A group of 18 of us have arrived safely in Amman, Jordan. The flight from O'Hare to Amman took about 13 hours. It was a long, but very smooth flight. Upon arrival we were immediately met by our guide who helped us through the process of getting our visas, claiming our luggage and clearing the security process to leave the airport.Amman is a large, busy city of about six million people in the metropolitan area. Our bus driver must have nerves of steel. City driving never bothers me, but Chicago drivers are nothing compared to the chaotic driving we witnessed this evening. By the way, we are eight hours ahead of CST, so we arrived at the hotel, ate dinner and now are headed off to bed, when it still feels a bit like early afternoon.
On the bus ride we learned that an old name for Amman is Philadelphia. Apparently the two words mean the same thing, brotherly love. We are not sure that our guide knew of the Pennsylvania connection. I'll have to ask him tomorrow. It was also interesting to learn that one million Iraqis have moved to Amman since the beginning of the war. This has had a significant impact on life in Amman, especially since the Iraqis who have come are wealthy. The cost of living in Amman has gone up significantly.
English is widely spoken here and US dollars are accepted in tourist areas. Fourteen per cent of Jordan's economy is based on foreign tourism.
Tomorrow the real tour begins as we travel to the Israeli border. Now I will go pay the five bucks to use this computer and head upstairs to the room. --JC
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