1st IWAA meeting

The first International Women's Association Amman meeting took place last thursday and was clearly a success.

Over 100 hundred ladies turned up, many nationalities, including British, American, but also Indian and Norwegian, Tanzanian or Jordanian. After a cup of coffee or 2 and some pastries, we had a welcome speech by the founder.

Then Jane Taylor, the famous writer and photographer, made a presentation about her work here in Jordan. It was very interesting as she has pictures from the mid-80s and she was showing how archaeological sites, as Petra or Jerash, have evolved and changed over the past 25 years. She has published 5 books about Jordan - they are incredible material, they give another dimension and help to understand Jordan. I bought one of her books on Petra - it's a fab read and her photographies are really beautiful.

The next meeting will be held on 1st of March at the Sheraton - 10 am. The membership fees are still to be discussed so I will let you know when I know about it. There will also be a certain number of activities to which members will be able to sign up, for a fee as well.

The website is not yet up and running, but here are the contact details for the association:
email: Iwaamman@yahoo.com
Facebook page: IWAAmman
twitter: #IWAAmman

IWAA - International Women's Association Amman

The IWAA, The International Women's Association Amman will hold its first meeting at the Sheraton Hotel (5th Circle) on thursday 2nd February at 10am and after that on every first thursday of the month.

"The aim of the IWAA is to provide a connection point for new comers to the city with emphasis on those ladies that may only be here for a short time, to enable them to integrate into their new lives as quickly as possible, through meeting people, being able to access information and join established groups and activities.  IWAA meetings will be on every first Thursday of the month, and will provide a venue for women to meet and network, connecting with friends new and old, and join activities and events that they find interesting" says Sue, the founder of IWAA. The Facebook page is up an running already, IWAA Facebook.

The first guest speaker is Jane Taylor, famous photographer and writer. Jane has lived in Jordan since 1989 and has recently published her 5th book on Jordan: "Beyond the Jordan".

I am really excited about this association. I found it a bit difficult to find my way around town when I first arrived in Amman and if it hadn't been for the Danish Embassy and one of its staff I wouldn't have settled in so fast or so well: that's why I created this blog to start with - after that I discovered that I actually liked blogging, but that's something else... So yes very excited indeed, because I feel there is a real need for this association. 

IWAA   International Women’s Association Amman

The International Women’s Association Amman cordially invites you to the first monthly meeting on

Thursday 2nd February 2012 The Sheraton Hotel from 10am

 Guest Speaker:  Jane Taylor 

 "Flying on the wings of the wind... dancing on the earth". 

Amazing Petra - A visit to Little Petra

Located out of town, away from the main site of Petra, is Little Petra, also known as Al-Beidha - a much smaller version of the famous Nabateaen city. There is no entrance fee, which is nice compared to the 50JD asked, but you can't really compared the sites either. However for those who cannot afford the above price it is a nice little compromise to get the feel of Petra.

Entrance to Little Petra

Basically the site is a small siq (natural cleft in the rock) - with a complex of cisterns, dams and dining halls located in 3 small natural courtyards. The interesting thing is that there are barely any tourists and it is possible to walk in and out of the halls as you wish.

The site was a halting station and also one of the main commercial areas of Petra, passage point for the caravans on the trade route to the north and north-west. The traders would stop here and settle so they could engage in trade.

Here are a couple of  links to web-sites:
http://nabataea.net/beidha.html
http://www.grandview.com.jo/little_petra.html - I like this one a lot - it is extracts from a book, called "Petra Book", by Jane Taylor.