A one of a kind oasis is at risk of disappearing in the near future.
There’s an amazing wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years it was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in the past few decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
Even if the number number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. It caught my eye once a few weeks ago and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an epic scavenger hunt and found it.
