I hailed a cab to go to 7th circle. Traffic was miserable. The driver told me and my girlfriend that traffic is rarely that bad. We found out what the problem was when we say a group of striking protesters screaming their demands a few buildings from the Iraqi embassy as riot police braced for a violent confrontation.
The driver was amazingly kind and honest. He charged less than 2 and a half dinars for the trip from downtown. I went into the Trust International Transport company to buy our bus tickets for 20 JD per person just as Rough Guide to Jordan suggested. Instead, a man told me they only go to Nazareth and it will cost 50 JD per person.
The shock of a much higher price to take us only part of the way filled me with unease. We searched for alternatives, but none surfaced. A company from Israel can do the trip to Nazareth for much less but their office was closed today. So we'll try tomorrow. The hotel staff were incredibly willing to help us, using their cells to call for us. The room has ants, which are not as friendly, but the guys at the hotel tried to come through for us. When one man left for the day, he patted me on the shoulder as he said good bye, knowing I was struggling with trying to figure what to do.
On the drive home from our fruitless attempt to purchase tickets to Israel,the taxi driver tried to charge us nearly 8 JD to get from 7th circle back to downtown. I prepared for a shouting match. I offered him two at first and then added a third dinar. I had a look like he knew 3 was too much and he was lucky to get that. He had an embarrassed smile and took the 3 JD.
The pollution downtown sneaks up on you. Our boogers have turned black. We noticed that a fair number of women don't cover their heads, but everyone of both genders cover their arms. That's less than ideal because it's fairly warm here.
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