Ahlan li Alaurdun!

That is Arabic for welcome to Jordan! I don’t think I have mentioned this yet, but as part of our Fulbright experience, we had the opportunity to have 8 classes of Arabic language training in Oman, and here in Jordan we will have a total of 8 more classes of Arabic. Both of our Arabic teachers (Buthaina in Oman and Khulood in Jordan) have been “koy-yes” (very good), certainly making the learning process more fun. I have to admit that so far my Arabic is only “nos nos” (so-so), but I am going to keep practicing!

We arrived in Amman (Jordan’s bustling capital city) after a full day in transit on the 4th of July. These last few days have involved getting oriented with the area and we are back in full-swing with a busy schedule of meetings, lectures, and tours. Jordan is situated in the heart of the Middle East and is a bit smaller than the state of Indiana in area. Amman was once known as Philadelphia and was first fortified around 1800 BC. Today, its metropolitan area is home to around 2 million of Jordan’s 5.7 million residents. The city is laid out around a series of circles (I believe 8 in total), which are essentially ring roads that encircle parts of the city (the Hotel Geneva, our hotel here, is located between the 6th and 7th traffic circles).

On our first full day here, we had the opportunity to check out some of Amman’s history first-hand as we went on an afternoon city tour. Some of the highlights of our tour included visiting the city’s Roman Theatre, citadel (dating back to around 161 AD), and eighth-century Umayyad Palace. And we were all struck by the noticeably cooler weather here (high 80’s with a pleasant breeze) in comparison to the toasty confines of Muscat in particular.

Yesterday included a series of lectures tied to Jordan’s history and political framework, and today was highlighted by a 2 hour visit to the Jordanian Parliament. And on a completely different note, we’ve been along just one wadi (Wadi Abdoun) since arriving in Jordan, so the official count now stands at 13.

Until the next time, maas salaama…