...were awesome!
I finally moved into my new apartment and it's great! It's situated on a little street that runs parallel to Abdul Mun'em Riyadh street (the one with the Hyatt on it) and it's just far enough off 3rd circle to not feel like you're on a main road, but close enough to be able to catch a taxi within 30 seconds of leaving the house. The street itself is lovely - various embassies and residencies are here, so there are armed guards dotted all over the place, which is quite comforting. The apartment itself is way bigger than I was expecting - my room is MASSIVE. I've got a big double bed and more wardrobe space than I've ever had in my life. We are the basement flat, so have a really cute little courtyard running around the house which means I have a nice view of some shrubbery from my window. My new roommate, Chris, seems really nice too - he's very friendly and having been in Amman for a year and Jordan for three more, he is a pretty good person to have as a knowledge source. He used to work in the PeaceCorps and last night we had one of his friends stay on our couch, which was cool. Chris also has a dog, called Cajool (Arabic for shy) who was taken to the humane society in Amman after being found badly abused on the streets. Cajool is obviously therefore a bit scared of loud noises etc, but he's a lovely dog (a big, big compliment coming from a cat person) and is sooooo cute. He looks like a big fox.
After unpacking and sorting my life out, Hannah and I went down to Rainbow Street. We stopped by at Al Quds falafel downtown which might be my favourite restaurant of all time. It's no bigger than a cupboard and makes the BEST falafel sandwiches in the whole of Amman - 50 fils for a pitta filled with Jordanian goodness. Absolute bargain, and I'm definitely going to go back soon. We then headed to Star Cafe, got some mint tea, and sat and chatted for a while before we were joined by some of her friends on her course. We headed down to Books@Cafe (not seeing any penises on our way...refer to previous blog if you are confused) and bought tickets for this rap show that was going on. The band is called Arab MCs and they were so, so good! It was a fundraising concert that was collecting for a charity that helps Palestinian children get a better education in the West Bank (definitely something I can get behind), and cost 3JDs. It was hosted on the newly constructed rooftop of Books@, so it was a crazy setting - the twinkling lights of downtown Amman Wadi's glittering in the background and the green neon lights of minarets made it a ridiculously cool backdrop. We also seem to have stumbled across the entire population of Amman's hipsters who were totally in their element. Feeling a bit dangerous, we ordered mojitos and a watermelon shisha (both delicious) and sat back and enjoyed. They had a few warm up acts - two beat boxers who were amazing. One of them was a massive joker and did the beatboxing version of 'In the Jungle' before singing a sad lament about Palestine (in Arabic)...I'm not sure he chose his song set too carefully. This Jordanian girl called Amanda also came up and sang and she was outrageously good. It was such a chilled out setting on the rooftop, and her songs were great.
Then Arab MCs came on - one tall guy (who was wearing a 'Wicked" the musical t-shirt that had 'Defying Gravity' written on the back) and a shorter black guy who was a right hipster with his edgy shades. They got straight into their rapping, which, as you might be able to guess from their name, was all in Arabic. Although it would have been a bonus to understand more than 2% of what they were saying, it didn't matter as they were so entertaining and their music was cracking. Out of one song, I did manage to extrapolate a few words - Hitler, jihad, and Sayyid Qutb (one of the jihadist thinkers I wrote my dissertation on)....so whatever they were rapping about definitely had a powerful message! I'm adding a video of one of their songs that I recorded. It's a bit dark and doesn't reflect how cool it was last night.
It went on for about an hour and a half, so we hung around afterwards for a bit before heading back. I got home at about midnight and was buzzing and ready for my first work shift the next day.
I got into the shop at 11am this morning and had a shift with Dalia, a local woman who is very glamorous and really lovely. She showed me the ropes of the sales aspect of the shop, but it wasn't long before Nadia was skyping and giving me a whole host of jobs to do (which include consolidating the entire back catalogue of pictures of jewellery into one file). Unfortunately the shop wasn't busy at all today, so I didn't get to talk to any customers, but I got on with my jobs and was shown how everything works even further by the evening member of staff, Regina. Having been told by Nadia that she wants me to teach them professionalism, there was a bit of a strange power vacuum today, as I definitely seem to have upset the balance of the shop's dynamic. They will get used to it and Nadia is very clear about our roles, which is lucky as it makes sure there's no awkwardness. Dalia, Regina and I do seem to get on well (easy to say after day one....) so I'm looking forward to going in tomorrow! I'm also going out to dinner with one of Dad's old friends tomorrow night after work, which will be lovely. I have to be on my best behaviour and not make myself sound like an ignoramus/stupid English girl. Inshallah!
Also, I'm now in charge of the Nadia Dajani Facebook page, and will be posting and updating from there daily. Nadia is involved in loads of cool things (today, her jewellery started being sold in the new wing of the Louvre, par exemple) so there's a lot to say. I recommend it (obviously).
Now, time to watch a film and ready myself for more image-moving tomorrow. Khalas.
