Photos by Annette Honey Hochstadt, (American University), Student Correspondent for CET Jordan, Spring 2025
This picture is taken from the Webdeh neighborhood, which is known for its beautiful cafes and street art. I come here to study often and especially like to visit Rumi Cafe, Manara Arts & Culture Center and Dar N’emeh. Dar N’emeh, a cafe run by women’s non-profit, has been an especially good find for me because they also have gluten-free options which is perfect for me since I have Celiac disease.
We made another visit to the famous Friday Market: A weekly huge thrift market in Amman. This time we were joined by our local neighbors and had a great time!
My language partner took me to see the roman amphitheater ruins in Amman which were built in 161 CE and seats 6,000 people. It was beautiful to experience even on a rainy day. I see my language partner for 3 hours each week to learn new things about Jordanian culture from her while practicing my Arabic outside of the classroom!
Ava, Maddie, and I took Chandler to the lively Wasat Al-Balad (downtown) neighborhood to celebrate her birthday at the popular and delicious restaurant Zajal. This area has a ton of shops, cafes, and restaurants and is always busy no matter the time or weather. After dinner we went to Rainbow street to really make her 21st birthday special!
CET took us on a guided graffiti tour in the Webdeh neighborhood! This lovely tour taught me so much about the graffiti community in Amman. Amman is known for its graffiti and hosts an international graffiti festival every summer.
The tour guide, an accomplished break dancer, invited us to a free intro to dance class the following week which was super fun and interesting to attend! Going to the class also allowed me to meet even more people within the local community and try something new at the same time (I’m not a dancer).
At the CET center one day, we cooked traditional Jordanian dishes (Fatoosh, Galayet Banadora, and Mujaddara) with the guidance of our professors. It was so fun to put our new food and recipe vocabulary to use in a hands on way! Since then, Galayet Banadora has become a staple in my meal prep rotation.
(Left Image) To be honest, a lot of my time is taken up with studying but I love to visit new cafes all over the city to study in new places. This picture is taken in the Arabica café in Swefieh Village. The workload at CET Jordan is difficult but being able to study with friends helps me get everything done! (Right Image) Lights like this can be found all over the city and add so much life to this beautiful city!