place, and if this was not to be, they could become officers in the army as a second option.

Consequently, the commercial activity in the village was very limited because the population depended directly on animal husbandry and the products of the land in form of vegetables, fruits, and grains. However, there were only two shops in the village, namely Uncle Salama's shop, located on the main road passing through the village, and Khaleel's shop, which was inside the village, away from the main road. Uncle Salama's shop was not only a store, but it was a shop in its infancy and then later on became a café at the same time for entertaining villagers, tourists, especially foreign passersby toward the historical city of Petra. Most of the villagers preferred to buy their own goods and needs from Uncle Salama's shop.

In addition to being friendly and natural, Uncle Salama's shop has all the needs of the villagers such as goods. Also, the prices at his shop were lower than those at Khaleel's shop. Uncle Salama was very helpful with villagers. He used to sell to customers on credit till the harvest season approached. Then they would sell their crops and sheep and pay Uncle Salama. Sometimes, instead of cash, Uncle Salama took dried fruits from the farmers and sold them for tourists.

Khaleel, the other merchant in the village, did not have all the goods the people needed. Also, his prices were more expensive compared to the prices at Uncle Salama's shop. Khaleel was the other way around: he sold goods for the villagers on credit to keep his customers, but he required them to pay their debts as soon as possible and not to remain for long periods. He insisted on requesting payments continuously. These made the village people reluctant, and they preferred to deal with Uncle Salama and buy whatever they needed from his shop.

The relationship...