Day 1 of work completed successfully. Boss was surprised to see me in office before 8:00am and made it clear I wasn't expected to remember anything she said. Much of the day spent filling forms and getting logged in.
High point of day: getting through to Duffy and telling her I arrived safely.
2nd highest point of day: discovering my government-issued cell phone in Amman is a BlackBerry! (In fact, this posting is actually coming to you from said device).
Thursday is the last day of workweek here, and is celebrated beside the embassy pool with an all-night steak feast, complete with mashed potatoes, cigars and beer, all of which I managed to keep away from my suit, miraculously. After I was caught nodding off at the table (it was 9:30pm after all!), my sponsor drove me home.
The drive home is a curious thing here, as I still have no idea how to get myself home. My 2 gracious sponsors know where I live - they stocked my kitchen before I even arrived. But streets here are ungridded and unnamed. Today (Friday), after so generously driving me to Carrfour's for groceries, clothes hangers, and an electric razor, even my sponsor needed an extra lap around the neighborhood to find the correct route.
There is a restaurant delivery service (think "Take Out Taxi") whose specialty is figuring out where folks live. The first order is a long, drawn out ordeal and something of a leap of faith, but once you're in their system, you'll willingly pay the extra $2 to avoid the hassle again.
This is truly the first time since high school that I've felt so disadvantaged by not having a car. People here say the best way to learn your way around is to get in your car and get yourself lost - something you just can't do in a cab. And it's unwise to take a cab somewhere if you can't get yourself home again!
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4 comments:
Dan - David F from class told me that he used a GPS device to mark where is Amman apartment was so that when they got lost on the way back from Safeway they could at least say "we need to go 2 miles east"
Dan, you are so funny. I enjoy reading your blog everyday. Enjoy your time in Amman. Have a great day tomorrow.
Lol, thanks for adding me to your blog as a friend.
lol. That was funny. And I thought that I have a good sense of direction. If I pass all the FSO procedure and actually get myself aboard, I think I will be lost a bit like you Dan. :)
Good to know we will get a blackberry! No wonder Hilary Clinton was so determined to go against UAE and Saudi Arabia.
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