Kempinski Amman

The last couple of days I was kind of stressed realizing that DeVan is gone and I have no American friends and I need to find a new place to live, etc. Tuesday Mango took me out after work to check out some apartments. He has been looking for himself too so he knew of a few places. Sadly they were either small and expensive or giant and expensive. A few were just nasty and so smoky I would never be able to live in them. So I was totally ...

... flag pole in the world) blowing in the never ending Jordanian breeze. Really beautiful and calm. Plus Wild Jordan Café is like the profit arm of the conservancy efforts here so profits help upkeep the parks and biospheres, recycled materials are everywhere, and the menu is mostly organic. Very cool. We also went to the Jordan River Foundation which I think is a project of Queen Rania. They have a really great gift shop.

Currently:

It is still Saturday ...

... them as close to us as possible, haha. But actually at the gyms they are very subtle. Women wear normal work out clothes, although at this gym some still wore the hijab, and it isn’t a big deal. Interestingly, Rebecca’s gym is not nearly as swanky as Fitness First, but right outside is a fairly expensive pool that looks like as oasis, complete with palm trees and bikini clad women. Sweet side note, Rebecca works out for three hours three times a week ...

... as follows:

~Bottled water: $.40
~Local beer (Philadelphia or Petra-500ml-at hotels/in stores only in Aqaba or Amman): $3.50/$1.40; Coke-250ml: $.35
~Internet/hr: $1.50
~Meal (pitas, hummus, rice, chicken, veggies): $4.00 (half chicken with pita and veggies-Petra): $2.50

Counts as I ended my time in Jordan include:
~Flight segments: 0
~Bus rides (non intracity-1 hr+): 4
~New friends on Facebook: 8

I have now been in Amman for three weeks and have already experienced and learned so much. My trip started with the worst jet lag I have ever experienced in my life…my entire body chemistry was off. Then after I pretty much got over that, I got sick from either cigarette smoke that permeates everywhere, or just the new atmosphere in general, or possibly my first apartment that was absolutely disgusting.



My biggest frustration being here ...

... The driver talked to me really about two things on the way back. First, he was an Amman taxi driver, so it was illegal for him to pick me up anywhere but Amman, so if anyone asked we'd been on the trip the whole time. Second, do not pay more than 3 JD for the bus.

Sure enough we got to Petra and we were the last people on the bus...again. The guy tried to charge me 5 JD per person...but he gave up immediately when I told him I knew the fare was 3 JD.

Amman, Jordan jimmyandkristen

Well, Spirit Week ended last Thursday with a great game of Hawaiian Basketball.  The 7th Grade boys won and so did the 8th Grade girls but it wasn't enough for the 8th grade to win the "Spirit Day Away" day on May 28. And I also found out in a very round about way, that I DON'T get to go as the StuCo advisor even though it's the StuCo that's paying for it.  I guess the "lucky" ones get to have a fun day as the four going are the MS clique. Yes, I am just a little ticked off and I ...

... of the city from our vantage point, and watched some kids playing in the cobbled streets, before walking back down to street level and grabbing some delicious and cheap shish kebabs and felafel rolls. Mm-mmm!

Fridays are a holy day in Muslim countries, so their weekend runs Friday-Saturday. Friday morning we woke up and the sounds of a market drifted in through our window. Outside stalls were set up in the streets selling birds ...

**Sigh** It is only when you leave the comfort and hospitality of a friends' house you then realize what a gift it was to have. After having a lovely stay at Kim and Michael's home, we were back on the road heading to Amman, Jordan. We arrived with no reservation for anything. We found lodging at the Cliff Hostel & Hotel or I refer to it as the Jail House. We had a room ...

... this well, as old as it was, was just sitting on a street corner with not much attention paid to it by the locals. It wasn’t that well taken care of but I thought I’d snap a quick picture before I left.

This turned out to be a really special spur of the moment trip that left me wanting to see more. If you don’t mind smog and the constant need barter, then make it a point to get down to Jordan for a couple of days (If not for the exercise).