Downtown

Just a few shots from Downtown Amman! I love walking around in the beating heart of the city with its busy streets and vegetable markets, despite the sometimes annoying looks I get from Jordanian guys (you get used to it...) Amman doesn't have a really historical center except for the Roman amphitheater and the citadel, but it's nice to be in the authentic part of the city ('Wasat al balad' in Arabic). I haven't been inspired much outfit-wise, but I'll try to take some outfit photos again soon! Have a great weekend!

Wide-legged

So I wanted to take your advice and look for some maxi skirts to wear here because they're breezy, but I didn't find any that suited me, as the wide kind of skirts make me look either like I gained 20kg or like a homeless person. So I've resorted to my palazzo pants I found in the Zara summer sale which also work perfectly with this weather! I took these photos on my rooftop again, as I'm not quite comfortable with having my picture taken in our street yet - we live in quite a conservative residential area of Amman so the neighbours would all be creeping on me! I did become friend with some of the kids of our street though.

Rooftop views

So how do you guys like my new background? This is the rooftop of my apartment in Amman, from which you have a great view of the city. Ok I'll stop the bragging now.
As you might know, the dress code is Jordan is a little bit different than in Belgium (or any other Western country), aka no short dresses, bare shoulders or deeply cut out tops. I wouldn't be having too much trouble with that if it weren't for the weather that is OMGSOHOT. I've never been good at coping with hot weather, let's hope temperatures will cool down soon! Unlikely though.

This is what I wore for my second day of class btw. I bought the top when I had to spend a whole day in transit at London Heathrow - yay for dutyfree Zara stores! I'm still on the lookout for those awesome Acne inspired boots though, The Zara store in Amman hasn't brought me any luck so far. Inshallah!

First days in Amman

I've arrived safely in Amman! The first few days here were a bit hectic: looking for an apartment, visiting the Institute for orientation days and placement exams (To my surprise, I'm in Level 4!), buying food at the local market and exploring the city. Everyone is really friendly here, from the people in the fruit and vegetable markets to the teachers at our Institute as well as our co-students (almost all Americans btw). We also found an apartment to live in for the next 9 months, yay! It's in a very quiet neighbourhood but close to a street full of shops and markets, and there's a falafel place very close, what more do you want, huh?

A new chapter

Photo credit

As you may or may not know, I got accepted at the Qasid Language Institute in Amman, Jordan to study Arabic for one semester or longer! It has all been very, VERY last minute - We only got the final response that I'd been accepted on Friday and immediately booked our flights - so I haven't had time to blog much the last week, but I hope you understand I've been really busy lately. I'm going with a very good friend of mine so I won't be all by myself, but it's still quite (ok, very) scary! I'm leaving tomorrow morning, but I'm spending almost the entire day at London Heathrow in transit (shopping tips, anyone?) so we will only arrive in Amman on Tuesday at about 4AM. I'll try to update about my adventures as well as my outfits as much as possible, but those will obviously be a bit different than usual, mainly because the dress code in the Middle East is a little bit more strict than here - anything above knee length or exposed shoulders etc. is frowned upon and also disrespectful towards the islamic culture. Before anyone starts making silly jokes, no I'm NOT going to come back as a muslima or wearing a burqa! ;)

I should really go to sleep now (my alarm is set at 5.30AM, help me) but I'll try to keep you up to date through facebook, twitter, instagram and on the blog of course! Thank you for all your support and see you in a few days!