Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - June 2012
In June of 2012, Larry Rexford and I flew from DFW to Chicago and then non-stop to Amman, Jordan for short visit with the Royal Jordanian Air Force. It was about 13 hours between Chicago and Amman and we were only in Jordan for 2 days. We spent as much time getting there and back as we did in country. While there, we worked with our Jordanian rep, Imad Matarneh and with Alan Threadgould from the RC Dubai office.
Jordan, officially called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a very old country in the Middle East, located between Israel, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. King Abdullah II, see photo below, is a very young king who took over after his father died in 1999. His father, King Hussein, was the king of Jordan for more than 45 years. There are about 5 million people in Jordan, most live in or around the capital city, Amman.
One thing that worried me a little was being 37 miles outside of Syria. In 2012, Syrians were trying to overthrow their dictator who had the military violently putting down protests. One week after we flew out of Jordan, going around Syria, Syria shot down a Turkish Air Force jet.
Click on any photo to see a larger view
Jordan is near the east end of the Mediterranean Ocean. It’s neighbors are Saudi Arabia, Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Jordan looks dry in June. On the way in from the airport, we did see camels, goats, sheep and tents pitched by the herders. Amman is all the same color. All buildings are made from the local limestone and are not painted so the city is the color of the desert sand, look like the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.
Driving through Amman. My cell phone did not work so I just used it as a camera during the trip, It seemed pretty same in Amman. Almost the whole country lives there or the surrounding suburbs. Amman is built on 7 seven hills, each a different neighborhood.
We were all wearing suits and ties on the runway at the Air Force Headquarters and it was hot. We had to peel them off as soon as we could. We were in several meetings with 6-8 people, everybody smoking but Larry and I and we all drank sweet tea from the same cup at each different meeting, a Middle Eastern tradition.
Imad took us out to his favorite restaurant. It was Lebanese food and very good. In Jordan, dinner begins at about 8 and ends at 10 to 10:30. Shown are me, Larry, Imad and Alan Threadgould.
The view from the airport is not too scenic. The airport is nice and modern. When flying in to Jordan, you have to buy a visa in the airport using Jordanian dinars, about 20 JD
