Thursday, July 20, 2006

Ri7leh ila makhfar Ibn 3baid!

Well I was always right when i said :"waja3 il ras ma beeji illa min il s7ab"!

Lina is indeed in turmoil! Fe yom ma fiyyo daw amar Lina & I decided to go to Yarmouk university for work. While she was driving on the road she dozed off fa we ended up crashing into the van infront of us! :S We were at the traffic lights on the way to Irbid in Al 7oson & her claim was that she was eyeing a sign saying :" Baladiyyet 3ajloun tura77ib bikom!" and bam she didn't see that there was a van infront of us and into the wind we flew!

The sound effect was stronger than the action picture so the car was fine, the van was fine but of course we had to do the CROKA, i don't know how it's written bas il muhizz we were standing in the streets, in al 7oson, waiting for 3ammo il shurti! The amount of honking & staring that we got, some guy with a stupid comment: "Il 7amdilla ma sar ishi bil sayyara"!

The brave policeman came and asked Lina:" shu sar ma3ik?" 3ala asas inno lazem yi3raf iza khabtat b dafi3 ao bidoon! "Ya3ni biddek ti3mali Croka?" he ended the conversation o ya raitna ma olnalo ah. We went to make the Croka to Makhfar Ibn 3baid! Alla ysam7ik ya Lina, ana jay min Dubai 3ashan adkhol makhafer! I was reconsidering our friendship!

While we were waiting 3ashan nifta7 ma7dar, Lina & I thought of capturing the moment by taking pictures there! After we finished the paper work an officer called us into an inside office and accused us of violating the holiness of Makhfar Ibn 3baid and wanted us to delete the pictures or he'll hold us & the camera!! Hatha tili3 3baid mish galeel! I told him if he wanted to hold us yalla! Lina didn't say anything, which was smart, the dude had a gun :)

Yihdeek? yirdeek? Abadan lazem to delete them fa Lina didn't delete them but told him that she did, ya3ni mish bas bti3rafsh tsoo2 o violates the law o kaman kazzabeh......... here i was really reconsidering the friendship.

After negotiation and the humiliation that we're the Amman girls and don't know how to do anything in life we got out of the office.
What's next? Lazem nidfa3 il Croka bil 7ay il Sharqi !! il 7ay il sharqi Lina? akhkh

When we reached il '7ay' the officer there said: "la hassa ba3d il thalath sakkarna"! Could it get any worse? After negotiating again with Lina allowing her to pay I wasn't allowed in so I stayed outside and listened to the next negotiation:
- "Kunt ind doctor il snan o lamma tli3it lagait mukhalaftain 3ala il sayyara!"
-"Ashoof balla............... bain il mukhalaftain sa3a o robo3. Il muddeh il qanuniyyeh lal mukhalafeh il wa7deh robo3 sa3a!"

What?? I couldn't believe it! Does that mean that the police had to give him 5 mukhalafat??!

-"Ya3ni mfakreen inni za3lan? Sadguni mish za3lan bas khalluni adfa3hom"!
7araaaaaaaam :'(

Tayyeb we had to go back to the makhfar coz we had to get Lina's license back but how do we get back there out of il 7ay?? The officer offered to drive infront of us. Cool.

Lina, all you have to do is follow the dude & his car, easy right? wrong!!! Lina lost the dude!

Khalas it couldn't get any more ironic! He finally found us & lead us out of Irbid & wished us a safe trip back to Amman........ more than once!

What do we learn from this?? Not to ride with Lina!

I wonder what her version of the story would be :)

Friday, July 14, 2006

No place like home



It's been ages since I last blogged but living in Dubai then moving back to Jordan is not as easy as it sounds. I left Dubai 2 weeks ago not knowing if I'll ever go back there again. I didn't even finsh unpacking completely but I made sure that my room is filled with posters, pictures of friends & souvenirs to remind me of Dubai as much as possible.

I prepared myself for a cultural shock when I got back but suprisingly enough I didn't ! I'm shocked coz I'm not shocked!

Looking back after spending 7 months in Dubai i can say that


Dubai is like an entertainment park, you can never get on all the rides

Jordan has a character, aish bil zabt I can't describe but it's interesting how you notice things you never noticed before.

Indications that you are in Jordan:

1. Il 7ofar bil shaware3 zay il mar7aba
2. All greetings are "Hi keefek/ keefak?"
3. If you forgot something in a public place ra7at 3alaik
4. Everybody stares........especially at traffic lights. If they're not staring they're honking their horn
5. Everyone is talking on their mobile phones.........bti3rafu they're discussing critical issues
6. You have to manage with 5 cafes, 5 restaurants & almost all of them don't have a view
7. Most prominant conversations are: Marriage, Politics, & Hayfa Wahbi !
8. Food is the main reason for going out!
9. Most conversations end with : "isma3i lazem ni3mil ishi" or "lazem ndabber tal3a"
10. Arranging a day trip takes so much effort, you plan for 2 weeks then btitfarkash akher d2ee2a
11. Everybody is 'mashghool fadi'

12. Everyone asks you when you're getting married.
13. The world cup beeji ba3id Alla wil watan wil malik. When winning we celebrate & cheer as if it's our country winning, if we lose allah la ywarjeekom!
14. All the people look, dress & talk the same
15. Everybody is an expert when it comes to analyzing political issues
16. In summer, everybody either gets married or engaged.


I could go on & on...

When you leaves and comes back you really appreciate the country. Especially since I got the chance to visit some cities outside Amman. The little things have a flavour now. It's great to leave the nest & fly on your own & it's greater to come back & try to benefit the others. That's why I came back, I can't leave Amman. I'm excited to share my experience and better yet happy to be back with my people.

I miss Dubai but I miss more the simplicity of Jordan & Jordanians.

No place like home :)