I leave in only 3 days!!! I feel the pressure rising as the date gets closer. I am definitely more excited than nervous, and I'm kind of on a rollercoaster of feeling "Yes, I'm ready! I just want to get there!" to feeling "Oh my god, I've packed all the wrong things!" to "Damn it, I stepped on a dead bee!" Yes, that last one happened. My foot is now swollen. However, I don't think you should go on a big trip unless you feel at least a little nervous.
I am also developing an itinerary for my 19 hours in Istanbul, thanks to the welcoming couchsurfing community of Istanbul. Hopefully I find time to see Sultanahmet (the old city), including the Blue Mosque, followed by Ortakoy and it's weekend Street Bazaar, and perhaps dinner in Taksim (the so called new city). It's such a short time so it will be a little whirlwind tour of the magnificent city that straddles two continents. I will also barely sleep for two nights in a row. I don't think I'd be sleeping anyway, though, due to a lovely combination of excitement and nerves.
As promised I have put together a little collection of my online resources about Jordan. It's a large variety, but I hope some of the links can be helpful to a future traveler to Jordan.
Background information
• Basic info about the Culture of Jordan
• UN Guide to personell moving to Jordan
• Al Jazeera articles about Jordan
• Health precautions before going to Jordan
• Electrical outlet information for Jordan
• Virtual Tourist is always a great resource for travelers, especially regarding tourist traps and what to pack
Travel blogs about Jordan
• A Portrait of Jordan by the celebrated blog Inside the Travel Lab - honest and well-written pieces by an excellent travel writer
• Blog by a young Jordanian woman living in Amman
• Black Iris: A very popular Jordanian politically-themed blog, recommended by CIEE
• Part of Jordan's Tourism Board travel blogging initiative, as was the first travel blog mentioned. There are some good articles here.
Off the beaten track
• Expat website of Jordan
• Photo Essay on Biblical Jordan
• Modern Art in Amman
• Volunteering in Jordan
• Hilarious post about the Jordan few tourists see
• 7 things you don't expect to find in Jordan
Amman
• Be Amman - an insider's guide to Amman
• 99 things to do in Amman, put together by Jordan Tourism Board
• Wikitravel's guide to Amman
• BBC article on Amman's secrets
What to wear
• Journeywoman, where regular women tell you what's comfortable to wear in whatever country you are visiting
Jordanian dialect practice
• Great site with video clips, etc. for practicing the levantine dialect
• Useful phrases and words of the Jordanian dialect
• Links for Arabic language learning
Arabic Music
• Basic overview of popular Jordanian music
• Nogoom El Arab - Great site for free downloads of Arabic music, from Fayrouz to Nancy Ajram
• Playlist of some good Arabic "oldies"
Miscellaneous
• Advice on how to cross the Israeli border on Trip Advisor
Now it is time for me to get out of pyjamas and start reviewing some Arabic. Hopefully I will have time to write a quick post before I leave, but if I don't, you'll hear from me again in AMMAN!
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