Ma'a Salama Amman

I'm leaving Amman today.  I will meet up with my family in London (they left a couple of days ago). My time here in Jordan has gone so fast, and although I am eager to see family and friends at home in America, I am sad to say goodbye to all my new friends in Jordan.


My family and I are fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to Jordan.  I am extremely grateful to the ABA for giving me this opportunity and to Texas Wesleyan for providing me with the sabbatical that made this and my time in Germany possible. I greatly enjoyed my work in Jordan and got to visit fascinating places, but the highlight was, undoubtedly, the people I met.  The people I worked with, the professors and students at the universities that I visited, and the people I met living and traveling in Jordan were awesome and they made my time in Jordan a personally and professionally rewarding experience that I will always remember.


I hope to continue to write about my observations and experiences in Jordan because there is so much more to say about this amazing country and the wonderful people who live there.   And, while I say "ma'a salama Amman" today, I hope I will have an opportunity to return to Jordan in the future, insha'Allah.

Souvenir Shopping in Jordan

Shopping in Jordan is definitely a learning experience. I'm talking about shopping for traditional Jordanian or Middle Eastern items, not everyday grocery or mall shopping. To get an idea of the sorts of items that are popular Jordan souvenirs, take a look at this blog post.


We were first introduced to tourist shopping in Jordan by our tourist drivers. Whenever we go on an excursion outside of Amman, we hire a driver.  The routine is always the same. After being on the road for awhile, the driver stops at a tourist shop. These are large shops that carry all sorts of Jordan souvenirs. Many also serve light food, coffee, and snacks.  Each is sort of like a Stuckey's on steroids (do Stuckey's still exist?). There are sometimes a couple of busloads of tourists at these shops when we arrive.  But, always a salesperson attaches to us and leads us through a hard-sell exploration of all the "treasures" in the store.


At least that's what happened until we became slightly more savvy tourists. The problem with these big tourist shops is that the prices are much, much higher than they should be--sometimes as in as much as ten times what they should be. They tell you they are giving you a discount, and indeed they do take about 10% off the original price.  But, still the prices are significantly higher than they should be. One of the reasons for the high prices is that your driver gets a commission on all of your purchases in these stores.


It took us about two stops--and a couple of unfortunate purchases for which we paid too much--at these shops to figure out what was going on. We figured out that if we buy the same items at "local" stores (that is, stores where the local people shop) or at bazaars, the prices were not only far less, but we still got discounts and could negotiate to some extent for an even lower price. The local stores are smaller, so you might have to go to more shops to find the wide array of items. And, you still have to watch out, since most retailers set the price when they look you over and assess your ability to pay. But the starting price is almost always significantly less and the negotiating room is almost always significantly greater at local shops and bazaars.


At all the souvenir shops--the smaller, local ones or the giant tourist shops--you can always find a huge assortment of souvenirs: Arabian knives, ceramics, scarves, mosaics, hookahs, rugs, olive wood statuary, and much, much more. There is jewelry galore. However, you have to be careful. Some of the things are high quality, locally made, and beautiful; some are of poor quality and are not made in Jordan at all but are imported from places where they can be made and imported cheaply.


For example, I once made the mistake of buying a scarf without taking it out of the package to examine it.  The seller assured me that the scarf was handmade in Jordan and of the finest quality just like the display scarf.  But, when I got it home, I found that it wasn't like the display scarf at all.  Two of the four edges of the scarf (the two that were not showing in the package) were unfinished and fraying.  Plus, the scarf was much, much smaller than most scarves and was made of very unevenly woven polyester fabric. A tag said "made in China." Lesson learned: I now take everything out of the package to check it; even when I'm buying two identical items, both come out of the package for inspection.


