Jordanian Adventures

I will load pics as time permits then add stories after. If anyone wants to take an awesome vacation, Jordan would be the place. Coming from the planet's newest "civilization", it was amazing to visit one of the world's oldest. When we arrived at the Queen Alia airport, immigration and customs were a breeze. Finding a cab was chaotic, as there was no place to get in line. Somehow, we ended up at the local bus stop. Some man spoke to us in Arabic, a daily event as everyone thought we were Lebanese, & asked where we were going. I replied "Da'wa'eer Khamis" (Circle 5) and he said "OK, 3JD each." Taxis are 25JD, so we took the deal! We hopped on w/a local guy and off we went. 2 minutes later, we stopped at the next terminal to get more passengers. There were 14 seats on the mini-bus. 3 were already taken, & 12 more got on. Do the math. Someone did not buy a ticket. SO for the next 5 minutes, everyone had to show their tickets 2 or 3 times while the ticket seller, bus driver, and the jerk without the ticket yelled at one another in Arabic. Ingrid said, "I knew we should have taken a taxi." I said, "But this is so much more entertaning!" The extra guy refused to get off, so we drove away with one person standing. It took about 45 minutes through bone dry, barren, hilly terrain to get to Amman. Our hotel was the Crystal Suites, a nice family run place with 1 & 2 bedroom apts & HUGE free breakfasts. In Amman, it is best to avoid staying at the big western hotel chains as they can be targets for terrorism. Even our little local hotel had a bomb/weapons scanner that you had to walk through every time you entered the front door. We spent the afternoon walking around Amman, eating great local food like mixed grilled meats and went to the new Mecca Mall to buy some stuff. At the mall (another bomb scanner), Ingrid wanted something from the food court, so I went & got a table while she ordered some food. I opened my wallet to count my money when Ii noticed a woman standing to my right and a guy just behind her. I had a flashback to Madrd's gypsy thieves and as she spoke to me in Arabic, I said loudly & rudely "La La Arabayya, Ingleze." (No no Arabic, English). Ingrid heard me and looked over. Then the woman said in perfect English, "This is the family section. Where is your family?" They were mall security! Everyone was looking. I said, "My wife is over there getting food." I was pissed because there were no signs ANYWHERE stating this was a family area. It was the middle of a food court! Then she said, "OK, I am just asking." To which I replied, "You need to put up a sign." Then Ingrid arrived with her chicken and said, "Stop fighting with the people!" We didn't go back to that mall for the rest of the trip!