When we arrived in Ramallah, I registered our travel itinerary online at the U.S. Department of State website. This morning, I received the following notification email from the American embassy here in Amman:
The escalation of hostilities along the Israeli and Lebanese border has prompted demonstrations in Jordan. While these have been peaceful, we nonetheless urge all Americans in Jordan to be aware of the potential for violent demonstrations. American citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations.
We haven't witnessed any demonstrations here in Amman. People are definitely tuned into the news. Most every cab we've been in has the radio news on and every restaurant TV is on a news channel.
Yesterday afternoon, after having gone to the Syrian Embassy, we had lunch at Lubnani Snack (Lebanese Snack). The food was great but the atmosphere not so great. Just outside the restaurant, workers were busy constructing a massive suspension bridge.
In order to make room for the bridge, the square footage of the street-facing restaurant had to be reduced. Workers had begun this process and the front of the restaurant looked as though it had been hit by a missile. Metal and wires hung down from the ceiling. Floor tiles were broken and the front entry pillars scarred and crumbling.
One of the workers was perched precariously on lopsided scaffolding. He had a big hammer and a powersaw with a metal-cutting blade on it. He was trying to remove the metal frame that had held the awning over the front entry way. He would saw on the metal, which made a high-pitched grinding sound that cut right through your eardrums. Then he would bang away on the metal frame with a hammer. He made a lot of noise, but little progress.
Meanwhile, a large flat panel TV mounted on the wall blared out the news of continued Israeli bombing of Lebanon where more civilians had been killed. Amidst the noise and chaos of the Lebanese restaurant, we ate and watched the news of noise and chaos in Lebanon. Buildings were destroyed. People were killed. And somehow, amidst the chaos and destruction, life just continued on in Lebanon just as it did in this Lebanese restaurant.
