Exploring

Awoke early before my alarm, because I was anxious about straightening out the matter of switching from my private room to the program-sponsored room and getting breakfast. I ate breakfast first – and what a wonderful breakfast it was! The hotel information had merely said that a “buffet breakfast” was served in their dining room from 6:30 to 10 but did not mention if it was free or not. I arrived at the lobby-level entrance where there was a sign saying, “Please wait to be seated.” Being an American who likes to obey signs, I waited. I suspicioned that I could seat myself, but didn’t want to be rude and walk all over someone’s special job of seating the hungry breakfast patrons in a nearly empty room. Finally one of the busboys noticed my standing there. “Please, please,” he said and I took that to mean please, seat yourself and stop standing there like a fool who actually tries to observe the written instructions. Or something like that.

I sat in a corner seat by the window, from which I watched the apartment across the way having its outer balconies cleaned by a maid. The buffet breakfast was sumptuous: although I saw an assortment of pancakes, potatoes, and spam, I decided on fish, grilled tomato, cheese, a boiled egg, and a vegetable type thing. The vegetable side was pickled: carrots and pepper and some sort of root that looked like a potato but was much firmer. The pickling was too much for me, though. The fish, however, was the best I have ever tasted. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it was good! The coffee, too, was excellent. Across from me a couple from Spain sat talking which was fun to hear.

I then went back upstairs and switched my belongings to my new room (arranged for the week through CIEE). My roommate arrived: she is from Philadelphia, studying English and Film. While she went to get breakfast, I went out walking around the hotel area. There is a pedestrian bridge going up and across the street: I crossed it and stood above, watching the traffic. The weather was perfect - the rain had just ended and it was chilly enough that I had to go back in to get my scarf to keep my ears warm.

Back at the hotel, met up with my roommate again to go out exploring and perhaps get lunch. Instead, we met with several other CIEE students who had arrived or emerged from their dorms. We also met with a CIEE staff, who gave us our orientation packets. Then we all set out to explore. This meant getting two cabs to Rainbow street, where we walked along the row of shops. We ate lunch where the pickled vegetable thing showed up again. Then we meandered along until we came to a bookstore aimed mainly, I assume, at American expats. It had a wide selection of modern, Evangelical books: authors such as Tim LaHaye, Bode Thoene, and Gary Smalley were well represented. Let me just say that the Left Behind series is not one that I expected to find in a bookstore in the middle of Amman, Jordan.

Back along the street to whence we came, stopping at a bakery and a coffee shop. Then finally, another cab back to the hotel. We got our phones (I made a call home) and then I returned to the room to read the orientation material before supper. Supper, catered by the hotel for the CIEE group, was also beyond amazing. Grilled eggplant, carrots, and some other green vegetables I couldn’t identify. There was a plain white dessert type thing that had the consistency of a mix between flan and a Whip yogurt. It didn’t have much taste, but there was an orange-type sauce to put on it. There was also mango juice. So it was a very good supper indeed!

And now, to bed!