Night 11: Driving in Amman

It's the weekend! I'll have more to say when I've actually experienced the weekend, but for now I have what was meant to be a brief post, but turned into a longish one about driving. I've talked about the importance of eating in Jordanian culture a few times here--and I think I probably will again--but I think now it's time to talk about another integral part of living in Amman: Driving. I've talked a little bit about the bus system and cabs, but there's so much more to driving in Amman.

Driving here is scary. I miss stoplights where people actually stop. I miss speed limits. I miss crosswalks. I miss lanes. Most of all, I miss seat belts. There are a few "speed-controlled" areas here in Amman, but not very many, and I have no idea what would happen to someone if they didn't follow the limit. I have never seen a car pulled over for a violation of any kind and I can't imagine how that would even work here. There's nowhere to pull over for the cop, and I'm pretty sure that most drivers would just ignore the cop. Parking tickets are also non-existent here. People park very haphazardly, wherever there's enough room for their car, facing whatever direction. Lara told me that people are only supposed to park in places for 10 minutes (or possibly half an hour. I don't remember, but it wasn't very long). I asked her what would happen if someone parked somewhere for longer. Nothing would happen, of course. Duh, Meg.

Fortunately, my means of transportation is mostly the bus, and sometimes taxis. Taxis are actually pretty nice here, I've been in some very cushy, well taken care of cabs this week. Cab drivers have to take care of their taxis because if they're in an accident, they could have their license taken away, so they drive *slightly* more carefully (and they're generally better drivers) than the average Jordanian. Buses feel safer for obvious reasons: they're bigger than the other stuff on the road. I'm more likely to be squished in a car than in a bus. Still, when drivers go over 60 here (which is basically always unless there's traffic), in my head I'm going "ohgodohgodohgodohgod," hoping that I get to my destination in one piece. No wonder they're so religious here. Every time someone says they're going somewhere they say "Inshallah," which means "God willing." Or, "Hopefully, god willing, I will get to school on time and without getting in an accident."

The lack of lanes, safe drivers, and speed limits is why there are so few pedestrians here. People don't walk in Amman, and I haven't seen a single bike since I got here. There are very few good sidewalks, none of them go very far and are always broken up by construction or the sidewalk just ends and you end up walking in the street. Also, I hate to say this, but Jordanians are really bad at being pedestrians when they do walk. I have seen SO MANY people walk RIGHT IN FRONT of a bus or a car and I SWEAR they are going to get to get squished and I'm thinking ohmygodyoucrazypersongetoutoftheway. Fortunately, I've never actually seen anyone get hit.

Also, car horns. I don't think it's possible to go for more than 5 seconds during the waking hours without hearing a loud HONK or a beep. The distinction is important. As far as I can tell, "HONK" means "Hey, watch it!" or "Hurry up, asshole!" just like it does in the States (only it happens far, far more frequently). But a short "beep" is often (as far as I can tell) used when a car is rounding a sharp turn or going around a corner so that they can tell other cars they're there/tell pedestrians to get out of the way. Sometimes another car will respond with another short beep, like "Okay, I'm here too." It's kind of cool actually, and I like it because it means I know when to get out of the way when I'm walking. There are also some beeps that seem to have no purpose; Jordanians just like to use their horns.

Anyway, I don't want to freak you guys out or anything, I'm getting used to the transportation system here. Cars and driving shape my life a lot more than you might think here. It's a very big part of living in Amman. It's scary, but I'm learning to kind of like it.