4 August: Footlose and free in Amman

4 August

What a great day!  It started way too early (Aya woke at 4am and although we got her to go back to sleep easily enough, she woke us ALL up and I, for one, never got back to sleep) and it is 11:30pm now, so I will need to make this entry short.  Too bad...it really was a great day.

For one, the girls were pretty well-behaved the entire day.  Yumi has taken on a superhero persona—“Service Girl”—and has bursts of altruism that we all appreciate.  Emi has taken to occasionally pretending to be a cat.  I believe this started after the biting/scratching incident, so it is likely related.  Emi Cat, however, does not attack; she just meows cutely and snuggles up to Mayumi who, in her mothering persona, holds and strokes her.  I do not discourage this; the sooner they can learn to play nicely with each other, the better. Also, Emi is frequently very rough with Aya and must be watched carefully when around her. This is annoying.  But occasionally Emi takes on the big sister persona and graciously allows Aya to play with her things (accumulated junk) or “reads” to Aya or plays “chase” with her.  Amazingly, Aya seems to understand the game of “chase” and participates, laughing uproariously.  These are all cute moments and there were plenty of them today.  A blessed relief.

As for activities: I took the girls to the Sports City pool for which may be the last time.  This was Yumi’s first time, actually, and she loved it.  One of the three pools features two waterslides, down which Yumi slid over and over.  She needed a lot of encouragement and took a long break between her first tumultuous slide down and her subsequent go’s.  But the influence of a gaggle of Jordanian teenage girls made all the difference; they took her under their wing and in no time she was sliding down with them and into their waiting arms in the pool.  I finally had one of them hold Aya so I could slide down with a fearful Emi, both of us getting solidly dunked in the process.  It was a fun time, especially due to the fact of the poolside GRASS and lounging opportunities thereon.  Loved it.

Nate was home during quiet time so I took off on an adventure.  Really, it was a fact-finding mission on behalf of my parents and myself.  I am planning both my parent’s trip to Petra and my own visits to various locations this week.  I am done with private transport (thank you, Ahmad) and will be taking public transportation to, for one, Ajloun Castle and Nature Preserve...tomorrow! Inshallah.  Stay tuned.  I visited two bus stations on opposite ends of Amman (North Station and South Station) to make my enquiries.  Lots of practice asking about times, locations, travel time, etc.  I also visited three rental car companies and asked a zillion question about the costs/rules/etc. of renting cars...more great practice!  Mundane tasks, maybe, but actually VERY enjoyable and liberating.  Being on my own in Amman reminds me that I really do love this place.  I am not at liberty to truly enjoy it when I am responsible for the safety and behavior of other little people, but when I am on my own I take in the sights, sounds, and smells.  I love it.

I came back to all three girls awake from naps but relatively calm.  Like I said, they were unusually good today.  I took over and let Nate get back to working on an essay.  I took the girls for the rounds of our usual errands.  Laundry, bread, take-out, milk, etc. Came back, made dinner, smoothies, and everyone in bed by 8:15pm.  A much-needed enjoyable evening with Nate. Time for me to get some rest and, inshallah, no one will wake before 7am.  At which time I intend to get the girls up, ready, and out the door by 7:30am to start our Aljoun Adventure.