Lesson for today: Snail speed ahead!

I am an instant-gratification-takes-too-long kind-of-girl, but my internet connection in Jordan has taught me a very valuable life lesson:  sometimes you just need to take your hands off and wait...

Pie in the Sky?

Last night my darling husband spent about 3 hours (if not more) fiddling with my laptop and iPhone, to declare triumphantly and with a gleam in his eyes that all my information is now safely stored in some or the other... cloud!? 

This concerns me greatly, as I have no idea where this cloud is or why it would want my "stuff".  What's my data doing in this cloud? Playing with puppies and chasing rainbows, perhaps?  What happens to my information if it rains, does it disappear like mist in the wind and who can see my cloud?  Is my cloud pretty and fluffy or is a storm brewing? 

And the name:  iCloud.  If I understand it (even remotely) correctly, this is where precious documents, photos, passwords and contact details are stored.  Why not give it a more solid name, like iRock, or paper or scissors, for that matter.

I have many, many questions about iCloud, but for now I must go.  André is trying to contact me via something called Tango, which surprises me, 'cause he's never showed any great interest in dancing...

 

 

My brush with Bollywood

Hey everybody!  How's life treating you?  Things have been quiet on the le Roux front lately. 

André had, by all accounts, a wonderful skydiving trip to Dubai and arrived back home very early on Sunday morning.  As all worthy hunter-gatherers should, and, I suspect, mostly to draw attention away from the electronic toys he purchased for himself, he returned with wonderful goodies for the wife: a big bottle of my favourite perfume – Christian Dior's Dune; (For some reason) one large Toblerone and three small ones (One was promptly paid forward to a flu-riddled Emily - hope it made you feel better?); and lastly, three glossy magazines (Marie Claire, Femina and Cosmo).

The perfume made me happy, the varied size choccies made me giggle but the magazines made me laugh that deep, super raucous belly laugh that only André can cause.    Why?  Well...  Uhm...  I love magazines and eagerly ripped the covering off the first one, then the second and, smelling the proverbial rat, soon discovered that all three magazines were the Indian versions!  I believe I can now participate in a Bollywood game show and do relatively well. 

Actually, the magazines turned out to be interesting and rather informative.  I just need to figure out the Rand/Rupee exchange rate and I can order myself a couple of colourful Sari's for summer! 

 

On a more serious note, though, as it turns out, I enjoyed the magazines, probably because they were so different from the ones I normally read.  Yes, the usual suspects featured in all three magazines:  fashion, hair and beauty, and varying levels of sexual content, Femina being the most sedate and Cosmo living up to its reputation with the most risqué articles and one most enlightening diagram. *Blush* Also, as was to be expected, articles on women's rights and crimes against women was very prominent, it being those type of magazines.   The personal accounts of hardship and violence was heartbreaking and very difficult to read, but also offered insights into a culture I knew very little about. 

 

But on a much shallower note, what I really enjoyed most was the advertisements: strolling through the virtual shopping malls that jumped up from the colourful pages, seeing the different product ranges available, different dishes and recipes in the foodie sections and particularly the exotic jewellery advertised was most pleasing!

 
Other than wanting to see the Taj Mahal, I have never had a hankering to visit India, but now, after my brush with Bollywood, I can see a visit to places like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Kolkata, to name but a few, in our near future.  Thanks, Love! 

One of those days...

Comfort food

Both Andre and I feeling a bit down in the dumps today, so we decided to head out to Madaba for shisha, beer and serious comfort food at our favourite Jordanian eatery, Haret Jdoudna. (Say that quickly after a couple of toots!)

Haret: Loosely translated means court or neighbourhood
Jdoudna: Our grandfathers or ancestors

Hummus be snowbar; garlic chicken wings; pomegranate chicken livers & mushrooms; grilled halloumi cheese and of course, home made tomato & red pepper sauce - yummm!

So, bad hair day be damned, we are awaiting our feast at our "grandfather's house", built in 1905. Bon appetit!








Just love that cardamom flavoured Arab coffee. 
Thick as mud, super strong and simply delish!







Well, I've been in Jordan for exactly one year now.  One year of living the lilo-life and I think it's time to reflect on the past year.

