Amman is AMAZING.
I have had an incredible week so far. I arrived on Monday night to an extremely cloudy and rainy city, went straight to the hotel and fell asleep, not seeing too much of the city. We woke up the next morning to the first day of orientation and to even more rainy weather. We had to wait for a little bit for it to clear up before we could depart on our trip for the day.
Once the weather was better we were split into 3 groups (another fourth group being the students who chose the apartment stay while they were here, who were also stationed at a different hotel) and loaded onto buses. The whole plan for the day was to tour Amman and get to know the city a little better. On our buses we even had our own personal tour guide who explained everything to us as we went. It was really awesome!
We started our journey with the citadel. This place was truly amazing. As you can see from the pictures below, this was basically a collection of a bunch of reallllyyy old ruins located on top of a tall hill. The ruins ranged from various centuries and were built during times of different occupation, as was shown by the collection of churches, roman temples and a mosque all located on the same spot. It was truly amazing. But what was also really amazing, from on top of this hill you could see the multiple hills of Amman roll out right in front of you - and they were massive! I knew before coming here that the city was originally built on 6 hills and was now around 8 hills or so, but I never expected these hills to be this huge! And every square inch of them was covered in buildings. On the bottom of the hill that we were standing on, you could see a main street, which was the downtown of the city. One could aslo see the roman theater located right there. If you look at my first post, and the picture of the postcard I put on there, that was exactly the view we had standing on the hill of the citadel. We also visited the museum portion of the citadel, which was really awesome, as well.
Afterwards, we were loaded onto the buses again and descended into the downtown area. The downtown of Amman is located in the eastern part of the city, which happens to be the more traditional part of the city. But it was really amazing, as we got to walk through it! Lots of little stores on a busy street, with people shouting out to us to buy their stuff. I'm pretty sure one of the girls even got 120 camels offered to her as a proposal in marriage. It was really an interesting experience. We continued on to visit the roman theater. It was truly amazing! I didn't expect the rows of seats to be so steep! I was only able to climb the first flight of stairs, after which I was too scared to go up higher, since it was steep and slippery due to the rain. But it was still super fun. There was even a spot in the center of the theater, where you could stand and say something and the echo was the loudest. Even just saying "hello" in a regular voice echoed back to me quite a bit. We went into the museum of this site as well, which was also very amazing.
Afterwards, we went to probably one of the better places I have ever eaten, a restaurant called Jafra. We were served all of the typical things you'd expect from a middle eastern meal... and it was AMAZING. I literally have not tasted better hummus in my life. On top of that, while we thought we had enjoyed a wonderful meal of hummus, salad, pita bread and other amazing appetizers, they brought out a giant dish of meat. They had various kinds kinds on there and they all tasted so wonderful. It was the perfect introduction to the middle eastern food culture.
After our tummies were over-sufficiently full, we were loaded back onto the buses and continued onto the royal automobile museum of Jordan. This was an amaazing place meant to introduce us a little into the culture of the royal family. The cars I saw there, I literally have never seen before. I also could not tell you half their names or what makes them truly amazing, since I don't know anything about cars, but it was truly a sight to see. So many ginormous cars with huge grills and plush seats, and all in different colors... so luxurious. They started out from being as old as from the 1940s up until one of the most recent models of ferraris. It was incredible.
After touring this place, then visiting a place called ACOR, the tour for the day was over. It was a seriously exhausting yet amazing day and I was super glad to see so much of the city. After a great meal at the hotel, all of us passed out pretty much right away.
Once the weather was better we were split into 3 groups (another fourth group being the students who chose the apartment stay while they were here, who were also stationed at a different hotel) and loaded onto buses. The whole plan for the day was to tour Amman and get to know the city a little better. On our buses we even had our own personal tour guide who explained everything to us as we went. It was really awesome!
We started our journey with the citadel. This place was truly amazing. As you can see from the pictures below, this was basically a collection of a bunch of reallllyyy old ruins located on top of a tall hill. The ruins ranged from various centuries and were built during times of different occupation, as was shown by the collection of churches, roman temples and a mosque all located on the same spot. It was truly amazing. But what was also really amazing, from on top of this hill you could see the multiple hills of Amman roll out right in front of you - and they were massive! I knew before coming here that the city was originally built on 6 hills and was now around 8 hills or so, but I never expected these hills to be this huge! And every square inch of them was covered in buildings. On the bottom of the hill that we were standing on, you could see a main street, which was the downtown of the city. One could aslo see the roman theater located right there. If you look at my first post, and the picture of the postcard I put on there, that was exactly the view we had standing on the hill of the citadel. We also visited the museum portion of the citadel, which was really awesome, as well.
Afterwards, we were loaded onto the buses again and descended into the downtown area. The downtown of Amman is located in the eastern part of the city, which happens to be the more traditional part of the city. But it was really amazing, as we got to walk through it! Lots of little stores on a busy street, with people shouting out to us to buy their stuff. I'm pretty sure one of the girls even got 120 camels offered to her as a proposal in marriage. It was really an interesting experience. We continued on to visit the roman theater. It was truly amazing! I didn't expect the rows of seats to be so steep! I was only able to climb the first flight of stairs, after which I was too scared to go up higher, since it was steep and slippery due to the rain. But it was still super fun. There was even a spot in the center of the theater, where you could stand and say something and the echo was the loudest. Even just saying "hello" in a regular voice echoed back to me quite a bit. We went into the museum of this site as well, which was also very amazing.
Afterwards, we went to probably one of the better places I have ever eaten, a restaurant called Jafra. We were served all of the typical things you'd expect from a middle eastern meal... and it was AMAZING. I literally have not tasted better hummus in my life. On top of that, while we thought we had enjoyed a wonderful meal of hummus, salad, pita bread and other amazing appetizers, they brought out a giant dish of meat. They had various kinds kinds on there and they all tasted so wonderful. It was the perfect introduction to the middle eastern food culture.
After our tummies were over-sufficiently full, we were loaded back onto the buses and continued onto the royal automobile museum of Jordan. This was an amaazing place meant to introduce us a little into the culture of the royal family. The cars I saw there, I literally have never seen before. I also could not tell you half their names or what makes them truly amazing, since I don't know anything about cars, but it was truly a sight to see. So many ginormous cars with huge grills and plush seats, and all in different colors... so luxurious. They started out from being as old as from the 1940s up until one of the most recent models of ferraris. It was incredible.
After touring this place, then visiting a place called ACOR, the tour for the day was over. It was a seriously exhausting yet amazing day and I was super glad to see so much of the city. After a great meal at the hotel, all of us passed out pretty much right away.
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