tidbits

--going to my all-women's gym here is often an amusing experience, as it is frequented by some rather quirky characters. some examples: the woman who uses a fluffy white scrunchy that is bigger than her head; the woman who wears plaid pajama pants to work out in; the numerous women who enjoy "singing" at the top of their lungs to the loud workout music played over the speakers- often these include american songs, in which case the language barrier does not whatsoever inhibit their singing, they just sing "words" that approximate what they hear in the songs. gotta love it.

--taxi drivers here seem to think i am blind. often when i'm walking along, say from school to the gym, every empty taxi that passes by will honk numerous times and flash its lights at me, as if saying hi-meghan-look-at-me-this-taxi-is-empty-don't-you-want-to-ride-in-it in a very obnoxious way. you'd think that after the first unsuccessful honk they would assume that i simply do not want a taxi (which would be a perfectly logical assumption- if i did want a taxi i would be standing, not walking, with my hand out to flag one down).

--the king's picture is everywhere here... king abdullah is also, in case you didn't know, a georgetown alum- maybe that's why my visa application got accepted so quickly... :)


--yesterday kelly, ali and i went to explore the never-ending souq (street market) in the city center near king hussein mosque. the souq itself was of course fun to see, but the coolest part of the day was being by the mosque for friday noon prayers. friday is the muslim holy day, and going to noon prayers is like christians going to mass on sunday. while waiting for friends to join me, i got to sit and watch the hustle and bustle of the mosque in the half hour before noon. men came walking up from all sides, some stopping to perform ablutions at the washing station outside, and as noon drew closer and the mosque itself became full, large mats and strips of cardboard began to be unrolled in the courtyard, and then in the streets in front of the mosque. it was really amazing sight to watch the streets full of men praying together to the beautifully melodic words of the incantation coming through the loudspeakers.


--after the mosque and the souq we stopped to see the nearby roman amphitheater, a perfectly intact relic from the 2nd century that can seat 6,000 people, now juxtaposed by the modern urban setting on all sides.


-arabic sweets are deeeelicious, and are baked in these HUGE metal trays- hard to resist :)



-stray dogs in chile = stray cats in jordan