This will be my last post until after January 1st.
Happy Holidays to all.

Souks, Malls and Supermarkets

Those of you who know me well know that I am not much for shopping.  In fact I usually go with the mantra, “if they don’t sell it at LL Bean, I probably don’t need it”.  However, shopping in a different country can be fun and a great opportunity to learn about the local habits.

There are several large malls in Amman, with the most well-known being Mecca Mall, Taj Mall, and City Mall.  All three have large chain supermarkets as a big draw.  Some also have cinemas and other amusements.

The first difference you notice when you enter a mall here is that you go through a perfunctory security scan.  Even if you set it off, they usually just wave you through.  Sometimes they have a girl at a small desk who takes a little look in your purse or knapsack.  As malls, they are nothing special, with the usual array of shops.  There are knockoff names such as Women’s Secret for lingerie and brands that you know such as True Value Hardware, GAP, Bath and Body Works and The Body Shop.  The food courts are also filled with familiar names such as Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  At the Taj Mall, which is the most upscale, there is a PF Changs.

Looking Through the Window at  Lingerie Store Near Rainbow Street

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There are several large supermarket chains here in Amman.  Miles is Ed’s favorite; I rather like Carrefour, a French company.  Safeway is the closest to our apartment, and then Spinneys isn’t too far away either.  However, the word supermarket is used very loosely, as many tiny convenience stores have a sign that says supermarket.  They would not even be a fraction of the size of a Seven/Eleven at home, but they are packed with fresh produce and the usual array of household necessities.

A Supermarket

 

Two major souks (open air markets, known as bazaars in some places) also exist.  Souk Sukkar, near the Husseini mosque is open daily and has many food stalls.  In the nearby streets there are small shops where you can find most everything.  There are stores that make your perfume to order, a shop that sells all kind of herbal products, jewelry stores, and shops selling clothing and others selling household things such as mops and brooms.  The other souk, known as the Friday market, primarily sells inexpensive clothing.  At this time of year many of the stalls were selling boots as people prepare for what they call the cold weather.  Compared to other souks that we have been in (Turkey, Morocco), this one is very organized.  Clothes are on hangers, shoes are neatly tied in pairs and the stands are in rows in a lined area that looks like a parking lot off a main street.  It recently moved to this location, much to the dismay of the vendors who held protests when the city made them move.

 

 

Fruit Stall

 

 

Friday Market

 

Jordan really has very little in the way of crafts.  There is a seasonal market that we went to when we first arrived called the JARA Souk.  For the most part though we have not seen any crafts that really appealed to us other than the mosaics, primarily done in the Madaba area, 20 miles southwest of Amman.

Selling Prayer Beads Outside the Mosque

 

Fresh produce is readily available.  There are trucks on street corners, and tent like stands on vacant lots.  Also, the small supermarkets are filled with produce and if you head north out of Amman the road is lined with farmers selling whatever is in season. 

There are more than 2000 pharmacies in Jordan, 1200 of those in the Amman Governorate which is basically the greater Amman area.  These are often very small.  You could probably fit half a dozen in our Charlestown CVS.  They are filled with beauty products and baby supplies like powder and lotion and items related to breast feeding.  Today I bought Amoxicillin, clearly labeled “to be dispensed on medical prescription”, by just walking in and telling the pharmacist what I wanted.  She did not ask me why I needed it, but she did write on the box that I should take 1 capsule four times a day for five days.  [Disclaimer, I am on my way to the dentist and I am taking it prophylactically on the advice of my long time dentist at home due to my knee replacements.]

A Perfume Store Where Your Scent is Made to Order

 

There is one more store which we frequent that is a favorite.  It is on a corner on Rainbow Street, and we go here when we can’t find something.  Sitting at a counter are two or three men who look like they haven’t moved from there in years.  One understands the English words related to products.  The ground floor is filled with gaudy decorative household items and practical things like enormous pots and sets of small cups for tea.  We have never seen the lower level, but we have quickly learned the drill.  Ed goes up to the counter and asks if they have the item we need, for example shoe polish or door stops.  The counter man shouts out in rapid Arabic and a few minutes later a thin man emerges from the lower reaches with the item in hand.  If he doesn’t have it (only once – wood glue), the counter man gives Ed explicit directions on finding a shop where it will be sold.

