Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
marathon
Yesterday me, Tom and Eric spent the day from 2pm until 12:30am marathoning a classic movie: Scream. It was the epitome of perfection: we ate junk food and popcorn all day, ordered yemini food for dinner and reveled in being 'scared.'
Scream 1:
Why do you have a cellular device, son? - Sheriff Burke
Scream 2:
Jesus Gail, you have more lives than a cat. Nothing like reporting from the trenches eh? - Cotton Weary
Scream 3:
I can't pick a favorite quote from this one, but I can pick a favorite scene: when the 'killer' throws his knife at Dewey and the wrong side hits him in the head. Seriously, if you haven't seen it -- youtube it.
Scream 4:
Your lemon squares taste like ass. - Gail Weathers
Scream 1:
Why do you have a cellular device, son? - Sheriff Burke
Scream 2:
Jesus Gail, you have more lives than a cat. Nothing like reporting from the trenches eh? - Cotton Weary
Scream 3:
I can't pick a favorite quote from this one, but I can pick a favorite scene: when the 'killer' throws his knife at Dewey and the wrong side hits him in the head. Seriously, if you haven't seen it -- youtube it.
Scream 4:
Your lemon squares taste like ass. - Gail Weathers
Friday, April 22, 2011
perfect afternoon
Sarah and I are currently spending our Friday (in case my loyal readers have forgotten--thanks Mom--Friday afternoons are like Saturday afternoons since our weeks run Sunday-Thursday) afternoon in the best way I could ever imagine.
It has been raining all day, but it ceased for a moment so S and I made a quick trip to the store to stock up on supplies: shwarma, fries, chocolate, ice cream, soda, and anything else fattening we could get on our hands on. However, while at the store it began to hail! Hard. We were stuck there for a while but finally the hail turned into rain and, with our supplies in hand, we made a quick dash back to our apartment. Now we're enjoying ourselves by watching Pride and Prejudice beneath a blanket and filling our tummies.
I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.
It has been raining all day, but it ceased for a moment so S and I made a quick trip to the store to stock up on supplies: shwarma, fries, chocolate, ice cream, soda, and anything else fattening we could get on our hands on. However, while at the store it began to hail! Hard. We were stuck there for a while but finally the hail turned into rain and, with our supplies in hand, we made a quick dash back to our apartment. Now we're enjoying ourselves by watching Pride and Prejudice beneath a blanket and filling our tummies.
I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.
Monday, April 18, 2011
cabbies
Everyday I have this same conversation with cab drivers...and everyday it annoys the hell out of me. I'm not exactly sure why it annoys me so much, but it does...
Cab driver: Are you visiting Jordan?
Me: No, I'm living here.
CB: Oh! How do you like Jordan?
Me: It's really nice.
CB: Welcome to Jordan!!
Me: Thank you.
CB: Where are you from?
Me: I'm from Chicago.
CB: America?
Me: Yes.
CB: I have a sister that lives near there!
Me: Mm, that's nice.
CB: She has been there for 5 years, I want to go visit but haven't gone yet. You know, money and visa issues are a big problem here.
Me: Mmm.
CB: Are you working or studying in Jordan?
Me: Studying arabic.
CB: Good, good. Do you study at the university?
Me: No, I study at a language center near Duar Medina.
CB: Mmmm. Well, welcome to Jordan!!
Me: Thank you.
Cab driver: Are you visiting Jordan?
Me: No, I'm living here.
CB: Oh! How do you like Jordan?
Me: It's really nice.
CB: Welcome to Jordan!!
Me: Thank you.
CB: Where are you from?
Me: I'm from Chicago.
CB: America?
Me: Yes.
CB: I have a sister that lives near there!
Me: Mm, that's nice.
CB: She has been there for 5 years, I want to go visit but haven't gone yet. You know, money and visa issues are a big problem here.
Me: Mmm.
CB: Are you working or studying in Jordan?
Me: Studying arabic.
CB: Good, good. Do you study at the university?
Me: No, I study at a language center near Duar Medina.
CB: Mmmm. Well, welcome to Jordan!!
