donderdag 10 september 2015

Floating in an enclave

Since we were near anyway, we went to the Dead Sea to experience floating in the water. Fun fact: at approximately 430 meters below sea level the higher air pressure causes the boiling point of water to be 101°C instead of 100°C. The high salinity of the water causes an increased density, such that one can easily float on the Dead Sea. That was what I had heard about the Dead See. But to actually go there, filled me with quite some excitement.

When we arrived at the resort where we stayed for the afternoon (after passing another checkpoint) the first thing I noticed was that as far as I could see, the whole coast on the Jordanian side was completely developed into a seemingly endless row of resorts. Upon entering the resort, everyone had to pass trough a detection gate, and our bags had to be scanned. This felt like a clear boundary between the outside world, and the world inside the resort.

And indeed, the resort looked like it could have been placed anywhere. There were no clear signs that we were still in Jordan (except for the always present photo of King Abdullah II). Tim Edensor recalls that these enclavic spaces are criticized to be 'placeless' or 'nonplaces', where local cultural influences are erased and spaces are entirely designed according to the ideas of the tourism industry. [1]

Also the girls, who dressed modestly according to the local values of Jordan, wore the swimming clothes they would most likely also have worn if they were to go swimming in the Netherlands. All in all, this afternoon felt as if I had been outside of Jordan. Floating in the Dead Sea was amazing however (until a small drop of water got into my eye).




[1] Tim Edensor, Overview of History of Tourism, Manchester, Elsevier, 2009

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