The city centre of Amman reminds me of South Asian towns. Its main features are small old buildings clouded in dust, narrow streets, noisy bazaars and a mosque in the centre of it all. There are hundreds of people there at any time of the day; earlier in the day one can see housewives and servants doing their daily shopping, later on the evening men come there to socialize and all the cafes and restaurants begin to be filled with people. The city centre does not cover much more than a couple of blocks, but it has a lot of character is much different from the other parts of Amman that are more modern with new white houses, chain shops and fast-food restaurants.
Amman has grown a great deal over the past decade. It is the hub for business and companies. Many Jordanians move there for work or for studies. In addition, there are a number of immigrants from Palestine, Iraq and other neighbouring countries living here. Yet, Amman is a very pleasant city and there are considerably few problems with crime despite the number of people living there.
‘Let’s go to the oldest and the most famous cafe in Amman’, Akiko said and took me by my arm. Akiko was my host during my stay in Amman. She was a remarkable lady. She had worked for the Japanese Government and different UN sections for a number of years. Previously, she had been placed on the Fiji Island and in Indonesia before discovering the Middle East. Akiko was very passionate about helping refugees in this part of the world, in particular Palestinians who had suffered for so many years.
Up-beat Arabic music was flooding out of the cafe as we approached it. The cafe was spread on two floors, with a beautiful wooden balcony on the second floor. As we walked in, we could see belly dancers at the back of the first floor section. Customers were sitting on huge colorful pillows on the floor in front of the belly dancers, smoking the sisha water pipes and cheering on. We walked up to the second floor and for a place by the window, sitting on beautiful Arabic pattered pillows and Syrian wooden chairs.
‘I can tell you what is really god here’, Akiko started to explain as we took the menus.’ You should try all the traditional food here, a this is the best place in Amman for it.’
I started reading the menu. My basic Arabic skills were enough to understand most of it.
‘Let’s order the okra dish with tomato’, Akiko pointed to the menu. ‘And the cheese pies. And the couscous with the mixture of Arabic spices. Oh, you should definitely try the lemon juice with mint. That is specialty here. You know, we can only get non-alcoholic beers since we are in an Islamic country.’
‘Yes, I know’, I smiled. ‘My host family are Christian and they already asked me to go with them to the liquor store one day so that they can get some wine with my passport.’
Akiko laughed. ‘This is one of the tricky things here for people who are used to drinking. It is expensive and difficult to get alcohol. A lot of people buy it when they travel abroad or when they go to Aqaba, the seaside town. Over there, shop owners are more relaxed and flexible. They are more likely to sell to people. Then all you have to do is to smuggle them back to Amman!’
Our food arrived. It was so tasty that my first proper night in Amman really made me look forward to the rest of my stay here.
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Anyone travelling to Amman, here is a useful link:
http://www.visitjordan.com/MajorAttractions/Amman/tabid/64/Default.aspx
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