Home Sweet Home

Heather and I live in a furnished apartment near the University of Jordan in northwest Amman. The Ahliyyah School for Girls is located slightly southeast of central Amman, about a 1 and a half dinar cab ride. In fact… pretty much everything worth going to is located about 1 and a half dinar by cab away.

The neighborhood we live in is, according to Melissa, a little more conservative than some areas of Amman, but we haven’t had any trouble walking around. We are usually the only girls not decked out in headscarves in our area, but you learn to get used to that. We also have a row of shops, pretty much anything we need on a daily basis, within five minutes walking distance from the door of our apartment.

Now. The apartment itself. My room is one of three bedrooms (there are three of us, so that works out nicely), which are all about the same size. My king-sized bed (sounds nice, doesn’t it?) is actually two twin-sized beds pushed together (ok, not so nice) with about a three-inch gap in between. I stuffed a blanket down in the gap, but needless to say, it’s still a bit lumpy. I usually sleep just to the right of the gap, which works fairly well. Maybe I’m just a hard sleeper. This leaves plenty of room for my computer, JaJa my stuffed monkey and a book to sleep on the other side of the bed. The rest of the room comes equip with two wardrobes, a nightstand and a dresser. Luxury!

The bathroom I share with Heather (we have two bathrooms, but Nadia gets her own in her room) is decently roomy but severely lacking in counter space. I keep the necessities in there and set up a “bathroom” shelf in my room with everything else that doesn’t need a sink. The water pressure also leaves something to be desired, but at least the water is hot. As long as I remember to turn on the hot water roughly 20 minutes before I want to take a shower that is. That will be fun in the wintertime!

We have a living room, complete with a television that sometimes works, a dining room, a kitchen and a balcony. We even have all the latest amenities such as a refrigerator, a stove and an oven! All gas lit, except for the refrigerator. That could be counterproductive. And if we want to use the microwave, we can wander into our next-door neighbors flat to use theirs. Not a bad gig, considering.

But the best part of our apartment is that it comes furnished with a kitten! Just what I wanted! Actually, no, our landlord didn’t supply us with a kitten. But our next-door neighbors have a new kitten, and they let us borrow her when we feel the urge to have our hands and forearms shredded. I’m mostly kidding. She does a bit of skin shredding, but she’s a cutie, and she takes the edge off me missing my two well-behaved children who are staying with their grandparents for the year back in Texas.

A bed, a bathroom, a stove I’m learning to light without losing a finger… and a kitten. What more could I want?