Behind the Mall
Saturday, September 16, 2006
This Thursday, half the population of mo5ayyamat 3amman was in Sport City to checkout Al-Mokhtar Mall opening festival at 6:00 PM. The big mall, which has been in construction ever since dinosaurs walked the earth, was announced open for visitors.
It was a cool scene at the front doors, an enormous number of cars were trying to squeeze everywhere along the main street, and even a bigger number were flooding into the back streets of the mall to find a place to park. Fireworks covered the sky while herds of sheep and families were approaching on foot to the main entrance.
Of course I wasn’t there at the front door, or else I wouldn’t be alive to blog about the event. My cousins and I were busy having a big problem at the back street of the mall!
The mall lies in front of our main “headquarters”, or better say, our headquarters now lie behind the mall. “Our”, this time, refers to me and my cousins. We all grew up together in this area before everyone of us moved away. The sport city district, and specifically that street right behind the mall, became central meeting grounds for me and my cousins. We usually group there before deciding where else to go. It has always been such a lovely, calm, and soothing area where we could escape the lights and enjoy a good time (no pun intended) with a number of friends and relatives.
The construction of the mall wasn’t of so much annoyance to anyone of us as we were no more residents of the area. We enjoyed watching the progress of building and made many jokes about the mall. We never actually thought they’re going to finish any soon and we weren’t much interested in the effects of the mall on the area.
Last week, my cousin told me they’re opening the mall this Thursday which made me a bit uncomfortable. I was planning to go somewhere in the Sport City that day and spend some time later in our “headquarters” because it’s been a while I didn’t pay the guys there a visit. I guessed the sport city circle and all nearby streets will be jammed and it won’t be a good idea to be there when it happens, but I had to go.
On Thursday, I went an hour before the opening festival, finished my business and came back to our headquarters right when the festival started. The number of cars parking in the back streets of the mall was shocking! Cars were everywhere and more people were coming. Some people parked their cars in the garages of buildings in the area, which are our friends’ and neighbors’ houses!
Of course my cousins and I weren’t so happy about the situation. One of my cousins (codename: M7ammad el 7ara7sheh) spent the time staring at those who were parking their cars in front of others' houses. I, in turn, blocked the street several times by parking my car (bil 3ard) preventing any more cars from passing! Unfortunately, our efforts went in vein as people eventually kept flooding and we were unable to do anything about it!
After some thinking we decided that the best thing to do at that moment was to leave, or more precisely escape the area. We fled away with our cars and left the residents of the area to mourn the peaceful times, which now became history!
I would have loved to share with you a picture of the scene, but that would pose a threat to the secrecy of the location of our headquarters, as well as to the identities of our uncovered personnel in the area.
It was a bit surprising how such an event as the opening of a small mall in Amman had “that much” of people’s attention. It was also weird how people were so ignorant and unaware of the discomfort they’re causing to residents of the area, especially when they crowded such a calm and small area with their cars!
Ya3ni howweh awwal mall bil 3alam? Ma kollo 7abbet mall wage3! Our studies team in the area predicted that the mall will stand for 2~3 weeks at maximum before it collapses down to the ground, just like all other buildings which are higher than two stories in Amman. Actually, the mall already started to fall apart during the first day as one of the fireworks caused a complete electricity shutdown for about a minute :D
It was a cool scene at the front doors, an enormous number of cars were trying to squeeze everywhere along the main street, and even a bigger number were flooding into the back streets of the mall to find a place to park. Fireworks covered the sky while herds of sheep and families were approaching on foot to the main entrance.
Of course I wasn’t there at the front door, or else I wouldn’t be alive to blog about the event. My cousins and I were busy having a big problem at the back street of the mall!
The mall lies in front of our main “headquarters”, or better say, our headquarters now lie behind the mall. “Our”, this time, refers to me and my cousins. We all grew up together in this area before everyone of us moved away. The sport city district, and specifically that street right behind the mall, became central meeting grounds for me and my cousins. We usually group there before deciding where else to go. It has always been such a lovely, calm, and soothing area where we could escape the lights and enjoy a good time (no pun intended) with a number of friends and relatives.
The construction of the mall wasn’t of so much annoyance to anyone of us as we were no more residents of the area. We enjoyed watching the progress of building and made many jokes about the mall. We never actually thought they’re going to finish any soon and we weren’t much interested in the effects of the mall on the area.
