Amman, Jordan

It was time to say goodbye to our new Nepali friends and peer out over the Himalayas one last time as we took flight to our next destination. Continuing our quest to experience as many different ways of life as possible, exploring a small portion of the Middle East seemed like a mandatory stop. A painful 18 hours later and after multiple $11 cheese toasties on a Dubai layover, our wheels touched down in Amman, Jordan. Jordan, with a tradition of welcoming visitors of all varieties for centuries, was likely up to the task of accepting our quirky squad.

Amman, the capital city, is a sprawling sea of white and beige lego-like buildings stacked up and down the cascading hills. We set out on foot to visit the Citadel, Roman Theatre, bustling souks, Rainbow Street and Al Weibdeh. Since we arrived during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, the daytime theme was “sorry, we’re closed” and finding lunch a true challenge. However, about an hour before the sunset prayer echoes from the minarets of mosques on every hillside, people fill the popular downtown restaurants and patiently wait for the final sunset prayer to end to break the fast. They demonstrate such restraint that water already on the table goes untouched. The restaurateurs have food ready and waiting to serve the moment the final call to prayer hums slowly to silence. The queue pops at the juice, sweets and bake shops also late in the afternoon, as people prepare for special meals at home. Not wanting to miss a post sunset feast, we joined in on the fun and plopped down at a street side table at Hashem, an Amman street food institution. They put a piece of plastic on the table and then slapped three giant pitas down—no time for a plate. Then they quickly brought us hummus, moutabel (roasted eggplant dip), falafel, ful medames (mushed up fava beans), and a plate of condiments with fresh mint leaves, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. We dipped and dunked and gorged ourselves, just like we were breaking a day long fast—or maybe all the way since lunch. Gulp. Not but a minute after our last bite, we were given a $5 bill, hustled off, and our table quickly packed up. The party was strong and then it was over. A lot can be learned from this strategy. To sum up our visit of Amman, we walked around and chowed down.