Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Some things don't change at all.

Our accident prone kid is keeping up his trend.  Last week during summer camp he managed to step on a thumbtack by the snack bar.  It was lodged in his heel nearly the full length.  Yesterday he cracked his chin open on a metal bar at the playground.  The med unit says it doesn't need stitches but he has some stitch tape and a bandage and can't go in the water for a couple days.  Since half the time the kids are at camp they are in the pool, this makes for a boring day when you can't get wet.  This morning he's hanging out with me in the computer lab playing some games while the kids swim.  This afternoon camp is watching a movie, so he'll rejoin them.  Tomorrow I'll have him in the afternoon.

I should probably keep Nicholas out of camp as well.  He burned his nose badly the beginning of last week.  It peeled, then he neglected sunscreen again, burned the new skin underneath, and it's going to look like a 90-year old man's nose if we're not careful.  I've taken to simply pouring the sunscreen on his nose and cheeks and sending him to camp looking like a clown.  It eventually soaks in and seems to be working.  I can't wait until the colored zinc sunscreen (Zinka, through Amazon) comes in.  He needs a physical barrier, not just a chemical barrier. And who wouldn't want a green nose?

I ordered a swim shirt for Ian.  We're going to go to the Dead Sea at some point and Ian burns bad on his neck and shoulders just walking around town.  I'm not going to bother trying to cover up all of him with sunscreen in a 104 degree salt desert.

Speaking of ordering stuff, yeah, I'm doing a lot of that. I know people laugh at certain things folks order when overseas, but that's OK, go ahead and laugh.  I ordered toilet paper.  Last week in the co-op I bought a 4-pack of TP for over $4.  The stuff at the local stores can be cheaper, but it's cheaper both in cost and quality.  You know, one of the things that makes living abroad in any country is the quality of the TP.  You can argue with me if you like, but I won't listen.  Good TP matters.  It really does.  I've put several things on automatic order through amazon, anywhere from 2-4 month delivery times.  Since most has to come through the Pouch (DPO won't let me get TP.. I kid you not), it'll take a while to get here anyway.  I think I've heard 4-6 weeks.  That's OK.  TP doesn't go bad.

I've actually forgotten some of the stuff I've ordered.  That makes mail day like Christmas.  What's in today's box?

Speaking of Christmas, our UAB arrived.  We have our own sheets and towels, and much like TP these are the sorts of things that make a home feel comfortable.  A goal for this weekend is finding paint for the kids' bedroom walls.  Each can paint one wall, or part of a wall.  Paint, we've heard, is expensive, and after the last time when we painted 4 walls in several rooms, we decided this time to scale back.  Accent walls are all the rage.  That's what interior design magazines tell me anyway.

We received games, our medical records, cat food and litter, tupperware, dishware, water bottles, bedding... it was all welcome.  Several items broke.  Picture frames.  Several items crushed.  Not even sure how that happened as usually they were packed in rubbermaids, inside the triple walled UAB boxes.  U.S. packers are not good, that's all I can say.  So many items were simply piled into the boxes, not wrapped.  Paper padding was on the top only.  I'd packed items into rubbermaids to separate them out, but those boxes were put in the UAB boxes without any packing material in them.  Everything shook around.  We gave them the box for the coffee machine.  They packed the box.  They packed the coffee machine.  The coffee machine was not in its box. 

For as much as I complained about the waste and the weight from the packers in India, nothing broke.  Nothing was ruined.  There's something to that.  I wish there was a way to get a happy medium.  Enough paper and padding to prevent breakage without wrapping individual rubber bands.

We're settling in.  A little more each day.  No word yet on our HHE.  First the house has to absorb the UAB before I can think about where all the HHE stuff we've lived without for 6 weeks will go, and for what purpose do we have it in the first place.  I like simple living.  It's easy, even if it's at times a little frustrating.  It's more frustrating having too much stuff that constantly needs cleaning and putting away.

But that's sounds like I'm complaining, and I'm not. 

I like Amman, a lot.  I like the people I've met, I like the house, I like the Embassy grounds and all it offers.  I like that my husband is so capable and my kids are so adaptable and that the water is clean even if it can give you an upset stomach.  I like the groceries and all the options available here.  I like the ease of Amazon.com and the choices in local restaurant and clothing stores.  The city is gorgeous.  The breezes are refreshing.  The call to prayer is familiar in a way I haven't heard since middle school.

I miss part of the U.S. but we're going to be fine here. 

Probably better than fine.

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