downtown amman

So yesterday we went to downtown amman. I have been waking up at about 3am each morning and have had to force myself to go back to sleep. We’re all going to bed at like 8:30-9pm ‘coz we’re so tired! It gets dark at about 4:30pm here, which has been hard to adjust to when I’ve come from daylight savings.

So at around 11:00 am 14 of us headed off to downtown. We got told by our landlord that a bus comes every 15 mins at the end of our road. After waiting for 45 mins, a bus finally came! It took us an hour to get to downtown! Which is really long, it only took us 15 mins the day before yesterday, but the traffic was pretty bad. But for a 60 cent bus ride, we weren’t complaining.

 



Downtown amman is crazy! People everywhere! And they are all wanting you to buy their stuff! We looked in so many stores, but I didn’t really want to buy anything straight away because I’m here for 2 months and I want to be wise with my money. Nonetheless we walked past a clothing store that sells traditional Jordanian clothes and dresses and Hosam, (our conveniently fluent arabic speaking fellow student) was literally pulled into the store by the shop owner!!! Once inside he refused to talk to him, and turned his attention to us.



 Some of the clothing stores

“I can help you , I want to help you, I am here to help you, which one do you like? This one? This one? I have special price for you! Just for you, only for you, 45JD ($90A)”

“No way!”

“Ok, ok, let me help you, 30 JD”

“No no, I want to look around”

“20JD”

“no no I want to look around”

“ok 15 JD”

“hmmm...ok”

That was the short version. Then when I gave him a 20 dinar note, he goes “20 dinar” and I’m like “No way! You said 15!” and he’s like “ok ok” and hands the note to his assistant who rans off somewhere to get change! None of them have change here! They all have to go a couple of shops down to find change.

I bought some perfume for mum! They had a copy of Paris by YSL and it was super cheap! For lunch we got these herb pizzas (like the one from the lebanese bakery mum! But even better!) Molly bought a tiny shisha to take home! I’m gonna get one too, but we’ve got so many other countries to go to, so I’ll wait until the end. I also bought a headscarf and the white headband under my headscarf for around $6A.

When we were downtown, I think we got more stares than usual because we were all wearing headscarves. Oh yeah downtown is headscarf heaven!!! Omgoodness so many beautiful scarves like what Granny Flo gets me, but they’re only around $10A!! I think by the end I’m going to have to send a box back.

We got home in the afternoon around 4:30, got some more groceries and headed home. Molly cooked a stirfry for our apartment and hers. We all went to bed so early ‘coz we were so tired.