In mid November, the CIPE MENA staff and I were at a very important gathering in the Dead Sea in Jordan. The event took months to plan and brought together our partners from across the region to discuss their experiences on advocacy programs. Experts from Morocco to Egypt and from Turkey to Yemen spent a full three days discussing approaches and methodologies for combating corruption, improving access for informal entrepreneurs, and engaging on policy reforms. The event was a total success and I am so proud of our team.
Despite the intensity of the program and the fact that every staff member was in attendance in every session, we still had time to enjoy the beautiful Kempinski Ishtar Resort.
The Dead Sea البَحْر المَيّت, al-Baḥr El-Mayyit, is the lowest body of water on earth, the lowest point on earth, and the world's richest source of natural salts. As its name evokes, the Dead Sea is devoid of life due to an extremely high content of salts and minerals which gives its waters the renowned curative powers, therapeutic qualities, and its buoyancy. Because the salt content is four times that of most world's oceans, you can float in the Dead Sea without even trying, which makes swimming here a truly unique experience not to be missed: here is the only place in the world where you can recline on the water to read a newspaper. It's a strange feeling to swim in this sea. One feels like a buoy bobbing above the water and it is extremely painful if the water gets in the eyes or into an open cut.
This is me having breakfast and that's Palestine behind me. Surreal!!!!
This is yours truly enjoying a free moment at sunset in the Infinity Pool, which is named so because from this angle, the pool blends with the Dead Sea, and one seems to be swimming in infinity.
Staff called this one "the Bobbing Head".
1 comment:
These pictures are gorgeous!!!! I'm feeling envious--I'd love to swim there!!
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