Again, Amman?! More rain? Walking to class today is not going to be enjoyable. In fact, going to class at all will not be enjoyable because rainy days mean you stay home and watch movies and eat baked goods. (Like the banana bread I made last night!)
I really shouldn't be complaining though. For my internship with the Jordanian Women's Union (JWU) I did some research about general environmental conditions in the country. Turns out Jordan is the poorest country in the world in terms of water! Crazy! Which completely explains why there is such a thing as "water day" in Jordan. In all Jordanian homes (except in the really rich ones, I assume) there is a giant water tank that is filled once a week. If you run out of water, you're out of luck until water day the next week. No water for sinks, showers, toilets.
Luckily Lauren and I have never run out, but I hear the boys' apartment runs out pretty frequently. It has definitely taught me the importance of water though. Showers don't take longer than it takes to wash yourself, laundry gets done once a week max, and no leaving sinks on for longer than they need to. Some students on the program have been really shocked about how much they have to conserve water, but it actually hasn't affected me that much/I really haven't had to change most of my habits. Dad taught his girls well!
But back to the rain. On top of Jordan being water-poor to begin with, I've heard from friends who were here last semester that Jordan went through a drought last year that was really painful for the people. I can't imagine having even less water than the country already has! This means though, that Jordanians have been really excited about all the rain we've been getting.
Talk about a cultural reversal. Most Americans complain about rain because it's annoying to walk in, makes traffic worse, etc etc. The other day I was getting koshary for lunch with Kels at our favorite little spot, and as I went to pay, the guy made a comment about how every time I came, it rained. (Which was true, out of the three times I had been there, it was raining each day!) I immediately got flustered and started apologizing, and in my haste to make a joke out of it I said something like, don't worry I won't come back! The man got really confused and said, "No, please come back!" And as I left I realized how dumb I was, he thought that me coming was good luck because it made it rain!
I really shouldn't be complaining though. For my internship with the Jordanian Women's Union (JWU) I did some research about general environmental conditions in the country. Turns out Jordan is the poorest country in the world in terms of water! Crazy! Which completely explains why there is such a thing as "water day" in Jordan. In all Jordanian homes (except in the really rich ones, I assume) there is a giant water tank that is filled once a week. If you run out of water, you're out of luck until water day the next week. No water for sinks, showers, toilets.
Luckily Lauren and I have never run out, but I hear the boys' apartment runs out pretty frequently. It has definitely taught me the importance of water though. Showers don't take longer than it takes to wash yourself, laundry gets done once a week max, and no leaving sinks on for longer than they need to. Some students on the program have been really shocked about how much they have to conserve water, but it actually hasn't affected me that much/I really haven't had to change most of my habits. Dad taught his girls well!
But back to the rain. On top of Jordan being water-poor to begin with, I've heard from friends who were here last semester that Jordan went through a drought last year that was really painful for the people. I can't imagine having even less water than the country already has! This means though, that Jordanians have been really excited about all the rain we've been getting.
Talk about a cultural reversal. Most Americans complain about rain because it's annoying to walk in, makes traffic worse, etc etc. The other day I was getting koshary for lunch with Kels at our favorite little spot, and as I went to pay, the guy made a comment about how every time I came, it rained. (Which was true, out of the three times I had been there, it was raining each day!) I immediately got flustered and started apologizing, and in my haste to make a joke out of it I said something like, don't worry I won't come back! The man got really confused and said, "No, please come back!" And as I left I realized how dumb I was, he thought that me coming was good luck because it made it rain!
Super random. But I made banana bread last night too!
ReplyDeleteHaha, it must be true love!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was abroad in Japan I too learned to take short showers...but because the shower at my house was in an outdoor shack and you had to pay 100 yen for 6 minutes of hot water (at the end of which the water continued, but it was freezing!) It's funny that I had a similar experience in a completely different type of country. Oh, study abroad. Good for us spoiled American kids.
ReplyDelete