This marks the second weekend in a row of my doing something I normally hate: shopping.
I started the day arriving around 11 at Mecca Mall. Entering, I found the place deserted save for the quiet shuffle of the giant brooms of the men sweeping the floor. Of course with its being Friday, the mall didn’t open until after 2. Silly American.
Still, not wanting to admit to the entrance guard that I *was* a silly American, I spent an hour or so walking around the empty edifice, covering perhaps a third of the territory. Mecca Mall is the largest mall I have ever entered.
I walked to the building beside it, a grocery store. Now, as you might be able to tell from previous posts, I love food. This means that often I actually enjoy grocery shopping (well, and book shopping, but that’s beside the point.) The building was cold and sterile, quite a contrast to the thronging and heady market of Jabal Amman last week.
Walking on my way, I decided to find City Mall. On my way, I saw people leaning out of their cars, shouting and honking their horns. I shrugged my shoulders.
Now, you are familiar with WalMart. Let me introduce you to its bigger and cleaner and better stocked cousin, Carrefour. Seriously. This place is the biggest single store I’ve seen. It had *everything.* (Well, except a pharmacy, but that’s another story for another day…)
At Carrefour, I got some “hair fixations” (hair gel), food, and a camera (since mine really wasn’t working). (And yes, as you’ve noticed, this means pictures! Mostly of food. And old fallen down stones. But probably mostly of food.)
I must say, though, Carrefour has to have better security than, perhaps, O’Hare. There were security guards at the entrance and you went through a metal detector (after already having gone through a metal detector at the entrance). I made my way upstairs (on a conveyor belt!) and found the electronics department. I circled the glass counter with the cameras perhaps three times, comparing the models. The promoter followed me in circles dutifully.
Finally, I pointed to the one I wanted. She took it out, ready to really “sell” it to me and was (I think) a little disappointed that I would just take it. So she got my name and phone number and wrote down the order on a slip of paper. I went to another station and used my credit card and they verified the order. Finally, I went to the receiving station. The gentlemen there spoke about as much English as I spoke Arabic , but was very pleasant and helpful. They got the camera and showed me each of its parts, making sure everything was there for me. Finally, after giving the receipt to them and signing it, I got my camera. I was finished with the camera purchase when the exit security guard opened the box and verified the receipt.
On to lunch: safarjal, kaki and a peach non-alcoholic malt, which I ate in the food court. I also got a pomegranate and blood-orange for later. (And yes! You get to see pictures!). With a pizza hut and Hardees right there, I felt very American. I then tried to take pictures of the rest of the mall (super cool architecture and these conveyor belt things), but a security guard materialized out of *nowhere* - nowhere, I say! – and said, “No, no, Ma’am.” So I went to the other mall to take pictures!
Back at Mecca Mall I walked around for several hours, getting thoroughly lost. I had to take pictures surreptitiously, though, still feeling guilty after the first security guard. So I pretended I *was* a spy, holding the camera casually at my side and shooting up as I lingered by a pillar or what not. That explains the weird angles on the photos.
Then to break a 5JD for the taxi ride home I stopped in at a candy store and got some Arabic sweets (yay! More food pics for you!). The white and green one was the best; slightly chewy, but sweet. My high hopes for the flower petal coated one were disappointed because it wasn’t soft. The third was crunchy with a pleasant nutty flavor.
(Yes, this is important to know).
Back home, I learned my host brother had also gone shopping – and got a new drill. So I spent some time drilling holes in a laminated piece of plywood. Loud crashes came from outside the window; it sounded like gunfire.
I was relieved to find my host family seated in the family room, calmly (relatively) discussing politics. Fortunately, they informed me it was only the results of the Tawjihi, the national college entrance exam. This also explained the people leaning out of the cars, honking and shouting. And the fireworks. And the gunshots.
After the MCAT, I understand the feeling.
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