Hamada (the Egyptian dude) and his roomates had asked me to come back last night to hang out, so when I left the internet cafe last night I went on a hunt for their apartment.  As you can see from the pictures, Amman isn’t exactly on the grid system.  After what must have been about 300 steps and a little backtracking, I found the apartment.  When I walked in they all stood up and greeted me and said “sit, sit!” as they moved stuff out of the way of the most comfortable spot in the room (this was on a mattress on the floor, near the wall so I could lean) They were all huddled around a gas stove, with both stoves going full force to warm our hands (it was cold as shit, remember it was snowing earlier that day).  They made me tea and never let my cup bottom out, and one of them prepared some food.  Because it was difficult to communicate, saying as I don’t speak Arabic and they don’t speak English, they spent most of the time teaching me Arabic and I taught them some English.

This hospitality is not uncommon of the Jordanian, or Arabic in general, treatment of guests.  This morning I went to a traditional meal for breakfast (Hummus and Pita) with  the brother of a friend of my father’s who lives in Amman.  He had attended both Emory and Mercer and returned to Jordan and now owns a Pharmaceutical company in Amman.  One question I asked him had to do with the cultural differences between here and the states and what drew him back after all those years in the States.  He said that the biggest difference is, in a nutshell, that the people treat each other with more respect in the Jordanian and Egyptian cultures (this would include the Bedouin culture as well).  For this reason, people are more loyal to each other, families are tighter, and friends are closer, and in my case, guests are more welcomed.  He also said that he feels safer in Amman than he does in Atlanta.  I agree with this because my walk to the Citadel at 6am was rather pleasant, while walking around downtown Atlanta at 6 in the morning will just about get you shot.

Today I took a taxi to Petra and the weather is shitty so I am going to go to bed early and wake up early and get to the gate by 7 in order to have a full day of exploring the ancient city.  Good night!