Jerash - Roman Ruins

Last year I visited Jordan twice but never visited one of its major attractions, Jerash, until recently. Kim and I finally got a day to visit it. It rained on the way during our bus ride, but the rain stopped when we arrived there. Because the weather was cloudy and cold, there were very few visitors. We were able to walk around and viewed the beauty of the roman ruins without seeing groups and groups of tourists.

Citadel in Amman

The Citadel sits on the hill of Amman downtown. My housemate and I took a bus from Jordan University to the downtown and then walked up long steep stairs to the top of hillside to reach the Citadel. Because of a nice weather, we really enjoyed not only the overviews of the city and also the exploration of this historical ruins, where there are Umayyad palace, Byzantine basilica and pillars of the Temple of Hercules.

The Scandinavian Forest

The Scandinavian Forest is located between Amman and Jerash. Kim, a friend and neighbor of mine, and I participated in a clean-up event held by the Jordan Royal Society for the conservation of Nature on a Friday. Among a hundred Jordanians and a few foreigners, we helped pick up the garbage at this popular picnic area. It's nice to see the place being beautiful and clean even though the bottles, papers, candy wraps and other garbage may be everywhere soon.

Amman-Rainbow Street

Rainbow Street is in the historic area of Jabal Amman, near the downtown Amman. It's an area filled with modern restaurants and cafes. Especially at night, local young people and foreigners like to hang around here for enjoying its artistic and less-conservative atmosphere. 

Amman-People

People in Amman are friendly. They are mixing with immigrates from the neighboring countries. They are proud of their heritage and their country being peaceful and safe.

From Damascus to Amman

Due to the safety reason, I said good-bye to Damascus and moved to Amman, Jordan, a month ago with my lovely cat, Faris. We try to live in places with a garden, so that Faris can roam around outside the house, and I am able to enjoy some greens. Even though the garden at my current residence is bigger and prettier, I really miss the simple and easy life in Syria. Every time when I watch the news about the violent killings there, sadness always catches me. 

Previous home's garden in Damascus

Current residence's door facing a garden in Amman

The garden of current residence in Amman

Without Power

This winter in Syria has more rain and is colder than the year before. People needs more utility and heating oil to keep warm. However, the shortage of the energy has created a lot of difficulty to people's daily life. Everyday there are certain hours without electricity. The problem is even worse in other areas outside Damascus. It could be more than several hours or a whole day without any power.

The photos were taken at a friend's home. Her youngest daughter was drawing near the candles when the power was out. With the dim and yellow candle light, we drank tea and shared our thoughts.

My Dear Friend

Here is my dear and lovely friend, Faris. When I ran into him at a garden in Oct. 2010, I was impressed by his friendliness, which was rarely seen on the numerous street cats in Damascus. Since then, he has been with me and brought me a lot of joys. He loves to play around and caught three mouse from the yard. In this March, we are going to celebrate his second year's birthday.