What a weekend it has been in Amman and throughout the Middle East. Thankfully, we are safe in Amman and the protests that happened here were peaceful protests. Nothing to worry about. However, we were advised not to travel to certain places on Friday. Robert and I stayed in and watched the events unfold on Sky and BBC news.
On Saturday, I took a trip to the Home of Love - an orphanage for severely disabled children. The school encourages the students to clock up to 10 hours of community service. There is a variety of activities and projects that the students can choose from. My colleague organised this one and needed chaperones. I volunteered my services. So for 3 hours, we hung out with these BEAUTIFUL children who have been abandoned by their parents because they are disabled and can not look after them. There were two nuns and two full time volunteers who look after about 15 children aged between 1-7.
There was a little boy, aged 5, who was in his buggy, his legs and arms all twisted behind him and a tube coming out of his nose. He looked like and sounded like a baby. He wouldn't stop crying. The nuns say he never stops, he just sobs and wails. I sat with him and stroked him, sang to him and spoke to him. He stopped crying! Then I picked him up - he was stiff! When I picked him up, he smiled :-) He was beautiful.
There was another little one, aged 2, who had the biggest, most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. I called her 'Butterfly' because she looked one. She was also so stiff!
I will go back there next month and make this a regular trip for me.
School, home, school, home, school, home. That's been our life for the past few weeks. School has dominated everything we do. I'm not complaining about it. In fact, we have really enjoyed it. Starting off in a new school is tough as there are many things to get used to. Everything is so different from our last schools and it'll take some time to adjust to all the new systems and expectations. But we'll adapt quickly. As long as we are enjoying ourselves, then we'll be fine.
So we've been in Amman for almost a month and I said to Robert, "We need to get out of the city and do something fun that is not work related." We drove 50km north of Amman and we found Jerash - an ancient Roman city that is beautifully preserved. We had no idea what to expect. We didn't read up on Jerash, we didn't know how to get there, we had no idea. So imagine our surprise when we approached the old ruins to see this.
Hadrian's Arch (Triumphal)
We were amazed at how well preserved everything was. You can even see old Roman writing on the stones.
Jerash was one of the Decapolis of the Roman Empire. It was part of a league of cities that served to unite Roman possessions and to enhance commerce in the region. Wandering around, you can sense how this place may have been a bustling trading centre.
Jordanian people are the nicest people you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting! Because we randomly found this place, we didn't have a clue where to buy a ticket or even if we needed one. So when we entered the site, we were stopped by guards who asked us for a ticket. We told them we didn't have one and asked them where we could get one. Robert started to talk to them about the price and apparently if we had a residency card, it only costs 1JD and without one it costs 8JD. We don't have our residency card yet so we told them we were new to Jordan, working here and that our card should arrive soon. The guards then said to us, "Welcome to Jordan. Please, go in. It is a gift from Jordanian people, to you. Please, you are welcome here. Enjoy." Robert and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes and smiles on our faces. At first, we didn't take them seriously, but they were genuine, kind and sincere. We thanked them for their kindness and we shook their hands, although one man wouldn't shake mine because he was married and apparently, it's not culturally acceptable to shake a married man's hand. He just touched his heart and smiled - so sweet!
Stray cats are everywhere in Jordan. We though this kitty was amazing, just wandering around ancient ruins. Lucky kitty.
This is known as the Cardo Maximus. It was built in the 1st century AD and used to consist of 500 columns that lined the street. This would have been the 'high street' of the city and thousands of chariots would have scored the original flagstones.
As I said before, we knew nothing about this place before arriving. We had no idea what to expect so as we kept walking around and discovering more, we were more and more impressed and then we found this amphitheatre and we just thought, 'my goodness, this just gets better and better!' It was tucked away behind a hill and as we entered, it felt like we were going inside a building. I was expecting some kind of museum, but no, we got this amphitheatre which was built in AD 165.
As we sat and pondered what life would have been like 2000 years ago, the call to prayer came on and echoed throughout the site. We hear the call to prayer everyday, 5 times a day and it is always very magical. But when you are sitting in ancient ruins and hear the call to prayer, it is even more powerful. I sat there and I listened to the sounds of the man singing from the Koran. I thanked Allah, God, The Universe, my parents, their parents, all of the people that have gone before me and all the people that are present in my life right now who have supported me, guided me and loved me. I am so grateful to be here right now and grateful to have amazing people in my life. Every time I hear the call to prayer, I stop and take a moment to say thank you. You are always in my thoughts.
Some of the seats are inscribed with delegates who voted in the city council. Robert is enjoying sitting on ancient seats.
