Last of the Middle East
Last moments in Amman before my flight back to Istanbul. Amman itself is rather like Ankara - in terms of scenic interest, given a chance, skip it! However my view of Jordanians has been improving since the last entry - largely because the snorkle boy Eyad and his friends turned out to be real sweethearts. Eyad even kept me company on the bus from Aqaba to Amman, as he is going to visit his uncle in Saudi-Arabia for two months and the bus leaves from Amman. He is now my adoptive little brother (ahui) and only with difficulty did I not put him in a basket like a kitten and carry him back home (Mummy, isn't he sweet, can we keep him?).
The bus journey was interesting in itself, since a war started between an obnoxious passenger (male) and the bus stewardess (female). Hard to say where the blame lay in this case. The situation started when the passenger was slightly disrespectful of the stewardess and just threw money at her as if she were trash - she went absolutely mental. Things accelerated, he turned more abusive, and she went even more mental. The bus stopped on several occasions on the side of the road as the driver tried to calm down the situation, but a shouted lewdity from the bad backseat passenger set things off again and before soon things came to a head, turned physical and the whole bus was trying to wrestle, push and shove the warring parties away from each other. The police were waiting for us in Amman and took both troublemakers with them - though which one of them was in trouble, I don't know.
In some way this small event and the level of emotions it generated could be used (maybe?) as an anecdote to explain some of the political trouble in these regions. When people are defending their oppinions here, they don't do things in halves. Emotions run very high very quickly, situations become heated, bystanders actively take sides, and things also become physical quite easily - I have seen several instances of bystanders physically having to seperate quarreling parties (and here the people were stone cold sober, whereas in Finland being drunk tends to be the reason for people coming to blows). A hot tempered folk - quick to anger, but also quick to befriend.
Though my view of Jordanians has improved, not so my view of the food. I did consider eating my last meal here at Popeye's Chicken and Bisquit - Cajun our way, but shuddered to think what Jordanians would make of Cajun... and settled for the eternal schwarma (chicken kebab in a thin bread roll - not bad as such, beats McDonald's by a long straw, but not every day, please!)
At least I end my tour in style - returning for a final day of culinary delight in Istanbul before I fly back home.
I just checked the weather forecast for Helsinki - +1 and rain for the forseeable future. Oh, ye gods! What on earth am I doing heading North?!! Helsinki, here I come...
The bus journey was interesting in itself, since a war started between an obnoxious passenger (male) and the bus stewardess (female). Hard to say where the blame lay in this case. The situation started when the passenger was slightly disrespectful of the stewardess and just threw money at her as if she were trash - she went absolutely mental. Things accelerated, he turned more abusive, and she went even more mental. The bus stopped on several occasions on the side of the road as the driver tried to calm down the situation, but a shouted lewdity from the bad backseat passenger set things off again and before soon things came to a head, turned physical and the whole bus was trying to wrestle, push and shove the warring parties away from each other. The police were waiting for us in Amman and took both troublemakers with them - though which one of them was in trouble, I don't know.
In some way this small event and the level of emotions it generated could be used (maybe?) as an anecdote to explain some of the political trouble in these regions. When people are defending their oppinions here, they don't do things in halves. Emotions run very high very quickly, situations become heated, bystanders actively take sides, and things also become physical quite easily - I have seen several instances of bystanders physically having to seperate quarreling parties (and here the people were stone cold sober, whereas in Finland being drunk tends to be the reason for people coming to blows). A hot tempered folk - quick to anger, but also quick to befriend.
Though my view of Jordanians has improved, not so my view of the food. I did consider eating my last meal here at Popeye's Chicken and Bisquit - Cajun our way, but shuddered to think what Jordanians would make of Cajun... and settled for the eternal schwarma (chicken kebab in a thin bread roll - not bad as such, beats McDonald's by a long straw, but not every day, please!)
At least I end my tour in style - returning for a final day of culinary delight in Istanbul before I fly back home.
I just checked the weather forecast for Helsinki - +1 and rain for the forseeable future. Oh, ye gods! What on earth am I doing heading North?!! Helsinki, here I come...
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