How do you tell the difference between locally made things and cheap imports?  One way is to look for either a tag that says where the item was made or the remains of a tag that has been cut off.  Often, sellers will cut off the tag that says "made in China" so they can sell it as a genuine-made-in-Jordan item. I am almost positive that a scarf I bought in Egypt was not made in Egypt despite the seller's enthusiastic assurances that it was.  The tag was cut off and when I asked him why, he gave me some lame excuse and pretended not to speak enough English to explain it to me.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  It doesn't matter because I really like the scarf and would have bought it anyway--in fact, I did buy it knowing full well that it probably wasn't made in Egypt.


Another way to determine if something is really locally made is to examine the item itself for signs that it was really hand made.  For instance, I found some red Wadi Rum sand inside some pillow covers that were purportedly hand made by Bedouin women in the desert.  The sandy dirt was certainly evidence that this was true. And, the pillow covers were all unique, another sign that they were hand made.


There are also some very upscale retailers of local goods, and it is easier to be assured that the items from these stores are handmade locally.  They are also of a much higher quality. For example, the Jordan River Foundation, which is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania, sells beautiful tapestries, hand-woven rugs, and other locally made items.  The mission of the JRF is to "empower society, especially women and children, and in turn, improve the quality of life to secure a better future for all Jordanians." Wild Jordan, the business unit of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, operates stores that provide opportunities for local people to make and sell products using local resources and skills. Some of the items available at Wild Jordan stores include jewelry, olive oil and olive oil products (such as soaps), painted ostrich eggs (a traditional Jordanian art and a very popular, but expensive, item in souvenir shops), and organic jams and fruits. And, we must not forget Silsal, and other artist-owned galleries.  Of course, one pays more at these places, but the quality of the items is outstanding and you can be sure that the things you buy were made by Jordanian artists. 

Silsal

"Knowledge: the beginning of it is bitter to taste, 

but the end is sweeter than honey."

~Samarkand proverb

No question about it! My favorite shop in Amman is Silsal. It is a ceramics gallery, where artists make (and, of course, sell) the most beautiful ceramics pieces you can imagine. And, if they don't have what you are looking for or if you would like something very unique, you can work with the artists to custom design your own piece.


In dramatic contrast to the numerous tourist and souvenir shops around Amman and throughout Jordan, Silsal makes one-of-a-kind art pieces. Most of the pieces reflect traditional Arabic and Islamic art influences, but some are quite modern and abstract. Here's what Silsal's website says:

Silsal is a place for artists and artisans, and for all those who value the unique. Housed in two 1950s villas [in] Jordan’s capital, Amman, we’ve been making inspiring stoneware art pieces for over twenty years now. As for our designs, many reflect hundreds of years of Oriental heritage.What we produce is more than a product – a Silsal ceramic is a work of art. It’s the result of diligent research, skill, and just that little bit of magic.

Several weeks after we discovered Silsal (and after we had already made several visits to the gallery), Charlie started reading Queen Noor's book "Leap of Faith." We were so excited when he came across this excerpt:

I . . . encouraged two creative and enterprising sisters, Rula and Reem Attallah, who started a handmade ceramics business in Amman using designs and calligraphy from ancient Middle Eastern civilizations and Islamic dynasties.  We gave their beautiful glazed pieces, many painted with base-relief imagery, as personal and official gifts with great pride. One of my favorites from Silsal Ceramics was--and is--the "Health, Happiness, and Good Fortune" bowl, which uses the unique Islamic art form of Arabic script to promise blessings on its owner.  Another favorite . . . bears the very delicate lettering of an eleventh-century Samarkand proverb that translates to "Knowledge: the beginning of it is bitter to taste, but the end is sweeter than honey."

Imagine how smug we felt to have been validated by Queen Noor! We had come across Silsal before reading Queen Noor's book and we had the same reaction to the beautiful pieces that she did.  Indeed, two of our favorites were the ones she mentioned. The "knowledge plate," as we call it, immediately drew our attention and instantly became our favorite piece the first time we visited Silsal. (I say "our" because all four of us had the same reaction to the piece.) The one on display was huge--45 centimeters; it was stunning and dramatic due to its size, yet very elegant due to its simplicity. And, we really liked the message (it reminded me of law school!). It is inspired by a piece that is in the permanent collection at the Louvre, and the Silsal artists make the plate in many different color combinations.

