08 October 2008

Singing Evening Prayers

As we ate dinner the muezzin from the local mosque sang evening prayers. Amelia thought this was amazing. She danced and sang in between bites of dinner. Amelia was eating dinner at the counter in Mom's huge-mon-gous kitchen. It is bigger than my entire first floor at home. Punkles Jeremy and Jared amused Amelia making her "mi-mi" dance.

Arrived in Amman

Tired Bubs and Mommy
Playing with Stickers
The only nap on the entire Trans-Atlantic Flight

Shopping at Cozmo...who needs Walmart??

We made it!!! At this time I feel like my body is separated from my brain! A numb tingly separation that only comes from sleep deprivation. I was so grateful Justin accompanied us to the airport. At the gate we found out that Amelia needed a ticket for the international portion of our trip. I asked repeatedly and looked online about traveling overseas with a child-in-arms but did not get a clear answer. So, we had to dish out $430 for her ticket...dumb thing is that $280 was for airport taxes. I expected to pay 10% but the extra tax made us quite upset.

We ran for our terminal and gate with a couple minutes to spare to grab some yogurt for breakfast. The flight attendant checked the stroller and car seat through JFK and we hopped on board. Amelia was very good the first leg of our trip. She took a little nap and played quietly in the vacant seat next to me. The plane landed in JFK at a remote section of the airport. We had to ride a bus to the terminal. By the time we landed, deplaned, and boarded the bus my next flight was already boarding. Since the stroller and car seat were only checked to JFK I had to wait for them to be delivered. It took 25 minutes to get them. I barely made the flight, the only reason happened to be because of the security check line everyone has to go through (again). I was sweating bullets but made it...the last person on the plane.

Amelia stayed awake the entire flight over (10 hours long) succumbing to a short 20 minute nap right before the plane landed. We spent a lot of time back with the flight attendants. She had a blast pushing the beverage cart from one side of the galley to the other, handing out sodas to each flight attendant saying "more?", then pushing the cart to the other side, taking the sodas back saying "thank you!" She also made a renegade run through First Class. I am grateful we invested in a portable DVD player. Elmo saved the day/night.

Her little nap ended up being a blessing because the guards ushered me to the front of the line since she was screaming her head off. I was also waved through Customs. Good job Amelia. Our plane was 40 minutes early so we ended up waiting almost an hour for mom. Amelia kept asking to go bye-bye...yes, Amelia we are NOT in Kansas anymore.

Grandma Debbie was so excited to see us. Amelia loves the Lance's new home. All the marble floor makes for an exciting adventure. She loves the "miming pool" and the turtles that live in the backyard. Jeremy and Jared were pleasantly surprised to find a little Amelia curled up napping after school was over since they thought we would not be here until Wednesday.

Amelia and I turned in around 7 pm. She woke up at 1 am and didn't fall asleep until 5 am. We watched more Elmo and explored the house like night bandits. Justin even got a rare phone call from Jordan at 3 am local time (Jordan). This morning we went with mom to the American Embassy to buy drinks for their cowboy party next week. I saw a passing glimpse of my Dad. Next we went to Cozmo, a Walmart type store, for Amelia friendly food and a sippy cup. Now we are napping and getting ready for another exciting day in Jordan!!

A couple observances:
1. Driving in Jordan is like commuter hell. There are so many meridians and traffic circles you can barely navigate in a straight line.
2. It is dry and dusty here. The vegetation is sparse, mostly limited to Cyprus trees and other drought hardy vegetation.
3. Definitely, Third World! We passed10 beduoin tents on the drive over. People farm in between houses. Corrugated metal and concrete are typical housing materials.
4. Even the cats smoke cigarrettes.
5. Having a maid is nice...LOL