Here's a letter from Day 1 of my trip dated 3/26.
Well, I made it to Amman. With 3 hours notice before the flight left LAX, I didn't have time to think about details, so of course i forgot a few things.
The flight from LAX to London was the long one- in more ways than one. Had 2 Brits to my right who snitched on me when I talked on the phone with dad until the last possible moment. I felt like I was in kindergarten. And they were 60. Then the other androgenous Brit next to me on the left clearly had no concept of what a coke does to your innards when you fly. He/She had 3. Yeah, lets just say next time i am flying with a gas mask. Gotta love coach.
Didn't get any sleep on that 10 hr flight. Watched 3 movies- "Im not threre"- the Bob Dylan movie. Didn't get it at all. Then "August Rush." Cheesey, but cute. And last... "In the Valley of Elah". ... I thought the title was appropriate considering my destination.
Quick layover in London. Practically had to sprint the whole way. Yeah, me... sprint. Feel free to laugh. And Heathrow is huge! Not to mention the fact that they are redoing the terminal I was flying out of, so it was messy and confusing.
Loaded up on the flight from London to Amman and was asleep before it left the ground. Only slept two hours or so. Then woke up somewhere over Damascus, realized the sun was going down and that I had completely skipped Easter! Luckily, I had my trusty copy of "The Passion", which I promptly popped in the computer for that good old fashioned "want to throw up" feeling. In all seriousness, though, it does put things into perspective. And the fact that I would soon arrive in the Holy Land began to set in.
Landed in Amman at 7pm. Took 2 hrs to get through visa and customs lines. Met a friendly chap from Denver who was headed to Baghdad. He is with the State Dept and does, quote "High security detail". I said, "Blackwater?". To which he said, "Thats classified. If I tell you I'd have to kill you" And then we burst into an impromptu rendition of "You've lost that loving feeling", which garnered quite the reaction from the Sheiks in the passport line.... ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic. But he did say, "sometimes," which I thought was interesting and I thanked him for his service. And yes, of course I asked him if he had seen The Kingdom yet.
Met my liason, Nashat. Also a nice fellow. Have to be honest, I was a little wary of the guy, but after some conversation I felt better. I saw that many of the women in the airport had head scarves and I asked him if i needed to cover up. He said, "no, no. There is no need. We are not like Saudi." ... Uh huh. Right.
Got to the hotel, then went to diner at Nashat's favorite place for some real authentic Arabic food. Learned how to say "thank you" and "hello". I can only pronounce "thank you" so far, though. "Chukram" (I think).
He showed me around a very dark Amman and took me back to the hotel where I did some catching up on email and fell asleep in my clothes with all the lights on.
Woke up to someone banging on the door of the room next to mine. The walls are so thin I thought they were hitting my door. No wake up call, which I had requested so I would not miss my 7am flight. It was 5:20 and I caught my sister and boyfriend online. Chatted with them a bit and decided to miss my flight and stay a few extra days. Can't bear to fly this far without taking advantage.
I was in desperate need of a shower, but wanted to be early for breakfast. I ran down to grab some food - the selection consisted of hummus, pita bread, toast, coffee, tea, eggs, cucumbers, olives, beans and some Tang. Felt like I was in the Jordanian version of Camp Longhorn. Up against my fellow breakfasters, mostly European, my self-consciousness about my "scent" disappeared altogether. Comparatively, I smelled like roses. Gotta love the French.
Currently waiting on Nashat to come get me. We are going to the Dead Sea today. I will try to send you the photos of the view from my hotel room and let you know definite travel arrangements. Going to try to make it down to the set tomorrow or the next day. In all likelihood I will leave Thurs.
(Nashat needs a little work on his aim here)Much love from Amman!
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