How do you give people landmarks when everything looks the same? After being here for one week, we've started to see the subtle differences in buildings. There might be a red tile roof, or a small drink vendor stand, or a blue roof on the mosque. But as I indicated before, everything is a white building! And you need to pass by them several times before you can figure out what is their distinguishing characteristic. In the meantime, the driving here is very aggressive, so you need to be on the lookout for the taxi's that are turning in front of you from 3 lanes over!
Heaven forbid you go the wrong way and end up heading in the wrong direction! The roads have medians that go on for blocks and it could be quite a long way before you can turn around.
We had to go to the orthodontist to replace the biggest pea's retainer. The directions went a lot like "Go to the 6th circle and go behind Burger King and Popeyes. You'll see the Planet Donut. We're on the 1st floor (which we Americans would consider the 2nd floor)." Seriously. That was it. No road names. No indication that parking was atrocious, and half the roads were one way- including the road they were on. To make matters truly interesting, the police were out doing random checks of cars (seriously, they point to you and pull you over and check your car). Since they were doing this, you had to find an actual parking spot - none of the double parking that happens when they are not around. Meaning we had to do some serious circling and hoping we could find our way back to that all important Planet Donut!
And yet, somehow we are finding things. I now know where three grocery stores are located. I've found a small neighborhood bakery and a fruit store nearby. I've already mentioned finding the all important Starbucks.
When it's not absolutely maddening, it's kinda fun. You just need to accept it will never make sense to a well ordered mind. Yet, we've found every corner reveals something new, something unexpected. And when you find something interesting? You notice all the details around you, or you may never be able to get back there again!
12 comments:
Hi. I found your blog by the comment you left on my SIL's blog Whale Ears. We just moved too and I can totally relate to your post.
Hi! wow Amman we were there at Christmas time (Petra just blew me away especially the beautiful bedouin people) and I thought I could live here instead we have moved to Cambodia! We have moved countries four times and each time we have had 6 weeks notice (from saying yes to the day we arrive) so dont feel too bad!! I'm looking forward to reading more
Tanya
You have captured Amman so perfectly. It DOES all look the same. Back when we first started coming, I used to have give directions to my inlaws based on a BILLBOARD. Seriously. Now there's a restaurant. And, they live in an easy area to find :). And, you DO realize that no one gives directions with street names because no one KNOWS the street names. From your tiny directions here, I could find the orthodontist easily :). You get used to it. We'll get together and I'll give you a real tour :) Talk about confusing you... teehee.
For us the only answer has been TomTom Navigation System. I would literally never leave my house if I didn't have one of these!
Ha! I still remember in Armenia, people would tell me to "turn left where the guy is selling fruit" or "turn right where all the cows are." But what do you do when the fruit guy goes home early with a head cold?
The adventure continues. I'm sure in no time you'll be able to find that planet donut with your eyes closed. We are so reliant (I think) on mapquest and nav in your car, it's hard roughing it. Good luck.
Wow! I'm thinking you'll know where everything is in no time; but until then, just make sure to leave plenty early to get where you need to go! ;)
When we first arrived in Cairo, I swore that one thing I would do before leaving would be to get a bunch of bright spray paint, stencils, and sneak around one night to NAME all the roads - boldly painted for all to see. There are some street signs in our neighborhood - tiny wooden things you can barely see that are not always where you can find them! Spongebob Lane. Bumpy Road. Turnaround Avenue. Etc. I've been here long enough now though that I have gotten used to the landmark method.
You will get used to it! And the aggressive driving. The crazy parking, etc. Don't think you have to be aggressive too, you don't, you'll just get used to it. The tricky part is remembering to follow the traffic rules when you return to the land of sane traffic.
When my parents came to visit us in Oman, they immediately commented on how white everything was. You do get used to it - and then get surprised when you see a splash of color anywhere.... or when you go back to the States and notice how bright every other house really is.
I'm glad to see you're enjoying your first week. And Starbucks? You lucky lady you!!
Navigation system?! How does it know where you want to go? What an idea. Nowadays in the ritzier areas, street signs have been put on most blocks. The problem is that when giving directions, the street names are too long to remember :(.
I know that you know that it will get better! I hope you are settling in well. I wanted to say thank you so much for your advice about sleeping. I was hoping for a few different opinions, so thank you so much for that! I don't have our baby sleeping in our bed and was beginning to think I was doing the 'wrong' thing from the comments. But what you said is so true - it really depends on finding what is right for you and your baby. Thanks for giving me more confidence in that and thanks for the support! Looking forward to hearing more of your experiences.
Glad to hear you are getting settled! I know how difficult it can be to get around in a new city - good luck!
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