Bad dates and homing pigeons
Amman Diaries: 10th July
The sky is brushed with the faintest clouds of pink, slowly fading to a steel grey. A cloud of thick black smoke dissipates over the city. A city built on top of itself, climbing to the sky, broken only by the steep stairs and winding roads. To my left the sky is a cold concrete grey but to my left it is turning purple.
There is never complete silence here, I turn off my audiobook to simply listen to the city. The call to prayer reverberates through the valley, each mosque echos the other, no competition but the volume and reach of the speaker, drawing out the devout. One has no need for a watch here, routine is marked by the city’s echo. Sounds blend with each other, horns honk and sirens blare; a fire engine speeds towards the source of the black smoke. Pickup trucks meander through the back streets announcing their wares for the day, watermelons, vegetables or the offer to offload your unused furniture.
Wednesdays are marked by water in Jabal Amman, each area gets their water tanks refilled on a certain day. Ours is Wednesday, another signpost from the city.
Amman comes alive with the setting of the sun. Once the pigeons have retired to bed, exhausted from their daily airshow, locals emerge into the cooler end of the day. As I get ready to call it a night the rest of the city is just getting started. There is no such thing as bedtime here, children accompany their parents or play in the streets until the early hours, making the most of the mild evening.
I have developed a strange fascination here. Pigeons. There is a popular hobby here called Kaash, it is the training and flying of pigeons. The owners will set their flocks out in an attempt to steal the lead pigeon from their neighbour's flock, thus obtaining their whole flock. This sport is visible in Amman just as the sun starts to dip, creating the most beautiful light that bounces off the dipping and diving birds.
In other more amusing news, I promised a date update. It was not a success unfortunately. But it is a good story so not a complete fail. I met him on Hinge. We arranged to meet outside his apartment so I texted him when I arrived and got a message that said ‘I’m in front of you but can you walk to the bottom of the hill because I can’t say hello here because my neighbours will gossip’. Strange right? Why wouldn’t you plan to meet somewhere else… we then have to walk back up the hill wherein he tells me I have to walk a few metres behind him so people won’t think we were together! WTF! The rest of the date was so boring it doesn’t warrant re-telling but suffice to say we haven’t planned a second one. A word to the wise, don’t describe yourself as ‘a pretty boring guy’ ten minutes into meeting someone, it slightly sets the precedent for the rest of the evening.
Other than that not much news from the front, I only have a week of school left and then I’m hopefully off on an adventure, location undisclosed, keep reading to find out!
Off for a walk now,
Speak soon x