I wanted to start off this post with a little comment about the weather here in Amman vs. the weather back in Oxford, Ohio. Back when we lived in Tucson, people used to ask why we'd spend our summers in the Middle East and we could point out that it was usually 10 degrees cooler where we were going. There's been such a nice breeze since we got to Amman I thought I'd check and see how Oxford compares. Looking at the 10 day forecast, the temperatures are pretty similar: highs around 86, lows in the upper 60s. The huge difference is in precipitation. Here there's a 0% chance. In Oxford it ranges from 10-60% with a flash flood watch in effect. So it's looking like Amman wins out over Oxford too, though they both beat summers in Tucson!
This morning I did some work in the library while Jason and Eli went to the Children's Museum. In addition to becoming members, they also signed Eva up for Circus Camp. It's being put on by an American group, who you can read more about here: http://www.zanyumbrellacircus.com/. We're looking forward to her getting to spend time around kids her age and the circus folk look like a fun bunch. And by fun I mean hippie, Burning Man (http://www.burningman.com/) types. The camp is 3 weeks long and we're hoping to get Eli into a daycare nearby. That'll free up a lot of time for us to work, even though both would only be from 8-2.
Once they returned, Eli decided to watch some Dora the Explorer. Thank goodness we downloaded some shows before we left. The only problem right now is that they're all on my computer. We're working out how to get some on Jason's computer too! Eli spends most of his day exploring with us or playing with toys, but with Jennie and Menachem leaving tomorrow he's going to be missing friends his age.
We're still adjusting to the time change, which sometimes means mid-afternoon coffee. Here you can see Jason in our kitchen getting ready to make some. We're trying to wean ourselves off of the afternoon coffee, though, because then we end up staying up too late! You can see here how lovely our kitchen is, and Jason's old field water cooler is behind him on the counter. It's been working very nicely for us.
One of the perks of having a car is that we can go shopping. The grocery store up the hill is convenient, but limited. We went in search of a Safeway Jason remembered from 2005, but it wasn't there anymore. We found another grocery store that was bigger than the one up the hill but still 'small' by Western standards. What made me super-happy is that they had these cookies. When I was backpacking in Turkey in 1996, these were one of my favorite treats. I've looked for them all over the place in the U.S., even at our much-loved Jungle Jims (http://www.junglejims.com/), to no avail. I will admit that Jason was unimpressed with them and isn't sure what the big deal is, but that just means more for me!
Tonight was our last night with Jennie, Menachem, Lilah and Aviva. We had 2 things to celebrate and so went out for a festive dinner. I got confirmation of my work contract for next year and Jennie got her first review (glowing!) of her book on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Lives-Biblical-Jennie-Ebeling/dp/0567196445/ref=tmm_pap_title_0). Because we'd already had some mis-adventures trying to take 2 cars places (it's tough to follow on Amman streets, and easy to make a wrong turn/get lost), we opted for everyone in one car. Yes, this would be blasphemy in the U.S., and that's not how the seatbelts ended up, but this is how we squeezed into one car. Eli was pretty happy about his spot!
We went to a kind of touristy place (i.e., a tour bus pulled up as we were leaving) that was perfect for the kids. They sat us right by a fountain, so the sounds of the kids were drowned out. Eli and Lilah got all sorts of attention. We're pretty sure everyone there played with their hair at some point. In these situations Eli can sometimes get shy, but one guy in particular really knew how to get the kids to laugh and so he was having a good time. They also brought us complimentary salad at the beginning and watermelon at the end. You can see the salad here, which made Menachem very happy. I think he'd have been happy just eating that! A fun evening was had by all and we will be sad to see them go!
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