Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Posh Life


“This is livin', this is style, this is elegance by the mile

Oh the posh, posh traveling life, the traveling life for me…”

If you are scratching your head wondering what those lines are in reference to, I invite you to screen, or re-screen, the late 1960s classic movie Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang to refresh your memory! I have not seen that movie in ages, but as a child I adored the movie, loved the name of Truly Scrumptious, the heroine, wanted to be the chief taster in the candy factory, and got my first sight of breathtaking alpine scenery with the grand shots of Neuschwanstein Castle (stepping in for the castle of the country of “Vulgaria” in the movie). But those words above come from a song from Grandpa Potts—he got to sing that rollicking song about traveling the world in posh style! One of my adopted theme songs in my life I suppose. Again, if there could be a soundtrack of my life, this song would have a track on the album. Did I just say album? My 1970s childhood just came screaming out loud to everyone: he is over 40!!

Anyway, back to thinking about the posh life. Last week was exam week at Hackley School, and I always contended, nay, almost swore, that exam week was the most humane week of the school year on the hilltop. While the rest of the school year careened at a non-stop, consuming, intense pace (tut, tut, I am not saying that’s a bad thing!) exam week at Hackley allowed teachers time to create exams, grade exams, and even sneak away and get rejuvenated for the second semester. I recall last year during exam week luxuriating at a smart bistro in midtown Manhattan with dear friends Kate Lamper and Adam Gordon. My poor friends had to return to their respective “salt mines” after lunch—but, since it was exam week, I went from a fabulous lunch to an afternoon massage…ahhh…yes, the posh life exam week allowed! You crossed your fingers that in the exam rotation your exam was either first or last—then you could actually break away for a trip somewhere! There was the year during exam week when I jetted down to Florida to visit my great friend Chuck (and actually talk him into coming to work with me at Hackley—he just didn’t know that was the plan when I made the reservations). How decadent—just a couple weeks after Christmas break to enjoy another break somewhere! Yes, the posh life. (Don’t burst my bubble and remind me that a teacher has to turn an otherwise Herculean task of creating/typing/Xeroxing/correcting exams as a means to posh-ness—gimme a little break.)

At KA, exam week is not so posh! I had expected a similar week to Hackley with long stretches of time to get caught up on emails, read a book, meet with my department, maybe have a drive to Damascus, go to the Turkish Bath, try a new restaurant (and more prosaic things like buy soap, and stock up on diet Pepsi). But, hmmm…not that posh leisure time here! Instead, they loaded faculty with many proctoring assignments every day (they don’t call them “proctors” here; someone decided to invoke what I guess is a British-ism, and you are called an “invigilator.” I should check on the derivation of that strange title!), and then every committee on campus decided there was sooooo much empty time, so meetings crowded meetings into the schedule, and duties seemed to multiply, and I found myself practically trying to catch some air to even write the exam.

But the purpose of the entry is not to whine about no free time…indeed, while my normal exam week posh life has vanished, I did get a glimpse of posh life last weekend that was a kick.

Last Friday and Saturday I had my first opportunities to be in rich people’s homes in Jordan. I wish I knew an Arabic phrase for oooo-la-la, but anyway, it was fun. So I got my first glimpse at the Jordanian Posh life!

On Friday a group of about 15 were invited over to the home of the man who had supervised the entire building project of KA from 2002-06. He had wanted to celebrate with faculty the opening of the school, and spend some time with people who worked in the spaces he had helped create.

We arrived at his home in Abdoun, a section of Amman that is equivalent to Scarsdale in the NYC area. Swanky. Everybody knows it. Everybody seeks it out. Everybody wants a friend who lives in Abdoun. We arrive and the staff greets us warmly. Oh—a staff. Yeah, in my next life, in my not-an-educator life, I want to have a staff. So I can treat them kindly, of course. We are told this is a Christian home (by the way, that is code for there-will-be alcohol-served) and ushered in to warm our hands by the fire. As we come into what would be called a Great Room in anyone’s terminology, you notice the ceilings in the rooms. This is a builder who obviously enjoys crafting a room. Each ceiling has a distinct “look” or feel, and our host, Gaby, the engineer, has used interesting woods in each room to set a tone.

As people settled down on the overstuffed couches with the symbols-of-the-Christian household, I take a look around. It is always nice when the way to the bathroom allows for peeks here and there. The kitchen! Wow—this is a kitchen that can accommodate parties of 15-30 people. It is like a great galley on a ship—everything is that sleek grey steely look that stands for, of course, posh.

The bathroom has an attendant outside to help you with an individual towel. Oh, yes.

Dinner is marvelous, with maybe 10 entrees—and how would it look if I did not sample all of them? The roasted lamb is exquisite, and well, there wasn’t a bad bite in the bunch. Desserts were both Arabic and American, and our hosts proffered toasts all around to the faculty who are making his physical buildings come to life.

The “poshness” of the house reminded me of some homes I visited while teaching in Charlotte, especially the homes of the Iranian doctor immigrant families I knew: lots of gold touches, and a very Louis XVI-feel to the décor. As I said, the ceilings were just magical, looks from a Roman home in one room, and wooden arabesque designs in the dining room.

Of course, a posh home is only thrilling if the hosts welcome you capably, and Gaby and Hania were excellent hosts. A fun first posh home to visit!

