August/Ramadan

Its a slow,laid back month so far no one is excited to go anywhere or do much. I have lists of things to do and checked them more than twice. Rayan will have to go get his passport and I am sure that will take some time. Also, I need to get some office/bedroom furniture with a decent proper bed this lumpy, bumpy one has got to go. We are also working on content for the website, travel log and getting all our quick books set up for tracking receipts.

8-6-11 Caution don't do this...

Seems like every country has things that are misunderstood gestures, what is acceptable in the US might not be acceptable here.
Examples of things that you shouldn't do here are:
1) The O.K. sign, there is an ok sign and a slightly different one that is threatening- like you are going to beat some ass so don't make the ok sign they both look the same to me.
2) Eye contact- when you make eye contact quickly look away otherwise it is considered hostile threatening.
3) Clothing- avoid shirts that are low cut or show your stomach, or sleeveless-shorts should be avoided and knees should be covered, capris are ok- I do not agree with this but after experiencing the discomforting stares of people as I wore a shoulder baring shirt its better to conform than to feel uneasy and possibly unsafe or threatened, who wants to stick out like a sore thumb anyway and even if you dress conservative you can still be spotted a mile away.
more to come as I discover them...

8-1-11 Ramadan

 I won't bore you with the details of the history of Ramadan. I will however share a few details of my experience with it. My ex husband observed Ramadan for the past 5 yrs I was with him and I already knew a few of the basics and I knew I didn't enjoy it much at all. I also didn't want to cook and eat in front of everyone and thought I would try to do it. When you are very young they start you out with a few hours of fasting and go from there. It took me about 3 days of partial fasting and adjusting my sleeping schedule before I could go a whole day. Nothing to eat or drink after sunrise until sunset, affectionately called the ramadan diet by me. I managed to do it for 1 day and in my eyes completed my task of trying it and went back to a semi normal eating pattern. I however did try to stay up later and sleep later, this seemed to help alot but if you work then it would be a terrible thing to have to endure. Interestingly enough my Muslim friends didn't view it as an awful thing to do and they didn't mind if I made a sandwich and ate in my room. I also ate the evening meal at sunset and occasionally at 3am as well so it wasn't much of a diet for me, but everyone else seemed to loose a few pounds, maybe next yr I will try for a few more days. It does seem to give you more will power, but I need more will power to even do it in the first place.

Getting my visa extended 7/16/11

I have been here almost 1 month and I need to get my visa extended. If you recall me mentioning I didn't have to pay the 20 JD when I got here because I said I was going to Aqaba within 48 hours, mentioning this because it caused some problems when I was trying to renew my visa. At the airport you can get a single entry visa for 20JD and it is good for 1 month. You then must renew it at the police station and they will give you 3 more months. This process actually took several days and then there are the days they are closed so it actually took about a week. Took a taxi to the gate where you have to state your business get your purse searched (they hold your phone, no cameras allowed), then walk uphill in the hot sun about 2 blocks to the main building. Then walk up stairs 2-3 flights and try to figure out where to go. Oh, the building has no a/c just open windows and a few fans. By the time I reached the top of the stairs I was panting heavily and covered in shiny perspiration, heck by the time I reached the top of the hill before I got into the building I had to stop and catch my breath and fan myself. Rayan and I asked directions to the proper office where the officer asked me if I had gotten my fingerprints and 2 passport photos for the paperwork, while he eyed my visa stamp in my passport. No, I don't have those yet I replied, thanked him and said I would return when I had those. Walk all the way back down to where we started and hail a taxi to go home. I need a cold diet pepsi and a nap and maybe 2 excederin, as this is not only a royal PIA but giving me a headache to boot.

Next day, got about 8 passport photos and a nice 3 x 5 for just 2 JD. On to be finger printed at the local police station. Yep you guessed it up a hill up alot of steps wait, wait and wait for someone. Apparently I need a woman to fingerprint me, god forbid a man touch my hand or make eye contact. Now I have never been finger printed at a police station and it took them a few tries to get my prints readable, they didn't offer me even a kleenex to wipe the black oily ink off my hands. When I asked to use the bathroom to try to wash them there wasn't any soap or any paper towels, really? I left as quickly as possible but I made sure I touched anything I could on my way out, leaving behind small black smudges everywhere. Rayan found some perfume spray which contains alcohol and I was able to get some of the goo off my hands finally and we made our way to the other station to get the extension. It was to late and they had gone for the day so...to be continued.

