Marriott Amman

... soft, having done my fair share of camping, backpacking, TKD, and motorcycling. But Johnie's stories of the chaos, lawlessness and insecurity throughout Serbia and especially Belgrade during the war and then the 1999 bombing campaign shed the scales form my eyes. My activities were controlled simulations, miles away from the raw intensity which Western society has been striving (nobly, to be sure) to shelter us from for the last half century.
Amman, Jordan david_chung

... in the office when I realize I that crickets are chirping in the distance and no one is in today except the big boss man (not to be confused with the Big Boss Man). 1 point for the universe. I start working diligently without even glancing at facebook, skype, or my travelpod. True story. Then BAM! All the wishes I ever made when entering a Catholic Church for the first time suddenly came true. My very own middle ...

... and it doesn’t seem like much as changed! But I have definitely felt culture shock all over again, and I’m continuously reminded of the talks I give in the states on the Middle East.



Even after spending seven months here last year, some things still shock me or **** me off. Other things just seem 3aadi, normal. Like the crazy driving, the men staring, and the people smoking…those things haven’t thrown me for a loop this time ...

... baby.

Back in Amman we chilled out for a bit before going out for Linner around 3:00. Of course we went to Hamesh, the best restaurant in the world. Our waiter was great. He found out we were from America and after telling us
"Welcome to Jordan" brought us out French Fries first and then our traditional food. They were good french fries too!

We walked around for a while through the Balad (the downtown area) looking for good souveniers and "antiques ...

... more tonight. Today we signed up for a tour of the desert castles. We were crammed into a taxi with a French couple and driven around by a very talkative Bedouin fellow- who turned sulky after getting a speeding ticket partway through the day. The castles were built by the Umayyads- early Arabic rulers- in the 7th-8th century throughout the desert as a place to relax, hunt and party. We drove to 5 different "castles", all very different from each other. Some were built ...

... we first visited the Dead Sea. One thing to note is that hitchhiking is socially acceptable and widely acted out in Jordan. Luckily with Tak's Arabic in full charming swing, we were able to hitchhike most of the 5 hour round trip to the Dead Sea with a combination of lifts. One Palestinian man with a hugely long beard, kindly face and cellophane wrapped black leather seats drove for nearly an hour in the wrong direction to where he was heading, because he wanted to make sure we ...

... chatting and when we arrived to Amman we shared a taxi together to our separate hotels. When we got off the bus a taxi was waiting for us, the driver was a bit of a del boy and of course tried to rip us off, he knew all the English and Aussie slang and you could tell he was a bit dodgy nice enough but of course its hard to trust people when you are traveling. He was telling me has 11 kids. I never really understand this culture ...