my neighborhood

My husband wrote me an email the other day whose sole purpose was to say that while he really enjoyed reading my blog, he didn't think I was using that expensive new camera enough. "Where are the pictures?" he said. Well, Mohamad, I have been using my camera and these next couple of blog entries are for you!

I live in a neighborhood called Jabal El-Weibdeh. "Jabal" is Arabic for "Mountain" and "El" is Arabic for "the." So I live in Mount Weibdeh, which is literally up on a hill and thus has beautiful views of Jabal Amman and the old city to the south and east. Weibdeh, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Amman, has been rejuvinated of late and is now home to several art galleries, the National Gallery for Fine Arts, several non-profits such as Save the Children, CARE International and Endeavor, some Embassies including the Italian Embassy and the Pakistani Embassy, and a few cafes and restaurants. Here is the view from my apartment:

It's a small and beautiful neighborhood with culture and character. It has a very homey feel. People are friendly and helpful. It's traditional and family-oriented without being conservative. I'm quite comfortable walking around in a tank top and everything I need is within a 5 minute walk: supermarket, fruit and veggie stands, banks, pharmacies, convenience stores, dry cleaning, travel agent, taxi office, salons; I can't think of anything else I need.

The neighborhood also has both a well-known mosque and two well-known churches, within a 5-minute walk from one another. Many people in the U.S. don't realize that all Arabs are not Muslim. There's a plurality of religion in the Arab World with Shi'a and Sunni Muslims; many Christian denominations including Greek, Syrian, Armenian and Coptic Orthodox, Catholics, Latins, Protestants and others; Druze (11th Century offshoot of Islam); Bahai's; Jews and others. Jordan is no exception. Here Muslims and Christians live and worship alongside each other in harmony - literally in harmony as on Sundays one can hear the mingling of church bells with the call to prayer! Below are pictures of one of the Churches and the Weibdeh Mosque:

Perhaps what I love most of all is the sense of art and culture. Weibdeh is home to the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Dar El Funoun (House of Arts), the National Photographic Society, and several art galleries.