A Block Away
I was going to visit the theatre today, arriving in Amman in the morning – except at the time of this incident, I was passed out in my hostel, one block away from the theatre, from the heat.
OK.
So that was strange.
I'm at a computer lab two blocks away from the Roman Amphitheater where a crazed guy just shot at foreign tourists, killing one and injuring 6 others before being pinned down by the authorities.
I was going to visit the theatre today, arriving in Amman in the morning – except at the time of this incident, I was passed out in my hostel, one block away from the theatre, from the heat.
What a crazy world we live in.
Apparently Amman is a popular place for this – hotel bombings occurred just in November – although you wouldn't know it walking on the streets. Normal on my block, I'd say. I had lunch at a diner and saw a couple of tourists. The waiter smiled when he saw me with my guidebook. "How you like Jordan?" he asked? "Welcome, welcome."
Although my personal observation obviously contradicts the APs thrilling report that the downtown area, where many tourists are, is "frequented by low-income and unemployed Jordanians and Iraqis in a district populated by conservative Muslims."
This is what I'm afraid of, random crazy people. I don't know whether this is good logic, but to me, this makes every place possibly unsafe. Conversely, it also means all places are equally safe, so that's why I travel on. Poor unlucky tourists.
Posted by: Yuppie Nomad | September 04, 2006 at 07:54 PM
j.fisher
Scary, to be sure. I spent the better part of yesterday in the newer quarters of the city. The scary thing is, I just camped with two ladies, one from New Zealand and one from the UK – and the news report has mentioned two women wounded from those countries..
Posted by: j.fisher | September 05, 2006 at 03:05 AM