Visas and Groceries

Today we renewed our visas. So off we went with our Fulbright minder to the appointment at the police station. The bureaucratic low point (but actually funniest moment of the day) is when we were questioned about our apartment and didn't know the name of our street. The police officer, a woman covered head to toe, questioned us as to landmarks and nearby streets since we still don't know the name of our street (although we did finally find out our apartment number). We were fingerprinted then taken to the women's restroom to wash the ink off of our fingers. We were left to wait in a small room for our new visas. The problem was the heat since the building was not air conditioned and Terry, who is usually pretty good with heat, nearly fainted. Keep in mind that for cultural reasons we both wear long sleeved shirts and long pants. We are eager for cooler weather as everything from touring to shopping to just getting around our neighborhood is affected by the intense (frequently over 100 degrees) heat.

After getting our new visas we were off to shop at a large supermarket, a French chain, some distance from our apartment. Large grocery stores in Amman are located in the basements of large malls. The malls here are huge and very modern. We had our driver wait for us. We aren't really set up in the apartment for serious cooking, especially since the oven is in centigrade and we have yet to figure out some appliances. Many of the convenience products we're used to at home aren't available here, which is not an issue since we are enjoying trying the very unusual and tasty local foods, but we needed to get many grocery bags full of water and soft drinks up through the mall and into the taxi. Getting to the taxi afterward up two floors in the mall, then to curbside with our full shopping cart, then loading the groceries into the taxi, then up the elevator at the apartment, was an adventure, like the foods we bought. We bought fuzzy basil seeds suspended in an apricot drink, salad with rice wrapped in grape leaves, small cakes filled with everything from dates to orange jelly, and salads made of ingredients we are still trying to identify. We also bought nuts. Every grocery store has a kiosk inside with many varieties of fresh roasted nuts. Likewise, spices are sold from large bins and put into small plastic bags. When you buy produce you wait in line for a produce person to weigh the produce and put it in a plastic bag before you continue with your shopping.

Terry, who is becoming active in the Jordanian Nursing Council and Sigma Theta Tau, the honors society for nurses in which she holds membership, just found out Fulbright ordered business cards for her but I've had my quota of taxi rides for today. I will add I am getting braver on campus, meanwhile, and instead of sitting in Terry's office when she attends faculty meetings and luncheons, I have been walking around outside the enormous campus, getting coffee at MacDonalds (no kidding - a little guilty pleasure from home) and enjoying our adventures here in Jordan.