Here are a couple examples of Silsal's knowledge plate:

And, this one is the original in the Louvre's collection:

So, if you are ever in Amman, don't miss Silsal, and if you aren't in Amman, visit Silsal online! 

Dinner at the Wild Jordan Cafe

Paul, Charlie and Maggie left Amman today and headed for London.  I am leaving on Tuesday and will meet up with them in London. We will spend about a week in London, then a couple of days in Madrid (long story), before we catch our flights back to the United States.

So, we chose our favorite Amman restaurant for dinner last night--well, it's my favorite anyway--Wild Jordan Cafe. Wild Jordan Cafe is a partnership with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature.  The RSCN operates several nature preserves in Jordan, including Azraq Nature Preserve and the Azraq Eco-Lodge, which we visited.

The food at Wild Jordan Cafe is delicious and organic, and the view is spectacular--especially at sunset, which is when we were there last night.  They also serve a great breakfast on Fridays and Saturdays; we went a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.  Plus, you can get handmade jewelry and other locally made items in the gift shop.

It's a great place to spend an evening. Or a morning. Or an afternoon.

Spring Flowers

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul." 

~The Qur'an

Spring flowers are in full bloom in Amman.  The pictures show some of the beautiful flowers that I pass on my walk to work each day.

More on [NOT] Walking in Amman

The Jordan Times reports here on the ongoing issue of poor pedestrian conditions in Amman.  As I have mentioned previously in this blog, Amman is not a "walking city." Sidewalks, when they do exist, are often uneven, in disrepair, and covered with impediments, such as trees. People just don't walk much in Amman, and those who do often end up walking in the street, subjecting themselves to the constant annoyance of being honked at by passing cars.

According to the Jordan Times article, Jordan ranks second in the top five most "unwalkable" cities in the world. The article highlights the serious dangers of walking in Amman, such as being hit by a passing car or by falling debris from construction sites or the upper floors of buildings. The article suggests that the problem has many cuases, including a lack of enforcement of traffic laws regarding the safety of pedestrians, placing responsibility for sidewalk construction and maintenance with property owners rather than with the government, and urban expansion that has emphasized more room for automobile traffic and paid little attention to making space for pedestrians.

Oddly, even merchants in some areas of Amman resent pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk in front of their businesses; they view the sidewalks as private property and passersby as trespassers. Needless to say, there aren't a lot of "window shoppers" in Amman. The shopping culture here is completely different from the American shopping culture of walking along a shop-lined street, deciding whether to enter a shop based on what the shopkeeper displays in the window or near the front of the store.  Often, when my family and I go to an area with a lot of shops, we find ourselves to be the only pedestrians walking along the sidewalk (or in the street).

According to the Jordan Times article, Jordan has spent 15 million JDs (over $20 million) on sidewalk repair and construction in the last four years. Thousands of trees have been removed in order to make the sidewalks more passable. Yet, many people remain skeptical about whether there will be any significant progress in making Amman a more pedestrian-friendly city anytime soon.  There is simply too much working against the pedestrian: culture, history, and other economic priorities and challenges.

Getting Around in Amman

Remember I mentioned that no one walks in Amman?  We don't have a car here, so that means that whenever we need to go somewhere that's more than a couple of blocks, we take a taxi. But, there are some challenges in getting around  in taxis also.  Even though taxis are plentiful and cheap, it's just not that easy to get around, at least for foreigners like me. 

First challenge: Most of the taxi drivers speak very little or no English.  Thus, it is difficult to explain where you want to go.  I have directions to my house written in Arabic on a piece of paper that I show to taxi drivers, but still it is difficult.  Some can't read--either because they "forgot their glasses" or because they simply don't know how to read or refuse to read.  Those who can read have trouble with the directions due to challenge number two.

