Just some thoughts about what I experienced getting to Jordan.
Normally, I fly out of Dubai, and occasionally out of Abu Dhabi, but this flight departed from the city/state of Sharjah.
What was fascinating to see as we drove through this city, was the complete lack of glitz. In fact, by comparison to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it was almost run down.
I've described Dubai as the flashy sister, and Abu Dhabi as the protective big brother. The black sheep of the family comes to mind when I think about Sharjah. The ruler here must have missed the memo about the oil income. The airport, although international, looked like a small rundown regional airport in the US.
Forrest made an interesting comment about this. He said that it could be that the ruler/people in Sharjah have made a conscious effort to keep things the same, without going over to the "dark side" of commercialism.
Side note: Black sheep. The dark side. Devil's food cake. Black Widow. Notice how many references infer that being black is bad?
The flight over was on Air Arabia. This was the first time I'd flown with this airline. What was really cute was the safety video. It featured kids in all of the roles - pilot, flight attendants and passengers. When they talked about floor lighting in the event of an emergency, a kid crawled on the floor to show you. When they referred to your safety vest being under your seat, there was a kid poking his head out from that very spot.
Really, really cute.
Observations about Jordan -
The landscape is different from other places in the Middle East. The miles and miles of sand is rocky, giving it a speckled appearance.
When we were in Petra yesterday, we were less than 20 miles from the Gaza Strip.
Although there is conflict all around, the Jordanians live in peace. I asked about the influx of Syrian refugees, and how the people felt about that, and the response was, "We welcome them." Everyone is welcome here, no matter the circumstances that brought them.
English is spoken by most, as it is the official language after Arabic. All of the road signs and business names are in both languages, like in the UAE. That is most helpful.
Side note 2 - There were about a dozen tourist busses visiting Petra. As we were leaving, a bus load of black folks arrived. I chatted briefly with one lady when I asked if they were from the US. They were. I'm guessing they may have been a church group, as this area has so many religious connotations.
Side note 3 - Forrest gave me a crash course in putting my pictures in iPhoto on my Macbook laptop. What a treat that was! It was like seeing them for the first time because I only post a select few. I'd forgotten about many of the others.
Today is a full day of sightseeing. Tomorrow I return home, with a day of rest before returning to work.
Good night to you.
Good morning to me.
Normally, I fly out of Dubai, and occasionally out of Abu Dhabi, but this flight departed from the city/state of Sharjah.
What was fascinating to see as we drove through this city, was the complete lack of glitz. In fact, by comparison to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it was almost run down.
I've described Dubai as the flashy sister, and Abu Dhabi as the protective big brother. The black sheep of the family comes to mind when I think about Sharjah. The ruler here must have missed the memo about the oil income. The airport, although international, looked like a small rundown regional airport in the US.
Forrest made an interesting comment about this. He said that it could be that the ruler/people in Sharjah have made a conscious effort to keep things the same, without going over to the "dark side" of commercialism.
Side note: Black sheep. The dark side. Devil's food cake. Black Widow. Notice how many references infer that being black is bad?
The flight over was on Air Arabia. This was the first time I'd flown with this airline. What was really cute was the safety video. It featured kids in all of the roles - pilot, flight attendants and passengers. When they talked about floor lighting in the event of an emergency, a kid crawled on the floor to show you. When they referred to your safety vest being under your seat, there was a kid poking his head out from that very spot.
Really, really cute.
Observations about Jordan -
The landscape is different from other places in the Middle East. The miles and miles of sand is rocky, giving it a speckled appearance.
When we were in Petra yesterday, we were less than 20 miles from the Gaza Strip.
Although there is conflict all around, the Jordanians live in peace. I asked about the influx of Syrian refugees, and how the people felt about that, and the response was, "We welcome them." Everyone is welcome here, no matter the circumstances that brought them.
English is spoken by most, as it is the official language after Arabic. All of the road signs and business names are in both languages, like in the UAE. That is most helpful.
Side note 2 - There were about a dozen tourist busses visiting Petra. As we were leaving, a bus load of black folks arrived. I chatted briefly with one lady when I asked if they were from the US. They were. I'm guessing they may have been a church group, as this area has so many religious connotations.
Side note 3 - Forrest gave me a crash course in putting my pictures in iPhoto on my Macbook laptop. What a treat that was! It was like seeing them for the first time because I only post a select few. I'd forgotten about many of the others.
Today is a full day of sightseeing. Tomorrow I return home, with a day of rest before returning to work.
Good night to you.
Good morning to me.
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