I was IM’ing with Megan last night who rightly pointed out that there have been no recent blog entries. Between Dan’s parents visit and the First Lady’s visit things have been a little crazy – which means we have stories to tell and pictures to share – it will just take us a few days to do so. Dan is going to the Czech National Day event tonight – so I can guarantee the pictures (including me on a camel and me with a White House radio in my ear will not be posted tonight).
We spent the last three days in Damascus which I highly recommend. On Sunday night, we had dinner with Arabic classmates who are working there and compared Amman vs. Damascus notes.
Five Ways Amman is Better than Damascus
1. No air pollution – Damascus is undeniably a city (as opposed to Amman which is really big suburban sprawl). Its city-ness means that pollution is pretty bad and it sits in a valley which makes it worse.
2. Mall shopping – most of Amman is new and maybe all of the malls are less than five years old – with more going up every day.
3. Movie theatres – Amman has three theaters which show English-language movies.
4. American-style grocery stores and American products – Because of the US sanctions against Syria (or maybe because of its government) there are no American products in Syria.
5. Starbucks – our classmates talked wistfully about visiting Starbucks during a recent Amman weekend and said that while there they met other Americans on R&R from Baghdad who were having multiple Frappucinos just because they could.
Five Ways Amman is Better than Damascus
1. No air pollution – Damascus is undeniably a city (as opposed to Amman which is really big suburban sprawl). Its city-ness means that pollution is pretty bad and it sits in a valley which makes it worse.
2. Mall shopping – most of Amman is new and maybe all of the malls are less than five years old – with more going up every day.
3. Movie theatres – Amman has three theaters which show English-language movies.
4. American-style grocery stores and American products – Because of the US sanctions against Syria (or maybe because of its government) there are no American products in Syria.
5. Starbucks – our classmates talked wistfully about visiting Starbucks during a recent Amman weekend and said that while there they met other Americans on R&R from Baghdad who were having multiple Frappucinos just because they could.
Four Ways Damascus is Better than Amman
1. French Occupation – as we munched on pain au chocolat and croissants for breakfast and ate delicious French Onion soup for dinner, we lamented that Jordan was occupied by the British.
2. Souks and Crafts – Damascus has a long history of artisans and we left with lots of handmade and locally made crafts. We spent hours walking through spice souks (markets) and perfume souks and textile souks, etc. Jordan has a history of Bedouin shepherds which means that everything they made was portable and functional.
3. History – Damascus is the world’s oldest inhabited city and we saw beautiful old houses and churches and mosques in every neighborhood.
4. We Spoke Arabic – Syria’s Arabic is closest to the High Standard Arabic we were taught – we were able to practice our Arabic more than we ever can in Amman AND people understood us…sometimes.
1. French Occupation – as we munched on pain au chocolat and croissants for breakfast and ate delicious French Onion soup for dinner, we lamented that Jordan was occupied by the British.
2. Souks and Crafts – Damascus has a long history of artisans and we left with lots of handmade and locally made crafts. We spent hours walking through spice souks (markets) and perfume souks and textile souks, etc. Jordan has a history of Bedouin shepherds which means that everything they made was portable and functional.
3. History – Damascus is the world’s oldest inhabited city and we saw beautiful old houses and churches and mosques in every neighborhood.
4. We Spoke Arabic – Syria’s Arabic is closest to the High Standard Arabic we were taught – we were able to practice our Arabic more than we ever can in Amman AND people understood us…sometimes.
3 comments:
Wow, that sounds great! How far away is Damascus? I can't wait to see the pictures!
Speaking of movies, we saw Dan in Real Life the other day. It was good. They show most of the funny moments in the trailers, but I still liked it.
Please note: Dan in Real Life is not the same as seeing Dan in real life, or Dan IRL.
Do the puns come through to Jordan? (somehow, I can hear Duffy saying, "yes...unfortunately.")
Wow, a visit with the First Lady, cool! I like your comparison of Amman with Damascus. I hope you had good time, when Dan's parents were there.
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