In Jordan the weekend begins on al-Jummah (Friday, the holy day/day of prayers, when everyone visits the masjid,) and as-Sabat (Saturday). So it is 10 o'clock here in Amman on Saturday evening, and I have class tomorrow. Thankfully, however, my weekend was jam-packed with fun adventures, and I've had the best days in Amman so far!
Thursday night was a blast, and some of my classmates and I wandered around downtown (escorted, of course, by the guys in our group) and ended up in three different restaurant. The first was a cozy Turkish haunt filled with hookah smoke and comfy brown couches. The staff all wore the red fez's and they rushed to clear an entire corner for our large group. Famished, we were very disappointed to find that all they offered outside of hubbly bubbly (or sheesha their names for hookah) were milkshakes and coffee. After coffee we went to another Turkish restaurant, the View, and managed to make out a few dishes from the all-Arabic menu with some pride in our accomplishment. The hummus I ordered was dripping with olive oil and the pita was warm and soft. It was absolutely to die for. We ended the night at Doors with hookah, ice cream, and plenty teasing of the waiters.
The next day we had originally planned to go downtown, but as it was Jummah most stores were closed, so we opted instead for the Citadel. Cab fare to the Citadel was 2.8JD, and the entrance fee for the 9 of us was 2JD total. The Citadel was absolutely incredible. With ruins dating baack 7,000 years, encompassing Roman, Islamic, and Byzantine eras there was more to see and climb and take in than could be imagined. I enjoyed traipsing around the ruins, climbing and gazing out at the incredible view of the city. Amman is built on a series of hills, originally 7, and the Citadel is built on the first of those hills. The view is breathtaking, and cannot even be captured in film or photography. Even though the weather was a toasty 80+ by the time we got to the hill, the dry air and gusty breeze kept you from sweating or feeling at all stifled. In pants and a light tee and scarf I was more than comfortable, and even a little chilly after I got some sun on my arms and face. I will include some pictures and a video of the old mosque in the next post.
After that we took cabs down to Taj Mall, thinking it would probably be the only place open on Jummah that would serve food. Breaking my promise to myself only to eat Arabic food, I ordered something from an Indian restaurant (I rarely get to eat Indian food, and I absolutely love it), and I didn't regret breaking my promise! It was delicious! It was basically fried vegetables, but some of it was stuffed with curry, rice, saffron, and other incredibly delicious things. We shopped around for a little while then came back to campus, took a leisurely, 2 hour walk around the town, and studied at al-Baal, the restaurant we went to on our first night in Jordan.
We woke up extra early this morning, went to Indoor Cafe for tea and muffins, and rushed over to catch the bus to Kerak at 8:30 sharp. We were, of course, the first ones there, and in very Arab fashion the bus left about 20 minutes later than scheduled. The view on the way there was incredible. I had never seen a desert before, and didn't expect to be so in awe of it! Again, pictures cannot do justice to what can be seen with your own two eyes, but I will include pictures all the same! (:
We got to the city (or medinat) Kerak a full hour late after the driver and our guide stopped for a relaxing lunch at a fancy rest stop/restaurant half-way there, and found it another series of hills, but with much narrower and harrowing streets. Our giant bus rolled backwards, scratched by, and inched painfully up towards Kerak Castle. This was probably the best view yet. Set hundreds of feet above the valley, you could see all the way to the Dead Sea. But more on that later.
Kerak was, as could be expected, incredible. As a huge fan of the movie Kingdom of Heaven I understood the importance and history of Kerak, and I was awed to be walking where Crusaders, Muslims, and Jordanians had walked with such historic import centuries before. It is nearly a spiritual experience to walk in those well-preserved ruins, close your eyes, and imagine when it was new, inhabited, and the center of military, political, and economic life. There's not much else that picture's can't do a better job of saying, so I'll include all of those. Unlike the cats in Amman the cats in Kerak were super friendly and adorable! We ate at an expensive but mediocre buffet, I haggled for some postcards (500 qirsh for 2!!--that's dirt cheap by the way) and we headed off.
We stopped by the masjid where Ali's (the Prophet Muhammed PBUH's son-in-law) brother is buried. We weren't told we would be visiting a holy site, so most of the girls did not have scarves, and were given long, hooded, black robes that made us look like monks or executioners! But it was, as most things here are, gorgeous. Finally, we wound our way down to a cliff side over looking the Dead Sea. For the first time in the Middle East, the heat was stifling, almost smothering. I believe it was predominantly the humidity, which increased a hundredfold by the sea.
This is, believe it or not, a very abbreviated retelling of events. Pictures in the next post (or previous since you read the blog as newest posts first!) I hope you enjoy.
Ila liq'aa! Later!
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