I've started exploring Amman, little by little, along with my excellent roommates, to whom I will devote a little more space on this blog later during the summer, when I'm drowning in schoolwork and have nothing else really interesting to say. But back to exploring: one of my roommates has a Lonely Planet guidebook to Jordan that wehave been shamelessly using to plan all of our adventures in the city, and it has a brief section on the Roman ruins that are scattered across Amman. Basically, most of the old stuff in Jordan dates from the Roman era, especially in the North, and in Amman, there is a (mostly) preserved Roman Amphitheatre, so we decided to head there yesterday afternoon. Shout-out: Zach and Courtney, I'm so grateful we watched Gladiator last year - when I went to the Amphitheatre all I could imagine was the horrific battles, re-imagined by Hollywood, that must have taken place there back in the day. Here's a picture, minus gruesomeness and excessive amounts of blood.
Also, speaking of shout-outs, I have another one! In the guidebook, there is also a brief history of Amman, which I read (because I'm a nerd) before flipping to the section on hookah bars (only half kidding). So, as you probably gathered from the fact that there is lots of old Roman stuff here, Amman used to be a Roman city, part of the Decapolis, a group of Roman-occupied cities located across much of modern-day Jordan, Syria, Israel, and Palestine. And, of course, in Latin, Amman had a very different name. Guess what it was! Guess! Guess! It's super exciting! It was called....Philadelphia! SO COOL. It's as if I never left home at all and somehow made it back to Philly after all, except instead of cheesesteak, there's falafel.
Anyway, back to the story. The great (or terrifying, if you're a historian) thing about Jordan is that they are super gung-ho about tourism and not really as concerned with preserving the majesty of these ancient spaces, so not only is the Roman Amphitheatre in Amman completely open to the public, it's also used as a concert space for music festivals, visiting performers, etc. In a kind of cool way, the Amphitheatre is still being used for entertainment, albeit a different kind of entertainment than in the gory days of yore. Because it has been partially restored, it's also perfectly acceptable for little kids to scramble all over the Amphitheatre, which we observed as we (much more carefully) trekked up the steps.
As some of you know, I'm kind of afraid of heights, among other things...so when I first saw the Amphitheatre, I thought to myself, "Hm, maybe not such a great idea to go all the way up." But then those hordes of little Jordanian kids basically taunted me by bounding up the stairs with absolutely no regards to safety, and so I began the precarious trek upwards. It actually wasn't that bad, to be honest, and the views at the top were absolutely worth it. But then I looked down. Bad move. So, for about ten minutes, I was basically stuck at the top of the Roman Amphitheatre, until, finally, the sun began to set a little, and people started to trickle out as it approached closing time, and I realized that I sort of had to get down unless I wanted to sleep alongside the ghosts of gladiators past. I ended up sliding step by step the whole way down - not super-dignified, and I definitely saw some 6 year olds snickering - but I got to the bottom and headed to the Museum of Cultural Artifacts, which basically holds clothing, jewelry, and housewares from Jordan's many Bedouin tribes. Also, there's a figurine of a desert guardsman, with whom I took the following picture.
Since, obviously, nothing can top this picture, I'm going to stop now. Thanks so much for reading this, you guys! Miss you all an unbelievable amount :) Final shout-out: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMIE SONG!! I hope it is absolutely the best birthday ever :)
P.S. I expect anecdotes from all of you about various moments of hilarity that transpire over the course of the summer...the sharing of embarrassing events cannot be a one-way street! Much love!
- Amrita
