I figured out how to turn off the crazy backward Arabic blogger! Yay!!!
Sorry about the weird formatting of my post last night. Arabic reads from right to left, so the punctuation was all wonky and I didn't know how to change it. Jet lag and all...
So we took off from Gunnison day before yesterday at 12:49 p.m. and made it into Amman at 9:05 (local time). I did the math and figured that we traveled about 24 hours straight (Jordan is 9 hours ahead of Mountain Standard, 8 hours ahead of Houston). By the time we got to the house and sat down to have a beer (alcohol is certainly NOT illegal in Jordan...) we had been up for 32-33 hours, not including some short naps on the plane. So, suffice it to say, I was pretty tired.
One of my problems with international travel is the fact that I have a really hard time sleeping in any other way than on my side in quasi-fetal position. I can sometimes overcome my inability to sleep with things like sleeping pills, but I'm not really a 'sleep on the airplane' kind of girl. So, despite taking a xanax on the flight from Washington Dulles to Heathrow, I probably slept about an hour or two in total. The woman next to me slept straight through from gate to gate (almost), only surfacing for a cup of coffee, after which she went directly back to sleep. I envy those people to the point of obsession. If only I could do that.....
Well, we got in last night (did I mention my Mom's tagging along for part of the trip? She was dying for an excuse to come back over here and see my family) and were greeted by my aunt and uncle. It's so nice to get to a foreign place or country where people you know can whisk you away and take care of you. I've done my fair share of travel alone, but I love traveling to where you know someone. Not only is it a fabulous excuse to go there (oh, you're only in Italy for a year? I guess I should visit you...), but you get to see what life is really like in an area, rather than a purely tourist experience. They took us to their house (which is fabulous, filled with interesting Middle Eastern art and objects), where we chatted for awhile and exchanged some gifts. After being fed a snack of spinach and rice (yummmmmm), I traipsed off to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat, stuffy sinuses and the realization that, yup, I was sick.
I could feel it starting to come on in the plane from Heathrow to Amman, but I hoped it was just exhaustion. My step dad was incredibly ill with the flu before we left, and Mom had claimed that if she got what he had she wasn't coming (it was that bad). She ended up not getting it, but I was worried that perhaps I had gotten it instead. There's nothing worse than going on a trip and getting sick. Not only do you feel awful, you're also missing out on all of the fun stuff you could be experiencing (to those of you who know me, I have one word: Paris).
Well, I forced myself back to sleep last night, then woke up this morning realizing that it hadn't just been a bad dream. It's not awful, just a little frog in the back of my throat, really, but I can feel the oncoming sinus problems, etc. My aunt assailed me with vitamin C, zinc lozenges, and echinacea this morning and I ate all my colors (ripe strawberries, fresh squeezed blood orange juice, dried blueberries, za'atar with tomato and olive oil on wheat bread, etc... did I mention the food is amazing?), so I'm hoping that I've kicked this thing already. There wasn't anything planned for today (though that is changing as soon as my cousin who is giving me the internship gets here this evening), so I decided to hang out and rest while my mom and aunt do their errands.
Things I Forgot (that I realize as of now):
1) EmergenC (which would come in handy right now)
2) Adapters for my plugs (including laptop plug... whoops)
3) Hair gunk (to avoid the helmet-head look)
4) SD card to USB converter (no pictures until I find one of those, sorry)
5) More than 1 pen and a bunch of sharpies
6) A notepad that isn't my journal
I'll update the list when I know of more things I've forgotten. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'll be smacking myself for leaving behind.
I think I'll leave it there for now. I know there's a ton of stuff to fill you in on (what Amman's like, etc.), but I haven't really left the house yet... and now I'm off to read more Dune. And despite sleeping pretty well last night (for someone with jet lag), I'm still really tired. Things were pretty crazy before I left, no wonder I'm exhausted and sick.
Cheers!
Sorry about the weird formatting of my post last night. Arabic reads from right to left, so the punctuation was all wonky and I didn't know how to change it. Jet lag and all...