I arrived in Jordan on the 10^th February 2012 to bitter cold, rainy weather which was only to get worse.  Two weeks here and Andre left me alone for a week to go back to SA for his brother's 60^th birthday.  Almost as soon as he left, temperatures dropped dramatically and officially became the coldest winter I have ever experienced.  It felt a bit like Survivor Jordan for a while, with me trying to come to terms not only with new, strange household appliances; the limitations of not having a car of my own, thus having to rely on taxi drivers;  trying to cope with the cold weather; the constant fear that the diesel will run out and I'll be left in the cold, literally; being afraid the gas will run out and I'll be left without a means to cook food on a stove that already scared me, me not being used to gas stoves; but also the constant rain and subsequent leaks in big portions of the apartment.  Survivor Jordan ended on a  high note, though, with a snow storm the morning of Andre's return. My first snow! Yeah!

 

During the past year we've travelled the entire length of Jordan, from Aqaba in the south, right up to Umm Qays on the Syrian border, seen all the sights in-between, some of them warranted a second and third visit and loved every minute.  The Dead Sea is a firm favourite for weekend get-aways and we visit often and with great enthusiasm. 

 

 

I've also discovered a couple of things about myself that I never knew, for example I never knew I had such a competitive streak in me.  I never knew I could enjoy exercise and I never knew I could be that entertaining when put in new, unfamiliar situations.  The wallflower has finally come into her own, it seems!

I also learnt, sadly, that friendships can be fleeting; that not everyone you meet will become your new BFF; that often times people are self-centred, mean, liars and fakes.  I've also learnt that people are flawed, me too, and that I should accept them for who they are, and if I can't, that it is allowed to cut them out of my life with a thank you and a wave goodbye.  I've actually learnt a lot about friendship this past year.  People I thought were my friends, turned out to be, well... not, and a surprising number of people I thought were bit-part-players blossomed into fast, firm friends.

 
I've been back to South Africa three times during the past year and discovered that I've mentally let go of my much loved country, something I thought would never, ever be possible. 

 

 

My mom visited us twice last year and that taught me that just sitting quietly together is sometimes worth so much more than idle chit-chat. 

  And that travel insurance is a must for anyone travelling outside the confines of their own countries!  

 

During the past year André had to say goodbye to his beloved mother, who in June finally succumbed to the big sleep and joined her good friend Anesta for a big jol and probably a couple of glasses of wine (bottles, more likely) and a cigarette or two.  Sadly, in October my favourite old auntie, Aunty Viv, joined the party and the three old biddies were reunited.  We miss you all deeply. Enough said.

I've also learnt that I cannot be bothered to keeping plants in pots alive.  If they can make self-basting turkeys, why can't they make self-watering plants?  I mean well, honestly I do, but I simply do not remember to water the lovelies and they are succumbing to the dreaded balcony drought at an alarming rate.  Maybe I'll try again in the Spring.  Maybe.  My suggestion to André that we lay in some Astroturf on the balcony with a couple of plastic conifers have fallen on deaf ears, not that he bothers to water the plants, mind you, so I think I'll give the garden thing one last try.  Any suggestions as to Liese-resistant plants, preferably low(no) maintenance, will be most welcome!

 So, there you have most of it – life on the lilo is still treating me well, although I admit to infrequent bouts of boredom.  Having visitors from home will help, so... Save up, book your flights and, to paraphrase Garlic in the Spud novels: "Come see Lake Malawi!"

 

How low can you go?

At 1,312 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth (Not counting the Marianas Trench, of course!).  Does this mean that I have finally hit rock bottom since moving to Jordan?  Rock bottom, or have I ultimately found the happiest place on earth?  I know, I know, that's what they call Disneyland, but bear with me, please.  If kids have Mickey, Minnie and spinning in pink teacups at Disneyland, why can't grown-up kids like me not find happiness in a salty wasteland like the Dead Sea?

But back to rock bottom.  If I am now officially living at the lowest point on earth, and thus having hit rock bottom, the only place I can go, is up, not true?  So, here we go...

Dead Sea, Jordan