Day 5

Today, I woke up at 10am (amazing) in my new bedroom in Jabal Amman. I got up, washed my face and ate my flatbread with strawberry jam and "orange juice". Flatbread is actually quite good. I recommend it. A couple of us decided to take a cab to the downtown area, or the area that is supposedly the life of the district. Needless to say, we came across one Zain (a T-mobile of the East) as well as an internet cafe (from where I write this blog) and a few fruit stands. Friday is the equivalent of Saturday in the West but during Ramadan... not happening so much.

Rainbow street is the one reputed for the Souks, but I think the program got it wrong (turns out the Souks are at night). We are going to continue on our journey searching for life. Otherwise, this part of town reminds me (so much) of the South of France (and the part of Eze where our apartment is, looking up from the base of the mountain, in particular) combined with northern california. There are Eucalyptus trees on every street corner and the minute I walk out of my apartment jazmine lines the roads and is simply intoxicating. The roads are extremely hilly and all the walls, villas and houses are made of concrete painted in beige, white and other neutral colors. Some are chipping, but I find it stunningly charming. The foliage is truly breathtaking for a desert. There are so many flowers of all kinds and their smell is suffocating.

I find Amman surprisingly clean. Others have complained that it is dirty, but in comparison to New York, it is pristine (and I don't find NY particularly dirty). There is hardly any litter, and the stains from drinks spilled or the like are not going to be washed off any time soon with this climate. I'm sure I am going to sit outside in the rain for hours the first time the rain falls ( if ever). A couple of us found this adorable little place called Books@Cafe. This is a haven or comfort zone to Americans and foreigners. It is a psychedlic two floor book store, internet cafe and restaurant (complete with leather couches, english speakers, PB&J, chocolate chip cookies, pancakes, pizza, etc). "Luckily" it requires a cab ride a little bit of a walk to get to, otherwise I feel as if we would get a little too cozy retreating there. It is a nice to have a little nook not too far away in order to get away from time to time.

Next...you will love this...we took a cab to Carrefour! Talk about an adventure! Buying cleaning supplies, quilt covers, TOILET PAPER!, and all the essentials ran up a hefty bill that I believe was well worth it. The hefitest bill, I regret to say, was reserved for something we found that we just could not live without. We all thought we could give anything up for a year, but it appears as if that is just not true. Three of us chipped in and bought.... The internet. As you can see, the router we bought is working well and we are using it across the apartment complex. We are slowly finding out how to secure it so that other people don't access it and slow it down 1), 2) use something we paid 70 dinar for. Regardless, this makes for a very happy Alex, and I wish it weren't true, but it is and now I can (hopefully) get to you all more quickly (and cheaply).

On the way home, we three and our 75 Carrefour bags hopped into a cab and started speaking with a particularly kind taxi driver. He taught us a few essentials (such as right Yemeen, left Shemelle, straight....) and laughed at me when after he asked me what we were here for (in arabic, and because I was in the front seat) I said "jama'a". A new word for you - Jam'a, versus Jamaa. The former -subtle nuances- apparently means mosque, while the latter, University. Who knew? I was also corrected when I responded "madrassa" the first time I answered that question here (which means school) but does not have the same connotation as 'school ' in English. Madrassa is like "college" in French.

It's surprising, but I feel so at home. I wish you all could come home with me. Hopefully you can get some idea of life through these pictures but I just don't think it does Amman justice. You absolutely must see it with your own two eyes.