Driving in the Middle East can be a bit of a tricky thing to some, while to others (in all likelihood the somewhat more aggressive, talkative and seasoned drivers) it almost comes naturally. Either way, driving in the Arab world is an experience in itself. Here are some tips to help you fit in. If they seem strange to you, just remember that without heeding my advice, you’d look like a total foreigner.

• Never stop, except for red lights. Don’t stop to let cars pass on roundabouts or at intersections, but always have the car creeping forward. In doing so, you will at some point subtly block the road for other drivers, allowing a safe passage for you.
• Drive with one hand at the horn. Use it. People rarely use their mirrors properly, so always be ready to honk.
• Don’t count on the fact that just because you come from the right, you go first. It just doesn’t work like that. The one to arrive at an intersection first and/or honks first, goes first. Oh, and use your lights to signal as well.
• Get proper car insurance. Always wear your seat belt. (…)
• When being driven in a taxi, try to wear a seatbelt (I say try to, because a lot of the taxis are in a shape that would classify them as junk: a seatbelt is a luxury). A third of the taxi drivers is actually capable of proper driving, another third is too old/blind/deaf, and the last third are reckless speeders. Prepare for impact.
• Don’t worry about speeding cameras. They’re very few in number, and usually overgrown by the leaves of nearby trees.
• Pimp your ride. Even the most family-oriented car should have a rally wheel and spinning rims in Amman. Don’t forget purple neon for under your car and fluorescent blue lights where your headlights should be.

Feel free to comment if you think of some more rules of the road!

I was walking back to my house from the supermarket Cozmo, a walk of some 5 minutes. It was 7 pm, and I had just gotten out of work. Tired and kind of cranky. I had been a shitty day.

Strolling down the slightly sloped road, I was passed on the right by two Arabs. Well, Arab, but not really. Their features were Arab, but their clothes were, well, urban. Ghetto if you will. I passed them and cracked a smile. I knew what I was in for.

“Sup? Where ya from?”
I turned around and raised my hand, and consequently my three plastic bags with groceries, in a greeting. “Hi. I’m from Holland.”
“Where?”
“Holland.”
“What?”
“The Netherlands, man. Holland?”, I stated again.
“Aw, yeah, you gotsta speak up yo. Sup?”, the first guy went on. “My name’s Tarek. Dis is Munir.”
“Pleasure. My name’s Sander.”

Imagine you’re in a 50 Cent music video. Grown men in oversized shirts, decorated with fake gold around their necks. Wearing jeans with the crotch between their knees. You know, old skool ghetto boys.

“So, where are you guys from?”, I enquired naturally.
“Always lived in Chicago, man. But I’m Jordanian. Just came back here for good…”, Tarek smiled. Munir nodded and added, “We be chillin’ in da sun yaknowmsayin, dis summer is gonbe hot. So, you from Holland huh? You gots weed bro?”
I shook my head. “No man. That stuff’s dangerous down here.” They looked at each other and laughed. Tarek shook his head, revealing a glimpse of his name tattooed on his neck. “Shit man, you gotsa be kiddin’. Dat shit is so good down here. We gotta hook up some time, aight? What’s yo numba?”

I gave them my number and we shook hands (an automatic ghetto shake). I turned around the corner and laughed to myself. No matter how far away from home you are, there’s a constant in the world wherever you go. That constant is called Music Television, MTV. Isn’t it beautifully frightening? We’re all children of mass media.

Speaking of mass media: if you have the chance, I would suggest checking out the site of a knowledgable man I met in Amman last month. Rob Williams PhD., an American expert on mass media and professor, writer, singer, composer, blogger, proud Vermont citizen, party animal (as seen with my own eyes) and public speaker. Listen to his song ‘Kill your television’ right here.

My second time to Petra was more interesting than the first. Me and Frederik covered the same amount of sights in half the time compared to my last visit, and we took some amazing climbs up the various hills around the hidden city. For example, we headed up the stairs to the High Place of Sacrifice. From this mountaintop and destroyed temple, we had a beautiful view of the whole city. Amazingly, as we were up there, a windy front rolled in and caused a sand storm in the valley below. Very weird sight. Poor tourists. We also climbed to the top of the theater, which was awesome. I didn’t do it last time because it was closed by fences, but this time I just followed the Berserker Viking on his quest for ever higher heights. And man, was it great. From up high, it gives you another great view of the city and you can imagine the roar of 8,000 Nabataeans.

