What, in Allah’s name, is the matter with the authorities in Amman? I ask you most humbly and with great shock that seems only to grow every passing day.

When did Amman turn into a giant swimming pool for cars? Why don’t the draining systems do what they’re supposed to do? Why do they function counter- purpose-wise and spit water instead of swallow it? Why doesn’t someone do something about this?

I am very outraged at the current state of Jordanian streets in general, and more so at the unbelievably mediocre state they assume when Allah decides to give us some water to drink. Every winter the same problem arises — it gets talked about on morning radio shows, evening news, and 60 minutes, those in positions of responsibility are brought to comment and they say next to nothing in citizen-O-meter, and then after the usual citizen rants nothing is done to remedy the situation on the ground. Nobody is charged with anything (ruining people’s cars, for instance) and nobody cares.

How very, utterly, desperately pathetic this situation is! I refuse to get my pants soaking wet up to my knees when I decide to cross the street, I refuse to get water up to my brain when I dive in a street pool, and I refuse to cramp someone’s style by spraying them with dirty wheel water when I pass them by. Moreover, I refuse to sheep-up about this.

Amman Municipality and everyone working in it — FIX OUR STREETS or by the devil, this time, someone will get hurt.

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Dear readers,

I am very interested in knowing what you think of The Box these days. I previously asked for your opinions in April, 2006 and you were great help. I am hoping you would be generous and critical this time too!

I was wondering if you could let me in on your opinions relating to the content, design, and functionality of The Box. Your suggestions and preferences regarding posts (let’s say since April, 2006) and what they contain, writing style and purpose, what you like and dislike, and basically anything that you wish to get across is very welcome– now is a perfect time to speak up, or forever hold your peace.

You can either drop me a comment or, preferably, drop me a line using The Contact form in the sidebar. Thank you for reading and interacting with The Tololy.

— T.

I am posting a few pictures that I took in Jabal Al Lweibdeh and downtown Amman some time ago. I have been wanting to do this for the longest time but it just did not happen. For your amusement, every other picture has a brief story or description.

Let’s start with Jabal Al Lweibdeh pictures since they are the oldest ones. The day these pictures were taken I was just walking aimlessly in Lweibdeh and snapping shots. My camera’s batteries were dying on me and the lens was a bit smudged but fortunately, these elements combined with the beautiful light in the area at the time made for some unique pictures (at least that is what I like to believe).

The romantic setting in Lweibdeh is largely due to the fact that the area itself is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Amman. Most of the buildings are pretty old and so they convey an impression of what glorious Amman looked like in the past.

It is equally interesting that Lweibdeh has developed into a cultural seat for the city. It houses art galleries, cultural and linguistic centers, a national museum, and several other foundations of the type.

Ah! What I would give to live in this spectacular place! But let us leave this wishful thinking aside and move onward to shots from downtown Amman. This first picture is of a library right next to Sabeel Al Hureyyat, it is called Khazanat Al Jaheth. For those of you who do not know the association, Al Jaheth was a major Arab thinker who composed several books. Now Al Jaheth was very fond of books and he kept a large number of them in a library of his, the Khazanah. Irony would have it, however, that his fondness for books and knowledge would kill him. Al Jaheth met his end when his Khazanah of books fell over him.

Khazanat Al Jaheth was closed that day — it was still Eid Al Adha holiday (not a Friday as I had previously posted).

This above is a view of some shops in downtown Amman. I took all of these pictures from a moving car so I am quite surprised, and happy, that they turned out this way. Following are two pictures of a marvelous facade that I am absolutely in love with:

I kept fantasizing about owning that place with the facade and all. As you might have guessed by now, I have quite a fertile imagination. Now for some general views of downtown Amman:

And this here is one of my favorite pictures ever, but I am yet to learn why:

The final picture is of Balat Al Rasheed Cafe. This place used to be called “Maqha Al Jami3a Al 3arabeyya” — Arab League Cafe, but the name was changed. The current name also has a historical association. Balat Al Rasheed is a place where people from different backgrounds — laymen, intellectuals, poets, writers and tourists — all meet.

To read my previous picturesque post on Downtown Amman, click here!