Souk Jara and Jadal

One of my favorite things about Amman during the Summer is Souk Jara, the annual summer flea market in Jabal Amman. This year it kicked off just last week. Booths situated on each side of one of the oldest streets in Amman, selling unique merchandise, from antique jewelry to locally made Jo Bedu t-shirts. There are also small tables reminiscent of a "kan zaman" setting where you can sit and munch on saj sandwiches and have yourself an argeeleh. The best thing about it though are the concerts by local bands every week. We've got some seriously talented Jordanians!












































Yesterday's concert was by Jadal, an Arabic rock band formed a couple of years ago. It was my first time seeing them in concert, and I loved it. Listening to the combination of slang Arabic lyrics and electric guitar tunes while enjoying the view overlooking the Citadel and al Balad was really quite an experience. Plus, the drummer is the cousin of a personal friend who requested her name be mentioned here (so here you go, Diana :D).






My favorite song is "Salma", I've been playing it non-stop since yesterday. You can download it at their website. Here are the lyrics as well.





سمِّي سلمى يا أختي سلمي أمرك و اتكلي
سلمى صغيرة راح تبكي من أول وهلة راح تشكي

سلمى عيونك يشوفوا الخير يشوفوا أمك بتصلي
تشوفي و تسمعي كل خير ما يهمك خالك بيغني

سلمى صغيرة راح تبكي و راح تملى بيوتنا بالضحكه
و بأعلى صوتها راح تحكي أنا بحبك يا أمي

Chorus:
سلمى عيوني بتستنى تشوف عنيكي و تتمنى
العمر كلو يا سلمى العمر الي بتمناه
العمر الي بتمناه العمر كلو يا سلمى

Verse :
سمِّي سلمى يا أختي سلمي أمرك و اتكلي
سلمى صغيرة راح تبكي من أول وهلة راح تشكي

سلمى عيونك يشوفوا الخير يشوفوا أمك بتصلي
تشوفي و تسمعي كل خير ما يهمك خالك بيغني

Chorus:
سلمى عيوني بتستنى تشوف عنيكي و تتمنى
العمر كلو يا سلمى العمر الي بتمناه
سلمى عيوني بتستنى تشوف عنيكي و تتمنى

سلمى عيوني بتستنى


P.S. Uploading photos to blogger is a major pain effft.

Good Blogger. Nice Blogger.

Exploring the weird species that is bloggers.

If Zain Send Me One More Message....

No I don't want to know the Manchester Barcelona game score or whatever that message was about, I don't want to receive your health tips and I most certainly don't want to send a joke so I can be "rewarded" by receiving two free jokes (oh joy!). So STOP sending 10 stupid message a day, or take your wonderful world and shove it somewhere. Jeeeez.

Queen Rania Joins Twitter!

I have a LOT to complain about when it comes to how our country is run, but one thing I love is how the Royal Family are humble and try to stay connected with the people, especially technologically speaking. First a YouTuber, now Queen Rania has moved on to the next popular internet craze, Twitter, the microblogging website. She started her account only yesterday and has updated her status over 17 times. It's the real deal, in case you're wondering, her account has been confirmed by the Royal Court.


It seems that as with her YouTube page, the Queen intends to use this website to raise awareness about certain issues, this time being educating children. In her first and second tweets she says: "Salaam! Last time you heard from me, we worked together to breakdown stereotypes. This time, I want us to tweet together to get every child an education."

But what will probably interest you more are the personal tweets which give people an amazing insight into her life as a royalty. Check these out:

• Wknd begins for us, watching Matthew McConaughey in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Glad I'm not single. It's vicious out there!

• Nice movie to watch with girls; husband (real life action man) mumbling "chickflick!'' under breath. Spoilsport. Just kidding! Watch it... (haha my favorite)

• Just choppered to airport to receive Pope. Husband piloting, he got acrobatic to quiet butterflies in stomach :) told u he was action man
  

• Taking kids 2 meet Pope, just about convinced eldest 2 wear suit. Now negotiating with my 4 yr old!

Queen Rania is following 23 people at the time of this post, including Oprah, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore. She has over 3000 followers, and is personally replying to some of the messages people are sending her. Can't wait to see what she's coming up with next! I sure hope the King makes his own account.

Oh and in her bio, she describes herself as "A mum and a wife with a really cool day job.." Haha, you gotta love her!


h/t: The Observer

Swine Flu? Nah, They're Just Kidding

I don't understand this poll on Alghad's website. It's asking if people think Swine Flu is an actual disease in reality. And over 30% so far have voted that they do not. They don't think it's a real disease? So what is it?

Encounter With a Creep

One thing I like to do is walk. I usually go for a walk early in the morning, at like 6, when the air is still crisp and the streets are relatively empty. I mostly circle around the neighborhood. I've done it for the past three years I think and today for the very first time, I've had an incident with a creep.

I was walking like usual, with one of my iPod headphones in my left ear, so I can still hear any approaching cars or so. I am always aware of my surroundings. I noticed that there was a man walking behind me but didn't think much of it. He was medium built, wearing black pants with a black jacket, clicking away on his mobile. At some point I notice that he's walking exactly behind me, as in two steps away, so I thought it be best to just turn around, go in the other direction and let him go past me, what I usually do in such situations. So I turn around, but the bastard turns right with me. Staring at him I watch him put his phone right in front of my face. I realized at that point that he's been following me, presumably shooting a video or photos. Why else would he stick the mobile in my face. I flipped out. Screaming at him, I snag the mobile out of his hand but he manages to take it back and starts running. I start running behind him and chase him down for half a street but then he takes a turn, so I decide to turn around so I'd catch him from the other side, but he had disappeared. I'm thinking he hid in one of the garages of the apartment buildings in that area.

Why the hell was he photographing me is beyond me. I was wearing black, baggy sweat pants and my older brother's over-sized hoodie. Other than the pony tail, I swear I looked like a teenage boy.

A man driving in his car saw what happened and asked what's the matter and said he would drive around and see if he can find him. I kept walking around in the area hoping I'd run into him. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had caught up with him. I wish I had snatched his mobile so I'd be able to find out who he is. I don't think I've ever gotten this angry in my entire life. I wanted to beat the shit out of him so bad. I think he was surprised when he saw that I was chasing him. He wasn't expecting that.

But all is well. The whole thing is just a tiny incident, and other than a cut in my finger (I think from when he snatched the mobile back), nothing happened. I'm gonna keep taking my morning walks as usual. I hope I run into him again, though.

This is just to say to all you ladies out there to be careful. Be aware of your surroundings. And fight back. Creeps do exist.