Adventurous day, part 2

Since I would be going home along and since it was the coldest and mushiest day of the year, I decided it was the perfect time to try the public bus system again. This time, however, I asked one of the program interns which bus I might be able to get – and, alhamdulellah, there is one that goes relatively close to my neighborhood!

I approached a large city bus and asked the controller if it was going to Fifth Circle, because there was no destination display on the screen or in the window. He said yes it was, and the price was 40 piasters. (So cheap! I rejoiced.)

I hopped aboard and away we went. However, not knowing the final destination of the bus put me at a slight disadvantage. The bus soon was on a main road I had never seen before. I sat in rapt attention, trying to see through the fogged windows and attempting to recognize any of my surroundings. At last we arrived at the Fifth Circle. Two problems arose now, however. First, this was a different style of bus and I didn’t know how to signal that I wanted off. Secondly, as we approached the circle, I didn’t know which way it would go; it was a fifty percent chance that it would go closer to my neighborhood and a fifty percent chance that it would head away from my neighborhood.

It went away from my neighborhood.

That’s okay. I told myself. You can always get a taxi or another bus later. Besides, it’s probably returning to a bus station. Just accept the adventure lying before you.

I stayed on the bus as it passed a minor bus station, Al-Muhajareen. Having a better idea of where I was, I decided to stay on the bus; I figured it would be going on to the main bus station of Raghadan where I had been before.

It didn’t however, seem to be going to Raghadan. It approached a crowded area full of vendors and people that looked like Downtown but that wasn’t Downtown. When most of the people got off, I decided I might as well join the crowd.

Crossing the road, I set about the business of finding another bus that might be heading towards Fifth Circle….but my attention was drawn by the many vendors and the narrow alleys filled with open shops and covered with tarps from the rain. I wandered down the corridor, looking at the shops. My eye was caught by the many dress shops filled with the conservative dresses that I have seen everywhere but never seen sold. Aha! I thought. I must be in Jabal Hussein where the conservative dress market is, which is near Jabal Amman, which would make sense if the bus were actually going to Raghadan, I reasoned carefully. I also vowed never to set out from home without my map again.

I paused by one of the dress shops to look at one of the dresses. Immediately three or four of the shop owners came over. I asked if this was Jabal Hussein. They looked at me as though I were crazy. We established that we were not at Jabal Hussein but at Wihadet. So the bus was on its way to Wihadet, the South Bus Station!

I looked at the dresses. They invited me into the shop to look more. I decided that even if it was Jabal Hussein, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to experience dress-shopping for a traditional dress in Amman.

Unfortunately, my Arabic vocabulary does not extend to such necessary dress-buying words such as “style,” “try on” “fancy,” “plain,” or “fabric.” I can say really important sentences such as “I do not want to car-bomb the ambassador” (ana ma biddy fakhakha alsafeer) and “Your mustache is ugly and unnecessary,” (shaaribak bishya wa mish darooree) but I can’t say, “I want a plain dress” or “Can I see another style?”

This provided a slight challenge for the salesman. I pointed to a dress or two, and he took me upstairs and pulled out similar styles. Back and forth we went, him trying to say something and then my trying to say something. We established I wanted something in blue, and that was about it. He resorted to his store of English words of “model” and “different” and I managed to try on two styles. The second fit and thus it is that I am the new owner of elastic-waist dress pants and a long blue manteau coat complete with detachable hood that has fake fur lining and ties that look like rabbit feet.

As I said, I love blending in.