an update from jordan

[harma]

Hello, an update from Jordan, I am in my third week now and things are still going okay, again with ups and downs. I have moved to my new place last Wednesday, it is a very nice place (big for one person, I have two full bathrooms + a toilet, quite standard here, to have at least two bathrooms), nice neighbourhood, but (there is the but) noisy upstairs neighbours. Floors are tiled here, it you are lucky with carpets but almost never wall to wall carpets, so every chair somebody upstairs moves, any door they close or drop on the floor, you hear it very well downstairs. First two nights I couldn’t sleep, first of the noise and once after 12, when it was quiet, of the stress. It kept me busy for two – three days; finally I went upstairs and see if I could talk to them. I explained to them in a very polite and careful way what the problem was. They were very sorry about it, invited me in, got tea, juice, had a nice talk with the oldest daughter as a translator. I know now it is a very nice modest family, not noisy or something. But they live upstairs with 6 and 6 make more noise than 1 and they have a maid that lives with them (quite common here when you have little money to have an in-living maid) who cleans the whole house every day, moving every chair, table, bed etc. Luckily I managed to sleep okay the last two nights and get used to the noise. And also thanks god I only rented it for one month. So I will survive, but another thing I have to keep in mind in looking for a new place.
I am going to an Arabic course, starting next week, to mornings a week for a reasonable price. I had been looking on the internet, but only very expensive intensive courses. I have the idea that there are two markets here for a lot of things, things especially offered to foreigners coming straight from abroad, so very expensive and just the local things you only will find by knowing other people here. At least that gives me something to do and the chance to meet new people. I discovered that living here is more what I want than being a travelling tourist. Of course I will do some travelling here, but not as my daily activity.
I already have met some people here, I went to a “foreigners in Amman” gathering organized by one of those social groups on the internet. Really greasy to go there, two weeks before I was still home in Groningen and two weeks later I am there in a hotel bar in Amman, 5 minutes’ walk from where I am living now. So it was real close to my temporary home. I met a Dutch guy, already living in the Middle East for 22 years. He had offered his help in any way I need it, introducing to new people so I can make new friends, work opportunities. Of course he doesn’t have a job for me (but never say never, you never know here) but more like what did I do back in Holland, how could it be useful here, where could I do it and who do I need to talk to. And of course how do I get in touch with these people. That’s all I need, from there I can manage it myself. After talking to him I am quite positive of my job opportunities here. It seems like that all my working experience can be useful, like project management, advisory work, process management. Also my English is good (at least good enough for here) and thanks to my last job I have experience in dealing with different nationalities. My book is also still on the menu, but if I want to stay longer here, I will need a job.
Also very amazing I met a woman here (on the same gathering) from the US with…CC. it seems like special things only happen to me here. We were talking about I don’t know what, and she told me she had colitis, I asked what kind? Collagenous… silence…really… no joking me too!!! We didn’t get tothe level of sharing our experiences (music was too loud) but we have agreed to go for a tea or coffee this week. I will tell her than about the potty people (so maybe another Jordan flag on the message board). Yes the mission work is also done here!!!

Tomorrow I will join a walking group, a group that goes for a walk in Amman; I have no idea what to expect but any occasion to meet new people I embrace.
Also something really nasty happened to me, last Friday, the “Sunday” here. Streets are quiet than and I was going out for a walk in the neighbourhood, not far from where I live, I was harassed by 15-16 years old teenager on roller skates. First asking me the time in Arabic (understood it from the signing) than starting to touch me and shouting kiss me kiss me. Of course at that moment nobody was there to help me (and second boy was watching in the back ground). Of course I said things like go away and don’t touch me, but it didn’t help. First I wanted just to walk on, but I turned around and (almost) run back home. Thanks god he didn’t follow me. Once home I was already in tears, and from there I had my first real emotional break down here, I cried as I haven’t done in years. I was desperate and called everybody I know here. Finally the women where I rent the place from came over, after a talk with her I calmed down. I stayed 24 hours in and now I am okay again and know that something like this can happen anywhere, but I am still a bit cautious on the street. In general people are friendly here and treat women here with a certain respect. Of course in my white clothes, blond here, wondering around where I am and where to go, people notice me. Sometimes they say something, yell at me (like hello where your from etc.) to make contact. But that is easy, just ignoring it and they will leave you alone. Also very important never make eye contact. Dealing with that is fine no problem. But what happened is something totally different. I know now the alarm number of the police and next time I will shout and scream as if my live depend on it. But hopefully there won’t be another time.
My mc is behaving very well here. I tried to quit the medication but that was still too soon. I am now experimenting with one every other day or a daily very low dose. The last one seems to work the best. Still on my boring diet of fruit, veggies, rice, meat and fish. Meat and fish is at the moment limited to chicken (I found beef, but I don’t trust the labels, you never know if something is added) and canned sardines. Since my arrival here I lost weight, I think one or two kilos, I am using a lot of olive oil and add sugar to me tea to make sure I don’t lose more weight. Also I am going to try to introduce other fruit and vegetables to my diet.
In general I am still very happy with my decision to come here, I feel more alive in the last two weeks as I have been in the last year. Life is happening again, life is moving again.
Okay next time I am will post more pictures and will tell more about Jordan.

[Jan]

Harma,

What a wonderful look at life in Jordan. Thank you for sharing.

I'm glad you now know that harassing kids can be in every country. I'm glad you have found a group to walk with. That will help you make more friends and be safe.

Jan