(Hello from Jordan!)
This city is humbling. In one week I have come to realize that I could live here for years and never be able to fully grasp the complexities of this city. When standing looking out over the city you see hills and valleys full of buildings as far as the eye can see. The original city was built on the seven hills of Amman. As you stand looking from the Citadel, which was the original center of the city, you can see hills and valleys full of people, buildings, and life. It is amazing that people have been living on this land for over 3,000 years. The architecture of the city is a modern testament to the moral that the victor always writes the history of a place. There are mixtures of Ottoman, Roman, Greek, and British influence in a strange clash of culture and sense of place. Within these places the people represent the entire world. The city of Amman is the way it is today because throughout history it has both been taken over and has taken in those who have no where else to go. Currently the city and the entire country is swelling because of the ongoing crisis in Syria with over 1 million refugees coming over the border so far. The city has also swelled in the past due to Iraqi refugees and Palestinian refugees over the past 60 years. All these aspects from the architecture to the influence of empires to the influx of refugees and what it means to be a Jordanian and what it means to be from the city of Amman make this city hard to grapple with.
The physical city is just as complex as the people and culture within it, because of its complex history of refugees there is not a lot of city planning. The city was more built to suite the needs of the people at the time and then afterwards adjusted around what was already built. The city looks similar to a bowl of linguini that has been tossed around several times. This patchwork of roads is all laid down upon land that looks similar to the hills of San Francisco. As someone not at all familiar with the city it is quiet terrifying to hear that the people within Amman do not actually use street names. In order to navigate the city you must know the traffic circle number that you want to go to and also understand the surrounding landmarks enough to direct the driver to end up where you need to be. As someone who is used to addresses and street names and am personally a huge fan of maps this has definitely been an adjustment.
This city is also full of paradoxes. The stark contrast between buildings and ruins that have been here for more than a thousand years and skyscrapers that rest on top of hills that throw shadows across whole valleys within the city is both beautiful and fascinating. If looking south from the old city center you can see a skyline dotted with cranes and skyscrapers that all point towards the new city being built everyday to accommodate the more than 2 million people that live in this city. With the annual summer water storage there are some who cannot afford to take long enough showers and buy drinking water while houses next to them can afford to spray the sidewalks down with water to remove dust. The paradoxes between religion and practice, between wealth and poverty, and between my own expectations and reality are stark to say the least.
I have quickly come to realize that the people within this city is what I will remember the most from my host family, to my roommate, the students in the program, and the people of Amman. I have begun to cherish ever interaction in Arabic and in English as a learning moment. My roommates name is Tyler and is from Texas and is in Army ROTC at Boston University. Our host family is full of warm loving people who have gladly welcomed us into their home. The Arakelian family is an Armenian Christian family, the mother is from Lebanon and the Father is from East Jerusalem. Our host mother’s name is Dzoveig and our host Fathers name is Garo. They have two children, Nataly who is 20 and studying Accounting at Princess Sumaya University in Amman and Chris who is 18 and currently taking Tawjehe or the equivalent of placement exams for university. Our family speaks Armenia, Turkish, Arabic and our host mom speaks French also. They have a beautiful apartment in the Shmesani neighborhood in West Amman that sits on top of a hill overlooking the Wadi Abdoun area. We live close to a public park for children that very beautiful. There are several other American students in the neighborhood who are here studying and working while also living with host families.
Every morning we get up at 7:00 AM and eat eggs that our host father makes us. We then walk outside and hail a taxi at the nearest traffic circle and try to explain how to get to Amideast, which as explained earlier can be quiet difficult. We finally arrive at the beautiful 5 story white Amideast building in Wadi Abdoun or the Valley of Abdoun. We go to class from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM and then again from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, in my class there are 8 kids and we represent, Michigan State, Michigan, Yale, George Washington, Carleton, and Boston College. Our classes are extremely hard but that is the goal of intensive Arabic classes.
I feel that there are so many more things that need to be said about this city but they are all escaping me right now and so therefore I have to go and leave with what I have already said. I have included other pictures below
Until next time
مع السلام
The pictures are amazing. And your beard is looking suspiciously native. Traveling mercies.
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