The Jordan Diaries 2005: October 29 Day 3.2 An Afternoon at the Theatre, Followed By a Spot of Shopping

From The Citadel, we descended by car down a very steep and narrow, winding street that eventually ran us out into an unruly mass of honking traffic pushing and shoving its way through the noisy throbbing heart of downtown Amman.

To add to the congestion, a bus seemed to be stuck halfway through making a U-turn opposite the Roman Theatre. Obviously hadn’t taken the small illegally parked delivery van into the calculations of how much turning space he needed. The van driver was nowhere to be seen and a cacophony of horns and an angry tirade of Arab insults spewed forth from up to 6 or 7 cars away.

Almost miraculously at that moment, a parking spot opened up across the road, right outside Hashemite Square and in one fluid movement Sufian had manoeuvred the car deftly round into a reverse park angle and we slid backwards into the almost-too-small space as if it had been tailor-made for the exact dimensions of the Samsung. Most impressive!


The Roman Theatre that dominates Hashemite Square had none of the ambience of antiquity such as the one at Jerash or even Umm Qais, but it was an equally as imposing structure and we took up Sufian’s challenge and climbed to the very back row. Heavy going on the legs, especially since the worn stone steps are uneven and unguarded, but absolutely the view was worth every breathless moment of effort. 

JD134  View from top of The Roman Theatre over Hashemite Square and downtown Amman

Back at ground level once again, there were 2 Museums to explore, left and right of the stage – The Folk Lore Museum full of items connected to the lifestyle of the Bedouin and The Museum of Popular Tradition displaying items of clothing, jewellery, head-dress etc – all very amazing and absolutely real. 

JD146 Wedding Mask collection Amman

It has the feel of an interactive museum where participation is encouraged to examine the items and feel the textures. However this is not the case! And despite the invitingly open displays and distinct lack of barriers and signage discouraging same, be warned – it’s a strictly look & don’t touch kind of place! * Ooops... apologies to the vigilant custodian who had to walk over and explain the rules to me who had been busy engaging with just about every textile in sight. Embarrassment plus! 


     In our absence, the pre-Eid shopping frenzy was in full swing with people spilling out of shops and cafes everywhere and the downtown traffic congestion worse than ever. Sufian’s car had somehow become even more tightly wedged into its spot, than it had been when he left it. Eid was meant to be Wednesday, Thursday & Friday of this week, moon-dependent of course, and it seemed that all Amman was out hunting down last minute presents and stocking up on food supplies for the festivities.


Somehow the irrepressible Sufian extricated his car with its paintwork still intact and we made our way out of the city, past the old souk area where it seemed that absolutely everything and anything was on sale and hanging up out the front, in the usual haphazard way that characterises Middle Eastern souks. Next-door to a clothing shop itself almost invisible behind a wall of warm coats , girls’ winter frocks, and knitwear accessories, was a butcher’s complete with freshly slaughtered goat, (skinned all bar the head) strung up for inspection. Side by side with that was a gold souk, not to be outdone in the dangling merchandise stakes with chains that could easily anchor a small boat, resplendent inside the shop window forming a golden “beaded” curtain effect. 


 Through the souk area, traffic was almost at a standstill and it was entirely a game of who had the better nerves of steel as to which cars surged and pushed ahead. And somewhere in the middle of all this was a single policeman on point duty trying to make sense and order from the mayhem by madly waving his arms and blowing his whistle – though no one seemed to be taking the slightest notice!


 Finally Sufian managed to move us through the mêlée and head out of the city on the way to the Dead Sea.

Right on the outskirts he pulled the car into the back of a parking lot behind a row of shops and announced that here at “Dead Sea Treasures”, the shop of a friend of his, we could take advantage of a ‘shopping opportunity’ where we would be assured of quality items at good prices. Smelt rather like a set-up, but even so, it was infinitely preferable to being shoved out downtown somewhere to take our shopping chances with the crowds and the traffic.

One young salesman approached armed with a huge beaming smile and a large bottle of moisturiser cream, the properties and virtues of which he proceeded to extol as being unquestionably therapeutic on account of their origins being extracted from the Dead Sea. Not being ones to rock someone’s boat or interrupt their sales pitch unnecessarily and especially as we are but visitors to this country, we went with the flow and listened to what he had to say and dutifully participated in his irresistible 2 for 1 beauty product offer to add to our shopping basket of other Jordanian souvenirs - dishes, postcards, hand painted wooden dolls, and even a gold charm for my yet to be purchased charm bracelet – all of which they were simply delighted to pack into the back of Sufian’s car, before collectively waving us goodbye with huge beaming smiles, as we set off back on the road to the Dead Sea.