Photos by Andreas Fathalla, (Kalamazoo College), Student Correspondent for CET Jordan, Fall 2022
Visiting Wadi Rum (وادي رم) on a two-day trip with CET. We rode in the open backs of pickup trucks around the desert and got to explore a bunch of different hill sites. The place is beautiful; the red sand makes it look like you’re on Mars, and many movies were filmed here. This photo features a herd of camels seen walking by our campsite in the morning.
A strike of lightning from a thunderstorm that passed through Wadi Rum in the evening. The storm went on for a couple hours, with lightning flashing pretty rapidly. Rain came later on, but only lasted for a bit and we got to the tents before getting too wet. It was cool to see a storm with lightning in a place with such few storms per year.
Riding camels by the Al-Khazneh Treasury (الخزنة) site at Petra (البتراء). We got to check out Petra with CET after visiting Wadi Rum. Though I’ve been to the Pyramids in Cairo, this was my first time riding a camel. It only cost 2 dinars for a few-minute ride. It was a nice time, though of course it’s worth raising the concern of animal welfare; if you’d like to ride a camel, maybe make sure it looks well taken care of before riding it
An old train station at Al-Hussein Park in western Amman. I took some time to walk around the park one day and thought this site was really aesthetic, especially with the tree’s leaves that have changed to yellow.
Meeting with some friends, both Jordanians and foreigners, for lunch at the restaurant Kosharita in Jabal Amman. We often meet on weekends to go to restaurants and play Backgammon at cafés. We all speak Arabic, so we get to practice the language together whenever we meet.
The rare sight of a rainbow over downtown Amman. Now that it’s November, being the wintertime here, it rains every once in a while—maybe a couple times a week. This view is seen from Darat al-Funun in al-Weibdeh, a cultural center that includes nice gardens with outdoor seating, art galleries featuring Jordanian and Palestinian art, and even some ancient ruins on site. The outdoor seating is a great study spot, especially when the weather is nice.
The streets at the heart of West al-Balad at night. This area in Downtown Amman is always bustling and has many places to stop at for some great, cheap food including a sugarcane juice stand, a knafeh place called Habibah, and the famous falafel restaurant, Hashem.
A giant Christmas tree set up at the Boulevard, a walking street right next to Abdali Mall featuring many cafés and restaurants. It’s a pretty western place so you won’t find much Jordanian food here and the prices are pretty high, but it’s a nice place to check out and a good place to go to if you want something from any foreign cuisine.
The plaza outside of the library of the University of Jordan. CET is now located in al-Swaifiyeh which is kind of far from the university, but I went to visit the campus with my language partner one day. We walked around the entire campus and saw a lot of the different buildings. We went in the evening, so the place was very busy with a lot of university students who have gotten out of class.
I met a guy at Darat al-Funun one day and he invited me to play volleyball with him and his group. The next day I joined them and played for two hours; I haven’t played in years, so I was a little rusty, but they were patient with me and even helped me practice to get better. It’s mostly Jordanians there, but foreigners are welcome too. If you’d like the guy’s contact information so you can join when in Amman, feel free to reach out to me.