January 4, 2002

Our flight from Cairo to Amman this morning left Egypt behind - there was still so much to see, but it will have to wait for another trip - Luxor, Sinai, Khan al-Khalili, and (of course) Snow City! We arrived in Amman and headed to the computer shop to get the diagnosis: new hard-drive needed, some information loss, should be ready before we leave.

The new mall in ‘Abdoun.

Our host then took us to admire the newly-opened mall in the neighborhood of 'Abdoun. We counted maybe two signs in Arabic in the whole place, which had everything from Swatches to Italian shoes (Elizabeth picked up a pair). Clearly, this is where the jet-setters of Amman come to catch up on the latest fashions. Somehow, our jeans and hiking boots left us feeling somewhat out of place.

The news here is full of stories about a boat full of weapons trying to wend its way to Gaza - the whole story seems either to be incredibly poor-timing on the part of the Palestinian resistance or a whopper dreamed up for the American press. Dinner was homemade pizza (or, as our hostess says, "bizza").