Monday, February 9, 2009

Let me upgrade you...

Last Friday we moved out of the Al Manar Hotel and into our apartments. I have two roommates. Our apartment is fairly close to the University of Jordan. It's within walking distance, though it certainly isn't a very fun walk with all of the traffic.

Our apartment is really, really nice. It’s nicer than any student housing I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s nicer than my house. The rooms are really large and spacious. Everything is bright and the furniture is nice and new. We have a kitchen with all the necessary equipment. However, to remind us we’re in Jordan, we have a gas stove with the gas tank right next to it. Starting it up is kind of intimidating, especially the oven. We can only keep the heat on for a couple hours a day, since we only have a limited supply. Luckily it’s pretty warm here, so it’s not a very big deal.

The bathrooms are also really clean, and also a bit different than those back home. Water is an important commodity in Jordan, and the sewage system is apparently very antiquated. You don’t flush toilet paper, you throw it in the wastebasket. All the bathrooms, even a lot of public ones, have bidets (if you don’t know…wikipedia). The shower’s are also really low flow, but ours are very clean. Public bathrooms are another matter, however. They’re for the most part really disgusting and to be avoided, even the ones at the University of Jordan. We haven't figured out how to use the hot water yet, so showering has been unpleasant.

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