First Day of Ramadan in Amman My first day of Ramadan in Amman was definitely different than those first days I used to have in Cairo and Kuwait. However, in this case different was definitely good…

I started the day off by going to the campus of Jordan University with Monika and Annika…That did not make the fasting any easier, since for the bigger part of the morning and early afternoon I was standing at the AIESEC stand, in the sun for the part of the time, doing a lot of talking to students about AIESEC…Water was all I was thinking about…

During my time at Jordan University I noticed a difference between Ramadan in Cairo and this is Amman and it is how Christians deal with Ramadan…in Cairo, Christians refrain from eating and drinking around their fasting friends or they would ask whether their eating or drinking would be too tempting for the fasting individuals…It was an expectation usually but never a must, or so I believe at least…At Jordan university, the Christians were smoking, drinking water and chewing gum…

One of the guys I met at the King Abdullah Fund office is usually a heavy smoker and it was good for me (obviously not for him) to see him suffer because he was in dire need of nicotine, he was telling me how everyone looked to him like a walking cigarette; how we walked into the bathroom and there were loads (of publicly fasting) guys smoking and could not bear to stay because of the temptation and how this is the first time in 3 years that he fasts since he usually could not live without his nicotine…How is this good for me? It proved a point and it is that I am still not hooked up enough on nicotine and I can still think of myself as a casual social smoker…

For iftar, I did something that many Egyptians would look down upon…I had Foul (Fava beans) and Humus (chickpeas)…No pigeons, no turkey, no rice with nuts and liver, no stuffed vine leaves…none of that…and it was definitely my first…
A definite recommendation for anyone in Amman is Hashem Restaurant in Downtown, any cab driver would know it. It has the best Humus I have ever had and close to the best Foul (Egypt still masters the Foul area)…

Hashem was followed by going with girls to Jabri, have a 250g piece of Kinafeh with cheese, the best dessert ever created…That was followed by a shisha and an icy-cold Egyptian Karkade with Monika at the place that goes by the name of Al-Rashid Ecotourism café…Don’t ask why its called that since everyone in Amman who is interested has been trying to work this out but no avail…

Amman is definitely a beautiful city of hills and a strong Levantine touch but again when it comes to Ramadan, Cairo is the place to be…If not for Monika, Annika and Oksana, I would have not felt a Ramadan at all…  ¶ 8:11 AM