Time flies…

…while you are living your life! I can’t believe I didn’t blog at all during April, I experienced so many moments that I’d love to share with you! As per usual I will provide a status update of my pending items:
Our house is rented and the tenants are moved in! Our household effects were delivered shortly after my last post was published and finally, I started my job at the embassy. I am also happy to report that I have been going to the gym and following my tried and true Body For Life plan, I named my calendar on my phone where I’m keeping track of my progress – BodyForDi, LOL. I started it as soon as we returned from Italy because…mama mia…was I eating and drinking with reckless abandon but we can get to that later. In a nutshell, BodyForDi is 6 days a week of 6 meals a day consisting of a portion of protein and a portion of carb with serving of fruit or vegetable for 2 of the meals and 8 glasses of water. 6 workouts following the Upper (45 min)/Cardio (20 min)/Lower (45 min) schedule and for each muscle grouping you do 4 sets with progressively less reps (12, 10, 8, 6) and increasing weight (if you can, sometimes I do the same weight for all the reps). On the 7th day no workout and you can eat as you like. I make bargains with myself though hence the name BodyFor Di, like yesterday – I followed my plan but had two slices of pizza for dinner, didn’t do my cardio either. Today, I added my cardio to my Upper day and was only in the gym for a little over an hour, but I’d skipped breakfast because we were busy and I had a grilled halloumi sandwich and a side salad for lunch. I started on May 6th and am 3 days short of “21 days and you have a habit”. I do feel SO much better, not achy – which has been my biggest reason for getting back at it. OK so blah blah blah about exercise, lets talk a little about Jordan and throw in some Italy!

What I’ve been doing: April was a busy and bittersweet month for me. CRP had it’s Spring Break which gave Lareena and I two free days to do something and since the car was delivered in March I thought “why not drive us somewhere?” My first time behind the wheel in 4 months, let alone in a new country and I decided to drive to the Dead Sea, EASY (as our students like to say). We went to the Amman Beach which was interesting in and of itself – it is the beach where tourists to Amman go (are bussed?) so it is a little worn but we really weren’t going to be pampered – we just wanted to get a float in the sea, catch a few rays, people watch, study arabic and chat. Down at the sea we saw a cute couple documenting their Dead Sea mud experience for (I can only assume) their Instagram followers, a really boisterous group of big and tall men – calling to one another in what sounded like Russian from within and out of the water, and then this one guy – someone helped him to put the Dead Sea mud on his entire body, he waited the requisite amount of time and then found himself back in the water. I watched him from our chairs and in my persuasive way said “that poor dude has a big group of friends sitting up there on the beach and not one of them is going to help him get that mud from between his shoulder blades?” Now Lareena is watching with me as this guy crouches down into the water a few times and splashes and reaches to no avail. “Poor guy” I say “you should go help him, I mean you are a Reflexologist” (which had nothing to do with anything we are involved in at that moment!) and the kind hearted Lareena goes into the water and I can hear her gorgeous Australian accent “sur, SUR? Would you like some help?” His answer is quiet but from my vantage point I can see him crouch back down as Lareena takes some water and rubs off the bit of mud from between his blades.

We went up to the pool to sit under the umbrellas and study but the people watching up there was just as good; a topless sunbather, a couple of guys in their Calvin’s (underpants party), a group of older, tan, Italian ladies rolling up their pants and sleeves to get maximum sun exposure… we did study but all in all, just had a really nice day out. Drove back to Amman and Lareena told me I drove like I’d been living there my whole life. Let’s hold off on that determination until I’ve gone through some of these traffic circles at rush hour, but I do love to drive and it felt good to be back in the saddle.

