Crowne Plaza Amman Amra

... but some things are starting to stick so that is good. Mumtaz ikter. On Monday Gupse had mentioned the Korean Film Festival which is happening all this week with free films shown every night at some cultural center downtown. Always a fan of free stuff I decided to join her and we saw a film called the Scandal Makers, a Korean comedy. It was fun. I really liked the movie a lot. There was this little kid in the film that we totally adorable...unlike the little kid ...

... but hopefully in an apartment soon. We are already planning a skype cupcake date.] Once I got home it was time to get ready for a party. Yes, my new roommate not only came with an actual coffee maker and coffee beans from Hawaii, but she also came with her own group of friends and connections. So off we went with Shawn to a party at the marine house which is located on the grounds of the US Embassy. The US Embassy is large and in charge and surrounding my ...

... mid morning coffee was no longer rouge behavior!
What are some traditions surrounding the Eid in Jordan?
It is really hard to judge what is traditional here because I am in a big city and our friends are Jordanian Muslims but sort of in the same way I am Catholic....they fast, have family if-tars, pray, etc, but maybe not 5 times a day and such... so not strict. Like how I follow Lent, often go to Sunday ...

... stayed to the treadmill, elliptical, and what I thought was a stepper until I got on it and started sloshing around like a drunken Blue Footed Booby. I also power walked (yes, power walked) this sweet track that is suspended in the air and extends outside the building. The walls of the track are glass so there is an awesome view and, as one might expect if you know my penchant for cuttlefish and animals that waddle, I was thrilled to see a group of goats ...

... and less harried Jordan. Our adventures in this Indiana-sized country in the heart of the Middle East began as we arrived via ferry in Aqaba and would lead us north from there to its capital, Amman.

While still distinctly still an Arab country, Jordan possessed an infrastructure, people and overall culture that had much more of a friendly, modern, clean and civilized (developed?) feel than in Egypt. It still ...

A strong yearning for modernity
By Sharmila Devi
Published: March 31 2006 15:03 | Last updated: March 31 2006 15:03




Amman has always paled beside Beirut in sophistication, Cairo in commerce and Damascus in antiquity but this has been as much a blessing as a curse. Less touched by conflict and turmoil than its neighbours, the city has steadily grown in prosperity, and even charm, in recent years.
Package tourists usually whiz ...

... it was very bland, and it often required hot sauce and pepper. Try the khousouri (sp?). People - 88%. The people were almost without exception very kind. Many of them were of course trying to make money off of you, but did it in a very kind (though also VERY persistent) way. They didn't seem to hate Americans, at least not to our face. Those that weren't trying to push you into buying something were extremely hospitable, probably more so ...

... br>
Madala the Bedouin cheiftan lives in the Rum Village in a relatively nice house, or so it seemed. It seems as if all the Bedouins now live in a village, and it is hard to tell what parts of the Bedouin experience are realistic and what parts are totally staged. Madala seemed to have about 4 kids all of about the same age, which made me think he probably has more than one wife, which Henry says is common, but who knows.

It was time for our jeep tour and ...

... out to be a transit stamp. In order to return to the airport to get that desired visa, you need the approval of the Jordanian government official that is usually stationed in the hotel. Today, I was told, he went to the hospital. Hemorrhoids. "His replacement would be here in an hour", I was told. Two hours later the replacement shows up and approves my leaving the hotel to return to the airport. The friendly travel agent at the hotel arranges a car for me to go to ...

... Damas-Jerusalem-Petra) et le village qu'elle était devenue au début du siècle dernier, avant que les réfugiés palestiniens et la modernisation économique en fassent un monstre urbain, débordant aujourd'hui sur quelques 8 collines et aspirant les bleds en sa périphérie. La moitié du pays vit à Amman, dont le coeur echappe quelque peu au chaos automobile environnant. Je visitai ce matin, donc, la "citadelle" ainsi que ...