Me: Thank you.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
arab lit
Today my arab lit class got cancelled. So instead of discussing the ins and outs of arabic culture and symbolism (in arabic, might I add), I am writing this blog post and am on the verge of watching yet another Gilmore Girls episode. I should be using this time wisely to go to the gym or do some homework, but lying in bed is just all too tempting today. I'm off to my veg session, but before I go I will leave you with a picture from the King Abdullah Mosque that my roommates and I visited this past weekend:
Saturday, April 16, 2011
jordan rally
Hanging out with Arabs and watching car races in the desert was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
the water saga
We have had just about the worst luck ever with water in our apartment. It all started when we first moved in, and we always ran out of water really fast. (In Jordan, you get weekly refills of water to a tank on the top of the building. Generally every apartment has their own tank, when it runs out the haris (landlord) has to flip a switch to refill your tank from a spare tank in the basement. Usually everyone's tanks are refilled anywhere from Friday - Sunday of every week. Exciting stuff eh?)
Anyway, we would start running out of water on Tuesdays and had no idea why. None of us were taking extremely long showers four times a day and we never had enough water to do laundry. However there was always an excessive amount of water on the kitchen floor and in S and C's bathroom. Once we mentioned this to our haris, he came over to look at the situation. Ah yes, he said as if the problem was blatant. The washing machine (in the kitchen) and the toilet were both leaking and needed to have pipes fixed. Since everything operates of Jordanian time (read: slow), it took about a week to get both of these issues fixed. Not to mention, that in the process of "fixing" the toilet the haris just left a hose unplugged so that toilet was broken for a week. But at least our water issues were resolved, or so we thought...
Then our electricity kept shorting and we had to flip the switch basically all the time. There were a few days when we were flipping it at least 10 times a day, not safe. Finally the haris and a person from our school came to have a look. Come to find out, there was water inside of the water heater and it was making the electricity spark. They 'fixed' it, but alas another week later there were more problems. Eventually we needed to get a new water heater, which meant that while they were replacing the old one we didn't have hot water for a few days.
However, our new water heater doesn't really heat the water. Our brand new water heater keeps water steaming hot to the point where it is burning your skin for a full 12 minutes, and after these 12 minutes the water is freezing again.
A few days ago, our water pressure completely dropped where only small dribbles would come out of the sink at any given time. We though we had just run out of water so we called our haris to refill it. He said he did, but the water pressure was still really bad. So he gave our pipes a look and our water pump had a burst pipe. So they turned off our water in order to fix the problem which left us without water for about two days at this point. Eventually the plumber came, but the day he came he realized he couldn't fix it without some parts and would hopefully be back the next day. Not the best phrasing when you've been without water for 3 days already. So the water finally got fixed today, just a mere two hours ago. So our 3-month bad water saga is over, at least for now...
Anyway, we would start running out of water on Tuesdays and had no idea why. None of us were taking extremely long showers four times a day and we never had enough water to do laundry. However there was always an excessive amount of water on the kitchen floor and in S and C's bathroom. Once we mentioned this to our haris, he came over to look at the situation. Ah yes, he said as if the problem was blatant. The washing machine (in the kitchen) and the toilet were both leaking and needed to have pipes fixed. Since everything operates of Jordanian time (read: slow), it took about a week to get both of these issues fixed. Not to mention, that in the process of "fixing" the toilet the haris just left a hose unplugged so that toilet was broken for a week. But at least our water issues were resolved, or so we thought...
Then our electricity kept shorting and we had to flip the switch basically all the time. There were a few days when we were flipping it at least 10 times a day, not safe. Finally the haris and a person from our school came to have a look. Come to find out, there was water inside of the water heater and it was making the electricity spark. They 'fixed' it, but alas another week later there were more problems. Eventually we needed to get a new water heater, which meant that while they were replacing the old one we didn't have hot water for a few days.
However, our new water heater doesn't really heat the water. Our brand new water heater keeps water steaming hot to the point where it is burning your skin for a full 12 minutes, and after these 12 minutes the water is freezing again.
A few days ago, our water pressure completely dropped where only small dribbles would come out of the sink at any given time. We though we had just run out of water so we called our haris to refill it. He said he did, but the water pressure was still really bad. So he gave our pipes a look and our water pump had a burst pipe. So they turned off our water in order to fix the problem which left us without water for about two days at this point. Eventually the plumber came, but the day he came he realized he couldn't fix it without some parts and would hopefully be back the next day. Not the best phrasing when you've been without water for 3 days already. So the water finally got fixed today, just a mere two hours ago. So our 3-month bad water saga is over, at least for now...
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