I arrived in Amman a couple of hours ago from Paris. I had zero time in Paris to even get outside and breathe the air as my connecting flight was tight. I was hoping to cab to the Champs to grab a bite and snap some pics just for kicks - but I suppose it's just as well, my tolerance level for Parisians is notoriously low.
The flight to Jordan was uneventful. Upon landing, on the near side of customs, there were local coordinators there to meet travelers like myself. I had noticed in Paris that the travel information given to our contact in Jordan was still for my defunct Frankfurt connection, so I figured there would be no one to meet me as I came in on my Paris connection. I was all prepared to get to the hotel myself when I saw a gentleman holding up a sign for me, so I got a ride direct to the hotel (Hotel Intercontinental Jordan).
I was surprised to see that my T-mobile phone, which has coverage no where in the US, has coverage here in Amman (I need to activate on their service to make calls but it's receiving SMS just fine. correction: I don't need to activate, it's just T-mobile international service and works as soon as you show up). The SMS/GPS tracking device I'm carrying with me from my Televoke days hasn't reported location yet. I don't know if that's because it hasn't gotten a GPS lock or that its SIM card isn't activated on this system, I'll wait until Baghdad to start to figure that out.
It tuns out that the King's Brother is getting married and the wedding party is staying at this same hotel as me. So not only is it crowded here but there are soldiers/guards/metal-detectors/etc. everywhere. Other than that Amman is a pretty low key place. It's definitely safe to go walking/jogging/etc, something I'll be doing shortly. I won't get to see the city at all in the daytime as I leave the hotel at 5am tomorrow for my flight to Baghdad. I'm surprised to see that it's a daytime flight, I was told they only flew in at night. Hopefully I'll be online in Baghdad in less than 24hours, look for an update then.