Virginity Soap Sold in the Herbal Products Store

Guess I’ll walk down to the Safeway now and get some mangos and grapefruit and maybe a pomegranate or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

The Royal Family

Living in a monarchy is a new experience for me.  When we arrived I was surprised to see a picture of the King in so many places.  Go into a travel agency and there he is; and over the manager’s desk in a car rental office; at the little café we frequent there is a picture of the King having a cup of tea.  Pictures of the whole Royal Family are also common.  I have seen them in people’s homes, in offices at the University, on the counter in a hotel.  The Nursing Dean’s office has three large pictures behind her desk – one of the deceased King Hussein, one of the current king, Abdullah II, and one of the Crown Prince Hussein who is 20 years old.  When I was given an office at the Faculty of Nursing, there was a large picture of the deceased King on the wall. The next day it was gone.  I have not yet been comfortable enough to ask why he left me.

Flag of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

King Abdullah II is the 41st generation direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammad.  He is the eldest son of King Hussein (and Princess Muna, King Hussein’s second wife) and has been on the throne since Hussein’s death in 1999.  He received some of his education at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts and also attended Georgetown University.

King Hussein is still much remembered although he has been dead for 15 years.  He was married four times, the first when he was only 19.  His first and second marriages ended in divorce and his third wife died in a helicopter crash.  Queen Noor, his fourth wife, survives him.  She was born in the US of Syrian descent and became a Muslim when she married. 

Queen Rania, the wife of King Abdullah II, was born in 1970 in Kuwait, the daughter of a prominent Jordanian family of Palestinian origin.  She is very beautiful, with long auburn hair.  It is interesting to me that she is never pictured in a hijab, yet we see most women here covering their hair.  I am always surprised that she is not a fashion trendsetter, with University girls seeing her as their role model for deciding whether to cover or not.  She has commented on the topic of hijab in an interview on CNN in 2008.  At that time she indicated that it should be a woman’s choice and that it should not be compulsory. 

King Abdullah and Queen Rania have four children, the Crown Prince Hussein, another son Hashem and two girls Iman and Salma, ranging from 9 to 20.

Princess Muna, the mother of King Abdullah II, was the second wife of King Hussein and the first to bear him a son.  She was born in England. They were married for ten years, from 1961 to 1971.  I have been told that she did not convert to Islam, but have also seen sources that say she did.  Princess Muna, now aged 73, is still very actively involved in promoting nursing in the Kingdom.  She chairs the Jordanian Nursing Council and is the founder of the Princess Muna College of Nursing. 

Countryside in North Jordan (note the olive trees)

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The history of Jordan really begins after World War I when the British and the French divided the remains of the Ottoman Empire.  England assumed sovereignty over Transjordan, Palestine and Iraq and France administered Lebanon and Syria.  In 1946, a treaty with the British gave Transjordan full independence and Emir Abdullah became King Abdullah and the country was officially named the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  King Abdullah was assassinated in 1951 at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the same one that has been in the news recently because it was closed by the Israelis.  King Abdullah’s oldest son, Talal, reigned for less than a year, and then abdicated due to illness to his son, Hussein who ruled from 1952 until his death in 1999.  Because he was under 18, his rule began with a Regency Council performing the functions of the King.



Map Showing the Borders of the Governorates (similar to counties)

 

Jordan is slightly smaller than Indiana.  Amman, which is in the northern quarter of the country, is about 32° north latitude, roughly the same as Tucson, Arizona or Savannah, Georgia.  The lowest point is the Dead Sea, at 408 meters (1338 feet) below sea level and the highest point is 1854 meters (6082 feet) above sea level.  One of our biggest surprises has been how hilly the country is.  The entire coastline is only 26 kilometers (a little over 15 miles), on the Gulf of Aqaba, which is an arm of the Red Sea.  I am looking forward to seeing the ocean.  For someone like me who is used to a daily view of either the Sheepscot River which flows to the Gulf of Maine, or Boston Harbor, I really miss seeing the ocean.  We plan to go to Aqaba when my niece is visiting over Christmas (Insha’Allah).

There are no passenger trains in Jordan.  In the late 1890s a train ran from Damascus in Syria to Medina in Saudi Arabia, but by 1920 it was discontinued.  Having taken trains in many countries, I am always disappointed to be in one that does not have any train travel available. 

 

Bags of Olives Waiting to be Pressed for Oil

 
A bit of trivia: There are around 20 million olive trees in Jordan.  A total of 178,000 tonnes (tonnes are metric tons or 2200 pounds) were produced in one year.  There are 131 olive presses which have a production capacity of 369 tonnes per hour.  A few weeks ago we went olive picking with a group of people and had the opportunity to go to an olive pressing plant.

 

Olive Oil Factory