Ok today is the day, you know the drill, up the hill, up the stairs (my fav) to the man behind the desk. I proudly and confidently handed him my fingerprints and pictures along with my passport. This time he looked at my previous visa stamp more closely and said that we would have to go to Amman to extend it, why? Because I had to pay the 20 JD that I didn't pay when I originally entered Jordan. Why didn't he notice this before and tell me then. Sad and dejected I left vowing never to return. Contemplating my next step and fearing they would deport me I got all worked up and then decided that it would be easier to over stay my visa and then simply go to Egypt and get another 1 month visa on the way back in. It took me a few more days to come to this brilliant conclusion though.

Planning for Egypt and Ramadan

The trip for Egypt is fast approaching and well I do like to plan everything out and then change it all. Nothing ever seems to go as planned though but it is hard for me to let go of the control I fool myself into thinking I have over things, so plan I must at least for now. I remember wanting to go to Alaska forever and planning it all out in my head down to the tiniest details and sadly being let down when the trip I went on did not live up to the image of it I had in my head. I am working on this to change and not be such a control freak but it won't be easy and won't be over night.I spend my days googling places to go , things to see and do and making lists, rearranging the lists and well you get the idea.

Ramadan- I am going to try to do it like a local and fast during the day, will see how it goes and I will keep you posted. I told everyone if they find me passed out just shove a snickers in my mouth and I should be good to go in no time, haha.

Shopping in Jordan 7-12-11

http://www.jordanjubilee.com/genjord/shopping.htm

There is a great link telling you a lot about shopping in Jordan. Personally I have not yet been to the artisan shops just the local markets. Since we are in Asia it is natural to expect everything to be made in China and while very affordable is of poor construction and low quality. Reminds me of shopping at the dollar store in america. There are some interesting and fragrant spice stalls as well as fresh produce and lovely dried fruit stands as well as roasted nuts. Among these stands are also fruit smoothie vendors that make a great fresh mango smoothie. One of my favorites has been lemon, mint and sugar cane blended with ice-very refreshing during the hot day. Also available all the normal fast food restaurants are in abundance here: Mc Donalds, burger king, hardees, KFC, popeyes, pizza hut and lil ceasars.

Wadi Rum 7-10-11

There is only one word to describe Wadi Rum desert and that is spectacular. Being from Florida I have never been to the desert, so I was doubly excited to go. The air is so dry that it feels like it reaches in and sucks out any moisture you might have in your body. If you even think about sweating it evaporates instantly, so drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated is a must They say there is hyenas in the desert but thankfully we did not see any.
The camps are run by bedouins/traditional people of the desert that used to herd sheep and goats but now are tourist guides. The women stay in the village and prepare the food and the men serve as tour guides and drive around in toyota trucks with bench seats in the back for the tourist.The bedouin camp was simple, rustic but complete with a lighted walkway to the bathroom and they had hot showers too. Dinner was simple but delicious grilled chicken, veggies and rice with soft drinks and tea/coffee. Then there is music and more tea by the fire until everyone is ready to go to sleep. The bedouin hospitality was great, they even rescued us from being stuck in the sand on 3 different occasions. We opted to sleep outside the tent, by the fire and under the stars, I feel asleep trying to count them all. The view of the stars at night was simply amazing. There were so many shooting stars throughout the evening I lost count. We then awoke at 5:30am for a short hike to watch the sunrise. If you go there in person you can haggle about the price, if you book it online the price is fixed. We got a much better rate in person and the camp only had 3 other tourists in it, which made it 7 tourist and 4 bedouins-they stayed on the perimeter of the camp to watch for hyenas etc. After our hike to watch the sunrise there was a simple but filing breakfast of tea/coffee, bread (pita like) called hobis, cheese (like laughing cow), hard boiled eggs, jams or honey and olive oil and zatar ( herbs mixed with sesame seeds). My Arabic friends were laughing at me because I mixed the zatar with my cheese and smeared it on my bread, it was good none the less, they used olive oil instead. After breakfast they took us on a 2 hour ride into the desert where we saw may huge, ancient rock formations. We even saw a few camels grazing there, they came right up to the truck, very neat.
This is a huge park and 1 day here is not nearly enough to scratch the surface. If you rent a car to drive here just make sure its a light one as our GMC envoy was to heavy and got stuck in the sand multiple times. Your cell phone wont work here no signal so it will be hard to call for roadside assistance. If you are near a camp even if you are not part of the group they will come and help you and they didn't charge us anything either. I will be back when the weather is cooler to try this adventure again. Oh hey you can even bring your snowboard and ski down a sand dune. Only problem is you have to get up to the top first and I was happy to just watch for now anyway.