Last week, my cousin told me they’re opening the mall this Thursday which made me a bit uncomfortable. I was planning to go somewhere in the Sport City that day and spend some time later in our “headquarters” because it’s been a while I didn’t pay the guys there a visit. I guessed the sport city circle and all nearby streets will be jammed and it won’t be a good idea to be there when it happens, but I had to go.
On Thursday, I went an hour before the opening festival, finished my business and came back to our headquarters right when the festival started. The number of cars parking in the back streets of the mall was shocking! Cars were everywhere and more people were coming. Some people parked their cars in the garages of buildings in the area, which are our friends’ and neighbors’ houses!
Of course my cousins and I weren’t so happy about the situation. One of my cousins (codename: M7ammad el 7ara7sheh) spent the time staring at those who were parking their cars in front of others' houses. I, in turn, blocked the street several times by parking my car (bil 3ard) preventing any more cars from passing! Unfortunately, our efforts went in vein as people eventually kept flooding and we were unable to do anything about it!
After some thinking we decided that the best thing to do at that moment was to leave, or more precisely escape the area. We fled away with our cars and left the residents of the area to mourn the peaceful times, which now became history!
I would have loved to share with you a picture of the scene, but that would pose a threat to the secrecy of the location of our headquarters, as well as to the identities of our uncovered personnel in the area.
It was a bit surprising how such an event as the opening of a small mall in Amman had “that much” of people’s attention. It was also weird how people were so ignorant and unaware of the discomfort they’re causing to residents of the area, especially when they crowded such a calm and small area with their cars!
Ya3ni howweh awwal mall bil 3alam? Ma kollo 7abbet mall wage3! Our studies team in the area predicted that the mall will stand for 2~3 weeks at maximum before it collapses down to the ground, just like all other buildings which are higher than two stories in Amman. Actually, the mall already started to fall apart during the first day as one of the fireworks caused a complete electricity shutdown for about a minute :D
8 Response(s) to "Behind the Mall"
Lubna said:
awal mara basma3 3an had il mall:S I never saw it too!
anyhow... i still don't get it, people already know what shops are going to be opened there, i.e. the usual shops.... why do they even bother going to the openings....
i'm getting sick of the extreme traffic jam everywhere around, we don't need extra.
John Doe said:
Wow u do live in ur own little world don't u?? Headquarters, secret identities....
naturalblu said:
homeh haik fe nas bas yeshoofo eshe jdeed fata7 sho ma kan betjama3o 3endo 7ata law ma7al coffee wela aya eshe!! fa 3ade :D
Ghaith said:
Lubna
Good for you, it's not worth even knowing about :D
I second your opinions regarding the common shops and the traffic. Ya3ni 5alas ... GREFNA, bekaffi malls o 7ake fade. Building a mall like this in a residential area is not an act of a civilized community. Am wondering what the owners were thinking.
John Doe
Look who's talking about living in someone's own little world ;)
naturalblu
Yalla basee6a, ne7na sama7nahom el marra hay, bas el marra el jay 3'er bil C4 wil rashashat 3ala rooshom.
Zain said:
Hi Gaith
This time I've a different opinion than yours.We are living in such community,I didn't find all what you said strange except for parking their cars in front of others' houses,for sure that's really a bad behavior! But why don't you think about it in another way,this opening is like a free party for those people which they can attend and make their children happy and amused while they have no other choice,not all the people can take their children to swimming pools or playing areas..Got it ;)
Ghaith said:
lol, Good argument Zain :)
Bsara7a I don’t recall how it felt like to go to such events when I was a kid. There weren’t many malls around (if any) that time. But anyway, if children enjoy such activities, then yeah … it’s a free opportunity for parents to spare themselves a trip to the playgrounds ;)
Roba said:
Ta7sheesh. I still haven't visited, and honestly, judging by the scary disco ball decorations they have outside, I doubt I will!
Ghaith said:
lol, my cousin keeps making fun of the of the disco balls everytime we pass there :D
Bas jad I wouldn't recommend giving the thing a visit. Ana da5alt o 5aff 3agle men ashkal el ma7allat wil nas, ya3ni law el mall bil bag3a ma be6la3 hek :S
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