My Zarqa

 This is the street I walked to work at the center each day.

Two things to notice.  First the tall green tree to the right.  My favorite tree in Zarqa (the field of competition is slim).  I truly enjoyed seeing it each day as I went in to work.  The second thing is the cinder-block and cardboard box in the bottom right.  They are covering a open man-hole.  The covers constantly came off and these things are big enough to easily swallow a tire of a car.  It made driving this street a bit of hazardous fun.

 Road side produce stands were every where in Jordan, I loved it.  You could also mark the seasons by what fruits and vegies could be found along the roads.  In stands, tents, pick-up trucks, carts, or just stacked along the shoulder.  Watermelons are a big fave here and that is what you see piled inside the tent.

 This is the view across the street from outside the center.  I love this view.  I remember the first week coming out of the center and crossing the street to the restuarants and shops on the other side seemed a thrilling adventure, charting unknown territory.  It may sound silly but it really felt that way.  The blue and white sign to the left is Din Desh, a favorite food stop for locals and us teachers alike.  One day while trying to order hummus I misspoke and said the Arabic word for 5 (hamsi) and so ended up with a lot more smashed chickpeas than I planned.  The shop to the right is called Badran and had a great assortment of snacks and drinks to get you through the day.

 Um, yummy!  Broasted chicken.  Not sure if broasted is the actual term for how they are cooked or more likely a mishap of the English equivalent but whatever the semantics the results is a tasty chicken.  If you order "nuus jaaj" they grab a pair of plier-scissors and cut a chicken right in half grab it using "hubbiz" (flat bread) as a hot mit and lunch is served.

 

 One of the places I will undoubtedly miss most from Jordan; the bakeries.  It was so nice to stop by the local bakery and grab some fresh bread for a snack or with your meal.  A favorite meal of mine is called "Hummus 'u Shwarma".  It is a plate of hummus covered with shwarma meat hot of the spick.  It is a meal for at least two so one of would head to Din Desh and order the hummus u shwarma and the other to the bakery for fresh bread.  Then its a hands on affair of ripping a wedge of bread to spoon out and eat the meal.

I could go on for pages about the bakeries but just one more story.  There was a bakery that was on my way home from work.  It was a busy bakery and so it never seemed to fail that I could arrive and fresh, hot bread was coming up.  The hubbiz when warm is amazing.  To describe it I would say imagine the best of a fresh tortilla with hot French bread coming together.  Not once when picking up bread on the way home did it all make it home.  To resist eating a piece of hot, fresh bread with that tasty aroma wafting out of the bag, oh too much for me.

 The English center where I taught.  We entered below the orange sign and were on the 3rd level.

 These little gas trucks were great.  Your stove stop and oven ran off of these propane tanks as well as the little heating units for winter.  So these little trucks ceaselessly circle through the city like bees.  As they go they constantly tap at their buzzy horn and if you need gas and hear the buzzy beep you know gas is on the way.  Since we lived up stairs we were told to "Go out to the balcony and shout, wave, and make as much noise as you can and they will know what you want."

 "El Mujama  el Qadiim", the old bus station.  Came through this place many a time while in Zarqa.  I really enjoyed riding the buses and this place has a real life and character to it.  I really felt I was in the culture when moving through this place.  In part because I always had to engage and ask others what bus I needed to get where I was going.  Without exception the people were friendly and

helpful, often times going above and beyond.  Travel was oftentimes a bit of adventure, here is one story below.

 Usually as I traveled I just had the phrase in Arabic for where I was going.  I get to the station and just start repeating the phrase to people until they get it and then help direct me.  So once I needed to go to the post office, "bariid".  I get to the station and start asking, "Wayn el baas ah bariid?"  Where is the bus to the post office?  So the first guy motions to follow him and walks me onto a bus and sits me in the seat.  The bus isn't full yet so doens't take off.  About 3 minutes later this same guy comes following his friend and his friend grabs me showing this is the wrong bus and walks me over to another bus.  I sit there for a few minutes before a third guy informs me through motions and broken English that the bus I need is the one two over.  So I switch to that bus and the man who directed me talks to the conductor on the bus for me.  At this point I am somewhat skeptical of arriving at the post office but that is the adventure of a bus station in a foreign language.  So the bus takes off and to my surprise deposits me right in front of the post office.

 "Sharia Saada", Happiness Street.  This is the main shopping street in downtown Zarqa.  I loved  being down here and walking the street; people watching, window shopping, and often enough sipping tea with shop owners.  Downtown is great because it is a lively mix of shopping, restaurants, residences, street vendors, and open air markets.  And shopping includes everything; western suits to full cover burkas, fresh fruits to live chickens, ATMs and scrap metal, souvenirs and trinkets, the latest Real Madird jersey, and of course fresh kanafa, falafel, and hubbiz.  This made for a great experience as it was immersed in an environment of honking taxis, laughing children, and a distinct feeling of not being at home.

 You can't see well but the store fronts to the left are shaded by covers ranging from old tarps and fading canvas to bright and colorful tapestries.  They were never well secured so I loved to walk amongst them as the breeze lifts and lowers and flutters them revealing brief glimpses of the commodities inside. 

 "Issuuq", the open air market.  This is in essense a giant flee market / thrift store.  The majority of it is clothes.  The stock comes from the clothes that don't sell at re-sale, Goodwill, and thrift stores in America.  This was another place I enjoyed as it just oozed cultural experience.

 "Al Qadi", the Judge.  This was a big coffee and sweets shop near where I lived.  It was situated on the corner and had a great window front looking out over the busy 36th Street.  I oftentimes sat upstairs in the coffee shop meeting and talking with people.  I also ate my fare share of kanafa, baklava, and random Arabic sweets from this place.

This is Sameh restuarant.  They had most every food available here in this one place.  Arabic grill, shwarma, traditional Arabic dishes, fruit cocktails, Arabic salads, etc.  It is nice and new with a touch of a western feel to it.  If I was needing a feel of home I could come here and once inside almost believe I was back in Dallas, or at least nearby.