Eid Holiday

Another friend dropped by this week and will spend some two weeks with us. I am really looking forward to the time we can spend together as he is a good friend from back in law school. Unfortunately I have to travel on business and of course this is exactly over the end of Ramadan, when the Muslim world celebrates Eid Al Fitr and we have four days off… During Eid all Muslim world travels, so because of that my wife and I decided to enjoy Amman and stay here. We are planning to enjoy the pool (yes!! We finally managed to have it up and running!). The pool is an own science I tell you…luckily enough I am also a laboratory technician and kind of used to use chemicals but honestly, it is quite difficult to get the right pH and the right level of chlorine as well as no algea in the water…the pool needs constant supervision! But nevertheless it is fun to have one.
Ramadan is almost over and it passed really fast and without any problem. You really feel a difference in the traffic…traffic is “demanding” during all other month but during Ramadan it becomes “REALLY demanding”! You just have to really pay attention and my wife and I minimized to drive around in general but especially during late afternoon. Otherwise it was nice and it is really nice to see how everybody cares and gives to poor and underprivileged people. There are a lot of initiatives and volunteering activities going on and you can help everywhere. We collected money in the office for our janitors as they do not have high salaries in order that they can also enjoy Ramadan. Sometimes it is a small thing that makes another person’s life nicer even if only for a moment…

The “holiday season” is open again at Bayt Lelli (Arabic for "House Lelli"; in Arabic houses where there is something e.g. a restaurant usually have a name). Anyway, my friend just arrived, he will be followed by an aunt and cousin of my wife, followed by my brother in law, followed by others (i will tell you later ;-). A friend of mine asked to come but we were already booked and I had to ask him to reschedule his trip… it is incredible that so many people dropped and are still dropping by! We really love to have people around and we try to make everything in order that they have a really good time. Especially as Jordan has so many things to offer and usually people have no idea and imagination that goes beyond Petra and the Dead Sea… so it is our self declared mission to show our friends all the other nice thing of this country :-)

During Ramadan Muslims break their fasting at dawn and it is called “Iftar”. That’s when you sit down and eat. Traditionally you break your fasting by drinking a sip of water and eating a date. The other day when I was waiting for my friend it was exactly the time of the prayer at dawn and a person in the waiting area offered me also a date and wished me a blessed Ramadan. It is those little things that make you feel welcome in this country… people care and share if they can. Especially during Ramadan. We followed the tradition and invited twice friends to our place (although nobody was fasting) but it was just nice to sit together and enjoy our time together…

I am now sitting again in an airport and am waiting for my plane... I am looking forward for the nice days off!

This goes to all my colleagues who read this blog for the first time (because they saw my link to this blog in my presentation...) Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoy it and you will keep reading it!

Take good care wherever you are in this world! A big hug from Amman (actually from Frankfurt Airport to be really precise ;-)