In this post, I'm going to talk a little bit about the areas of Amman that I spend my time in. First, though a general overview of the city. Amman's urban plan is unlike anything I've ever seen. It has 7 main circles (called 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc) in addition to a few other circles (Abdoun, Medina, etc). It is divided into East and Western Amman, with the Eastern part being more culturally Arab and the Western part being more culturally western (and wealthy).
I want to draw a comparison between a very wealthy and very not-wealthy area by describing the neighborhood in which I go to school and the one in which I live. I go to school in Abdoun, and I live in Duar Medina.
Abdoun
Abdoun is one of the richest neighborhoods in Amman. The streets and sidewalks are nicely paved, there is no garbage on the streets, the majority of people we run into speak english. My school is located here. My school is right across the street from the British embassy, next to the Venezuelan one and kitty corner from the Egyptian one; the Saudi, Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese, and Canadian ones are also on the street with our school. They all have armed guards out front and signs that say don’t take pictures, but most of them are in a large house. The American embassy is a five minute drive away, takes up a full city block, and just looks like an epic fortress. From the inside, it's just plain old epic (it's the only one I've been in thus far).
As far as the houses in the area, they are insane. While there is definitely some oil and royal money in the area, the majority of the money in Abdoun is diplomatic money. Abdoun has houses that could blend into Beverly Hills and are worth as much money as SF’s Pacific Heights. Every car in the area is a Benz, Lexus, Auti, Ferrari, etc. Occasionally, you’ll see the poor man’s car—a Prius.
Culturally, Abdoun is also very separate from the rest of Amman. In the rest of the city, there is at least one
mosque every 3-5 blocks. In Abdoun, there is only one. This means that all of
the non-religious, wealthy diplomats can go about having their huge boozy
parties without religious Muslims getting in their way. All of the swanky clubs in Jordan are in Abdoun.
Duar Medina
My family is a lower-middle class family that lives in an area filled with other lower-middle class families. Duar Medina feels as not wealthy as Abdoun feels wealthy. The streets are filled with beaten up cars filled with more people than clown-mobiles; litter lines the streets; food and snacks cost about half as much as they do in Abdoun.
My family spends a lot of time in a Park known as sports city, and I wish I could do an adequate job of explaining this place to you. On nice nights, people bring food and sit on the curbs of an unlit road while cars zip through it at a million miles per hour. People bike and roller blade (never with helmets), and others sit and smoke hookah. People go walking, running, etc. in every type of clothing, ranging from short running shorts to hijabs. If I didn't go there with my family all the time, I would think it's the sketchiest place on earth. Having said that, I've gone running there alone, and as my family predicted, nothing happened.
When I walk around the Medina area, especially in the immediate area around my house, I am the only white person around, and I get stared at a lot. However, people that I pass while walking to go to school have begun to recognize me, so now they smile and say Sabah al Chair (good morning) instead of giving me an angry death stare.
Conclusion
Like every other major city in the world, Amman has areas that have more money and areas with less, and I am lucky that I get to immerse myself in both of those worlds. Some of my friends live in very wealthy areas with maids, their own rooms, and the ability to take an unlimited number of hot showers per week. I live in a home where I share a room, get two showers per week (don't get me started), where the idea of a maid is laughable.
And yet, the more I talk to people staying with different types of families, the more and more I see the trend that the less people have, the more they are willing to give. Some of my friends have their own rooms, bathrooms, maids, etc, but their families never eat dinner together. I will take sharing a small room with a loving family over that any day.
That's all for now, and as always, if you have any questions, let me know,
B
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