Second challenge: There aren't really addresses here.  Yes, there are street names, and yes, there are building numbers, but places don't seem to be identified by address the way we are used to in the U.S. and Europe. So, you have to explain to the driver where to go, usually by reference to the nearest of the eight circles (which are large round-a-bouts that sort of define the regions of the city).  This is difficult under any circumstances, but it is even more difficult when you don't speak Arabic and the driver doesn't speak English.

Third challenge: GPS?  Forget about it.  Taxis don't even have communcation radios, much less GPSs. And, remember challenge number two?  It would be tough to have GPS without addresses.

Fourth challenge: Drivers know some landmark places, but to a very limited extent.  If you want to go somewhere that is not a common taxi destination, such as an office or someone's home, then it is virtually impossible to explain to a taxi driver how to get there.  In fact, I live near a hotel, which should provide a good landmark for getting to my apartment.  However, it is extremely rare to find a taxi driver who actually knows where this hotel is.  I have to give directions, using hand signals instead of language (remember the first challenge!).  Forget it if I want to go somewhere to which I don't know the way (see fifth challenge).

Fifth challenge: If you are like me and bad with directions anyway, you can't even point out the route using hand signals because you really have no idea where you are going, but only know where you want to end up! Add to this directional-challenge the additional challenges of being in a relatively unfamiliar city with streets that do not seem to be laid out in a nice organized grid and of not being able to speak or write the language, and you have a real challenge getting around.

Sixth challenge:  Just being in a car is a frightening experience. Traffic is insane. There appear to be no traffic rules at all and, if there are, no one follows them.  I have actually seen stop signs, but I have never, ever, not one single time, seen any car stop at one. When cars come to a corner, they just keep going and sort of meet in the middle and whichever car can "take" the right of way, does. Also, lanes are meaningless; people drive on top of the lane line or anywhere else they want to. People change lanes without any sort of signal at all or any worry whether there is another car in the spot they are moving to.  Horns are honked constantly; a horn honk can apparently mean a plethora of different things: "watch out, I'm coming through," "go ahead, I'll wait but not for long," "what the heck are you doing pulling into the side of my car," "do you want a taxi?," or any number of other things.  I'm still trying to decode the intricate details of the horn honking language that exists among Amman drivers--it's almost as hard to learn as Arabic.

Despite all these challenges, I do seem to manage to get everywhere I want to go and then home again.  It always seems like a small miracle when I pull up to my destination.  It seems like a large miracle when the taxi meter says that the whole ride--which seemed to have taken me all around the world and back to get me to my destination--cost only 90 cents.

Shawarma Reem

Finally, we had the good sense to dine on the local culinary staple: shawarma. A shawarma sandwich is marinated, grilled meat (usually lamb), roasted on a spit and then shaved off and wrapped in a pita with tomatoes, onions, and tahini sauce.  It's very much like a Greek gyro or a Turkish döner.

We went to Shawarma Reem, a shawarma stand which sits on the Second Circle. It is the oldest--and arguably the most popular--shawarma place in Amman, having served customers since 1976. Many people swear that Shawarma Reem has the very best shawarma in all of the Middle East.

There are no tables at Reem.  People either eat in their cars, stand and eat, or take their sandwiches to go.  We went around the corner, found a nice rock suitable for sitting, and had an urban picnic with our shawarmas.

And, oh!, they were delicious! The owners--the sons of the original founder--say that the secret to their shawarma is in the marinade.  Only one person knows the recipe: the oldest son.  He doesn't cook at the stand anymore, but he mixes the marinade according the secret recipe that is kept only in his head.

To give you an idea of the popularity of Reem, here are a few stats:
Number of shawarma sandwiches served per day: about 5000;
Price per shawarma: less than 1 JD (about $1 US);
Pounds of meat consumed per day: more than 1000.