So we took off from Gunnison day before yesterday at 12:49 p.m. and made it into Amman at 9:05 (local time). I did the math and figured that we traveled about 24 hours straight (Jordan is 9 hours ahead of Mountain Standard, 8 hours ahead of Houston). By the time we got to the house and sat down to have a beer (alcohol is certainly NOT illegal in Jordan...) we had been up for 32-33 hours, not including some short naps on the plane. So, suffice it to say, I was pretty tired.
One of my problems with international travel is the fact that I have a really hard time sleeping in any other way than on my side in quasi-fetal position. I can sometimes overcome my inability to sleep with things like sleeping pills, but I'm not really a 'sleep on the airplane' kind of girl. So, despite taking a xanax on the flight from Washington Dulles to Heathrow, I probably slept about an hour or two in total. The woman next to me slept straight through from gate to gate (almost), only surfacing for a cup of coffee, after which she went directly back to sleep. I envy those people to the point of obsession. If only I could do that.....
Well, we got in last night (did I mention my Mom's tagging along for part of the trip? She was dying for an excuse to come back over here and see my family) and were greeted by my aunt and uncle. It's so nice to get to a foreign place or country where people you know can whisk you away and take care of you. I've done my fair share of travel alone, but I love traveling to where you know someone. Not only is it a fabulous excuse to go there (oh, you're only in Italy for a year? I guess I should visit you...), but you get to see what life is really like in an area, rather than a purely tourist experience. They took us to their house (which is fabulous, filled with interesting Middle Eastern art and objects), where we chatted for awhile and exchanged some gifts. After being fed a snack of spinach and rice (yummmmmm), I traipsed off to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat, stuffy sinuses and the realization that, yup, I was sick.
I could feel it starting to come on in the plane from Heathrow to Amman, but I hoped it was just exhaustion. My step dad was incredibly ill with the flu before we left, and Mom had claimed that if she got what he had she wasn't coming (it was that bad). She ended up not getting it, but I was worried that perhaps I had gotten it instead. There's nothing worse than going on a trip and getting sick. Not only do you feel awful, you're also missing out on all of the fun stuff you could be experiencing (to those of you who know me, I have one word: Paris).
Well, I forced myself back to sleep last night, then woke up this morning realizing that it hadn't just been a bad dream. It's not awful, just a little frog in the back of my throat, really, but I can feel the oncoming sinus problems, etc. My aunt assailed me with vitamin C, zinc lozenges, and echinacea this morning and I ate all my colors (ripe strawberries, fresh squeezed blood orange juice, dried blueberries, za'atar with tomato and olive oil on wheat bread, etc... did I mention the food is amazing?), so I'm hoping that I've kicked this thing already. There wasn't anything planned for today (though that is changing as soon as my cousin who is giving me the internship gets here this evening), so I decided to hang out and rest while my mom and aunt do their errands.
Things I Forgot (that I realize as of now):
1) EmergenC (which would come in handy right now)
2) Adapters for my plugs (including laptop plug... whoops)
3) Hair gunk (to avoid the helmet-head look)
4) SD card to USB converter (no pictures until I find one of those, sorry)
5) More than 1 pen and a bunch of sharpies
6) A notepad that isn't my journal
I'll update the list when I know of more things I've forgotten. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'll be smacking myself for leaving behind.
I think I'll leave it there for now. I know there's a ton of stuff to fill you in on (what Amman's like, etc.), but I haven't really left the house yet... and now I'm off to read more Dune. And despite sleeping pretty well last night (for someone with jet lag), I'm still really tired. Things were pretty crazy before I left, no wonder I'm exhausted and sick.
Cheers!
Your breakfast sounds amazing and me-friendly. I wish I was there eating with you slash just with you and your mom in general. Feel better soon! (Clearly I am making up for the lack of texting already haha)
ReplyDeleteIt was very you-friendly though it took me a minute to figure out who 'you' were! Lol. I wish you were here too, you would LOVE it.
ReplyDelete