Downtown Jungle

Monday, September 30th

6:30 am. As I write my travel report in the staircase of our hotel this morning, I cannot deny the location of our hotel: from the outside, there is an enormous noise level. Cars accelerating, braking, and honking. Especially honking. Fortunately, I have a deep sleep at night, otherwise I would probably have to insert earplugs into my ears all the way to my eardrums, like Rebecca does. Rebecca joins me a little later and we sit in the breakfast area.

Breakfast is served here on request, and we are served fresh bread, jam, labneh, hummus, omelette, cheese, and vegetables. All very fresh and delicious. Afterwards, we take some time to relax and shower, and then stroll to the Roman Theater around noon. It probably dates back to the second century AD and is located directly across the street from our hotel. With the Jordan Pass, which we still have from the Summer School, we don't have to pay admission and then look up into the stands from the theater stage. It is very impressive and much larger than it appears from the street. The stone stairs leading up are steep and slippery, and we cautiously make our way step by step until we sit at the top, looking down at the theater and Amman. A dream come true.

As I move a few meters away from Rebecca with my camera, I see a man approaching her with his mobile phone. "Sura," I hear him say, pointing to his phone. I know that means "photo" and I call it out to Rebecca. It turns out that he doesn't want Rebecca to take a photo of him, as we suspect. He wants to take a selfie with her. Of course, I can't know exactly what motivates him. But I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I suspect that it has something to do with her hair. Rebecca's extremely light hair attracts attention here again and again. Presumably because many people here have dark hair and you always want what you don't have.

We make our way back down and find a café for a coffee break. We find one right on the busy main road that serves drinks and shisha and has an incredibly cozy outdoor area that does not lead to the street. The silence here is really refreshing and we relax there until hunger drives us back onto the street. We get a sandwich from a snack bar and decide to eat it in front of our hotel. The small square there, in the middle between the two main roads, has something fascinating for Rebecca and me. At any time of the day, there are people standing, sitting, talking, or silently observing the surroundings. All locals who stand, sit, talk, or silently observe the surroundings. Arabic music is playing from one of the shops, which perfectly complements the scene. Everything here really feels very authentic.

We relax here a bit too, until Rebecca spends the remaining time before our lecture with a TV series, while I occupy myself a little with Arabic on the rooftop terrace. I hardly notice anymore that in the background at some point the 'Asr call to prayer sounds, one of the five daily obligatory prayers in Islam. The chanting prayers from the mosques can be heard for about half an hour at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. "They are not singing. They are praying!" Noor scolded us when we reacted to the sounds that sound like Arabic choral singing to us. I have adapted to it by now and stored the prayers as an integral part of everyday life in Amman in my memory.

A little earlier than necessary, we set off for our lecture in order to walk through the market that we discovered yesterday beforehand. Just like yesterday, when we turn into the small market alley, we enter a different world. The voices with which the vendors here advertise their products echo loudly and melodically over the fruit and vegetables, and if I didn't know better, I would be sure they are using a megaphone. The attention we receive from everyone here due to our "Western" appearance is not intrusive or uncomfortable. The people simply seem curious and interested and proudly let us try their products. In a mix of Arabic and English, we buy apples, bananas, and roasted nuts and then continue with our snack towards the university.

"I feel a bit uncomfortable," Rebecca says as we leave the market alley. Rebecca is wearing her sport leggings today, purely for comfort reasons. However, we are now experiencing why Adib advised me not to go jogging here in Downtown. Rather, Rebecca is experiencing it. I am just a witness to the stares she gets. From all the men who pass us, stand by the roadside, or stick their heads out of passing cars and stare at Rebecca's legs until she is out of sight. Completely without inhibition. Since we are already too far from our hotel and therefore from a changing room, Rebecca has no choice but to endure the jungle until the streets further up become emptier as we get closer to the GJU. Rebecca will definitely not do this again.

The lecture we have today is research with Dr. Rawan. We already met her in Würzburg, where she visited the university for a while. She already made a sympathetic and competent impression back then, which is now confirmed once again. Just like yesterday, everyone introduces themselves, she listens with interest, and at the end of the introduction she can even remember all the names. "Your lovely characters are going to add value to our classes," she says. In her course, we will do research projects and write research proposals in group work, which I am really looking forward to.

After the lecture, Rebecca ties a scarf around her hips (better than nothing), and we walk back towards Downtown. On the way back, we grab a sandwich from a shop recommended by Adib. For half a Dinar, we get a delicious halloumi-olive sandwich here and are served super nicely. You can always rely on Adib's recommendations.

There is still a little evening program waiting for us: by chance, a friend of Rebecca's is currently in Amman with her boyfriend as part of a Jordan tour, and we meet them at the same shisha bar where we had coffee this afternoon. The waiters still remember us, they are super friendly, and we are served delicious baklava and salty lupins with our shisha for free while sitting on the balcony facing the street directly opposite the Roman Theater. We will definitely come here more often.

The vocabulary:

Apple - تفاحة

Banana - موز

oh yes - ايوه

Friend - رفيق

Lupins - ترمس