How odd is it that less than 12 hours later I was on my way to my second posh Jordanian home! The senior echelon at KA had been “invited” to a retreat for 10 hours at a board member’s country home, high in the hills over Amman, to discuss goals, and all the things one hopes to embrace at a retreat.

This home couldn’t be more different at first glance. Instead of a French style, this home had opted for a “rustic” look—in fact, it reminded me of the pictures of homes in an old Bible Storybook—the kind of home you always saw for Lazarus with sisters Mary and Martha.

Okay, imagine the view this home boasts: high in the hills that overlook the Jordan Valley, with groves of olive trees clinging to the slopes, and down below is the Dead Sea resort area (in fact the design of the pool out back is one of those infinity pools, the kind that seems to drop off the edge, and here in the pool the view drops off down to the Dead Sea. Heaven!) Right there at my feet was that fabled Promised Land, and supposedly on a slightly clearer day one could see Jerusalem.

The country house is a villa. I mean. Let me tell you. But it felt so comfy, so homey—maybe my home? And yes, the trustee member loaned us his staff for the day. The indoor pool was exquisite to look at with the stones and the waterfall. The picture windows in every room were spotless and showcased the breathtaking views. The home theater had a larger movie screen that half the movie theaters in Manhattan. Each room had a kind of relax-in-New-Mexico-New-Age-serenity. Oh yes, this posh life was, yes.

The retreat was good. The food was spectacular (I tried to eat enough for the next three days—alas, one’s stomach lining can only expand so much). I enjoyed this glimpse of the posh life.

Anyway, I had the Posh song running through my mind, so I decided to do a little research on the derivation of the term “posh.” Herein lies the beauty of the internet! I share now an entry from Wikipedia: “The much-repeated tale is that 'Posh' derives from the 'port out, starboard home' legend supposedly printed on tickets of passengers on P&O (Peninsula and Orient) passenger vessels that traveled between UK and India in the days of the Raj. Britain and India are both in the northern hemisphere so the port (left-hand side) berths were mostly in the shade when traveling out (easterly) and the starboard ones when coming back. So the best and most expensive berths were POSH, hence the term.”

Of course the internet also yielded the words to the song from Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang:

This is livin', this is style, this is elegance by the mile
Oh the posh, posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
First cabin and captain's table regal company
Whenever I'm bored I travel abroad but ever so properly
Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh
The hands that hold the scepters, every head that holds a crown
They'll always give their all for me they'll never let me down
I'm on my way to far away tah tah and toodle-oo
And fare thee well, and Bon Voyage arrivederci too

O the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
First cabin and captain's table regal company
Pardon the dust of the upper crust--fetch us a cup of tea
Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh
In every foreign strand I land the royal trumpets toot me
The royal welcome mat is outThey 21 gun salute me
But monarchies are constantly commanding me to call
Last month I miffed (missed) the (a) Mufti but you can't oblige them all
Oh the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
Oh rumpetly tumpety didy didy dee dee dee dee dee
Oh the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
First cabin and captain's table regal company
When I'm at the helm the world's my realm and I do it stylishly
Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-HP-O-S-H, P-O-S-H...


For those who keep up with the blog, you might remember I mentioned my friend Cristina’s Spicy Mexican Dip among my favorite comfort foods. Soon after the blog proclaimed my love for Cristina, and her Dip, she sent me the recipe for the Dip. For those who know the elegant Cristina, she certainly fits into a “posh” blog entry like a glove.

Here is Cristina's recipe:

1 16 OZ. JAR OF ANY FIRE ROASTED MEDIUM RED/GREEN SALSA
1 8 OZ. PACKAGE OF SHREDDED SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE
1 8 OZ. BAR OF PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE
1 12 OZ. OF SOUR CREAM1 LARGE ROUND LOAF OF BREAD - UNSLICED.

1) MIX ALL DIP INGREDIENTS TOGETHER AND CHILL ABOUT 1 HOUR (THE DIP MIX WILL THICKEN)
2) SLICE OFF THE TOP OF THE ROUND LOAF OF BREAD. THEN HOLLOW OUT
3) FILL THE HOLLOW WITH THE DIP MIXTURE AND REPLACE THE BREAD TOP
4) WRAP THE LOAF IN FOIL AND BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR 1 TO 1-1/2 HOURS, UNTIL THE SALSA DIP AND BREAD ARE HEATED.
5) SERVE WITH CHIPS........ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

The new version skips the baking. The alternative is: FOLLOW STEPS TO # 2. SKIP # 4 AND REPLACE BY THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS: PICK UP FROM # 2 AND SET HOLLOWED BREAD ASIDE PLACE THE DIP IN A BOWL AND HEAT IT IN THE MICROWAVE UNTIL IT BOILS (BUBBLES WILL SHOW ON THE SIDES) POUR THE VERY HOT DIP INTO BREAD AND # 5 IS THE BEST PART!!!


Now, exams are finished, and this weekend I aim to hit up one of the posh resorts at the Dead Sea for the day. Haven’t been there since the end of my first week in Jordan—a fitting way to celebrate the end of my first six months on this adventure!

Do something posh today!

3 comments:

Me and My Son said...

There is only one possible comment for this entry...Toot Sweet!

Unknown said...

I feel honored to have an official mention in the blog! What an entry: villas and meats and exams, oh my!

powellsa74 said...

John- That dip sounds yummy!
I am going to try it out at the Super Bowl party we are going to!