Amman Continued

Amman is WAY different than anywhere in India. No cows in the streets, no open sewers. Everything is clean and empty and calm compared to India. Also, all the buildings are the color of sand. Much less colorful. Most women wear hijab (head covering), but it is not required, especially of non-Muslim Western women. Most of the signs are in Arabic, but the tourist ones are in English, and most people do speak English. I have had no trouble getting around. Yesterday I went around the downtown tourist sites by myself. I went to see the Citadel, which is the site of some Roman ruins (a Hercules temple) on the top of a high hill. It was a gorgeous view of the whole city. It is a beautiful thing to hear all the mosques chanting the call to prayer. The only other loud sound is the song of the ice cream trucks, which also deliver gas for cooking stoves to each house. They play a song in a minor key that sounds eerie and mysterious. Much less honking of horns than India, although I think it is probably still more than Eugene. I love the Arabic language. It is so beautiful. I also love Arabic music....I bought 6 cds for a dollar each. The food is great - falafels, pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush. I got a taste of the "Arab hospitality" that the people are known for in the Middle East. As I was walking down the hill from the Citadel, I heard some women laughing from inside a house. I peeked my head in, and the smiled and shouted, "Hello! How are you? Come in! Would you like some coffee?" I went inside and they served me a tiny cup of strong Arab coffee, along with some bread which I ate with cheese. It was great. They were a very happy family, the husband and wife were retired, and their daughter had several small, cute children who danced to Arabic music that was playing on the Arab MTV channel. After leaving, I met another tourist from England who I spent the afternoon with. In the evening, I went with Samia and some of her friends to a place outside Amman where there was a beautiful view of another town, all lit up at night. We smoked shisha (flavored tobacco from one of those big Arabian tobacco-smoking gigs) and talked while enjoying the view. Today Samia and I plan to visit Jerash, a site to the north with amazing Roman ruins. If there is time, we will also visit Um Qais, which is supposed to be very beautiful. Tomorrow Samia is going to Egypt, and I will go South with her, either to Petra or to Wadi Rum (a beautiful desert). I plan on crossing into Israel on May 3.