“its the journey, not the destination”

High: I had a great night at friends’ apartment in Jabal Webdeh. Nadine and I visited our friends for dinner — but first, we joined them as they thanked their landlord with homemade chocolate cookies. Their landlord & her extended family all greeted us warmly, and before we knew it we were sitting down swapping stories and learning about their lives. It was great practicing our Arabic… everyone of us jumped in, with no embarrassement or fear of judgement, speaking in Arabic and laughing together. After one round of soda, then another of coffee, we said goodnight and went up for a now late dinner on the rooftop veranda…. eggplant & spagetti followed by nutella under a starry sky.. doesn’t get much better!

Low: The only two goals Nadine and I had today were to 1) go to the popular gym, Sports City, to run and 2) go to the bank and open an account. Both failed.

But I can hardly call it a low.. Simply because something about Jordan makes  stuff like that all ok. I am a pretty high strung, time conscious, by the book American back in the States – but here in Jordan, I become a relaxed and laidback Jordan. “Inshallah” we will achieve our objectives (god willing)… but if not, whatever, its the journey, not the destination that matters.

1) We couldn’t catch a cab to Sports City nor could we figure out how to walk there. So instead we jogged around a neighborhood and stumbled upon a little park… the guard welcomed us and wouldn’t let us pay the entrance fee — invited us in for free to finish our run. An even better run than expected!

2) We waited in line for almost an hour to talk to a bank rep… but when we did she quickly informed us that, actually, the system was down and setting up new accounts was not possible today. And that was all, no better turn out or unexpected happy surprise like above… but for some reason that was ok. Nadine and I laughed it off, chalked up the hour spent in the bank to another roomie bonding sesh, and headed off to lunch. Something about the Arab world makes you laid back, with a good sense of humor and perspective — you need both to survive! — and I like it.

Weirdo: As I said, Nadine and I joined our friends in visiting their landlord tonight. Our friend, Teresa, baked the landlord and her family cookies as a thank you for their kindess and accommodation during the move. In return, the family welcomed us to sit and spend time with them – all 6 of us. They brought us soda and coffee and spoke slowly to help us keep up conversation in Arabic. After we left, one of our friends commented that she felt we owed them another thank you gift — because they “one upped” our chocolate chip cookies with such a nice evening.

But as if that wasn’t enough, later on in the night we heard a knock – and the landlord’s son was at the door…. bringing us a box of store-bought, fancy desserts! It was too much kindness and thoughtfulness to handle; we were all so surprised. And one-upped again!

“This means war”… and so the hospitality battle has begun.