A Day in Jebel Amman

I lived in Amman for two years and a half and have since visited it several times, so it was nice to be back once again for the Arab Bloggers Meeting. I spent my first day with a close and art loving friend in the part I missed most, Jebel Amman. Our first stop was at Sufra Restaurant, one of the best restaurants in Jebel Amman, which offered a wide variety of jordanian appetizers and main courses accompanied with freshly baked bread just out of the 'tanour'.

The making of the bread in the 'tanour'

Traditional tea with miramieh (Sage leaves)

It was a nice sunny day, not too cold, so it was perfect weather for us to enjoy an afternoon walk in the quiet streets of Jebel Amman. Our first destination was to the art gallery Nabad.

A side street of Rainbow street

A lovely orange tree at the entrance of  Nabad

Artworks by Architect and Designer Jamal Joucka

An illuminating artwork by Jamal Joucka

A beautifully crafted piece by Artist Abeer Seikaly

Metal artwork by Iraqi artist Himat Mohammed Ali

We stopped to enjoy the view from one of the roof tops before entering Wild Jordan. The beautiful structure was built by architect Ammar Kammash.

Wild Jordan is a socio-economic and eco-tourism division of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, it has a gift store and a cafe offering light and healthy snacks overlooking Jebel Amman.

Most of the material present in the building is eco-friendly and recycled

A graffiti on the staircase leading to the Soap House

Our third destination was to the Soap House, which was set in a beautifully restored old house with a great view of Jebel Amman. The aromatic soaps and creams were made from all-natural ingredients ranging from olive oil, orange, lemon, honey, lavender, rosemary, sea minerals and salts.

A beautiful display of the range of products

A colorful and aromatic range of soaps

Jordan River Design and Bani Hamida are a landmark in Jebel Amman and one of my all time favorite desitnations, so I couldn't miss it. The embroidery project was set up in 1988, offering women in the area an extra income to embroider traditional and contemporary home furnishing, gift items and artifacts preserving the local heritage.

Hand made baskets and artifacts

Hand made bed sheets with traditional and contemporary designs

Bani Hamida hand made rugs

Hand embroidered cushions reflecting the heritage

Um Kalthoum themed cushions

Our last stop was at the Jacandra Art Gallery, where I fell in love with the photography work of Charlotta Sparre, Sweden's Ambassador to Jordan, who was re-assigned recently to Egypt. With an exquisite style she produced a beautiful collection of photos from the Arab cities she had visited. I added Cairo and the East and West Bank to my art collection.

Cairo

The East and West Bank (Palestine)

Beirut

I hope you enjoyed the walk by reading this post and hope you get to visit Amman, if you haven't already and experience it yourself too. 

My First Arab Bloggers Meeting #AB14

I wrote these lines on my flight back home after an amazing week in Amman, reflecting back at the inspiring group of people I spent the last couple of days with, the activists, artists, bloggers, editors, journalist, visual tools and digital security experts along with all the organizers, sponsors, and facilitators.

It was the first time for me to attend an Arab Blogger's Meeting and although I hadn't met many of the participants physically before, through our interaction over the years our virtual connection had been well established. There was an air of familiarity, comradeship and solidarity which laid the basis for new friendships. Sadly, there were activists and bloggers who were absent either due to unjust incarceration or shameful red tape which prevented them from being physically there, yet their presence was very much felt amongst us.

Unfortunately, I caught a cold in my first day in Amman which I spent catching up with close and longtime friends and walking through the old streets of the city I lived in and loved. Ironically I developed laryngitis and started my first Global Voices event, which I looked so forward to, without a voice! 

The circle time with our remarkable MC Mohammed Alqaq was a fun time which we all looked forward to, for warming up and getting energized for the long day ahead. I had never thought about the advantages of being cloned until I was faced with the tough choice of determining which track I wanted to follow for the next 3 days of the closed sessions.

On the first day, I chose the digital security track and through the afternoon clinics offered, we learnt about internet security, how to choose a strong password, how to protect the hard drive and were given a list of other valuable tips. Some of the very helpful team of experts even extended their offer to be in touch to guide anyone through the process, if needed.

On the second day, I switched to the Visual Tools track. As a writer I always appreciated the power of words but the visual tools team taught us ways to pair that with strong visuals to make our storytelling more impactful. Through one of the fun and creative exercises we did, we learnt that Palestinians love having eggs for breakfast and hence "Palestine Eggsists."

In the afternoon tracks we sought help from experts in fields we needed advice and tips in. Dina Elhawary from Midan gave us tips on news fact checking and verification. We also learned more about the struggle in Syria from the personal recount of the brave Marcell Shewaro from Aleppo and more stories were shared by Laila Nashwati's "Syria Untold," Ahmed Jedou briefed us about the ongoing struggle and multiple challenges facing Mauritania. Abir Kopty and Ramzy Jaber among others were fine examples of Palestine's dedicated youth using their knowledge, expertise and resources to champion for the Palestinian cause. The artists amongst us were the positive and creative vibe, and their spontaneous performance was always welcomed.

The brainstorming sessions, discussions, interactions, inspirations and the overall motivational boost the meeting gave us was among the many things that made it outstanding. We plan to keep that momentum by developing a platform for more concrete and consistent collaboration among us. 

I was humbled by the experience and knowledge, inspired by the dedication and determination, and touched by the human interaction and solidarity that were shared in the Arab Blogger's Meeting, all of which can not be captured in words. All I can say to conclude is that it was an enriching and extraordinary experience and I look forward to be invited in future Arab Bloggers Meeting, hopefully in a country where all Arabs are welcome.