Some of the things day to day are different here in Jordan. For example, we are in the middle of a desert and there is quite the water shortage. This takes some adjustment, coming from a place that seems to have enough fresh water for the whole world. It is strange to hardly see any green. There are a few trees but I have not seen a single lawn in the city.
Every apartment has a water tank on the roof. On your weekly "water day" the city turns on your water supply for ~24 hours. This is the time to do laundry and cleaning. Luckily, we haven't gone through our one week supply of water yet, but we have talked to many people that have. You can get more water delivered before your water day, but it is expensive, so some people have been known to steal their neighbor's water supply by putting a hose from the neighbor's tank to their own. The water heater for the shower must be turned on about 30 min prior in order to have a hot shower.
Another difference is the stove/ovens here. Each is hooked up to a gas tank. The tank looks just like those in the states for a gas grill. You turn the gas tank on and off for cooking. When your tank runs out, you must then find the gas man that randomly drives through your neighborhood. He drives a pick-up truck full of gas tanks in back and you just trade your empty one for a new one. You know he is around because he plays this annoying, carnival-like melody loudly all day long.
Also, we are told that even though the temperature is not as cold here, we will feel cold fatigue, meaning we will be cold ALL the time. The houses are not built with insulation and most buildings do not have central heating. It is supposed to get down to the 40's and we are told in your house nearly matches the temperature outside. Heaters here comprise of space heaters or portable gas tank heaters. This is also the "rainy season," or in the case of the dusty city the "mud season." We will give more details when the cold comes around. Now it is still lovely in the 70's.
Going to school for teaching English and learning Arabic has also been interesting because those are at the top of one hill and we live on the top of another hill. Sometimes we take a taxi, as taxis are dirt cheap here but do not come through our neighborhood often enough. We can also take a service taxi, which like a bus runs on a set route. The service taxi takes us down the hill, to the city center where we walk to the next service taxi that will take us up another hill. 3 days of the week we walk. This is a good way to stay in shape but a ton of stairs!! We counted the stairs one time because it seemed like a ridiculous amount of them. Honestly, the walk is almost straight down and then straight up. First, it is down a hill without stairs. Then to two big staircases down which are 415 stairs total. Then the stairs up to school are 322 steps. Work those leg muscles!! The stairs also are not well maintained. Many places they are crumbling and there is a lot of trash. Although, there are uniformed guys picking some of it up, Jordanians seem to have no qualms about throwing their garbage all over the place. I'm glad that we scorn litterbugs, as it does make for a much cleaner, beautiful place.
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