Traffic and Intersections

I witnessed my 3rd car accident in front of my apartment today. Ok, I wasn’t on the street, but in the living room when as twice before, I heard the boom crunch crack outside our 4th floor window. Both vehicles damaged. Both drivers limping.

Prematurely, I was impressed with local driving when I first arrived in Amman. But after daily NY-style traffic jams and two close calls, I now conclude that auto safety is terrible. The conditions are worse than the driving, but I still pass 2-3 accidents daily while carpooling to-and-fro on a 15 minute ride.

On traffic conditions, in mid June the Jordan to Saudi/Gulf vehicle ratio was probably 4/1. Two weeks ago, probably 3/1 and it’s only going to increase in the weeks before Ramadan. Friends complain and proclaim they need to run off to Aqaba or Sharm El Sheikh for the summer.

Arab Leaders and Obama's speech

Marc Lynch has written a nice piece here about what Arab leaders should expect in the coming months and years from the Obama administration.

Happy Bastille Day

And a belated Happy 4^th of July too. Here’s too all my French and American friends. Et mon amour, je t'aime. Tu me manques.

Quote of the Week

"The highest form of morality is not to feel at home in one’s own home."
-Theodor Adorno

Petra and Wadi Rum

(Wadi Rum. A favorite haunt of T.E. Lawrence and where some of "Lawrence of Arabia" was filmed).

(Wasef in Petra with a coliseum in the background).

Aqaba and The Red Sea

(A family on the Jordan side. Across the bay is Israel. Jordan and Israeli ships (or Italian rentals) enter/exit their two adjacent ports and Jordan constantly has a battleship anchored on the sea border. Egypt-bound ferries also leave this port frequently)

I visited Aqaba and the Red Sea this past weekend in the south. Jordan only has 24 km of coastal land (it once was only 8) and Aqaba is its only seaport. It was a friendly, developing place that should be booming in 10-15 years, but was rather lacking in night life when we visited for the weekend. I'm sure it picks up during national holidays. Or maybe the party was somewhere else. I did see Levant and Gulf tourists and several U.S. Iraqi contractors on R&L, but their was no mass weekend influx like I was expecting.

On snorkeling. We rented equipment from the ritzy Royal Diving Institute and spent several hours exploring their great reefs. As advertised, the flora and fauna in the Red Sea is beautiful and this itself deserves a repeat trip to the area if I have time. All colors and sizes of fish and coral. It was breathtaking at times and if I had another month here and was $400 richer, I would happily spend the 3 days it takes to get scuba certified. But maybe next time. Or maybe in the better known Sharm el Sheikh that everyone talks about.