My husband came ahead of me by 4 months. He went there to take care of his father who was old and sick and I was trying to close up my business to join him. I owned a Real Estate Brokerage in Southern California.
I had many clients and had to take care of everything and get some money together of course. We talked often about our life together there but he never told me how hard life would be here. He did not want to scare me I guess. He told me I had no need of clothes as everyone wore the basic "Jilbab" or long dress. So I gave the majority of my clothes away. I sold everything we owned and closed my business and I was on my way.
I brought my cat tiger with me to Jordan as we did not want to leave her. It was a hard trip for me and her as she was not happy in a carrier under my seat. It took many, many hours and finally we arrive in Amman to greet my husband.
As I got off the plane, I had to go thru customs with my cat. I told the man, "I want to declare my cat." He tells me, "You do not have a cat." I said, "Yes, I have a cat and her name is Tiger." I showed him all the papers. He said again, "No, you do not have a cat." I said you are right, "I do not have a cat." I had spent a lot of money getting her shots and going to vets and getting the papers to travel with, but yes, I did not have a cat.
Then I go to declare the new telephones that I was bringing. I told the man, "I want to declare 3 new phones." Guess what he said, "No you do not have any phones." I said, "Ok," and went to pick up my bags. The suitcase was so large and I could not lift it and a very nice man paid someone to lift my bag for me and carry it to the entrance. There was Mo, my husband, and he ran towards me and kissed me. I was shocked. Why would he do that. Muslims do not kiss in public. I looked in his eyes and he was so happy. I hugged him and we laughed at the story of Tiger. He had brought his brother and his wife with him and we all talked about my trip.
As we drove from the airport to our home, I got to see much of Amman and the many shops. I was shocked at how ugly Amman was. Everything was white with no grass or little trees. The houses were all stacked on the mountains and it looked like the slums. I looked for happy life and saw mainly men on the streets as it was late at night. I wondered where the families were. I was soon to find out that life was very different in Jordan.
When we arrived at my new home, I was very happy. The house was huge and beautiful. It was surrounded by many trees and many cats. There was Lucky, Precious and broken leg. The kitchen was huge and the living room very beautiful but the house was cold as ice. The heating system in Jordan is terrible. They have individual stoves that have a small propane tank attached and impossible to heat even one room. Mo, did not have enough blankets and there was much to be done.
The next day Mo, took me to lunch at a place called Jabri's and we had Mansaf, this is lamb cooked in yogurt with rice.
A typical meal here.
We then ate some Kanafa, a favorite here too.
http://www.cookadvice.com/recipes/kunafa-50812-recipe.htm
Of course we drank cola. Everyone in Jordan drinks cola, lol. It is not like the cola in America, it is very low quality but it has fizz.
We use to go there everyday to eat. The owner swore I could not cook, but we just love to go and have fun and laugh. Mo, knew tons of jokes and we always laughed.
I miss you My MO. (Mo died on January 24th 2002) The story will continue.
