Five Weeks in Jordan

I've been meaning to write this post for more than 10 days but I got busy with a relative's wedding and of course the ongoing war in Lebanon. My family took a short escape to Amman last Friday and it was truly enjoyable. I say escape because most of my relatives live in Irbid, so we end up having to spend most of our time here visiting and hosting aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. The lingering sadness and frustration about Lebanon did not disappear and made our trip bittersweet.

On Friday night, we stopped by the Global Village Festival on the outskirts of Amman which was particularly packed that evening. Nevertheless, the weather was really nice and the exhibits were great. I heard some people saying it wasn't well organized but I found it pretty nice especially since this is only the 3rd year it's being organized.I also got a chance to have my first meeting with a fellow Jordanian blogger the following day. Lina took me to breakfast at Wild Jordan which has a spectacular view of downtown Amman. We had a really great time and I wished we had even more time because there was so much to talk about! I couldn't make it to the Jordan Planet meet up because of my uncle's wedding, but I really hope I can meet some other bloggers before I leave next week. (the view of the Citadel from the top floor of Wild Jordan)

After breakfast, I went with my family and uncle to downtown Amman, "the balad". This was really amazing as I had never been before, although I did read a lot about different landmarks there on the Jordanian blogosphere. First we saw the oldest townhouse in Amman, as well as the old Hosseini Mosque which is absolutely gorgeous.When we passed by this small kiosk-like bookshop and this old man with large black-rimmed glasses stepped out, I immediately recognized it as the one mentioned by various Jordanian bloggers. I was really excited and asked to take pictures of Mr. Abu Ali and his street-side bookshop and as expected he was such a gracious and kind man. I want to stop by again so I can actually have a chat with him. Our long walk through the busy streets made us hungry, so we stopped by another Amman landmark, Al-Quds Restaurant. The traditional Jordanian/Palestinian cuisine was delicious and the antique pictures of Jerusalem all over the restaurant were breathtaking.
The trip to downtown was really the highlight of our short stay in Amman. We stopped by the Global Village another time to check out the exhibits of countries we didn't see the first time and buy more stuff from the Indian, Palestinian, Syrian and other exhibits. Anyone visiting Amman at this time should definitely stop by the village.

With everything going on in the countries next door, I felt it was almost inappropriate to post about anything other than the war. But I also felt the need to document as much as possible from my few weeks in Jordan this year as it is the first time I visit since starting this blog less than a year ago.

[technorati tags: Jordan, Irbid, Amman]