Birthday shenanigans

I spent Saturday meandering Amman with my besties.  We had 6 of us, Anna, Sarah, me, Phil, Seungah, and Suze. It was Anna and Sarah's birthday this weekend, and since Beirut fell through and then camping in the desert fell though, I got to plan a day of activity.  I loved it.  We kept them in the dark the whole time, like just arriving places without any hints.  It went great!

So we started the the big blue mosque.  Its the Abdullah mosque, and its huge, and welcomes non muslims for once.  Its was really pretty, and neat to be inside.  Us girls had to wear abbayias, which are like choir robes with a hood to be covered. But we were all dressed appropriately underneath anyway, not like some of the other tourists. Wow. So we told them we were students in Amman and they waved the entry fee. (hich is good because its way to much for all you get.) Speaking in arabic to them, even just trying, opens all kinds of doors.  Its crazy. As a matter of fact, we got free tea from a shop owner bc Phil struck up an arabic conversation.  It happens a lot.  I drink random tea at least once a week with these folks...people just love to share it. :)

Then we went downtown and just walked the shops and streets.  We found a great framers market-ish place.  It was hidden between building and huge.  Every kind of food imaginable.  And just the smells and sights and sounds of a crazy, busy middle eastern local market. Fabulous.

Then lunch at a great little localish place. We had really traditional fancy foods and just split all the plates. Then lots more walking and we grabbed some kanaffah.  Which is an amazing cheese and sweet desert. Famous too.  Then we went to the King Huessain park. Its huge and full of roped off grass and trees.  The only ones in Amman. lol. Along the way, Seungah, Phil and I stopped and grabbed a cake at the best cake place in Amman.  Amazing.  Its has all sorts of sweets.  Really fancy and fun. Animal shaped cookies and tiny deserts too. 

So we meet the other 3 girls at the park and we all just dived into the cake. Miraculously, after all this food, we demolished the cake.  Quickly.  Good thing we had also picked up huge water battles. We just sat around and hung out in front of the fountian until church.  

 What a day.  I can't eat anything, I swear I'll burst. But there's nothing better than spending a day touring the city with friends.