Somehow, I have been here for a month already, and have to decided to mark the occasion by giving superlatives about my favorite/least favorite/gross things.
Most likely cause of death (immediate) – Taxi driving. I know I have bemoaned this before, and I will reiterate. It will probably be death by taxi that does me in. I could also be hit by one while crossing a four-lane highway—which I do on a daily basis.
Most likely cause of death (long term) – Second-Hand Smoke. I smell like an ashtray. All. The. Time. Everyone smokes here. In fact, you are considered weird if you don’t. Taxi drivers light up while I’m in the car. One of the leaders of the CIEE program was giving a lecture on safety while puffing away—slightly ironic, don’t you think? There are hundreds of cigarette butts on the stairways of every building, and every ashtray I see is always full. Restaurants sit in a haze. Word to asthmatics: don’t come here.
Most likely cause of Tetanus- Streets. If you look at any of the streets in Amman you will notice they are COVERED in litter. Old drink cups, wrappers, gum, cockroaches and paper are some of the items one can happen to step upon. Besides the trash, the streets are covered in a constant grit from the lack of rain. Nothing ever gets washed away, so it is always dirty.
Most likely reason to laugh at an inappropriate time – Pictures of the Royal family. Jordanian’s LOVEEEEE the royals. King Abdullah’s photo is in every office, adorns every building and sidewalk, and can even be found in people’s homes. They really love their king. The pictures always crack me up. Abdullah in army attire looking like he’s ready for war. Abdullah a spiffy white button down and Khaki’s with his wife and children. Abdullah looking like a sleazy news anchor. What’s even more hilarious is the Crown Prince. Poor guy, he looks like quite the nerd. If he wasn’t royal he would be shoved into lockers.
Most likely to make you look like a foreigner – Backpacks. Ok, yeah, I have white skin. But the dead give away that you are a Westerner is a backpack. Students here don’t have backpacks. Women carry around tiny purses with a tiny notebook and a tiny pen, and guys simply sling their baby-covered notebook under their arm. Apparently only the engineering nerds—secluded on the other side of campus—carry backpacks.
Most likely cause of dirty looks – Israel. They realllly don’t like Israel here. It’s the occupied Palestinian territories thankyouverymuch. A large majority of the Jordanian population is Palestinian, and they will let you know it. Then you have the Circassian-Jordanians and the Egyptian-Jordanians. Basically, it’s really hard to find a Jordanian Jordanian—but when you do, they will let you know.
But yeah, living by the Israeli embassy has let me know a few things. Cab drivers will try to rip you off if you say you need to go to the Israeli Embassy. They may exclaim “OHMYGOD YOU’RE ISRAELI” or simply babble on about how much they hate Israel.
Most Likely Cause of Food Poisoning –Bedouins. Yeah. I got food poisoning. Any follower of my blog would know that. I just got over it two days ago. 10 days of food poisoning is NOT FUN. Despite the fact that the Bedouin food was delicious and amongst the best food I’ve had while in Jordan, 80-90% of the participants on the program got sick with in 24 hours of being at the Bedouin camp. It was quite shitty.
Most likely reason you’re fat- Oil. So at the friendly neighborhood Safeway, there is an entire ASILE devoted to different types of oil. My arteries clog just by looking at it. Canola seems to be the go-to oil here. You would think Olive Oil, but its not the case. Olive Oil is more for dipping bread into than actually used for cooking. Apparently when my land mother cooked for us one day she was just pouring cups of oil into our stuffed zucchini. Yummm…. (But it actually was reallyreally good).
Most likely reason I will not come back to the US – Food is so darn cheap! If you wanna eat like you do in America, yeah it will cost you. A box of Kellogg’s cereal will set you back 10 USD and a thing of JIF peanut butter will cost about 7. But besides that, you can eat for practically nothing. I went to the store today. This is what I got (in USD).
- A loaf of bread- $.90
- Pita (12 pieces) - $.35
- Large jar of jam - $2
- Tub of Yogurt (plain) - $1.50
- Cheese slices – $1.30
- Bananas (7) $1.70
- Kiwi (7) $1.40
- A kilo of Cornflakes (Jordanian Brand) - $3
- Several zucchini - $1
- Frozen Strawberries (1/2 gallon) $2.5
- Granola bars $1.25
- An enormous bag of chicken breasts $10
Yeah, relatively cheap. And it should last me a nice long time J
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