Although sassy and glamorous, wearing an all black ensemble for work with Nadia is a little problematic - for one, when I got into work yesterday, my co-worker asked me concernedly if I was ill because I was sweating so much. Being a westerner, I definitely can't take the risks with my clothing that some of the Jordanian girls do, and as a result I get really rather hot and bothered on my walk to work in the 34 degree heat. Especially if I'm wearing 120 denier tights. Just thinking about having to cross those busy, busy roads makes me break out in a sweat - the traffic is unrelenting and unpredictable so there's always the chance I may get mowed down by a rogue taxi driver who is lighting up a Marlboro Red instead of holding onto the steering wheel (happened to me the other day whilst we were driving around a roundabout. Taxi drivers are crazy). After informing Dalia that I didn't have to be rushed to hospital because of illness, she still looked concerned. When I asked her what was wrong, she asked me "what is wrong with your eyebrows?". Having never really considered my eyebrows, I was a little taken aback when she told me that they desperately needed tattooing (Mum, don't worry -this blog post doesn't end with me getting my eyebrows tattooed). In an attempt to show me what I am missing out on in the realm of eyebrow definition, I was swiftly taken behind the shop to have my eyebrows coloured in. Unfortunately, Dalia's attempt to make me look more sophisticated was thwarted by my sweaty brow, so I ended up looking like a poor man's Freida Kahlo. A great way to start the day.
The rest of the day in the shop went innocuously enough - a bit of marketing here and there. I had plans to go out for tea with some of Dad's old friends after work and got a call from Talal al-Rifai telling me that his son Nazir would pick me up.After making sure my eyebrows were back to normal, I waited outside the shop for Nazir. I can't remember meeting Nazir as a kid, so I didn't know what to expect. What I definitely was not expecting was hearing a ginormous roar on the street of the InterCon and a bright yellow monster truck swing around the corner with a smiling Nazir in it. This car is ridiculous, and any descriptionI give it won't do it justice. Named the 'Rumble-Bee' it is a vivid yellow pick up truck that practically took me a running leap to climb into as its wheels are at least 4ft high, if not more (Nazir's car has bigger wheels than the one in the picture, but this is the Rumble-Bee!). It's also fitted with a special engine that means that when we were speeding along the streets of Amman on the way back to the family house, we stood out a fair bit. Nazir is lovely - 29 and recently moved back to Amman from Dubai, he didn't mind coming to pick me up at all and we had a good chat on our way back to his house - or at least I think we did. I couldn't really hear what he was saying over the engine. We got to the family house, a beautiful mansion in Dabbouq, and I met with the rest of the Rifai's - Talal and Zainab are still as lovely and welcoming as ever, and I re-met their other son, Kais and his gorgeous fiance Diala. We sat and had tea and cake (so English) and chatted away about the old times. Nazir has a new puppy - called Sexy (which sounds so good said in a Jordanian accent) and he was tinkering away on his car with Kais whilst the girls and Talal talked. Talal and Zainab might just be the most hospitable people I've ever met - within five minutes of being re-introduced, they told me that they considered me as a daughter and that I should sack off living in my apartment and come live with them. They called themselves 'my new parents' and told me to call them every day to tell them how I'm getting on - I've already had a lengthy chat with Talal today as he called me at work, so they are being true to their word. They are so kind and considerate, I felt very honoured to be able to be invited to be part of their home, and not only because Zainab's poppy seed cake is truly exceptional. Talal called Dad off his mobile and a slightly comic conversation ensued where a bemused Rhodders, sat in the car in France, was talking to us sat around in Amman. The al-Rifai's are a big influential family in Amman, with many members holding important governmental positions. This was really brought home to me, as when I was telling the family about the road I live on, Abdul Mun'em al-Rifai, I was told that Abdul Mun'em is actually Talal's uncle! Outrageous 'wasta' in Dabbouq (the Arabic word for connections that pretty much sums up the Amman scene - nepotism gone wild).
