Goodbye Canada, Hello Jordan!

I see that my last post was about Florida. Since then, I have been lucky enough to visit Arizona/California/Nevada for a geology field trip. I should probably at some point post pictures from my favourite places: the Grand Canyon, Sedona and the San Francisco Volcanic Fields. I've also been to a few new cities near Toronto (relatively): Chicago and Stratford.

And now, I am sitting in my new office in Amman, Jordan, detailing my experiences so far.

Pre-Departure

Despite my traveling experience, I was quite nervous about coming to Jordan for no real reason. I knew that I wasn’t going to a remote village with no running water or electricity, yet the uncertainty was unnerving. As I joined the crowd that was boarding the plane, it was also strange to wonder whether my attire was too tight.

Air Travel

The plane ride was like most other flights, with a few interesting observations:

• The stewardesses in our cabin were oriental (i.e. they looked Chinese and working for the Royal Jordanian). I could only tell what they were not speaking: Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean...
• The second interesting story: After I boarded and was settled down in my seat, an airline employee with a suited man came over to a young man sitting across the aisle from me and whispered something. Then the young man took his carry-on luggage and was asked if that was all he had with him. All 3 left, but the suited man came running back a few minutes later. He tore up the seats where the young man was sitting, and even took out the life jackets that were underneath, then disappeared again. After about 15 minutes, the young man was allowed to return to the plane and exemplified courtesy to everyone around him upon disembarking. False alarm. While it could have been a safety protocol for all passengers leaving the plane for whatever reason after having boarded, it freaked me out a bit.

Arrival

Upon arrival, the sun was already setting. AIESEC people were too busy to pick me up, so my company sent a driver instead.

First observations:

• Amman is truly a city that is developing rapidly. There is construction literally everywhere.
• While there are marked lanes, an additional one or two lanes of traffic will quickly form and dissolve without notice. The driver that picked me up was certainly one that would create extra lanes and even drove on the shoulder to avoid traffic.
• Average high beam usage is significantly higher than in Toronto. It is normal practice to shine your high beams to signal that you want to pass the car ahead of you or to signal to potential cars in upcoming intersections that you are passing straight through (the latter was a similar practice in Mexico, but honks were used instead).
• It is a cosmopolitan in a different sense in some ways. While the majority of the people living here are Arabs, there are distinct differences socially. I’ve also seen the odd Chinese or Korean and a handful of Caucasians. Of course there are also major western chains such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Mango, Zara etc.

Other than that, my first day of work is tomorrow. I will provide more information as I settle into my new home for the year. Good day!