Amman

Arriving in Amman in the afternoon, I took some time to wander the parts of the city near my hotel. I walked up to Mango Street, stopping by the funk Books@cafe for lunch and a vanilla shake. Then I kept walking, up to the second circle and then onto the third.

Walking Amman is like walking San Francisco, but worse, as all the streets plunge into valleys or climb steeply up hills. At the third circle, I asked if there were a service taxi that would run near my hotel. A man pointed me to the right street off the roundabout. There, I stood next to a man waiting for the same taxi. Moments later, he bade me follow him. A bus was arriving.

I didn't have change for the bus, but the driver let me board. I stood squashed between people, unable to see out, unsure of where I was going. When, at one stop, a number of people got up to get off, I got off with them. The stop was mere meters from my hotel.

With time to kill, I wandered off to see the main attraction in the city, a reconstructed Roman ampitheatre. Locals sat on the rows of seats, enjoying their afternoon off. I peeked in the two museums located in the wings of the theatre, and then started back home.

Seeing a crowd of people standing outside a sweets shop, I got in line. I paid my 1/2 dinar and received a warm plate of custard, a sweet crunchy topping baked onto it. It was delicious. Heading back up the street, I got lost in the confusing turns and intersections. The map was useless. Walking past my hotel, I asked a guard, who pointed me back the way I had come. Suddenly seeing everthing from that angle, it all made sense.

This morning I awoke late and made my way to Jerash to tour the Roman ruins there. At a local falafel stand, a man helped me on my way back, and I spent the afternoon touring the Museum of Fine Arts and then shopped various handicraft stores. At a jewelry shop, I met the designer, who offered to customize one piece for me after I pointed out some chipped silver. "I think adding this piece here would be nice," she told me, and set upon twisting back the metal pieces. "It's been a crazy day today," she said. "I've just come back from the workshop." I asked if she had assistants. "Yes," she said. "But constantly you have to manage. There!" She showed me the finished piece and I thanked her.

At another shop I asked the cashier where I could hang out in the city. "What do you want to see?" she asked. I told her I was staying in downtown but wanted to get a feel of the city. She told me about the Mecca Mall and the Blue Fig and a handful of other places. She tells me there are movie theatres and bowling at the mall. She emphasizes the fact that there is bowling. "There are two Ammans," she tells me, referring to the downtown area and the more fashionable parts and tomorrow I will search out the latter.

At the Nature store, the girl working there told me she was from Kuwait. Her family was visiting Jordan when the Gulf war started and so they stayed. She tells me she wants to leave Jordan and go somewhere far away. She wants to visit Germany and France and the United States. She's been working at the store for only a year but she likes it. She likes meeting people and though she has a degree in agriculture wants to open up a souvenir shop someday. I tell her I'm looking for something for one of my younger cousins and she shows me a necklace. "One of our best-sellers," she tells me. I tell her she's a good salesperson, but she disagrees. "If I were, I would have suggested the other necklace. It's five dinars more." She smiles. Posted by eku at May 17, 2004 8:19 PM