Diala and Kais invited me to go out with them afterwards and I ended up having such a crazy evening. It was so fun! I got taken under Diala's wing, which was great as she is really lovely. She is 25 and a school teacher, whereas Kais is 26 and finishing off a degree at University in Amman and they're getting married in June. I got in Diala's car and we chatted - she's Iraqi with an Australian passport, but has lived in Amman for a long time now. Kais meanwhile is crazy - he drag races in his free time and 'drifts' around Amman (as if you need to make the traffic any more difficult). He's got this pimped out BMW which he slides and turns into the gaps in traffic with ease. There's a massive drag racing/drifting scene in Amman and they go down to the Dead Sea a lot to practice down there (I wasn't part of anything as dramatic as this youtube clip). We dropped Kais's car off to be valeted, picked up their friend Abdulla and drove around Amman for a bit -went over the Abdoun bridge (which got put up after we left...very swish) and drove around Sweifieh before settling into their favourite coffee place, 'Cups and Kilos' in Abdoun. We met a few more friends and then went back to pick up Kais's car and dropped Diala's off (we did a lot of driving). Driving with Kais is crazy. People say I'm a nerve-wracking driver, but this was next level. Drifting is my new favourite thing...SO FUN. Urban thrillseeking - my new favourite genre of activity! You definitely couldn't get away with it anywhere else but Amman and I'm not sure our Renault Clio could handle it anyways...We drifted towards 7 Barrels, a bar in Jabal Amman, and sat around and chilled. 7 Barrels is a nice bar, which bar for the fact you can sit outside at 10pm on a Sunday night in September and wear only a t-shirt, it could be anywhere in Europe. The 'gang' is a real mixed bunch - cars and motorbikes is what most of them have in common and they are definitely a liberal group. They go out most nights with each other and seem to party a lot, and hard. The ages of the group went from 18-36 and everyone was very friendly and funny. Conversation flowed easily between English and Arabic, and anything I didn't understand I got translated by Diala. It was a really nice evening and I definitely feel like I stumbled across a slightly elite group - they're all pretty wealthy and live a fast, good lifestyle. They didn't make me feel like a burden at all either, and I'm definitely going to hang out with them again soon. We stayed out until around 11.30, which made my evening all the more wild - 11.30 on a work night! What am I like?!
In terms of work, I've now started working full time doing the evening shift 4-9, so work is about to pile up a lot more. I don't mind at all as I have a lot to do and am always busy, but it feels like a LOT of responsibility - for example, I had to close up the shop today all by myself after having seen it done only once. I better not balls this up or there will be trouble. I did manage to sell some jewellery though, and feel bloody smug about it too. I'm not going to have any time off properly to go travelling/exploring and whatnot before Nadia returns to Amman in mid-October, so my plate is pretty full. It's a nice feeling.
Anyways, had a fab evening and it seems that my fears of having to be a social hermit were unneccessary. In the last 24 hours I've managed to bag myself a slightly unexpected full time marketing job, a new set of parents in the al-Rifai's, and integrate myself into seemingly an elite car/biking circle in Amman. Who would have thought?
I think this might be a boring blog post about what was a really fun evening - I don't think I'm very good at expressing myself through writing. Maybe it's just as well that at the moment I don't have time to explore the journalistic route when I'm here or I'd get scoffed at. Anyways, yesterday was crazy and I'm so excited to have met so many fun people, as well as so many hospitable and caring people since I've been here. I cannot believe I haven't even been here a week. I love Amman. Feels so good to be back.
The rest of the day in the shop went innocuously enough - a bit of marketing here and there. I had plans to go out for tea with some of Dad's old friends after work and got a call from Talal al-Rifai telling me that his son Nazir would pick me up.After making sure my eyebrows were back to normal, I waited outside the shop for Nazir. I can't remember meeting Nazir as a kid, so I didn't know what to expect. What I definitely was not expecting was hearing a ginormous roar on the street of the InterCon and a bright yellow monster truck swing around the corner with a smiling Nazir in it. This car is ridiculous, and any descriptionI give it won't do it justice. Named the 'Rumble-Bee' it is a vivid yellow pick up truck that practically took me a running leap to climb into as its wheels are at least 4ft high, if not more (Nazir's car has bigger wheels than the one in the picture, but this is the Rumble-Bee!). It's also fitted with a special engine that means that when we were speeding along the streets of Amman on the way back to the family house, we stood out a fair bit. Nazir is lovely - 29 and recently moved back to Amman from Dubai, he didn't mind coming to pick me up at all and we had a good chat on our way back to his house - or at least I think we did. I couldn't really hear what he was saying over the engine. We got to the family house, a beautiful mansion in Dabbouq, and I met with the rest of the Rifai's - Talal and Zainab are still as lovely and welcoming as ever, and I re-met their other son, Kais and his gorgeous fiance Diala. We sat and had tea and cake (so English) and chatted away about the old times. Nazir has a new puppy - called Sexy (which sounds so good said in a Jordanian accent) and he was tinkering away on his car with Kais whilst the girls and Talal talked. Talal and Zainab might just be the most hospitable people I've ever met - within five minutes of being re-introduced, they told me that they considered me as a daughter and that I should sack off living in my apartment and come live with them. They called themselves 'my new parents' and told me to call them every day to tell them how I'm getting on - I've already had a lengthy chat with Talal today as he called me at work, so they are being true to their word. They are so kind and considerate, I felt very honoured to be able to be invited to be part of their home, and not only because Zainab's poppy seed cake is truly exceptional. Talal called Dad off his mobile and a slightly comic conversation ensued where a bemused Rhodders, sat in the car in France, was talking to us sat around in Amman. The al-Rifai's are a big influential family in Amman, with many members holding important governmental positions. This was really brought home to me, as when I was telling the family about the road I live on, Abdul Mun'em al-Rifai, I was told that Abdul Mun'em is actually Talal's uncle! Outrageous 'wasta' in Dabbouq (the Arabic word for connections that pretty much sums up the Amman scene - nepotism gone wild).