The New York Times even did an article about Reem.  But, far from being touristy, Sharama Reem is a popular place for locals. Everyone comes here--rich people, poor people, old people and young.  Although it was mostly men at the stand, there were some women there (I was there!) and there were many women waiting in cars. There were few English speakers there and we had to rely on the kindness of the other patrons to help us know when our number was called out in Arabic to signal that our order was ready.

Watching Television in Amman

We have been stuck inside all weekend while Amman has been pounded by rain, hail, and high winds. Luckily, Jordanian television provides plenty of good choices in English--a constant, varied selection of American TV shows and movies.

The movies are often heavily edited, and I can't figure out any rhyme or reason to the editing.  For example, sometimes a particular word will be cut out and sometimes the same word will be left in.  Some violent scenes are cut out, and others are left in.  Sometimes a kiss is deleted, and sometimes kisses stay in the movie. Sometimes the cuts are hard to detect, but things just don't quite make sense and the dialog doesn't quite match up with the part of the story that you've seen.

The commercials seem to occur at odd moments, as if they are just randomly inserted.  In addition, there are very few commercials and the same ones run over and over again; often the same commercial runs two or three times during the same commercial break.  Here is a typical TV commercial:

I Get My Dinner From a Garbage Can

Yellow Is The New White

Nobody Walks in Amman

It's quite a coincidence that just as I was preparing this blog post about how no one walks in Amman, the New York Times posted an article--"Sidewalks, and an Identity, Sprout in Jordan's Capital"--about how Amman's urban planners are adding and improving sidewalks, benches, and parks in order to encourage more walking and outdoor recreational activity and achieve a lifestyle consistent with its motto: "A livable city is an organized city--with a soul."

My observation has been that very few people walk outside any distance farther than from their car to the building they want to enter. There are probably many reasons for the lack of walkers in Amman--ranging from cultural and habit to the absence of "walkable" sidewalks and the availability of inexpensive transportation.

The sidewalks seem to be more like obstacle courses than walkways. They are bumpy and torn up in many places. Trees adorn and sometimes fill the sidewalk (as is shown in the photo above). The roots from the trees have caused the pavement to buckle in many places. Sidewalks dip deeply for driveways, requiring a pedestrian to go up and down inclines or even actual steps frequently. Sidewalks are covered with other impediments to free travel, such as trash cans, guard houses, parked cars, and other things. Sidewalks often end, sometimes mid-block, for no apparent reason; perhaps the builders just ran out of stone bricks or concrete. People who do walk often end up walking in the street, between the traffic lanes and the parked cars.

Add to the problem of the sidewalks that don't invite pedestrian traffic this: taxis are cheap here. Really cheap. Really, really cheap. A taxi ride that might cost $20 or more in New York City might cost about the equivalent of $1.50 or less here. Really cheap. Why walk when you can ride for next to nothing?

Nevertheless, I really like to walk. I walk to and from work every day, and home and back for lunch. My walk is a series of turns and veers designed to avoid running into trees, guard houses, holes in the sidewalk, parked cars, moving cars, trash cans, wires mysteriously strung across the sidewalk at about neck level (this is the strangest of all of the obstacles I encounter on my walk to work), low hanging branches, and any other surprise that might have popped up since the last time I walked my route.

I hope that walkable sidewalks will pop up all over Amman. I imagine that it will still take a serious cultural shift to change Amman from a driving-city to a walking-city.  Los Angeles has plenty of fine sidewalks and yet no one walks there. People are, after all, creatures of habit.

Views From the Amman Citadel

The Amman Citadel (in Arabic, Jabal al-Qal'a), situated on one of Amman's seven jabals (hills), is the site of one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited places, and it symbolizes the birthplace of the world's three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The photo above depicts the ruins of the Temple of Hercules. The banner photo on this blog shows the Umayyad Palace. The photos below show some of the great views from the Citadel.