I talked a little in my last post about being happy to have found an indoor hall for the dogs to play, we did a couple more dog play dates so I am going to share a joyful picture because the pups had so much fun. Our playgroup ended up having a big scare with one of the dogs, she was being boarded at the facility and got loose in the wilds of Jordan for two days!! Thankfully, she was found and returned but I have to say that was the scariest thing I have experienced since I’ve been here. Here’s a fun pictures of Finn and his friends and a few of Finn in Repose for his fans who have put in special requests for “more Finn”

Finally went to the amazing, vegetarian Shams El Balad restaurant and while exploring the gorgeous building I captured some poppies that sprang up. Is the sky bluer in Amman?

April also brought my volunteering as an English teacher at CRP to a close; the semester ended with a final exam and that was that. The teachers went out to another dinner so we could celebrate the successful semester and to say goodbye to our intern Hannah.

With our volunteer commitment behind us, each of us made plans – mine to visit Italy with Mike and our friend Abby and Lareena to Greece to volunteer in a refugee camp. Here is her fundraising page if you’d like to help.

Once our household goods were delivered I had to figure out where I wanted to hang our stuff! Mike put in a request for help hanging the artwork and they showed up at 8:30 on a Saturday morning (oops) but most of the stuff is up on the walls save for about 10 pieces – I still need to figured those out but here is a quick look at our place:

So enough about Jordan, as much as I have loved living in Amman and learning as much as I can about the city, the country and the people – it was time for Mike and I to take a trip. With a combination of US and Jordanian holidays we could take a weeklong vacation and only use a day or two of annual leave. As we were starting to taxi for our flight to Italy, the pilot came on the speaker to tell us that we had to stop because there was a warning light on for one of the engines – we needed a part – it was in Dublin, Ireland – and wouldn’t be in Jordan until around 1pm the next day. I gotta hand it to our fellow passengers – almost all Italians – because they carried on and got their things and boarded the busses and went back to the airport without batting an eyelash. Mike, Abby and I grumpily went home only to turn right around the next morning to find all of our Italian friends back in check in, security, at the gate, waiting…waiting…waiting… we could see our plane from where we were waiting, the crew were working on something for sure, there was a commotion around the belly of our plane… time ticked away as we all watched the plane and the departure screens and listened for the airport announcement telling us that it was finally time to board around 3pm. Bologna Italy is a 4 hour flight from Amman once we landed we hopped onto a train to Rimini which is a little beach town on the Adriatic Sea so we could spend a few quiet days away from the big city life.

We went into the charming old town of Rimini and learned that it was the 2nd most destroyed city in Italy during the second World War and has the oldest Roman Arch…

We loved the heck out of Rimini for a couple of days and then headed to the Republic of San Marino, which is a country that is surrounded by Italy and let me tell you, it was pretty cool – I felt like we were in Minas Tirith.

After some Limoncello we headed back to Rimini to visit our favorite new local spot to have some more pizza and beer with Leone, the proprietor of Angolo Blu – we went there twice during our three days in town! Next day found us on the train to Bologna where we fell in love; the architecture, the food, the drink, the gelato! Bologna is a foodie city and we absolutely dove in with both feet, clocking in around 7 miles per day!

The basilica above is dedicated to Saint Peter and remains unfinished outside; it was beautiful inside as were the other cathedrals in the city center. I think we went into 3 or 4 of them!

We had amazing meals in Italy, of course. Mike and Abby had the dish that is famous in Bologna, Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. This was my dish, tortellini with sage and butter sauce,mmmmmm. The next day we went on a food tour of Bologna and Mike rolled a perfect tortellini after we watched the women at Le Sfogline working their magic!

I’m getting ahead of myself, first we went to a coffee shop where I had a coffee/almond milk drink that tasted like marzipan (which I love).

…and had a cute repurposed way of offering up sugar!

Our guide for the 4 hour tour walked us through shops and alleys all the while teaching us about the food of the region. We went in and out of markets and stalls and gathered ingredients for our lunch as we went to each place. We finally stopped at the oldest pub in Bologna – Osteria del Sole – which was marked with a sign above the door that just said “WINE”. Click here for a look and to read about the place, it’s been around since 1465!

