administrative processing in jordan

[Tuco reminder 32]

I'm glad you like the pic I change it from time to time, but this one just lingers...

Oh, then you are a ways out from the downtown area, maybe 6-7 miles. It's not too far to drive, but way too far to walk and I would not advise taking the bus at night. Most of the hookah places are close to the University, up and down High St. I guess you are looking for some place you could walk to ? That might be a tough one. I used to live out in Beavercreek (it's about an hour's drive west of Columbus, between Xenia and Dayton) and there was almost nothing close enough to walk to. Do you have any plans to get a car ?

We did have an extra car, it was available for me from one time to another, and I did have an international license from Kuwait where I work, and from Jordan where I am originally from, but also yes, I was avoiding to drive a car, cause I am not familiar with the streets over there, and with the fueling and parking means, I was lost many times despite using my phone’s GPS

Mimolicious

I am sure he will get used to it, just learn how to play trix “card game” and make his day

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

We did have an extra car, it was available for me from one time to another, and I did have an international license from Kuwait where I work, and from Jordan where I am originally from, but also yes, I was avoiding to drive a car, cause I am not familiar with the streets over there, and with the fueling and parking means, I was lost many times despite using my phone’s GPS

Haha my husband got lost a zillion times driving around when he first arrived. Everything was hard - streets looked the same, the street signs were confusing, he would get stuck on a one-way street, etc. He would call me on the phone and tell me the landmarks he could see, and it was like a guessing game trying to figure out exactly where he was and how to get him where he wanted to go. He didn't have GPS at the time, which in hindsight I should have put in his car from the very beginning.

Once time he got lost and was trying to find his way, and he suddenly said "Oh. I see the big shoes. Do you know the big shoes ?"

(He was talking about these giant cowboy boots outside a local mall:)

So he was able to get his bearings from that.

I know how you feel about driving in a strange place - it was really confusing for me the first time I tried to navigate the streets by myself in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities - and I wasn't even trying to drive, I was just walking or taking a bus or the service. I couldn't even read any Arabic then and only knew some rudimentary Arabic phrases, so I had to find my way by landmarks and constantly stop and ask people (luckily, there are a lot of English speakers in the city.)

Don't worry - you'll get the hang of it - it just takes practice (and a good sense of humor helps alleviate the stress.)

[Tuco reminder 32]

please allow me to tell you something

i am originally from Ramalla by the way, from a village called Silwad.

my family is well known of growing high qulaity kinds figs, and dried figs.

ask ur husband, he will confirm.

unfortunately, i have never been there, i lived and studied in Jordan, and working in the gulf...

and it seems that USA is my next stop, so homeless, isn't it?

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

please allow me to tell you something

i am originally from Ramalla by the way, from a village called Silwad.

my family is well known of growing high qulaity kinds figs, and dried figs.

ask ur husband, he will confirm.

unfortunately, i have never been there, i lived and studied in Jordan, and working in the gulf...

and it seems that USA is my next stop, so homeless, isn't it?

I knew you were Palestinian Insha'allah one day you will see your homeland, as is your right, and smell the air, and kiss the fig trees. They can never take your homeland from your heart.

[Tuco reminder 32]

thank you so much.

don't worry we are getting used to it

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

thank you so much.

don't worry we are getting used to it

صمود

[Tuco reminder 32]

صمود

تحدي

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

تحدي

I know..... God knows.....

[Cathi 5,784]

Haha my husband got lost a zillion times driving around when he first arrived. Everything was hard - streets looked the same, the street signs were confusing, he would get stuck on a one-way street, etc. He would call me on the phone and tell me the landmarks he could see, and it was like a guessing game trying to figure out exactly where he was and how to get him where he wanted to go. He didn't have GPS at the time, which in hindsight I should have put in his car from the very beginning.

Once time he got lost and was trying to find his way, and he suddenly said "Oh. I see the big shoes. Do you know the big shoes ?"

(He was talking about these giant cowboy boots outside a local mall:)

So he was able to get his bearings from that.

I know how you feel about driving in a strange place - it was really confusing for me the first time I tried to navigate the streets by myself in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities - and I wasn't even trying to drive, I was just walking or taking a bus or the service. I couldn't even read any Arabic then and only knew some rudimentary Arabic phrases, so I had to find my way by landmarks and constantly stop and ask people (luckily, there are a lot of English speakers in the city.)

Don't worry - you'll get the hang of it - it just takes practice (and a good sense of humor helps alleviate the stress.)

