Off to Aqaba

Rain is over and business of cancels / reschedules is over. Amman has a bit of sun today. We are off to Aqaba in search of warmth.

Imam gets up early

We were awakenedfor prayer early this morning. I remembered my first morning in Tunisia 45 years ago. Jeez, where did the time go?

The weather is warm with gentle rain. Much to see.

Jordan :-)

Late planes, but we are here in Amman, actually in a very nice hotel in Madaba, which is outside of Amman. People are very helpful and friendly. No Egypt. Planes are not flying in there. There are Egyptians who work here. I feel sorry that they have to watch all the trouble going on in their country.

Goodbye Snow

We are leaving in a couple of hours. I am not sure yet about Egypt. I still haven't packed but I will right now. .

Egypt is still a question mark. We will see what we do once we are in Amman where we go first. Right now the Egyptian government has shut down cell phone and internet in Egypt to try to quell the protests. Mubarak is really stupid. He does not realize that NOTHING will drive today's youth to violence faster than taking away their electronic toys. He'll find out. He should have had my job then he would know better. If he does not wise up fast those angry technophiles will be storming his quarters with a vengeance and they will throttle him plenty until he returns Facebook access to them.

Snow Mounds Too High for Shoveling

After last night's addition, I can not throw the snow high enough. The mounds are much taller than I am. I have no idea how we will get to the airport tomorrow. We just may use public transportation. That is a small problem compared to the situation of people who are trapped under collapsed roofs.

Meanwhile I still have to pack.

Snow and Snafus

Bruce is working on getting the electricity fixed. It failed this morning. If the electricity is not on pretty soon I will be leaving with no laundry done ;-) Meanwhile everyone here is waiting on yet more snow which will arrive this afternoon. Weathermen are talking about as much as 10 inches. My question is where are we going to put it? Maybe they should just shut this city down for a couple of weeks. Otherwise, they will have to start shipping snow out to the suburbs.

It may be good if we are snowed in. Egyptian demonstrators are still taking to the streets despite a government prohibition against all protest. The demonstrators are demanding that President Mubarak step down. This is not likely to happen.

Electricity is fixed! Bravo.

Count Down

Jeez. Everything is great! Last night Young and Maddie trated us to delicious "Rib Eye Steaks with Chipotle Butter". Today I am alone safe in my cozy nest listening to the news on tv and playing on my computer, but in a few days I will be with Bruce somewhere in the desert in a flea-bitten, bed-bug-infested, grim, cold, hotel room, praying that the Tunisian domino effect has not gotten to Jordan yet. I wonder if I can get my job back ;-)

The weather will be better there than in New England. However the coldest I've ever been was in Tunisia when classrooms had no heat. We all wore our coats and sometimes wool gloves, esp. first period which was very cold after a night without the 40 +/- human furnaces running. Winter time some students, especially the boarders from the hinterland, would wear their hand woven wool djellebas w/ the hoods on. These kids always made me mad because the rest of us were denied the radiant heat from their heads.

I have done almost no research for this trip. We are in each country for such a short time that for me it is a no-brainer what to see. Today I have to pick up a couple of things, get my hair cut, and do a trial pack. I will refine my computer - I set up a special homepage w/ weather and info about each country - that is a fun project. My biggest fear is when Bruce sees how light my luggage bag is, he tries to saddle me with his crap. Bruce brings a leather toilet kit filled with all sorts of junk he won't use. I bring a tooth brush, comb and a bar of laundry soap in a baggie.

Getting Ready

Well, it is time to seriously think about getting ready. No more studying my recently downloaded Malaysian food vocabulary glossary or hanging out on Facebook chatting with Malaysian Chef Norman about his fantastic recipes. Norman's restaurant in Manchester, England is my next destination and come March I am going to be hitting Super 8 to pick up Turmeric Root and the 9 other spices Norman uses for his curry powder to duplicate some of his recipes.

Today I finally opened up our new Canon S95 and did some test photos. Wow! The S95 sure is a neat camera. It does video too. You just have to trust David Pogue whose review inspired me to purchase it last November. So far I love everything about it except that when how you hold the S95 you must avoid impeding the flash located just where you want to hold on. Oh well. Nothing is perfect. Below is a short test of how well it shoots vids. Not bad at all.