Jordan!

Day 7: Taxi to Jordan
Very fun ordeal – I went to the garage in Damascus that is well known to be the station to pick up the necessary taxis. I was first met by a group of drivers that were not recognized by the Damascene government or taxi organization to be proper drivers and they tried to convince me to drive with them. I considered but after waiting 10 minutes under the sun for them I decided to just do the right thing. So I just went inside.
There was NO organization. You just go in and wait for a full taxi to go to Amman (or wherever)
I paid 750 Leera and had a nice driver that didn’t smoke, got the front seat, and was in a car with people who spoke English
Observations: Amman
1. Appearance is really important
a. Showing off the amount of money you have
2. The people here are kinda rude
3. The Dead Sea is a HUGE tourist site – people from all over the world come for the mud at the Dead Sea
4. They say the word “Aady” a lot – it means normal or “Mashy”
5. The rich side of Amman is REALLY wealthy


Day 8 – Amman – Tala took me to for a heavy foul breakfast, to old downtown, to the amphitheatre, to the old museums, to have mansaf for lunch, to Rainbow street, and then to a western café’ for dinner
Observations – Amman
1. They don’ use as many lovey words as Syrians (well… turns out no one does)
2. Same old parts, not as dirty though
3. Rainbow street is famous for their Friday parties
a. Walk, concerts, café’s
4. It was Independence day there, so it was SUPER busy
5. It was cooler than Syria
6. The old men in the old city are more rude
7. The highest flag in the world is flown in the middle of Amman
8. Mansaf (the traditional meal – fat juice mixed with rice, a block of meat, and a thin piece of bread) isn’t that great. At all.