Jean ‘26 and Amanda ‘27, recount a culture filled day in Amman.
We woke up early today for a trip to downtown Amman where we started with the famous breakfast restaurant, Hashem’s, where we feasted on falafel and many different variations of hummus. For the first time on this trip, we met our tour guide, Moayed, a.k.a Mo! After we enjoyed our delicious feast, we ventured out into Amman. Our first of many stops was the oldest kanafeh (cheese dessert) in the city. After we got the opportunity to expose our taste buds to the wonderful flavors of the country, we then traveled to the Roman theater – one of the biggest theaters in all of Jordan, where they could fit up to 6,000 people!
After we made the treacherous journey up the steep flights of stairs, we admired the landscape of all of Amman, with a bunch of selfies (of course!). We hopped on the bus to make our way up to the citadel. Once we drove up to the citadel, we then learned about the temple of Hercules and the remains of the Romans that have yet to be excavated. The group gathered in the Citadel Museum to look at interesting artifacts that were found in the remains of Jordan.
We then drove to Rainbow Street, a very well-known landmark of the city. Ms. Samawi treated us to smoothies at Wild Jordan, where we all then dispersed throughout the streets, buying gifts of skincare, hattas, and other goodies for our friends and families. One of the many stores on the street was Gerard’s, an ice cream place known for all of it’s delicious treats. In this ice cream place with Mateo ‘26 and Louis ‘27, we tried Ferrero Roche, Nutella, and Cookies’ N’ Creme ice cream, respectively, and we all devoured the cooling treats on this bright sunny day.
We all then got on a bus back to King’s Academy where we then enjoyed a delicious dinner with Head of School Penny Townsend, and her family. We enjoyed many different types of foods including – but not limited to – kibbeh, different colored hamburgers (the bread was blue, green, orange, and red), some vegetables, freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice, salads, and hummus. In our conversations, we discussed the important matter of sunscreen, as some may say we were “sun-smacked” (some more than others).
We ended our day with a beautiful dance performance by King’s Dance Department, noticing the different types of dances like the cultural dance of dabkeh as well as our classical ballet and contemporary dance. We are looking forward to tomorrow where we will go explore the very famous Mount Nebo Church and the Dead Sea!