~ INTERMISSION ~

May: Back to Amman and to our Finny boy, I had a week before it was time for me to report to work! Ramadan started on May 6th and being in Jordan during Ramadan has been so interesting! Most stores and restaurants are closed during the day and people who observe Ramadan fast from sunrise to sunset, but once the sun sets – it is a time of celebration! To break the fast the meal is called Iftar – we have attended two Iftar meals and they have been just beautiful. We are attending another tonight with the teachers and students in the Arabic classes!
A lil excerpt about Ramadan from Encyclopedia Brittanica “God forgives the past sins of those who observe the holy month with fasting, prayer, and faithful intention.” Since I am a student of the arabic language and maybe some people reading my blog don’t know arabic; Allah is the arabic word for God. Many greetings and exclamations in Jordan are faith based so you hear a lot of “God willing/Inshallah” “Praise be to God-Thank God/Alhamdulillah” so that is my religion lesson.

My friend Margaret asked me if I wanted to attend an evening walk/fundraiser in one of the cool neighborhoods of Amman. Of course I said yes – on the evening of my first day of work from 9-11pm… SURE! I am so glad I did, we paid our money towards scholarships for bright students without a means for a college education and went on a walking tour that consisted of art and food! In Amman if you are in the street, cars just have to wait until you move out of the way – regardless of how long you take. Well, Margaret and I were Jordanian on this night, taking our time walking in front of cars, talking with our new friends and just enjoying the sights and smells of the neighborhood. The leaders of the event were woman local to that neighborhood who talked nostalgically about the buildings, meeting a boyfriend (who turned into a husband) at one house, going to dinner after a dance at this restaurant – it really was a wonderful way to experience the neighborhood. They were classy and cool and well, we fit right in!

We went inside to see the art gallery and learn about the Petra National Trust, click on the Iink above to learn more about what they do!

I was excited that we were going to Bunni Roasters Coffee because I had been there before and the coffee was delicious and I had met the owners and their baby daughter on an EcoHike (see the link above for a picture of this cute family) – so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked up to the counter and Shireen recognized me and gave me a big hug, I felt so local! I had an even bigger surprise as Margaret and I were walking to the car and someone else I’d met on an EcoHike called out to me. Amman is not a small town, so it was pretty surreal to hear my name and it was another pleasant surprise to get a big hug from someone I’ve met here.

Parenting from the other side of the world has it’s interesting moments – Amelia’s car wouldn’t start, Jillian needed to sew a button onto her shirt – but technology is great and we send pictures, videos and messages in our group chat. We get to enjoy the occasional FaceTime when everyone is available or so I can give Jillian a sewing lesson…

My awesome neighbors have been taking care of Gracie, and by neighbors I mean everyone on my court! I got the reminder from the vet that Gracie needed her shots so off she went with her Guardian Judy and like a good girl told her when it was time to go by getting back into her crate (before getting her shots!) Again, technology for the win – I could send the money right away and have pictures of my good girl whenever Judy can snap one of her being still.

Final picture for the epic-ly long blog post is my cute “Moroccan Lady” painting that I did with a fun group of ladies this week led by Lucy Roman – we had a great time at Patricia’s house, eating, drinking and painting. I think I will do another one at home and give her brown eyes so I can have one for each of my girls!

What I’ve been watching: finished up Game of Thrones (I liked it!) then watched and finished True Detective, getting ready to watch Big Little Lies in a couple of weeks. Started watching Dead to Me on Netflix and I need to finish Riverdale.
What I’ve been reading: what I read on the trip to and from Italy was Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X by Deborah Davis.
What I’ve been listening to: FKA twigs new song Cellophane is just beautiful. The video is stunning (and maybe a little NSFW). Love the new Interpol song Fine Mess, too.

Happy June, happy Pride and I will be making sure I stay on a better schedule for my blogging… thank you for reading. bye for now.