Blogs from North, Jordan, Middle East - page 17

Overnight at the Olive Grove We left Aqaba on Wednesday afternoon, heading to a friend's parents' farm house near Jerash, an ancient city which was once part of the Roman Decapolis. Look in my older posts to see some photos of the ruins there. We drove from Aqaba to Amman and the sky was amazing. We took the King's Highway through the desert. We organised a room at a friend's hotel, the url=http://www.travelnow.com/hotel/propertydetails/210842/;jsessionid=C1E00FBD960952C1E18F4FBFB9A5A868.tn01tc01?currencyCode=USD&cid=54073 Dove Hotel in Amman. It was a quaint old place with lots of character, and an Irish Pub which had a great feel to it. It is only a two-star hotel, but the bed was comfortable and we were looked after very well. I had a meeting at Princess Sumaya University for Technology, and then we recommenced the road tri... read more

Now that I am back in the U.S. and having Hashem with drawl syndrome I spent a little time reflecting on my month in Jordan. After I finished my Arabic course my wife and I set out on a three day whirlwind tour of the rest of the country. We had a great driver/guide who I had met earlier and Ahmed AKA "Steve" drove us from Amman down to Petra. One of the real highlights of the trip wasn't Petra, but "Little Petra" as Steve called it which is about 10-15 minutes away from the main Petra site. Little Petra doesn't have the dramatic carvings, but is much more accessible, some great trails and views and is free. After spending some time there we set off to the main site and both are must see spots. ... read more

1st day in Jordan - Amman 3rd October 2009 After a good sleep, I finally managed to leave the hotel at 11am! I decided to play it safe and wear jeans and a shirt, but later saw people wearing shorts and t-shirts although most people do cover up. Decided to try and get my bearings and go for a walk into the city of Amman. I left the hotel with no map, just my good sense of direction and headed for the city centre. After about 20 minutes, I couldn't believe my luck, SUBWAY! Grabbed a steak and cheese sub and carried on towards the city. They even deliver Subway here! I don't actually have a clue where I ended up walking, but found some really interesting markets, a Roman Amphitheatre as well as the Jordanian ... read more

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The first week of classes are now finished and I am exhausted. I am studying at the Ali Baba Center which is a small school that runs group and individual programs. It is near the University of Jordan campus, but not affiliated it with it in any way. My program was set up to be three hours of MSA Abrabic and one hour of Ammiah Arabic every day. I don't know if I was lucky or not, but definitely drew two great teachers. My main instructor is a PhD and from the moment she comes into the room it is non stop instruction for three hours. Since I have been more or less a self taught student so far this sort of instruction has been very useful to fill in the holes in my understanding of ... read more