As we wandered around, Robert was in absolute awe. He loves history so this place blew him away. He even said it was the best place he had ever visited. Robert is a man of the world and has seen many wonderful sites such as, Ankor Wat, Macho Picu, etc so when he said that this was the BEST, I was amazed and so happy for him. It made me realise what a wonderful adventure we are having and I feel so lucky that we are here, in Jordan. Sometimes I still can't believe it, but here we are and loving every minute of it.
On the drive back, we noticed all the trucks selling pomegranates. Look at how they are presented.
We really are loving this place and we are excited to discover it further. We may drive down to the dead sea next Friday and we are looking into a trip to Petra and Aqaba for when our friend, Spencer comes to visit us. What an amazing country and the people....the people make this place even more special. I can't stop smiling!
Here is a video we took of the Azan - call to Prayer. It isn't the best view of Jerash, but you kind of get a sense of what it is like. Although, watching it on video isn't quite the same as the experience, but I hope you get the general idea.
Shopping in a new country is always a fascinating experience because you get to observe what the locals do and what products are on offer. It's also a great place to learn the language.
On our 2nd day in Amman, we were taken to a Safeway in the local neighbourhood, Sweifieh. We weren't too impressed with this place. It was kind of like a President Mart in Taiwan, but instead of Chinese music being played throughout the shop, it was passionate Arabic music. I'll try and record it one time because it is actually quite good.
Robert in Safeway
Then we discovered a place called Cozmo. A big box store that has other stores inside like BHS, Hamleys and an electronic store. We got very excited when we entered into the food store and found Waitrose products. For those who don't know Waitrose, it is an excellent food store in the UK. When we lived in Southampton, we shopped here all the time. Needless to say, Cozmo will be out local go-to supermarket as it stocks the best products.
Another supermarket that we will go to on a regular basis is Carrefour. A French supermarket chain that can be found all over the world. We had one in Taiwan so it is nice to see something that we familiar with, like Waitrose. I took the following picture when everyone was eating after a whole day of fasting, hence why there are hardly any people.
We are very satisfied with the choices of supermarkets we have found in Amman. They are all clean and close by. We just have to remember to bring our shopping bags because we are using far too many plastic bags which of course, is not good for the environment. The supermarkets give them away willy-nilly. I always have to repack the bags in order to cut down on the amount :-)
As soon as we discover more supermarkets, I'll update this entry.
This town is about 20km Northwest of Amman. It is a predominately Christian town and is famous for fruit growing and cement production. The main reason to visit this place is a restaurant called, 'Zuwwadeh'. Our school took us here on our 3rd night in Amman and we loved it so much, we went back. Lonely Planet describes it as 'Highly popular with local and discerning expats, the ambience is lively and warm, much helped by the jovial staff.'
Here is a link to the restaurant - http://www.zuwwadeh.com/
The food is amazing and it has a very relaxed atmosphere. We tried to get there before the sun went down, but we didn't manage it. We will go back and take more pictures of the town because it is very pretty.
Mhamara and Babagonush dip :)
Inside Zuwwadeh. There was a man playing Arabic music. He was good!
Wow, wow, wow! It has been a week and we have fallen in love with the city, the people and the food! I know it hasn't taken long so it goes to show that we have made the right choice by moving here.
Today, we were meant to go to the Dead Sea, but Robert had a bad night sleep (jet lag) and was awake for most of the night with a horrid headache so we chose to stay in the city and do a bit of tourism in Amman.
We went to the Citadel. Apparently the Citadel sits on the highest hill in Amman and is the site of ancient Rabbath-Ammon or "Great City of the Ammonites". Whilst we were on this amazing hill or Jabel as it is called here, it was the call to prayer (adhan). This experience was magical! The muezzin echoed throughout the entire city. It was very cool!!
The 5th tallest flag pole in the world.
Amman is an ancient city that has been continuously inhabited. The Citadel is a great place to go to experience the antiquity of Amman
Showing the different times of settlement in Amman.
At the end of the year, the school will host a graduation down there in the Amphitheatre.
Roman Amphitheatre
I love this place :)
What they believe the Temple of Hercules would have looked like.
The Temple of Hercules
This temple was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-80).
Buzzy Bee
My hero!
Hercules Hand
National Archaeological Museum
An ancient skull (6000 years old) found in Jericho.
A cool map of the area.
The museum houses many items dating back to the Bronze age .
An old Mosque
Umayyad Palace
This is believed to be the work of the Umayyad Arabs (AD 720). It was once the home of the governor of Amman. It was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 749 and was never fully rebuilt.
