A journal entry to share....

I am now living with my Jordanian family. They're pretty great. We already partied and started getting fat. FYI- that picture of me i posted last time was me pointing to my hotel bed. home sweet home NOT. i'm SO glad to be out of a hotel now. Last night i got a minute to write in my journal. here is what i wrote:
Things I've noted here in Amman, Jordan.
1. The hotel cockroach (veteran with soapscum on his back and only 1 antennae)is bigger than those of the Cairo hotel. And he sneaks up on you in the shower.

2. The cats fighting in the street here outside my window don't seem to do the 20 minute warcry prelude like they did in Saudi. they just hop to it and boy do they scream.

3. stupid text messages between friends and love interests are popular here, just like some i recieved in mexico from a certain self-proclaimed ladies man who wrote things that made me want to puke.

4. College-age and older single adults here live in a world similar to my middle school world. Chatting with online friends (that they MET online)every day, talking on the phone with friends just for fun, hanging out at the most posh parts of town to be cool and see people, wearing fashionable clothes, and giggling + getting excited over pictures taken of you over and over again are just SOME examples. It must be that social boundary between girls and guys that keeps them this way... and possibly the slow arrival of technology.

5. prayer call actually woke me up last night... or i suppose it was actually early morning. anyway, i've never been woken up by prayer call before. it was actually a neat experience to lay in bed and listen to it blasting through the streets through my open window. we're apparenly very close to the mosque.

6. the weather is still pretty nice. it still hasn't gotten as hot as Egypt was when we visited there.

7. Indonesian maids are as common here as they are in saudi as far as i can etll. in neither place are they respected or treated equally (except in our church). Filipina sisters (not filipino)could be seen here in the same way. most of them were nurses in our aramco compounds in saudi though. could that be called a step up?

8. no bathrooms have fans or any sign of ventilation around here. trust me, i scan ceilings and such in pretty much every bathroom i enter. no noise control is a bad side effect of no fan. fahimtee? (ya get me?)

9. we have the same sliding window cover on the window here that i had in my spain apartment. you know, the whole metal slats thing, like out of "i am legend", or something like you'd see on a bomb shelter...window?

10. also, like in spain, the tiny clothes washer has managed to destroy some of my clothes already. after the first wash ever. my blue capris bought from target specifically for this summer hadn't been washed until now, and they wont be worn for anything but exercise now, and they wont be coming home with me. i'm fearful for my other clothes as well. even my new shirt from egypt that recieves oogles of complements now looks like worn out pajamas after one wash. i guess this is a lesson i gotta learn over and over again.

11. nutella is everywhere. i can't escape its creamy goodness. it is of the gods and apparently people of all continents are deemed worthy of its goodness. even more so here.

12. no running outside for exercise just like anywhere else i've been outside of the US (ok almost everywhere). This one bites. no real sidewalks either. if there IS one it doesn't last long.

13. street lines (white, yellow, solid, dotted) are ignored completely. this is the same in egypt. was it the same in saudi? i would NEVER drive in egypt OR jordan.

Ok, well thats all from my journal. there is much more to say, as always, but i'm short on time, as always. giong to class soon.

love you all. thanks to those who write me and send me notes or posts on this blog. it always makes my day! love, nic