First full day in Amman

The first evening in Jordan, we were welcomed into my friends home with Arabic coffee and Jordanian baklava.  I checked into my hotel, where I will spend each night that is not spent in Wadi Rum on retreat.  And we had dinner on a rooftop across the street while waiting for our final friend to make it through customs and join us.

I was introduced to Shisha, better known as a hookah at home.  The shisha is filled with flavored tobacco and any restaurant you venture into is filled with the sweet smell of smoke from nearly every table.  I quickly realized that I was not prepared for the cooler temps as I had packed for warm desert like weather.

Our first full day in Jordan started with a tour of the Amman Citadel.  This site sits high above Amman and it dates back to the Bronze Age, it is right in downtown Amman.  The Citadel contains multiple landmarks.  The first is the Temple of Hercules which was built by the Romans – there are two large complete pillars (30 feet high) and remnants of four others and it has been dated to 160 CE (or AD).  There are also remains of a large Roman statue believed to be Hercules – most notably a hand and an elbow.

Umayyad Place is another landmark built between the 7th and 8th century.  There are ruins of residential buildings and courtyard.  The domed audience hall is breathtaking with a reproduced wooden domed roof and amazing preserved condition of the rest of the structure.  There are also remains of a 6th century Byzantine church.

We toured the Jordan Archaeological Museum also on the site.  It is filled with a variety of artifacts dating back to the Bronze Age.  Some of the Ain Ghazal statues are here – this pre-historic art dates back to 600-800 BCE, they are some of the earliest large scale representations of the human form.

When you put this all together, over many centuries this site has been under the influence of many power empires including Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad and more.  It did not miss me all that this hill and rocks have been witness to and it only takes a moment to put in perspective that we are just a blip on the radar of this world.

After our tour we had lunch at the cafe within the Citadel grounds overlooking downtown Amman.  And then headed into the bustling shopping part of downtown to have a traditional Arabic dessert – Knafeh.  Knafeh is dough, layered with cheese and soaked in attar (a sweet sugar based syrup).  It was absolutely delicious.

We also went to the oldest building in downtown Amman, the Duke’s Diwan. Built in 1924, it is the oldest residence right in the heart of the busy downtown.

Next up, the Roman Theatre.  Also in downtown Amman, a 6,000 seat Roman theatre from the 2nd century.  It has three levels and two museums.  I am scared of heights but was not about to be outdone by my friends so I followed them to the top – while they rested hanging their legs over the top level I held tight to the wall trying to regain control of my breath.  Eventually I made it to the edge and could take in the full glory of it.  Getting down was another story, thanks are due to my yoga teacher who I followed and offered a hand to help me down the steepest parts and words of encouragement or I would likely still be up there.

This city is packed, alive and vibrant. Oh, and the gang’s all here! It’s a mini-reunion from my time in India – two of my classmates (one from Cyprus, the other from Amman) and one of our teachers from our 300-hour teacher training. We also have two other friends in our group – a friend’s sister and another 300-hour teacher who attended the same school in India and lives here. Tomorrow we head out on retreat!!