Mercedes Diesel

On the walk to school, I pass a very large gas station/ supermarket/ cafe/ restaurant. I think they market themselves as the cure all for any travelling woe in the city. The name is somewhere in the vicinity of Odeon - عودن, but I don't remember exactly. Depending on the day, it is about a 50-50 chance, there will be a giant green truck parked on the sidewalk by the gas station, pumping petrol into a valve on the retaining wall....

Ajlun

We took a bus to Ajlun. It was sort of uncomfortable because we were a large group of Americans. When travelling in a group of more than 6 people, it is impossible to not be insular and like yuppie tourists....

Internet in Our Apartment

The Internet in out apartment has been somewhat nonexistant. Most of the time it doesn't work, some of the time it hardly works, none of the time does it completely work. The broken Internet has been a cause of many complaints over the past week. I do not want to whine about it, but rather explain why I have not been diligent in writing. The truth is, I have been very diligent, and have wanted to post much of this writing. Unfortunately,...

Fakhri il-Din

The friend that I am staying with for the first week is leaving Jordan tomorrow. To celebrate, and see her off we ate at an upscale Jordanian restaurant. It is expensive by Jordanian standards, but cheap by American standards. The meal we ate would run for twice the cost stateside, but I will probably be the last time that I eat at Fakhri il-Din for mercy on my bank account.The restaurant is luxurious by all standards and attracts...

King Hussein Car Museum

On the outskirts of town, in King Hussein National Park, sits a modest building made of untreated, rough sandstone that houses the very extravagant car collection of the Jordanian Royal Family. This was...

On the First Time I Saw Jordan

I awoke before everyone else in the apartment. They are on Jordan time. My 6 am is really 8 pm, and their 8 am is indeed 8 am. I started Proust in my Loneliness. Recalcitrant on the couch, I pulled the curtain back and saw Jordan for the first time. There were five visible objects in perfect alignment. First was the ornamental iron screen on our window. Behind that, a tall, narrow, dark green fern. Intersecting the fern ran a...