Mud Storms in Amman

As-Salt to Amman

Distance: 50.1 km
Time elapsed: 2:05:00
Average speed: 17 km/ hr
Max speed: 55.8 km/ hr
Temp: 23 C
Weather: Sunny and warm, then windy-dusty-snowy, then warm again

Chris and I stayed a few nights in Jordan's hilly capital, Amman. We were lucky to bike in on a sunny day, climbing along the highway lined with American fast food chains, namely the golden arches, Burger King, Hardy's, etc. This is truly a sign of development right?

Our first stop was the peace corps office at the 4th circle. Amman's main street is Zahrain, which has 8 roundabout reference points. From 2nd to 1st circle are the shwanky cafes and bookshops frequented by a large foreign clientelle; this leads to Rainbow st where the tourist shops and western style restaurants line the emaculately clean road.


Amman's streets begin to fill with dust

The Peace Corps office was closed (suprise! It's Friday!) so instead we met with one of the volunteers who took us to the financial administrator, Ledina's, house. We heard she is Albanian so we felt compelled to meet her, and glad we did. So nice to talk with someone about things we know and love (or hate, as when the topic of politics and Sali Berisha came up)! Ledina moved to America in 97 just after the pyramid scheme threw the country into another chaos. Her husband worked for Peace Corps in Lesotho with our own country director, Hill, (imagine Disney's Its a Small World playing in the background) and they've been immersed in the Peace Corps network ever since. L and E were nice enough to host us a night, allowing lengthy conversations of all things Albanian and plenty of time to find out what life is like for them in Jordan. Eric even gave me my first Christmas gift: Optimum cereal. My eyes lit up like saucers when I saw the box, I think he sympathized from his days as a volunteer in Nepal.


Merry Christmas from Amman! (Borrowing Ledina and Eric's tree)

We also stayed a night with two volunteers, Edison and Marty, who we hope to see again in their own villages further south. After cooking and eating a smorgasbord of dukan (corner shop) delicacies, we managed to chow down an entire bag of CarreFour gummy bears between us while talking about the PC Jordan experience.


Canned cron soup and pasta with Marty and Edison

The majority of our time in Amman was with a fantastic household of couchsurfers. Two guys and one girl, they work for an environmental company called Entity Green. The company began by training and employing Iraqi refugees with technical skills and has moved on to organizing a country-wide recycling program. We admire the sustainablilty of EG because it does not rely on foreign aid with an expiration date.

Their house, complete with a gray water system and outdoor compost, is near the downtown bookshops on Rainbow Street, overlooking the downtown wadi full of Roman ruins. Our three hosts are incredibly diligent workers, each with their unique skills and backgrounds. Anselm, originally from Germany, studied water resource management, and is extremely knowledgeable about Jordan's water crisis. He stars as Abu Selim in a hilariously entertaining educational film that aims to teach people why and how they can conserve water. Dan, from the States, specializes in composting and has started a project branch in the company to do large-scale composting. And Jo, from France, has an art background and contributes her skills creating package designs and usable recycled goods for EG, such as recycled Matweebo books, in collaboration with a group of impoversished Phillipino women in the southwest.


Cheers to new friends, good food, and free wine (from left Anselm, Jo, Dan)

The group recently completed a permaculture course sponsored by the Australian permaculture society, and have already begun putting their new skills to use by designing a reforestation project near the Syrian border. The land is part of St George's vineyard, the largest wine producer in Jordan. There is very little rainfall in this region (well duh it's a desert) but with clever planning they will create an ecosystem that maximizes swells and water flow to retain moisture in the soil.


Measuring dimensions for swales in the future permaculture forest (St. George's vineyard)

Anselm, Dan, and Jo are also working on a strawbale building and permaculture garden near the Dead Sea. Such an inspiring group!

Shortly after arriving in Amman a brutal rain and dust storm moved in, alternating between drenching showers and thick gusts of sand and dirt.


Only a taste of the beast to come

Normally dust storms begin in the spring, called khamseen (fifty) because they last fifty or so days. This storm lasted only three days, covering everything (including our bikes) in a thick layer of mud, and dropping temperatures low enough to see snow.


OMG is that snow?? We are not prepared for this!

Despite the cold and wind, Chris and I managed to wander down into the wadi to explore Amman's historic relics. We started in the suq, distracted as always by bustling produce markets, then made our way to the ancient odion and Roman amphitheater. Everything seems to be inder construction, adding even more dirt and rubble to stir up in the wind.


Column details in Amman's Odion


Chris withstanding the winds outside Amman's Al-Husseini Mosque

Finally having enough of the cold, Chris and I climbed back out of the wadi and swiftly into a nearby bookshop to browse for a few hours. It's been over three years since we've had the luxury of sifting through a contemporary, English-language bookstore-- quite exciting for us both. And we could hear English everywhere! Amman has a large student and expat community; it was incredibly difficult to not eavesdrop on nearby conversations. I guess I've grown used to the constant foreign murmur surrounding us, so this pool of chatter seemed amplified and obnoxiously intruding in my thoughts...


WiFi in a tres chic bookstore cafe (black coffee: $4)

One night we had something of a dinner party with a group of Swedish girls living in Amman for various studies and jobs. Jo cooked up a deliciously complicated Thai ginger fish with blue rice (dyed naturally with blue Thai flowers while cooking) and I baked simple veggie patties, creating a vibrant collage of pinky-orange, blue and red, and green.


Dinner party with the Swedish gals


Blue rice with saffron and pink ginger fish, courtesy of Chef Jo

Before leaving the capital we did manage to swing back to the PC office, to pershendes (greet) Ledina, as well as check out the facilities. As soon as I walked into the volunteer lounge I spotted several copies of the Peace Corps Times, a quarterly newsletter about volunteers distributed all over the world. Smack dab on the front of the top page I saw my best friend, Anne's, smiling face-- a spotlight on her great work she was doing in Guatemala. What a sign! To be so far away after all this time and find her photo...


Surprise! That's Anne's photo in the Peace Corps office in Jordan

Luckily the weather improved and the sun returned to Amman's steep jabels. We biked out on a sunny day, making our way south toward Madaba.