another with his late father, King Hussein, sighted on the motorway;
and this one shows the current King's ancestry. Muna really loved this photo.
After arriving on the east side of the Jordan river, we traveled to the house of one of Muna's brothers.
This next photo is from the kitchen window of another brother's home; notice how hilly Amman is.
This is old Amman, with a main road leading to the market area down town.
Traveling around, you realise that if a city is built on a series of 7 mountains, then a lot of high- rise apartments is inevitable.
This is a new urban development project near the 7th circle --- roundabouts are used as markers to indicate the distance from down town.
These buildings under construction will be the tallest in Jordan.
One of our first stops was to visit Muna's old school, one of the best girl's schools in the country.
The corridors may have been painted interesting new colours , but the steps and hallways were very familiar, as was the old piano.
New facilities have been added; however, the playground area and parts of the original structure have not changed. The English spinster "Misses" who used to run the school have long left, but their legacy of creating one of the best educational establishments in the Middle East remains.
Opposite the school is the first and still the best (so we are told) Chinese restaurants in Amman.
Not sure that the advertisement for this shop (filtered drinking water) or the chairs set outside would entice me to enter!
Quite close to Muna's old home and school is the first Baha'i Centre of Amman --- it has not been in use for a long time.We really walked down memory lane, quite literally, as Muna and the youngest of her four brothers visited the family home, not lived in for many years, and hence in a sad state of disrepair.
This alley was used for all sorts of games during the long summer holidays - but at that time surely they were much wider - or so it seemed at the time of childhood.
Kitchen entrance to the home where Muna lived for 10 years before leaving Jordan.
Side of the house - the alley was a public thoroughfare.
Next stop was to pay our deepest respects to Muna's parents, Nazenin and Abbas Delshad.
All around Amman olive trees abound.
In our neighbourhood (where Muna's eldest brother lives) is a new mosque,
as well as two new churches
this one is called the Church of the Martyrs.
Look again, no it is not the Eiffel tower! This really is the TV aerial on a roof top --- most impressive!
Trimming trees in this curly-whirly shape is very popular.
In Jordan, extremes of wealth and poverty are apparent, with a lot of refugee camps, as well as mansions --- this one is a family home in our neighbourhood and not one of the royal palaces. It is a common practice to build a family home with a floor for each son for when he gets married (the bride usually goes to the family home of her husband). For a person from a western background, this may seem a strange or outdated patriarchal arrangement; however, family ties are very strong, and this arrangement ensures support for young mothers and the older members of the family is provided, and the family regularly eats together and everyone shares in the overall functioning of the family.
Apartment blocks are now more common.
This home looks more like a palace.
Nearby where we stayed was a horse stud, with a riding school.
and Australian eucalyptus trees abound in many locations around the country.
Being a desert climate, the plants have learned to survive, both the dry hot summers as well as the grazing sheep.
Although only mid February and still cold in the mornings and evenings, spring is on the way.
And finally, if you have the time, you can play a game of "snoker".
More impressions of Jordan to follow later.
1 comment:
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and photos! I especially loved seeing Muna's school. :) And I never realized how much Amman resembles Haifa with all its hills. xoxo.
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