On Being Forever Alone

I just realized that I have completely failed to mention Jordanian sweets since coming here. Surprising, seeing as I have such a sweet tooth. The main dessert here is something called kunafeh (pictured top), and it's basically a sweet cheese, served warm. It's good, but really rich and kind of gives me a stomachache. What I prefer more here is the bakloweh - similar to what you probably know as baclava, except that it's filled with the same sweet cheese. I find it less rich, plus I love phyllo dough.

This is where the Forever Alone part comes in. The bakloweh pictured above was my dinner this lonely evening. Ramadan here is much different then I thought. The second the sun starts to set, the people literally disappear off the streets. Amman becomes a ghost town. There aren't even cars on the road, besides maybe the stray taxi. It's actually pretty creepy. This is not what I expected. And instead of shops opening up, most close down. While there are a few restaurants open, I was really surprised that a lot don't open even at night. Although it's the third night of Ramadan, I'm just now realizing this. The first night, I cooked dinner and last night, I went out to a restaurant about 100 yards from my hotel and didn't really pay attention to my surroundings. So tonight, I was alone, so I decided to just get food from a street stall some place . . . but I couldn't find any open. And then, as often happens, I started to get irrational because I was hungry. As in, I'm afraid to talk to people. This happens in America too - it's not a "being out of my element" kind of thing. I just, like, need a babysitter when I'm really hungry. Anyone that knows me well, knows this. So instead of being rational and sitting down some place, I decided it was better to just buy a giant plate of backloweh and go back to the hotel. I made it through one piece , and then I felt quite sick. And it's rubbish the second the cheese gets cold, so not only was it a let down, it was also a waste . . .

Tomorrow, I'm headed to a proper grocery store to stock up on some real food.