Blogs from Amman, North, Jordan, Middle East - page 11

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Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman November 30th 2010

Reality bites. I realize my last friend visiting me from home just left. I almost started to cry as she got into her taxi in the morning. That means I am on my last leg of my trip and the lonely factor may kick in (as it did in parts of Turkey). I am certainly looking forward to lying on a beach (in Thailand) and doing nothing for a few days (my vacation within a vacation) and then starting my next tour in Vietnam… I have been extraordinarily lucky with the people I have met on my travels so I keep hoping my luck doesn’t run out or a repeat of creepiness in Turkey doesn’t occur again. When I return home in December I am already thinking about too much stuff! This includes a job search, ... read more

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman November 29th 2010

This is such a small country and yet it has so much to offer. I can't believe that I have seen so much of this adorable kingdom in such a short space of time. From the howling winds of the desert in Wadi Rum to the cacophony of activities in the metropolis of Amman itself, I am quite amazed at how much history and beauty can be found in this wonderful country. I am sad to say goodbye...I have enjoyed the civility of everything. For some bizarre reason, I had booked a single room when I was arranging my trip in August. When I arrived they upgraded me to a suite at no extra charge and I must say my palatial surroundings are a most welcome change! But this is typical of Jordan...everywhere I have been ... read more
Roman Ruins at the Citadel
Fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The World's Fastest Falafel-Maker!

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman November 12th 2010

Amman, the capital of Jordan, was called Philadelphia during Roman times, after the Roman governor of the Decapolis. The Amman Citadel is in the centre of Amman on one of the original seven hills of Amman. Well, with urban sprawl, the Seven Hills have now become something like the twenty hills of Amman. ... read more
W.. by Amman sign
View of Amman from citadel
View of Roman theatre

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman October 25th 2010

An early flight out from Beirut. I arranged a pick up taxi from the hostel, we got to the airport fairly early, gazillion counters for Middle East Airlines, I queued up on the wrong counters twice! I always catch the Arabic ticker not the Roman letters and thought I'd wing it maybe they will check me in anyway but no, found the right check in counters. I went through immigration fairly quickly, this expressionless immigration woman asked me which hostel I stayed in Beirut as I did not fill it in on the exit form, why the hell do they need it when I already am leaving the country! I am very hungry and have to spend my last dibdobs and I found a cafeteria on the 2nd floor of the departure gates,$10 for a club ... read more
Jordan river
Amman
Mardaba

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman August 1st 2010

Jordanie express, comme d'hab' ! C'est la troisieme fois que notre route passe par Amman, transit quasi indispensable vers la Terre Sainte. L'impatience de rejoindre notre destination finale (?), nous réduisons chaque année notre séjour dans la capitale jordanienne au strict minimum. La ville manque de charmes et la vie y est chère, deux arguments qui semblent la condamner a rester l'eternelle boudee de nos itinéraires (au moins pour Jeangab). Il nous faut pourtant y passer une nuit, à la sortie de la messe (latine et en Français, quel privilège !) nous demandons l'hospitalité au curé de la paroisse Marie de Nazareth, il nous accueille. "Demandez et vous recevrez", ca marche ! Mais des le lendemain nous repartons vers la frontiere, plein cap sur la terre sainte. Au passage nous voulons quand meme decouvrir le lieu ... read more
Le Jourdain
En terre d'exil
Ahlan wa Sahlan ! Bienvenue !

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman August 1st 2010

Marhaba, Since yesterday was around 106 degrees I decided to stay cool in the hostel, but even that was hard to do! Naturally, I didn't travel anywhere yesterday in the heat, but today before class (Sunday is a school day) I fed my surprising early morning ambition (for those of you who know me you know I hate to get up early) and decided to go to The King Abdullah Mosque. This mosque is the only one in Jordan that openly allows foreign and non Muslim visitors to have a look around. The cost is 2jd and allows you access to the mosque and the little Islamic Cultural Museum on the site. The mosque at the moment is the biggest one in Amman. The Mosque is names after the late King Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein, the founder ... read more
King Abdullah Mosque
King Abdullah Mosque
King Abdullah Mosque

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman July 24th 2010

Today was the day that we said goodbye to all our new travel buddies. I have to say that it was very sad for mike and I to see people trickle off to the airport as we gave our arm pump salute to their cabs. We have 2 more nights here in Amman, and the last to leave today was Dave, who had a midnight flight. After we waved goodbye to the others, mike, Dave and I (and mark for a little while) took off to explore downtown. We walked and walked and walked all day, exploring every nook and cranny in downtown. We walked up and down the main shopping street (stopped in the gold souk so I could buy some jewelery!), explored the fruit markets, experienced the thrill of crossing the crazy streets, tried ... read more

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman July 9th 2010

Ahlan ya Shabab! Sorry it's been so long since my last entry, once classes got started homework has been nonstop. 4 hours of classes a day equals four hours of homework per night for 5 days a week! While it is very intense I like it a lot, and my class has very nice people. It's hard to believe 3 weeks have already passed and only 6 are left, time sure does fly! So, since today is Friday that means it is the weekend in Jordan. So, after sleeping in a little I headed to the local mall and finally had a successful ATM experience, thank goodness! So after exiting the mall feeling great I decided why not go the citadel? For those of you who don't know what the citadel is, all you have to ... read more
Citadel
Citadel
Citadel

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman July 5th 2010

Going from country to country seeing cultures changing. That is what we came for. Entering Jordan. Entering a different country. Entering a different world. People suddenly speak English. Well that was not really necessary, cause the American guy we met at the ferry from Egypt to Jordan spoke Arabic, organized a taxi at 11 o'clock at night (obviously the 3 hour ferry took about 9 hours and it got quite late) and so we drove to Wadi Mousa to see Petra, which we weren't even sure of seeing. We inquired about prices and 50 Dollars were just to expensive. Man, we can live a week for that money (that is at least 66 Falafels) We decided to go to Little Petra instead. For free. There a nice Bedouin guy offered us a free hike to Petra ... read more
Auf dem Weg in die Wueste
In the desert
Postkartenschreiben

Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman June 23rd 2010

So the day has finally arrived, first day of classes! I found out yesterday that my classes were from 1-5. I really don't know how I got so lucky, because the other times were from 8-12. I have never been stuck in an 8 o'clock class since I graduated from high school! My class consists of 6 people, including myself, which is so nice. I can already tell from today that the interaction level will be high. I have two female teachers who are extremely nice. Bassma is out first teacher and she teaches Arabic grammar for two hours. Then Rania comes in for the last two hours and teaches us "skills" i.e., conversation, reading, and speaking. All 6 of us have had about 1 year of Arabic and therefore are on about the same skill ... read more




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