This last Thursday, I also visited the Kerak and the Dead Sea for the first time. The first part of the day was spent at Kerak castle, a Crusader caste from the 1200s. It’s mostly rubble on a hill, but the walls still stand. The most amazing parts are hidden deep underground and constituted the stables and living quarters of the Crusaders; they are magnificant multi-level halls, going down as far as four different levels. Later on the day, as Frederik and I drove down from the mountains to the lake’s shoreline, we could see a weather front roll in from over the hills in Israel. Just our luck. We were in time for the sunset, but alas, the clouds rolled in and that was it. We went to the Dead Sea Marriot Hotel, mistakenly bought 2 dinner vouchers thinking they were entrance tickets for the spa (which is the only way to go into the Dead Sea and enjoy a needed shower afterwards), but got in anyway thanks to a nice security guard. The feeling of not being able to sink is very strange. I got the hang of floating after one panicky help-I’m-going-to-sink-like-a-rock arm splash, getting the salty water into my eye –- not a recommended experience. The trick is to just stretch to keep your balance. After having been in the water for a while, I dutifully rubbed the last bit of mud from one of the jars at the beach on my body. Then I just sat back and enjoyed the view over the lowest part (400 meters below sea level) of planet Earth.

An abundance of experiences and travels and too little time to write them all up. The tragic result: it has been a month since my last update. In this month I worked, met yet more people, traveled around ancient Jordan and hosted one of my best friends. Now that I’m in bed with a cup of Starbucks coffee at my side, let me tell you about it all. View the photographs of all the places mentioned below at this Picasa web album.

Early in April, I decided to visit one of Amman’s most ancient sites: the Citadel, or Al Qala. This fortification in the middle of the downtown area lies high upon one of Amman’s mountains and stems from before Christ. However, most of the ruins date from Roman times, when Amman was called Philadelphia and was a major city in the Decapolis. It was one of the first sunny days since I arrived in Jordan, and the wind was howling across the mountains. Walking around alone, it was kind of eery; very few tourists around and a single armed guard. I walked around flipping pages of my Lonely Planet, trying to figure out all sorts of information about the site. The view down to the streets below and to the Roman Theater was spectacular. Supposedly, the Roman elite had a tunnel constructed to carry them from the temple complex on the Citadel down to the Theater, as to avoid mingling with the dirty riff raff in the streets. Nobody knows where this tunnel is, or if it even really exists!

Continuing to feed my hunger for history and archeology, I visited Jerash and Umm Qais in the north of Jordan, in Roman times respectively known as Gerasa and Gadara. These cities were also in the Decapolis. I rented a car with one of my best friends Frederik, who came over for a week while traveling from Dubai to Amsterdam, and drove up there. Jerash was amazing; incredible well preserved and an enormous site. The most amazing part was the theater. Beautifully restored and certainly worth a visit during the Jerash Festival this summer, for a concert or two! Umm Qais was a small Roman city but nonetheless an interesting visit. The first striking thing is the use of black stone instead of white marble. Really weird to see that! It is not nearly as impressive as Jerash or any other ancient site in Jordan, although it boasts a magnificent view of the Golan heights (Israeli occupied but actually Syrian) and Lake Tiberias. However, I value my visit to Umm Qais as more entertaining than Jerash, because of the complete rawness of the site. It hasn’t been excavated well and that means that you can just stray from the path and start your exploration. Roman pottery is spread all over the place.

I was also stalked by an Iraqi woman in Umm Qais. She was with her friends and started to giggle uncontrollably when I looked over my shoulder towards her. Wherever I walked with Frederik, I bumped into her and her friends. It turned out that she was Christian (‘My name is Mary!’), around 35 years old and wasn’t married yet - or anymore! Hence the stalking. Her 5 veiled friends discussed me in Arabic, and when I told them that ana (I) be7bti (speak) arabi (arabic) shway (a bit), they all just sort of applauded me and started to ask me all sorts of questions. I enjoyed my 5 minutes of admiration and then casually walked away.