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Sounds like you had a nice relaxing day and sometimes family is best and being quiet is even nicer. Sorry about the cake! I, like Polly, feel like I have known you for years and please do keep "journaling" with me. I admire your courage and ability to adapt to life's situations.
Love, Maggie
Maggie Scarpone
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Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
A belated for the (belated) wishes. I really appreciate it, all the so very nice wishes from all of you here. Again I really appreciate it. Makes me realize (again) what a great group of people we are here all together.
"As the sense of identity shifts from the imaginary person to your real being as presence awareness, the life of suffering dissolves like mist before the rising sun"
Hi Harma, sorry I missed a couple of Birthdays recently. I have had a few issues keeping me somewhat distracted lately. Anyway a belated Happy Birthday to you and best wishes for the upcoming year. Thanks for all that you shared with your recent adventures. I can say your stories have given me some inspiration to take on some changes in my life as well.
Are you still heading to Jordan? If so I hope things settle down there.
Thank you Joe, also nice to hear my adventures inspired you to make some changes in your life. Yes I am planning to go back to Jordan, of course if things stay stable in Jordan. Plan is to leave within a month, for about six months. First trip was about really finding out how it was to be in Jordan, if I could and would like to stay there, how if was to be there. This time I want to make an effort to make it more permanent, find a way to make an earning and continue learning the language. Last six weeks I really questioned myself if this is what I want. When I listen to my head, and things that make logical senses, I want to stay here in the Netherlands. Safe country, good earning (when I have a job again), nice house, could buy myself a car again, friends here. But especially the last two weeks in the meditation, than I listen to my heart or my gut, and than the answer is very clear, I want to go back!!! While I am writing this, I read the signature under your message. That is exactly what I mean "Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens".
I don't watch tele, so don’t always have a clear view of what is going on the world. Of course I didn't miss Egypt and what is going on there. But Egypt is a totally different country than Jordan, it is much much poorer than Jordan. In Jordan, health care is accessible for (almost) everybody, almost 100% can read and write, all children go to school, and infrastructure is good. What I have seen of Jordan, how it felt, really I don't see something like in Egypt of Tunisia happening there. It's the whole atmosphere. Also there are so many projects there to do something about poverty, a lot of projects for local communities and run by local communities for the good of local communities. And okay it is not a democracy like most of us here from US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Europe are used too, but it is not that there is no freedom in Jordan. In general people don't have to be afraid of what do say in public (you never have the feeling they hold back or have to hold back), there is a certain amount of press freedom, people can start their own foundation or organization. There is freedom of religion (and every Jordanian I have met and you start a discussion about this, will really proudly tell you that there is freedom of religion). Of course it is a Muslim country, but there are churches, you don't have keep it silence if you are Christian. The Arabic school I went too is a Christian school teaching the student Arabic the spread the word of god (that's not the reason I want to learn to speak the language).
At the moment, as far as I can oversee it, the biggest problem is the cost of daily life. It really amazed me how expensive the country was, prices the same is in the Netherlands, only the average salary in the Netherlands is about 3 times higher than in Jordan. Grocery prices were at the same level as I pay in Holland. Rent was a bit cheaper, but not that much. One of the reasons, especially Amman became so expensive is, the second war in Iraq. After the war started, anyone with money left Iraq, and went to for example Jordan. There was high demand for houses, and that has driven the rental prices up. It was like, somebody from Iraq, would ask you, would you want to sell your house. Answer was no, than if they offered like two or three times the normal price...yes of course you want to sell it. It seems like the situation in Iraq is getting better, because more and more are leaving Amman at the moment going back to Iraq. And of course also in Jordan, they feel the effects of the financial crisis that started 3 years ago. But, at least how I see it, the average person in Jordan is rich comparing to an average person in Egypt. The hard, dirty work in Jordan is done by Egyptians (building/construction, agriculture) for a lousy payment (but for them still better than what they earn in Egypt). And I don't know Tunisia, but I am almost 100% sure they have much more personal freedom in Jordan than in Tunisia.
Yesterday talking on the phone to a friend and now writing this message here, made me realize how much I already know about the country, just by simple observing it.
So unless, there will be a negative travel advice for Jordan, foreigners are advised to leave the country or there is a war going on in Jordan, I plan to leave in the end of this month.
Harma
"As the sense of identity shifts from the imaginary person to your real being as presence awareness, the life of suffering dissolves like mist before the rising sun"
Harma, very very late here wishing you a happy birthday, but still wanted to do so. I enjoy your posts and the brave way you live your life. Good luck on your next adventure, JoAnn
Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. John Wayne
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for the (belated) wishes. I really appreciate it, all the so very nice wishes from all of you here. Again I really appreciate it. Makes me realize (again) what a great group of people we are here all together. 
