Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Settling in.

School is in full gear.  Ian is at work.  The house is coming together (though it sounds like I need to punch it up a notch, I hear tales of hosting poker this weekend??  Still can't see the dining table...).

I figured I'd do a slightly updated 10 Things I Like About Our Life in Amman

1) Driving is easy.  Even when it's bad, it's easy.  A 10 minute drive may take 20 minutes but... it's 20 minutes.

2) Vet care is decent an affordable.  We caught a big tomcat in a borrowed humane trap and had him fixed.  Since he's a stray it cost 15JD ($20).  That cat gave us a seriously dirty look when we released him in the yard last night.

3) The weather is still wonderful.  We often drive with the windows open, except in late afternoon.  Of course not when stuck in traffic, there are some serious emissions issues, but with regular driving the windows go down.

4) The school bus picks up all 4 of my kids at the same time, and they all go to the same school, and the stop is at our front door.  Every kid who takes the bus gets a personal pickup.  We had it good with Saunders too as the bus stop was in front of our house as well as all our other posts.  I'm happy to continue that tradition.

5) Mail can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.  School supplies I ordered last week arrived yesterday.  A shirt Rebecca ordered more than a month ago arrived yesterday.  It's like Christmas.  I've forgotten most of the items I've ordered by the time they arrive anyway.

6) Grocery shopping is easy.  There are a number of options, all with pros and cons, though I usually pick convenience over anything else. Hello Spinneys. Proximity to home? check. Hours? check.  Ease of parking? check.  Ease of getting groceries? check. Ease of using VAT card? check.

7) The Embassy club and the Embassy itself.  A place to hang out, talk to people, let the kids swim or hit the playground, get a snack.  I've taken on the CLO library, just keeping it together as people take and return books.  It's fun.  I like pretending I'm a librarian type.  And they just got a new bookshelf donated!

8) The American Community School.   The kids have a block schedule (4 classes on day 1, different 4 classes on day 2, repeat), and a 15-35 minute break between every set of classes.  They can go outside any time between classes, eat lunch outside, play outside. See #3. There are no lines to go through the hallways.  They like their teachers and their classes.  Of course, every kid has a teacher that isn't their favorite but that continues the lesson "you won't always like everyone, but you remain respectful and do the work anyway."

9) Freedom for the kids.  Because I'll know more and more of the kids and the kids' parents, my offspring receive the benefit of having more freedoms.  It's a welcome turn of events for them.

10) Quiet.  I have plenty of quiet time to myself now.  It's something I miss during the summer.

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