Moving in...
As promised, here are pictures of our apartment (keep
reading!) We chose the Um-Uthaina neighborhood.
Language side note:
If you’re looking for our
neighborhood on a map of Amman, you might not find Um-Uthaina. Depending
on how the name gets transliterated, it could also be spelled Um-Ozaina,
Umm Udhayna, or even some other way. This happens because there are
several sounds in Arabic not present in the English language, or there are
certain letters in English that make different sounds depending on which word
they’re used in, like the “th” in bath and there. In Arabic
those different sounds are actually different letters. So when a word with this
characteristic gets transliterated into English, there may be different
pairings—one of which is the dh/th/z—to distinguish between those different
Arabic sounds. That means finding a place name on a map is sometimes tricky.
And although Kaelin can tell the difference when these are spoken, I am still
trying to get my ear trained. First rule of language learning if you want to
sound like a local: train your ear.
Our place is a quaint two bedroom, one bath place with a
nicely-equipped kitchen (five-burner gas stove!), a large living room, a
fantastic sunroom, and what I envision will be a beautiful backyard area once
the weather gets warmer, which we overlook from an outdoor sitting space/veranda. There is also a very productive lime tree in the front area
and a couple fruit trees in the backyard—one of which, I believe, is a fig
tree!
Our sweet backyard as seen from our veranda. It will be a relaxing hangout
spot during the hot months, especially under that wonderful pergola |
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Our fabulous kitchen. The veranda is right behind those sliding doors.
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The other side of the kitchen. Note the toaster oven and the microwave on top of the washing machine.
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The guest bedroom. Yes, please. Come and visit us! There's heat and AC!
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Our bedroom. The blinds are closed (for now) to keep out the cold.
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The sun room. This is our work space. It's airy and bright.
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Our living room. Complete with comfy seating and satellite TV!
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Yesterday afternoon we dropped by the local
market, a mere block or so from our place, to pick up some essentials. We then
came back our place and attempted to figure out various appliances and other accoutrements.
While some parts of Jordan get classified as a Mediterranean climate, other
parts are desert. Yes, it is hot pretty much everywhere here for several
months. But it can also be cold. Bitterly so sometimes. In fact, for a couple
months—often December through mid-February—it gets very cold (you saw the snow
in a previous blog). Still, as in many desert regions, housing is built to stay
cool in the hotter weather. That means it does not retain heat well. So,
in the cold season, at least in the cities, most folks use space heaters and
extra blankets. Others turn on a diesel-powered boiler for classic radiator
heat and use them for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the
evening. Some of the more well-to-do can afford to run electric heaters
throughout the day.