Diala and Kais invited me to go out with them afterwards and I ended up having such a crazy evening. It was so fun! I got taken under Diala's wing, which was great as she is really lovely. She is 25 and a school teacher, whereas Kais is 26 and finishing off a degree at University in Amman and they're getting married in June. I got in Diala's car and we chatted - she's Iraqi with an Australian passport, but has lived in Amman for a long time now. Kais meanwhile is crazy - he drag races in his free time and 'drifts' around Amman (as if you need to make the traffic any more difficult). He's got this pimped out BMW which he slides and turns into the gaps in traffic with ease. There's a massive drag racing/drifting scene in Amman and they go down to the Dead Sea a lot to practice down there (I wasn't part of anything as dramatic as this youtube clip). We dropped Kais's car off to be valeted, picked up their friend Abdulla and drove around Amman for a bit -went over the Abdoun bridge (which got put up after we left...very swish) and drove around Sweifieh before settling into their favourite coffee place, 'Cups and Kilos' in Abdoun. We met a few more friends and then went back to pick up Kais's car and dropped Diala's off (we did a lot of driving). Driving with Kais is crazy. People say I'm a nerve-wracking driver, but this was next level. Drifting is my new favourite thing...SO FUN. Urban thrillseeking - my new favourite genre of activity! You definitely couldn't get away with it anywhere else but Amman and I'm not sure our Renault Clio could handle it anyways...We drifted towards 7 Barrels, a bar in Jabal Amman, and sat around and chilled. 7 Barrels is a nice bar, which bar for the fact you can sit outside at 10pm on a Sunday night in September and wear only a t-shirt, it could be anywhere in Europe. The 'gang' is a real mixed bunch - cars and motorbikes is what most of them have in common and they are definitely a liberal group. They go out most nights with each other and seem to party a lot, and hard. The ages of the group went from 18-36 and everyone was very friendly and funny. Conversation flowed easily between English and Arabic, and anything I didn't understand I got translated by Diala. It was a really nice evening and I definitely feel like I stumbled across a slightly elite group - they're all pretty wealthy and live a fast, good lifestyle. They didn't make me feel like a burden at all either, and I'm definitely going to hang out with them again soon. We stayed out until around 11.30, which made my evening all the more wild - 11.30 on a work night! What am I like?!
In terms of work, I've now started working full time doing the evening shift 4-9, so work is about to pile up a lot more. I don't mind at all as I have a lot to do and am always busy, but it feels like a LOT of responsibility - for example, I had to close up the shop today all by myself after having seen it done only once. I better not balls this up or there will be trouble. I did manage to sell some jewellery though, and feel bloody smug about it too. I'm not going to have any time off properly to go travelling/exploring and whatnot before Nadia returns to Amman in mid-October, so my plate is pretty full. It's a nice feeling.
Anyways, had a fab evening and it seems that my fears of having to be a social hermit were unneccessary. In the last 24 hours I've managed to bag myself a slightly unexpected full time marketing job, a new set of parents in the al-Rifai's, and integrate myself into seemingly an elite car/biking circle in Amman. Who would have thought?
I think this might be a boring blog post about what was a really fun evening - I don't think I'm very good at expressing myself through writing. Maybe it's just as well that at the moment I don't have time to explore the journalistic route when I'm here or I'd get scoffed at. Anyways, yesterday was crazy and I'm so excited to have met so many fun people, as well as so many hospitable and caring people since I've been here. I cannot believe I haven't even been here a week. I love Amman. Feels so good to be back.
No comments:
Post a Comment