night

I cud run out of battery before I publish this one, today I was out with a friend I knew for almost 7 years, and it struck me that it's been +7 years since 2003!! we r in 2011, I was looking at Amman, and it's beautiful at night, it got a charm, I don't like it much at daytime especially with the traffic

I'm writing to note that often we forget to search for ourselves, subtracting what we do to survive from the equation, and through that little window of free hours we spare for ourselves each day, even becoming narrower, look for what you came here for and tell the world about it

Hugs,

Tala

Blacksmith in Amman?

I'm looking for a good blacksmith in Amman or a workshop that fabricates metal gate barriers, where do you normally find these places ?

Coming Home

I'm doing well and all is good, my work is ongoing and this is just a reminder that I have done my homework and I deserve a break and go mentally offline, Ammaning on Sunday; Here I come tadaaaaa

I'm coming home, coming home, tell the world, I'm coming home


In the back of my head, I have so many open ended stuff which require closing and it depends on ppl like ( the bank rep, the post office, the office boy ) and I won't be here :/ I need to reschedule tomorrow and go gift shopping. I can't sleep now,
I didn't study anything today and didn't go to the gym

Im not lazy :( I just had no excuse for not going

I should call S,M,A,N ,, else I will be killed

Nighty blog and visitors

On Amman

Im back to Amman for a short break, and its fair to say that when you revisit a place, the contrast is at its best in the beginning and I noted little things that I thought are blog worthy about Amman :

The Airport
- everytime I step out of the plane going throuh the walkway to Queen Alia airport, I find the same Arab Bank advertisments, I shrug and I tell myself " not much changed " its been this way since 2009 with this ad........? its too grey and the walkway is grey :( why not say something about Jordan and Tourism, just make ppl smile =)

enough with Zain, Arab Bank .. seriously!
- the least thing one can do for the current terminals in use, while the new airport is under construction, is to keep em clean, like grout between floor tiles is dirty, , I dont mind the terminal being old, its fine, (check Abu Dhabi's Airport) but what I consider a big no no is the walls being REALLY dirty and the CCTV wires being exposed, a simple painting job can make a huge difference with some plants and greenery, the space gets a different feel. The Airport is a facade for what to expect when you visit Jordan, and it must be well maintained. don't spend millions, just maintain ok.

The Roads

who the hell is the contracting entity responsible for maintaining streets in Amman, the streets condition is awful,, not to mention the nonexisting road marking on secondary roads, insufficient lux levels, and lack of road planning. it is in a miserable state, not a SINGLE road is in good condition, maybe the asphalt application method as a system and road planning standards need to be revised, who are your contractors dear government? or is it done inhouse?

Film Festival and Festivals in general

I know we all love free screenings around the year and especially outdoor ones at the heart of Amman in summer, but don't you think its time to widen the circle a bit and seek a wider spectrum of fans for cultural film by creating an event that all Jordanians look forward to on their calendars, covering foreign, local, controversial, short, documentary, children movies.

we can make use of the Zara/City Mall Cinemas and other screening houses around town, print/sell tickets and make an extensive program of films over a week and bring the producers/leading cast for cultural film and generate public reviews, opinions, and spark some curiosity. I think it will be big in Jordan and its very easy to do, you have 1st circle, jabal qal3a, downtown, hussein cultural center and cinemas all over Jordan.. ( you can make free screenings / gala screenings / premiers / screening at malls ) and let the stars visit our beloved Jordan ........ why not?????

- Dubai Has Mudhish and Freej roaming around the city during shopping and cultural festivals, we need a character for Jordan that kids relate with other than Abu Mahjoob =)

also, starting an extensive literature festival is a good idea, nurturing the minds with books and thoughts is worth a thousand awareness campaign =)

ON HAVING FUN

- Is there any insider guide to Amman ? (a blackbook of Amman or something?) I hardly found anything except some comedy events fof Eid ! =/

- Is there anything like "timeout Amman" ? an online portal to know whats happening around the capital, selling tickets and reviewing new places and uprising hot spots, what to expect in few months ??

I know you will say, the economic crisis is hiting us hard and prices are inflated and people are tired, I agree, but how can you minimise this efflect, how are we creating jobs anyways? you need to create demand and thats why you need to sell your brand and put yourself on the map.

Arts and Tourism are a good start.

though this is not what i wanted to blog about, I wanted to write about something totally different but here is where it ends for today

Education for a better you

Back in May, I went to an open day at Dubai knowledge village, it was a non profit community event that hosted over 100 free workshops and classes from dance to languages and arts, it was so much fun, very engaging, and the tagline was " its a great day to learn something new "

I'm not really good at describing things, you can check here if you want to learn more. what inspired me to write about it today, was when I went to Jara Market, I was looking around for something to do, like everything there was on display for selling purposes or food consumption. but it doesn't envolve the visitor much, and people are on the recieving end most of the time. even in universities, its like its a job to be a student and I think its awful. when did learning stop being attractive? do you think our community and surrounding encourages learning?

I was talking to one guy at Jara who sold Mosaics, then I thought to myself, why don't they bring the material and let ppl do their mosaic themselves, it would be more meaningful and engaging, I do believe a tourist would want to try making mosaics or pottery while in the market, and not have to go to madaba to do it.

one of the things I found fascinating in the market in Istanbul is that sellers spoke Arabic, English, French, Turkish, spanish and Japanese! they are quite exposed to cultures, while our average JO, doesn't know much and is sucked in, we have a language center at JU , why don't they hold an open day for public not only students and give basic 1 hour classes around the day! we have resources, Im trying to address a community that really has no access to learning beyond formal education. the most important stuff we learned, we didn't learn them at schools. we gained them by practice.

this open day I attended, everything was free and all institutes from dance to fitness to languages and coaching engaged all age groups on the campus throughout the day and offered their services if you want to sign up later, so you get to provide something for free for the community but it pays back because at the end of the open day, you get people wanting to sign up and I believe its worth it. learning events is as important as cultural events.