Awesome Amman: I’m Back!

Hello Dear Readers!

Now that you all know how Harrison and I managed our stay in Jordan, it’s time to talk about the trip itself. I was only in Israel for one night before we were due to fly to Amman, but very unfortunately for me, it just so happened that I got extremely horrible food poisoning. I’m talking can’t-stand-can’t-eat-can’t-leave-the-bathroom bad.

This first started at around, oh, seven in the morning, and our flight was at midnight that night. Right around 4pm Harrison turned to me sternly (while I lay helpless in bed) and told me in no uncertain terms we were not flying to Jordan that night.

So when we got to the airport at ten I rallied and managed to keep from vomiting at any point before or during our flight. It was a real struggle, but no way was I going to miss the opportunity to take Harrison to Jordan, one of my favorite countries on the planet.

Luckily, the next morning dawned and I felt much better, though my stomach was still in shreds. But who cared? I was in Jordan!

We had only one full day in Amman, where I took Harrison to all my old haunts, starting with breakfast at the Waffle House.

We then traipsed around Rainbow Street and down to the city center, which was exactly as busy as I remembered it.

One awesome thing? I hadn’t been to Jordan in two years, and since then I’ve spent tons of time and effort on my Arabic (MS in Advanced Arabic, anyone?). Well, the previous times I’d visited, everyone refused to speak to me in anything but English, despite my attempts to communicate. This time around I managed to hold my own completely in Arabic and the one time somebody tried to switch to English I took great joy in chastising him about my ability to understand him. That’s progress!

I also took Harrison to my favorite rooftop bar downtown, which has an amazing view of the amphitheater and is full of bunnies, chicks, and turtles. No seriously, they roam about freely for you to pet and feed. There I got to have my favorite Carakale beer, direct from the only microbrewery in all of Jordan.

Best of all? We made our way to the gold souks, where hoards of lavish jewelry beckoned invitingly from behind dozens of shop windows. And there we found Harrison’s wedding band, beautiful and luxurious and immensely more awesome that we got it while traveling.

We spent our evening at Mijana, an amazing Arabic restaurant with a gorgeous outdoor terrace and live music.

Before too late we headed back to the hotel, tuckered out and ready to prep for our extremely early trip to Petra the next day.

-Carissa “Noor” Rawson and Her Sidekick Harrison