After a quick visit to the dentist at 2:30 on Saturday, I drove to Goethe Institute in Jabal Amman to drop off my son to his German class. There, I met an old friend, whose son is also taking the class. As we chatted in the lobby, a very interesting mix of people (of all genders, shapes, sizes and social persuasions) streamed into the Institute to take their children to class.

I then drove to Rainbow Street, where I wanted to briefly meet with a colleague from the office to talk about a presentation we’re working on together. Rainbow Street new look is starting to take shape. The new lights were on today and I noticed that some new shops have opened. Despite some design issues with the street’s renovation here and there, I think the street will become an even more fantastic Ammani destination.

Photo by Amman Voice
My colleague and I sat in the garden of the old house he’s renting. We sat in the shadow of the Safadi Mosque minaret. Drank tea with mint.

Photo by Lustkanben

Then, I rushed over to Wild Jordan, where, for the 2nd Saturday in a row, the Arabic Calligraphy workshop organized by my colleague Hussein Azaat was in full swing. Calligrapher Saleh Nasab was busy teaching the new generation about the rules, beauty and philosophy of Arabic script. It’s interesting to note that the workshop was promoted mainly on Facebook and achieved full attendance.

Photos by Andfaraway

I rushed back to Goethe to pick up my son and convinced him to go back to the calligraphy workshop. He tried his hand at writing with a piece of bamboo. But he decided to draw Sonic the Hedgehog instead . Nonetheless I think he was pretty impressed with the calligraphy master’s letter forms!

We then had hot chocolate and a strawberry cocktail.

As we were leaving Wild Jordan, I remembered that my friend, whom I met at Goethe, told me that a hip hop/street dance performance by the Dutch group ISH was on that night at the King Hussein Cultural Center, as part of the Zakharef In Motion dance festival. Again, I ‘convinced’ my son to go there!

Poster stolen from Khobbeizeh [click to enlarge]

The event was free. The theater was FULL. We had to sit on the stairs. The show was amazing and the end there was a surprise: an ISH troupe member came onto the stage and said that they have discovered a whole breakdancing/beatboxing/rapping scene in Amman. He said that the talent they found in Amman was extremely good and that they worked with a bunch of kids for just one day to put a show together. As soon as he had he finished his intro, a group of at least twenty Jordanian kids literally exploded onto the stage with an energetic show of talent.

THAT was something!