Our New Home

We arrived in Amman with all 9 of our bags! 12 hours is mighty long to be on a plane with screaming kids! This is the first time I've seen anyone allowed to pace the aisles during take-off roll. I don't think the flight attendants cared if the 'fasten seat belts' sign was on. We hadn't even taken off and we were desperate for peace and quiet.

First impressions? It's like going to the paint store for white paint. Who knew white came in so many shades? My biggest pea said it best when she announced, "We live between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea in the middle of the White Sea." 

After collecting bags, we were taken to our flat. I regret not asking for a garden level. My balcony is tiny, and its the only place we have to be outside in privacy. I kinda pictured being up higher with a view of something. Right now, we're only high enough to be very envious of the building next door with its perfect patch of green lawn. (Next to no one has a lawn.) The flat below has a driveway and room enough for their dog. Sigh. Live and learn, right? The flat is nice enough, but only a few of the rooms have air conditioning, so we will only be able to use half our house until the weather really turns.

Speaking of weather... it's exactly as advertised. Hot during the day but absolutely lovely at night. In fact, my biggest pea has already learned she needs to bring a sweater along in the evening. Whoda thunk that of August in the Middle East?

And since the weather is lovely in the evening, the park across the street fills with kids until late at night. I'm talking midnight. We seem to have adjusted our clocks to the ebb and flow of Amman and are up til late hours and sleep in as long as we can. But with school around the corner, the peas will need to go to bed much earlier. For now, I just find it shocking to see toddlers walking home at midnight.

At the end of our street, behind the park, there is an empty lot where we've seen sheep and goat grazing. And, about every day a donkey or a horse-drawn cart comes by. Contrast this with the fact that we are within walking distance of a Starbucks.

"Contrasts" is the best way I can think of to describe this place so far. Starbucks by the grazing sheep. Cool nights with hot days. A women fully veiled at the park - swinging. So far, it is all just fascinating.