Freshmen a.k.a Smurfs Guide to Survive in Jordan
Posted: September 30th, 2006 | Author: Moey | Filed under: Amman, Jordan | Tags: Amman, Jordan, BLA-BLA-BLA, My University Life, S, D & R'n'R | 10 Comments »I’m writing this hoping that freshmen would read this, it’s a big help out
1. If you’re in Amman Al-Ahliyyeh University, don’t you ever ever EVER go there by taxi, unless you’re late…
REASONS: the driver will ask you 3 JD for the trip that costs 0.30 piasters by bus (if you’re still new to the country, just take any cab to the university of jordan, main gate.. and you’ll find shitloads of Amman – Alsalt buses, or even Raghadan – Alsalt).
2. If you’re not a good cook, or you don’t feel like cooking/spending much, do not order from McDonald’s everyday or you’ll get broke by day 10, stick to cheap ass food restaurants, pay 2 JD instead 5 JD, or support the country and buy from Chili House, local Jordanian American style restaurant and it’s better than McDs and BK, trust me.. And to let you know, if you ever hear anyone saying “I’m not going to eat from (any restaurant name, local or American or ma7al falafel) anymore, I got food poisoned”… believe it!
3. If you’re a gulf brat (just like me) and you need to find the American goods you’re used to, go to Safeway (7th circle, which is also named The Sultan Center), or Cozmo (a walking distance from Safeway).
4. If you’re an arts or architecture student, the best stationary stores are Sameer & Ghassan (ask any cab to drop you to Mecca Street behind J-ber complex), or Marwan store (behind university of Jordan, close to the southern gate and Jerash girls resident), or Visual Arts Stationary Store (next to Al-Jubaiha girls school behind the University of Jordan).
5. For malls and shopping, you can go to Mecca Mall (in Mecca street, every single cab driver in this country knows it). It’s pretty full, and packed with people all time, but It has everything you might need/find in Amman, on the other hand, you can try Sweifieh (Wakalat street), taxis refuse to go there on weekends so just tell them that you’re going to the 7th circle, when you read a roundabout that has Hardee’s, BK and Popeye’s.. Ask the cap to drop you there… it’s just 10mins walking to Sweifieh.
6. Haircut; if you’re a guy/girl, Amman is full with salons, just pick any random one and try it. If you care much about hairstyles and good salons not to fuck up you hair that you’ve been growing for a while, go to TONI&GUY (behind abdoun mall, next to WOX and RED restaurants) or Pace e Luce (Sheraton Hotel)
7. If you feel like watching movies, the best cinemas in town are Century Cinemas (wadi sagra, in zara center), to buy DVDs for cheap (they’re 1.5 or 2 JD/each everywhere in the country) but If you really want working DVD, just go to the downtown (not like Beirut’s.. at all) and pick up working DVDs (they have DVD players in shops, ask him to play the DVD) and for the cost of 1 JD/each or 0.75 piaster if you buy more than 5 DVDs.
8. The downtown (just for your info) is an old area, the old town of Amman, containing bad/good people and old/new shops, It’s full of tourists and has many cheap ass things, 2nd hand books, DVDs, clothes, Chinese products.. It doesn’t have nice cafes with Haifa or Elissa passing by, it’s not the Lebanese downtown, take this image off.
9. Internet; available everywhere, if you even consider plugging it at home and you don’t have a house line, you can get that for 5 JD. and later on you’ll have to pay 10 JD (fees for plugging the DSL hub every month) and the internet service cost depends on the isp, the only unlimited isp in Amman is TEData, the rest have download limits up to 5 or 10 gb/month and most of them are good (not the customer service)
10. Cellular Phone line (mobile); Fastlink, Umniah and Mobilecom have student offers. Umniah happens to be the cheapest to call other networks and send messages, while Mobilecom has the cheapest rate for international calls and the best network service; Umniah’s coverage isn’t that good in some areas… Fastlink is not recommended at all, unless all/most of your friends have it. Xpress is good if you have a family over in Palestine, and if you like walky-talkies
Can’t recall other stuff, if you feel like asking anything, drop a comment and I’ll reply, and sorry if there are any mistake, I wrote this so fast!
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