Elliott Blondes Abroad: The Long Trip…Welcome to Amman!

So I really hate to write anything that could discourage would-be visitors, but I must confess that the trip to Jordan is long. As much as I wanted to fly direct I have to admit I was glad to get off the plane for a bit in Vienna. However, the Vienna airport isn’t really all that exciting. The kids did a great job. They have always been good travelers. There wasn’t much sleeping going on, but I don’t blame them. It just isn’t easy.

We finally, arrived in Amman on Tuesday, July 30^th around 2 pm. It was a beautiful sunny day in Amman and the weather has been just as great ever since. I hear we won’t really see rain until possibly October. I’ll let you know.

As you may have heard, the rumors are true. Amman is warm, even hot in direct sunlight but not a scrap of humidity. Coming from Washington D.C. this is a lovely summer gift. And I have yet to see a mosquito!

We have spent our first week taking care of administrative things with the Embassy, figuring out how to drive through the winding streets of our current neighborhood (yup in temp housing again, hopefully not for long), getting a mobile internet connection and remembering how many pounds are in a kilo (2.2 pounds in 1 kilo, just in case you were wondering). We have been fairly successful with all of these things, well not the admin with the Embassy so much. It’s only been open 2 days out of the 6 we have been here.

I’m sure many of you have heard about the Embassy closures in the Middle East. It certainly isn’t the warm welcome I was hoping for but things are very calm and stable here in Amman so all is well for now.

As I mentioned we are currently in a temporary apartment. It’s a very nice place but I have to admit even though it isn’t that far from the Embassy (by car) our permanent residence will be right across the street and has much more of a neighborhood feel around it. Call me crazy, but it’s all about feel sometimes when you do this.

Currently the permanent place is fairly gutted. It is supposedly a redo of the kitchen by the landlord, but it looks like more of a disaster then that right now. Bill and the kids and I went by the place on Friday (which is their “Sunday”) so no one was working on the place. It was wide open so Bill decided to go right on in. Now what you don’t know is that around every corner in just about all the neighborhoods of West Amman there is a Jordanian security guard (a gendarmerie). The Jordanians take the security off all their citizens very seriously and especially the diplomats living in their country. Thus the reason the guards are around. Anyway…the guard was sort of walking the street so Bill took the opportunity to walk right on in to the apartment and the kids and I went quickly after. I was too worried about being caught to really look around at the place, but I think it looked nice. Who really knows. The place was a mess. Stuff everywhere! Samuel was thrilled by the whole event. When asked about Jordan it is now one of the first things he mentions – “We were almost caught by a guard!”

And so begins the journey here in Amman. We have managed to check out three grocery stores. I know what you are all thinking – “Jessica and her grocery stores!” But food is important! Anyway there are no Wegmans here in Amman but I think I have found on that I like…Cozmo. Unfortunately it seems to be the slightly more expensive grocery store (shocker) but when you find British pork sausages in a country that doesn’t eat pork – you pick that store!

Speaking of food…we have gotten to try some fantastic Yemeni honey. I know, I know…how can Yemen have anything good to speak of, but having been there for a year, it was the only good thing Bill could say about the place – “the honey is amazing, ” And I have to admit we bought the cheap stuff (trust me it’s still pricey) and it is really really good. Especially good when paired with some traditional Labneh yogurt and raisins.

Amazing how in 6 days we have so much to tell you, but I digress and really most of you just want me to get to the pictures. So here are some for you.