Shopping, Falafels, and Toilet Sprayers

Went out this morning to the equivalent of a downtown shopping area. It is near the tourist area of town and is in close proximity to the beach and massive Jordanian flag. We stopped into a local place with outdoor seating and enjoyed a series of traditional Jordanian dishes. The main component was a flat little bread that you would then dip into a collection of hummus with different goodies in the middle. The other staple food was the falafels that you would place in the bread and dip into the hummus mix. Honestly, the aesthetic appeal is just not there for me, but I want to try everything while I am here and it actually was quite enjoyable. We finished the typical breakfast, which often is not eaten until 10:00, with tea and a mango fruit smoothie.

Then went and walked around the local shopping area, in pursuit of hair clippers, an alarm clock, and aloe. Through the shopping area, most stores had the exact same offerings, but the Arab people find pride in owning their own stores. However, many of the stores had some quality offers such as Croc shoes, American watches and Jergens lotion. Then about every third store is a shop called "Ducans", that are basically mini 7-elevens that sell cheap sodas and 2 liter water bottles. With the extreme heat, water is a must and a huge 2 liter jug is only 500 fils, the equivalent of 75 cents.

So every Sunday, we have a meeting with the believers from around the area. It was a powerful time of fellowship and encouraging one another. There were about 8 of us, most from the US and two from South America. It is fun to hear stories and how each person arrived where they are now. One of the guys is a flight instructor for Jordanian flight school and has been here for the past three years. A different but effective avenue as a tent maker of sorts.

While at the meeting, I took a restroom break and arrived in the hottest bathroom of all time. I did my thing as soon as possible and noticed an interesting contraption on the back of the toilet bowl. I knew it was a bidet of sorts and wanted to figure out how to us it. As I was standing, facing the toilet I pressed down on the side of the unit and a large stream of dirty water launched out and sprayed all over my pant leg. You might want to write this down: Do not push down the bidet button while standing in front of the toilet!