An American in Jordan

I love the idea that Jordan is now the 27th international country to have a Papa John’s Pizza. Papa John’s is the third largest carryout and delivery pizza restaurant in the United States behind Pizza Hut and Dominoes Pizza. Most Americans I know consider Papa John’s to be the best delivery-style pizza available.

Amman’s new branch is located in Swefiyeh across from Wakalat Street at the site of the old Burger King. I had a friend bring me a menu so I could have some pizza delivered to determine if Jordanian Papa John’s was, in fact, as good as the original stuff I was used to.

I called the number on the front of the menu (the one listed under the words “Home Delivery”), only to be informed by a very confused young woman on the other end of the line that they don’t offer delivery. I said, “Well, you’re advertising home delivery on the front of your menus.” She informed me that it’s just not available yet.

So I drove to Swefiyeh to order the pizza directly. I spoke to a very friendly manager who informed me that delivery would be available in one week…er…10 days. So I’m going to use my knowledge of the culture to interpret this statement and inform everyone that Papa John’s will begin their home delivery in one month.

We all tend to scoff when it comes to enforcing smoking laws and regulations in Jordan.  It’s especially funny when they announce on the airplane upon arrival to Queen Alia International Airport to refrain from smoking until passengers get to a designated smoking area inside the terminal (scoff, scoff).

Just not long ago, the Jordan Times was scoffing about a $300,000 campaign to raise public awareness about smoking laws that were already in place but lack enforcement.  And I made a comment about how I’ve seen people blatantly smoking in hospital waiting rooms and no one does anything about it.

Yesterday I was at Khalidi Hospital after not visiting for about 3 months.  They had made some renovations down in the emergency waiting room, but the biggest improvement was when doctors and security guards approached a young woman and demand that she stop smoking.  After putting up a valiant fight with some loud, boisterous arguing, the woman finally succumbed to the pressure and put out her cigarette.

Bravo to Khalidi Hospital for finally enforcing what should have been enforced long ago.  No matter how much they think they do, people don’t have the right to smoke in private facilities, especially ones that have “No Smoking” clearly marked.

Apparently Jordan is not the only country where security are bullying photographers. According to the BBC, England has it’s fair share of crackdowns against innocents.

You can read the article yourself, but I especially like the following bit:

“There’s a great deal of paranoia around but the police are on alert for anything that vaguely resembles terrorism. It’s difficult because the more professional a photographer, paradoxically, the more likely they are to be stopped or questioned.

“If people were using photos for terrorism purposes they would be using the smallest camera possible.”

Exactly!

Some of my favorite Newsdroppings from this week:

• Delta and Northwest Airlines have agreed to merge, thus creating the world’s largest producer of waiting.
• McCain and Clinton are now both calling Obama “elitist.” Obama plans a retort, as soon as his manservant Godfrey can come up with one.
• The Western Wall in Israel was cleared of the many personal notes left by worshippers, and now no one in Israel knows when to pick up the kids from soccer practice or what to bring home for dinner.
• More than two-thirds of Generation X-ers think they’ll never be able to stop working . Boomers, on the other hand, think Gen X-ers will never be able to start working.

Two articles from the front page of today’s Jordan Times:

King orders contingency plan to rein in price hikes

His Majesty King Abdullah has ordered the government to take immediate measures to curb the surge in prices of essential commodities and alleviate the economic hardships citizens are going through.

The contingency plan should be implemented within the coming few days to include immediate measures whose outcome should be felt by citizens, who are entitled to a “secure and stable life”, the King was quoted as saying.

His Majesty, while on the European tour, was following up on the pressing issue of the cost of living, which rocketed as a result of a government decision to liberalize fuel prices, coupled with soaring prices of essential commodities in international markets, the news website said.

Fuel prices up

Technical teams were Thursday night adjusting gas stations’ meters to an updated list of fuel prices, which included a rise in unleaded gas 90 and 95 prices by 5.1 and 5.2 per cent, respectively.

According to the updated price list, the unleaded 90 type is now sold for 615 fils a litre, up from 585 fils, and unleaded 95 is 700 fils. Diesel and kerosene prices remained at their March price of 660 fils per litre.