Back in the States

I've been up for almost twenty-four hours. Instead of sleeping on the plane I watched movies, one after another, from On the Ropes to The Missing to School of Rock. I woke this morning at 6.30am Jordan time (11.30pm Thursday night in New York) and arrived in New York at 4.10pm local time. I didn't get back to my apartment until almost seven. Tomorrow morning I have to do laundry and repack in time to catch a flight to L.A. at 5.40pm. I left during the spring and have come back to summer.

I had decided on my last day in Amman to visit the King Hussein Mosque. It would be my final act as a tourist on this trip. Unfortunately, I had misread the visiting hours, and arrived just as they ended. The guard told me I could come back tomorrow. But tomorrow I would be leaving.

I took a taxi to Abdoun Circle and ate at a fast food schwarma restaurant. I walked around the circle looking at the cafes before choosing it. Then I moved to a cafe to write a final few letters and to drink a last cup of Turkish coffee. One table ordered a feast for lunch. Sizzling platters arrived on their table. Other groups drank fruit shakes and smoked nargileh.

On my trips to the far East, I've been able somewhat to blend in with my surroundings, but in the Middle East I was conscious always of being a visitor. Rarely was I mistaken for a local. Once was at a schwarma stand when a man asked me how much a Coke was. I was standing by the cooler when he grabbed a soda for his son. When I told him I didn't know, he replied, "Don't you work here?" I had to admit I didn't.

From Abdoun Circle I returned to the downtown area. The day was clear and cool, only the second good day I had had in Amman. I walked to the Roman Ampitheatre and climbed midway up to sit in the shade. There I watched as people wandered in and out to sit on the stone benches. Boys walked around with thermoses selling shots of coffee. I imagined what it would be like to watch a performance there. And as my mind drifted into the ancient past of Philadelphia, I could already feel Amman drifting away from me, the Middle East carried on within as a memory. Posted by eku at May 21, 2004 10:35 PM