Ahlan wa sahlan Amman!

I wrote this on Sunday--our second day here. My blog wasn't working so I couldn't post it until today.

Here we are in Amman, Jordan. Why are we here, you ask? I will be working with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative program with the University of Jordan. I’ll write more about the details of my work here later. I am extremely grateful to the ABA for giving me this opportunity, and I am looking forward to our three months in the Middle East.

We arrived in Amman late on Saturday night. As we flew in over Tel Aviv, it dawned on me how far we have traveled, literally and figuratively, since we left our home in Texas last summer. I never in my wildest imagination could have anticipated what a wild and fabulous adventure this year would be.

Our apartment is wonderful and roomy (just like our apartment in Germany was). It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a large kitchen, a dining room and a living room. It is fully furnished.

Here, the weekend falls on Friday and Saturday, so Sunday is a workday. I was excited to be able to go into the office this morning and meet my new colleagues. My apartment is within walking distance of the ABA office, so—like in Germany—I will be able to walk to work.

We live in the area where the foreign embassies are located. Therefore, my walk to work takes me past several embassies, each of which has a heavily armed guard protecting its gate. I’m not sure if the big guns make me feel safer or less safe, but they most certainly make my walk to work unique. In addition to the guns, there are dozens of stray cats that greet me on my walk to work.

Last night we got in late and, although we each had one bottle of water with us, we did not have dinner before we got to our apartment. It took us a couple of hours to figure out where we could get food, and finally we found a website promising that KFC delivers until midnight. So, at about 11:30 p.m. we were eating KFC. Our first priority today was to get food, water, and other supplies.

One of my ABA colleagues took us to Safeway Supermarket—our first supermarket in six months! There, we experienced severe culture shock—but in a good way. So many choices! In Germany, the grocery stores we went to were very small, and most of the time we shopped in specialty shops, such as a bakery for bread, a butchery for meat, a farmer’s market for fruits and vegetables, etc. There were a few product choices, but nothing like what we were used to in the U.S. (Of course, there were large supermarkets in Germany, but we didn't go to them because we didn't have a car.) But, today, we went to a gigantic supermarket and were bombarded with 50 kinds of cereal, 80 kinds of shampoo, and anything else we could think of wanting—just like back home in the U.S.A. It was a two-story store with food downstairs and an entire department store upstairs. “American” products were plentiful.

We got back to our apartment and tried to figure out the stove, which we could not get turned on previously. After a near disaster with a defective gas tank, we learned there was something wrong with the stove. This led to an eventful afternoon, including our discovery that our apartment comes with a “helper,” who is a delightful guy who will do for us anything we ask—run errands, take us places, call taxis for us, pick things up for us, etc.

But here was the highlight of the day for me: as we were standing on the steps out in front of our apartment building, waiting for a taxi to pick us up, I heard the most amazing sound I have ever heard. It was the call to prayer. This was the first time I had heard it because our apartment overlooks the back of the building, away from the mosques, and so it is hard to hear the “adhan” from inside our apartment or on our balcony. Of course, I have heard audio recordings of this before, but that was nothing like standing there and hearing it in person. It was amazing and I’ll never forget it. I know I will hear it many, many more times while I’m here, but I hope I never get so used to it that I don’t stop and take it in.

So, my initial thoughts: In many ways, Amman is much more like the United States than is any city we visited in Germany. The climate reminds me of Southern California—warm days, cool nights—and even the architecture is similar. Also, there are many more English channels on TV and “American” products in the grocery store than we found in Germany. But, in other ways, of course, Amman is very different from the United States. There are sights and sounds that we could only hear on this side of the globe. There is history here far more ancient even than what we saw in Germany. There are hundreds of satellite dishes dotting the flat roofs of the houses and dominating the skyline. The Arabic subtitles on the English TV shows and Arabic logos alongside the familiar logos of the American food products are a distinct reminder that we are far, far from both Texas and Bavaria!