It is so funny that your husband said all the streets here look the same, my husband says the same exact thing, luckily he hasn't gotten lost as of yet. I think it's pretty funny because when I am in Jordan all o the streets and buildings do look the same, all white stone square with flats roofs. At least here our buildings and houses are different colors

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

It is so funny that your husband said all the streets here look the same, my husband says the same exact thing, luckily he hasn't gotten lost as of yet. I think it's pretty funny because when I am in Jordan all o the streets and buildings do look the same, all white stone square with flats roofs. At least here our buildings and houses are different colors

I think it's a pretty common feeling that people get when they first arrive in a totally different place than they're used to - it all seems kind of like a blur until you get your bearings, and your eyes and your brain start to learn how to interpret these new views. One of the flats I had in Ramallah was on a street with a row of apartments that looked very similar to me. For the first week or two, I had to use a landmark of a pottery store directly across the street which always had big clay pots on display out in front in order to know which building was the right one. If they had moved those pots inside, I would've been lost

[Tuco reminder 32]

in kuwait, u cant be lost, it is a small country, buildings are different in many ways. citizens' houses are the same, while expats live in apartments in big buildings, and business zones are marked with malls with different shapes and colors, besides I will be here willing to help in case u were lost

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

in kuwait, u cant be lost, it is a small country, buildings are different in many ways. citizens' houses are the same, while expats live in apartments in big buildings, and business zones are marked with malls with different shapes and colors, besides I will be here willing to help in case u were lost

I haven't been to Kuwait yet, although I know a couple of Palestinians who grew up there or lived there for many years. However, I have to say that in my experiences, it wasn't such a terrible thing to get lost I had many interesting adventures, and met so many people who were incredibly helpful - even some who would insist on walking me to my destination, or even driving me there - and then refuse to even accept any gas money. (Of course, I made sure some money managed to be "left behind" in the car anyway.)

Here's an example:

Once I was at the main bus station in Amman, trying to get a ticket for the bus to the airport. The clerk chatted with me pleasantly in English, asking me where I wanted to go and I told him "airport." (I told him that in Arabic initially, but he started talking to me in English.) He said "oh where are you going ?" I told him "I'm flying to Chicago today." He then regaled me with some anecdotes about his travels to Chicago, and finally handed me a ticket (which I couldn't read at that time.)

I show the ticket to people and they point me to a bus. The driver is loading luggage. I ask him "Airport ?" He takes the ticket and says "yalla." So I get on the bus.

Turns out, the clerk had given me a ticket for "Irbid," not "Airport." After about half an hour on the bus, I started to realize that something was very wrong, and had to get the driver to pull over on the side of the road, get out, and flag down a passing taxi to take me back the other way. The guy hauled azz but I very nearly missed my flight - by the time I got to the airport, the plane was already loading.

However, it turned out to be my lucky day. Royal Jordanian rushed me into an office back behind the regular counters, where some guy tapped away on the computer, called the gate, handed me a ticket, smiled and said "I put you in business class - this man will escort you to the gate." The security guard rushed me through some back way to the security check and expedited me through that, and I got to the gate just as the very last 5 passengers were boarding. That's when I found out - "business class" meant "first class." So I got to enjoy the luxury of first class service for the 14 hour flight to Chicago without paying for it - all just for being late.

I have often wondered if I could ever pull that off again

[Tuco reminder 32]

ok. but why he did so? did he mean to get u lost?

how u doing today sister?

[mymarriagejourney 113]

We live in Columbus, Ohio. My husband is from Irbid. You must be going to the wrong places in Columbus; the area around the Ohio State University campus is always busy and full of people.

No...

I have been there for 3 times on visits. Life there shuts down at 6 pm, so boring and frustrating, I thought I traveled to Irbid instead :-)

I could not find any human being to even talk to, except my old mother and father, in addition to my sister's beautiful kids, who could not stop beating me up and biting me on all over my arms as part of their entertainment.

[mymarriagejourney 113]

Ah ha. Now it makes sense. New Rome is not Columbus....

It does walla ya sister, it does.

Maybe you are talking about the downtown, I agree though....

But I think my family lives in some distant county from the city center, called new Rome, where going out for a walk after 8 pm is like taking a tour in Raccoon City of Zombies

It was really scary even for men in my age

Something I could not tell to my sister when she used to ask me: why do you come early?...

By the way: VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE PICTURE at your signature