Not even 2 days here, July 31, 2009. We arrived yesterday at 8pm to Amman, Jordan. Now more than a day later, I’m on a bus back to Syria hunched over my brighly lit electronic leash in the black of the night capturing my encounters on digital paper.

Zaatar w Zeit was our first stop to eat. With its childish cartoon-like menus, it made for a great place to snack and dine with beautiful pastries stuffed and grilled in various flavors including zaatar oo jibneh.

We went to downtown Amman to visit the Roman ampitheatre ruins and that was simply amazing. I paused to think about the greatness of God having preserved the makings of man since 700AD. It is remarkable to see pillars some erect and some overturned,
shaping a piece of history where people used to convene to enjoy a show of entertainment – probably the height of stimulation in their days. To see the carvings on the pillars still noticable and to think that a man’s hand left an impression that would last a century and a half was utterly inspiring.

We dashed out of there and headed to Habiba’s to chow down on some knafeh. Not as good as Syria’s but still it’s been forever since I’ve went to a knafeh shop living in Brunei. Inside the shop it was packed like it was going out of business. A bit too sweet but hit the
spot in a crispy sweet savory package for my famished tongue.

A couple of things I noticed. Compared to its neighboring country Syria, Jordan seems more mountainous and a bit colder than Syria all the time. The hills provide for nice shade and breezes in pockets of the town. The residential buildings all seem to have nice
exterior stone work and the streets have names unlike Syria. The Western influence on business is widespread and branding is taken a lot more seriously than it is in Syria. An issue apparently is water sourcing as it is rare and water gets cut off frequently.

Everybody seems to smoke argeela all the time. And lastly, the coffee shops and chill spots are more abundant. I would say however as we all agreed, Syria has more personality and above all is more original and peaceful and friendly altogether.

Our last stop was at Mayjanee for a highly reccomended lunch and quiet talk under olive trees.

Amman would make for a nice place to work in the Middle East and hope to come back some day, especially to visit.