Those Surreal Snapshots of Daily Life

Okay, so I didn't finish this one before dashing off to Dubai for two days (and NO, I wasn't shopping, ya rayt...). But, here it is. The things that are made for movie moments of my life in Jordan.

So, my pal NasEr tagged me with a very interesting post. It's one of those things that should bear a good bit of thought. But, if I take the time for thought, it'll probably never get done. So, I'm diving right in here. NasEr calls these his movie moments. You know when you're doing something that you never would have expected and do a double-take to make sure they're real. Sort of "pinch me" moments... So, let's see what I can come up with:



Sheep

Okay, somehow several of my surreal moments have to do with livestock.


The first one is the day that I failed to be even mildly surprised to see an entire herd of sheep blocking the road outside my house. Yep, that's right. 50 head of sheep wandering trough blocking traffic barely warranted a "Look Beans, there are sheep outside."


Second would have to be the day that I saw sheep crossing airport highway on the elevated crossing bridge while their shepherds risked life and limb dashing across the road itself (leaps of high barriers taken in stride).



Americans Are Taking Over

Finding a group of gals from Alabama in Amman is certainly surreal. Finding that they are pretty much all veiled Muslims an equal surprise. However, the truly surreal thing is that whenever I get together with them, I feel like they're just like me. Normal (well, okay THEY'RE normal, me not so much), fine, Americans - in Amman. Who'da thought it?


When we first got here, I found myself noticing the blonds in the crowd more than anyone else. Little did I expect that a mere few years into our experience, I'd stop calling them out in my mind and start looking, instead, for faces I know.



Amman, the Small Town

Amman is a city of 4 million. I never expected to think of it as a small town. But the first time I went to a professional association only to find someone I not only know, but who is related to El 3atal's family, well I knew it then.


Petra is 3 hours away from Amman and we go maybe 1-2 times a year. And, yet, one of those times, I bumped into a friend of a friend who I've met once. How surreal is it to be at a huge tourist destination and bump into someone from little old Amman?



Traffic

Because no conversation about Jordan may be had without talking about traffic...


My biggest pinch me moment so far has been when I look up and realize I can predict which way the crazy lane meanderer is going to go. Something in the tilt of the head and the part of the hair and I just KNOW where they're going. It must be some sort of universal truth I've managed to tap into...



Food

Thinking rice and bread in the same meal isn't a starch overload (or at least not a comment-worthy one).

Okay, that's enough for now... If I don't post it this moment, I probably never will!

Happy movie moments!