I went for a 40min run through Amman. It's much like any other large Arab city (warm even at night, signs look like they're written in chicken scratch, people are polite and the streets are safer than most US cities).
Side note: it's funny that us westerners ended up with the Roman alphabet and Arabic numerals but, because of the way they write the numbers here (it's kind of a cursive script) us westerners can't read them -- so they print them twice. One in a sans-serif type of font and once in the local cursive. Funny that even for the same number system we do things so differently that it requires repetition on all the signs.
Anyway, I ran down the main drag. It lacks the attraction of the walk along the Nile in Cairo, but is familiar otherwise, and the auto pollution was palpable (CA really does lead the world in emissions controls). I saw a bunch of embassies, business class hotels, and Hummers with 30 and 50 cals on the roof. Many of the hotel guards here carry this really cool machine pistol that fits in a hip holster; it wasn't an MP5, the stock rotates 180 degrees instead of collapses straight in. I think that, given the language barrier, I don't have much of a chance of finding out what it is by asking (I'll try to discreetly take a picture and figure it out from there).
BTW: I have cell phone coverage here, and I probably will in Iraq too. BUT don't call me as it's $2-3/minute. http://www.t-mobile.com/international/coverage.asp
If you feel the overwhelming need to call me on my cell you better paypal me when the call is over (or be telling me that I won the lottery), don't leave me a voice message on my cell as I for sure won't be checking those. e-mail is the best way to reach me. if you can't e-mail me but still want to leave a message leave it at 415-358-5883 -- this will turn your v-mail into an e-mail and I'll get it that way. You can send faxes to that # too ... if, uh, you don't have a scanner (or can come up with some other good reason to use a fax).
Gotta get up in less than 4 hours (again), goodnight.