Impressions

Children...tons of long-eyelashed little boys and girls on the flight. You can see how cherished children are here. Even at the Royal Jordanian counter in Chicago, a toddler freely ran back and forth behind the ticketing agents as employees smiled and indulged him. Flight attendants walked infants up and down the aisles, cuddling them as if they were family.

Crickets...they speak Arabic! No, just kidding. I wanted to see if you were still reading this. They sound the same here as in the U.S., and I loved falling asleep and waking up to them.

Food...delicious, and I know how to say that in Arabic. I had my first taste of fool (wrong spelling, I'm sure) this morning for breakfast. It tasted just like Marc's Tia Weenie's refried beans! I scooped it up with pita, added a dash of cumin, and gave my tastebuds a treat.

Western Amman. Aptly named, as it is the modernized, tourist side of the city and highly Westernized. We drove through it last night on the way to dinner, catching glimpses of Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Sheraton and Four Seasons. There's even an "Amman Waves" on the outskirts a la Wild Waves.