Housing around the University of Jordan ساكن قرم الجامعة الأردنية

I have had the pleasure (or perhaps burden) of changing housing multiple times in the last six months while in Jordan.  When I first came to Jordan, I had the intentions to stay with a Jordanian family.  Within two weeks of being in Jordan I was told that it was "culturally inappropriate" for me to be with this family so I was asked to leave.  Unfortunately, it was too late for me to be able to find any roommates that were studying at the University of Jordan such as myself, so I had to wait until the end of the semester to find roommates.  This meant that I had to buy a place on my own and carry the burden of paying for it completely alone and settling with the over priced "left over" apartments that weren't already rented by the students who were already settled in the area.

I was asked to pay 200JD a month for food and utilities and to help the children learn English with my host family.

I quickly moved into a all girls hostel that was located closer to the University of Jordan.  When I moved in a was shocked.  Being an American, our standards of housing just did not quite compute the expectations that I found here.  I found myself saying, "This is good, for Jordan."  I always tried to keep in mind, this is considered a developing country and there are reasons for that.

At the hostel I paid 240JD per month for a studio.

Roughly two weeks after I moved into the hostel, I simply couldn't keep the eleven o'clock curfew (because I was new to the country and I wanted to explore and because in my room, I was completely alone) so I found another place to stay.  I called a number that led me to an apartment searching company that charged me 10JD to take me around to look at these horrible apartments until eventually I was forced to settle paying much more than I was able to pay.  If you are a foreigner looking for an apartment, I advise you to try to take a local with you.  They are much less incline to cheat you and it makes the process a lot smoother.  

The one-bedroom with kitchen/living room was 250JD per month. 

I lived in that apartment for a couple of months until they extended to increase my rent up to 300JD so I moved into an other apartment that was quite unsatisfactory but cheaper.  I told myself that it was only for a month until the end of the semester ended so I could look for something closer and better.  It turned out that the apartment that I was living in was actually originally part of the apartment next door that was cut into two separate apartments.  I had no way to cook food and the provided mini refrigerator smelt so bad I refused to use it.  Several pieces of furniture were broken in the apartment.  If I wanted hot water, I asked my neighbor to turn on the  heater for me to take a shower.

This whole in the wall bedroom was 170JD per month.

During one of the biggest snowstorms in Amman, my rent was up and I was told that I needed to leave.  The land lord said that I could stay in the apartment if I paid 100JD per week, or if I paid 25JD per day.  Thankfully, I was able to move get a taxi and moved my stuff to a friends how.  I was able to piece together a place to stay until the week I was out of an apartment.  Really, that snow storm was one of the hardest times in my life.  Perhaps later I will feel more comfortable speaking about it in detail.  Thank you everyone for being there for me!

Staying with American friends...0JD--only worlds of appreciation.

I then went house hunting again.  Really a drooling task in this part of town.   I have heard in other parts it's different, but here around the University of Jordan, they require quick decisions.  You have to decide if you want the apartment within a couple of days (and sometimes only hours) or else you will miss out on it.  You must have all the money upfront or you can't get the apartment.  You should expect to have to pay at least 50JD deposit and at least 5-25JD to the guard of the building (plus the rent and bills) up front.  As you could imagine, my housing controlled my pay checks for the past six-unstable months.  Thankfully I found 2 other wonderful roommates and an wonderful apartment near the University of Jordan that the three of us could share comfortably.  We all have our own rooms and we have internet 24/7.

Sharing an apartment with others is around 150JD each plus around 12JD for everything else.

Now I want to share some expectations that I feel one should have when they go apartment searching here.  

What to expect from furnished apartments from around this area:

• No central heater or cooling (unless you like to pay way to much money)
• No dryer
• Only semi-automatic washer machines (if you get a fully automatic one you're blessed!)
• No shower curtain
• No electric plugs in the bathroom
• Light switches will be outside of the bathroom
• There will be a dubai next to every toilet or a sprayer
• A limited monthly allowance of water
• Only gas stoves that are connected to a propane tank
• There will be a TV with over 400 channels (for free)
• The apartment will not be cleaned before you move in
• There will only be limited dishes provided
• Your apartment will come with an ashtray 
• One if not many of your rooms might be painted pink (it's so popular for some reason)
• Most likely your furniture will not match
• Most beds are twin size or they push two twin size mattresses together to get a "queen" size
• There is not fire escape plan
• There is no insolation in the walls (so super cold or super hot)