Picturing Jordan

Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.

There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman. In just thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.

There’s a shop in Amman’s main market downtown that sells traditional Arabic sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half-kilogram of baklava (which is called “baklawa” in Arabic) — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.