I finally moved into my new apartment and it's great! It's situated on a little street that runs parallel to Abdul Mun'em Riyadh street (the one with the Hyatt on it) and it's just far enough off 3rd circle to not feel like you're on a main road, but close enough to be able to catch a taxi within 30 seconds of leaving the house. The street itself is lovely - various embassies and residencies are here, so there are armed guards dotted all over the place, which is quite comforting. The apartment itself is way bigger than I was expecting - my room is MASSIVE. I've got a big double bed and more wardrobe space than I've ever had in my life. We are the basement flat, so have a really cute little courtyard running around the house which means I have a nice view of some shrubbery from my window. My new roommate, Chris, seems really nice too - he's very friendly and having been in Amman for a year and Jordan for three more, he is a pretty good person to have as a knowledge source. He used to work in the PeaceCorps and last night we had one of his friends stay on our couch, which was cool. Chris also has a dog, called Cajool (Arabic for shy) who was taken to the humane society in Amman after being found badly abused on the streets. Cajool is obviously therefore a bit scared of loud noises etc, but he's a lovely dog (a big, big compliment coming from a cat person) and is sooooo cute. He looks like a big fox.
After unpacking and sorting my life out, Hannah and I went down to Rainbow Street. We stopped by at Al Quds falafel downtown which might be my favourite restaurant of all time. It's no bigger than a cupboard and makes the BEST falafel sandwiches in the whole of Amman - 50 fils for a pitta filled with Jordanian goodness. Absolute bargain, and I'm definitely going to go back soon. We then headed to Star Cafe, got some mint tea, and sat and chatted for a while before we were joined by some of her friends on her course. We headed down to Books@Cafe (not seeing any penises on our way...refer to previous blog if you are confused) and bought tickets for this rap show that was going on. The band is called Arab MCs and they were so, so good! It was a fundraising concert that was collecting for a charity that helps Palestinian children get a better education in the West Bank (definitely something I can get behind), and cost 3JDs. It was hosted on the newly constructed rooftop of Books@, so it was a crazy setting - the twinkling lights of downtown Amman Wadi's glittering in the background and the green neon lights of minarets made it a ridiculously cool backdrop. We also seem to have stumbled across the entire population of Amman's hipsters who were totally in their element. Feeling a bit dangerous, we ordered mojitos and a watermelon shisha (both delicious) and sat back and enjoyed. They had a few warm up acts - two beat boxers who were amazing. One of them was a massive joker and did the beatboxing version of 'In the Jungle' before singing a sad lament about Palestine (in Arabic)...I'm not sure he chose his song set too carefully. This Jordanian girl called Amanda also came up and sang and she was outrageously good. It was such a chilled out setting on the rooftop, and her songs were great.
Then Arab MCs came on - one tall guy (who was wearing a 'Wicked" the musical t-shirt that had 'Defying Gravity' written on the back) and a shorter black guy who was a right hipster with his edgy shades. They got straight into their rapping, which, as you might be able to guess from their name, was all in Arabic. Although it would have been a bonus to understand more than 2% of what they were saying, it didn't matter as they were so entertaining and their music was cracking. Out of one song, I did manage to extrapolate a few words - Hitler, jihad, and Sayyid Qutb (one of the jihadist thinkers I wrote my dissertation on)....so whatever they were rapping about definitely had a powerful message! I'm adding a video of one of their songs that I recorded. It's a bit dark and doesn't reflect how cool it was last night.
It went on for about an hour and a half, so we hung around afterwards for a bit before heading back. I got home at about midnight and was buzzing and ready for my first work shift the next day.
I got into the shop at 11am this morning and had a shift with Dalia, a local woman who is very glamorous and really lovely. She showed me the ropes of the sales aspect of the shop, but it wasn't long before Nadia was skyping and giving me a whole host of jobs to do (which include consolidating the entire back catalogue of pictures of jewellery into one file). Unfortunately the shop wasn't busy at all today, so I didn't get to talk to any customers, but I got on with my jobs and was shown how everything works even further by the evening member of staff, Regina. Having been told by Nadia that she wants me to teach them professionalism, there was a bit of a strange power vacuum today, as I definitely seem to have upset the balance of the shop's dynamic. They will get used to it and Nadia is very clear about our roles, which is lucky as it makes sure there's no awkwardness. Dalia, Regina and I do seem to get on well (easy to say after day one....) so I'm looking forward to going in tomorrow! I'm also going out to dinner with one of Dad's old friends tomorrow night after work, which will be lovely. I have to be on my best behaviour and not make myself sound like an ignoramus/stupid English girl. Inshallah!
Also, I'm now in charge of the Nadia Dajani Facebook page, and will be posting and updating from there daily. Nadia is involved in loads of cool things (today, her jewellery started being sold in the new wing of the Louvre, par exemple) so there's a lot to say. I recommend it (obviously).
Now, time to watch a film and ready myself for more image-moving tomorrow. Khalas.
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