Buckeyes, God, and an Apartment

The past couple of days have been undeniably stressful. The moving out and moving into the hotel on top of homesickness and the general stress of transitions has made the past few days very difficult. I would be lying if I said that the thought to just give up didn't cross my mind. I was having trouble sleeping so I tried calling home- which I couldn't get to work. Fortunately, I text my mom and she called back using a calling card and eventually skype. Skype and my mom are two of my favorite things right now. Anyway, I was essentially having a crisis of faith in myself. After talking for a while, I took some NyQuil to clear up my congestion and help me fall asleep. I slept pretty well. I got up and had breakfast in the hotel. I was still so stressed that I had little of an appetite at this point but I ate a hard boiled egg and a miniature chocolate croissant. After sitting for a few minutes, I went back up to the room to get ready to go back to the Fulbright House to do some apartment hunting. My crisis of faith in myself was creeping back in. I probably used a half dozen techniques from any self-help book to psych myself up. I eventually googled "encouraging Bible verses" - mom, you must be so proud. I came upon Psalm 145:18: "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." Boy, was I calling! This is an integral part of this blog post which is why I bother to share.

So, after trying to adopt a "Paula, you can do this" mindset, I went downstairs to meet Betsy, Zach, Shadea, Rebekah and Leila. All of us were headed to the Fulbright House to try and find an apartment. We got there and I went to speak with Alain (the director of the Binational Fulbright Commission in Jordan aka the Fulbright House). Alain had originally advised me about moving out of my Jabal Amman apartment. He was aware of my situation and I updated him that I had received an email from the apartment tenets asking for "financial and emotional compensation." Alain was very helpful in sorting out what to do etc. He was also very encouraging when I let out how stressed, overwhelmed and homesick I was feeling. Essentially, Alain is great. 

After my pep talk from Alain, I went with the other girls to a very nearby apartment building- maybe two or three blocks away right across from the Bird Garden (where there are geese and roosters in captivity). The landlord showed us three available apartments. The three were similar in layout but different in decor. Leila and Rebekah decided to move into an apartment on the third floor. Betsy, Shadea and I decided to take an apartment on the second floor. The apartment is three bedrooms, 1.5 baths with a very spacious living/ sitting/ dining room and a pretty fully stocked kitchen. Additionally, since it is three people the rent is only 200JD per person per month (I had seen much smaller places for 250-300 JD per person per month). All of us girls went back to the hotel to get our things together and check out. The bellboys helped us get three cabs to take us and all of our luggage to the apartment building. It was a chore getting everything up the 2 and 3 flights of steps. Once we did, the landlord, Jaleel, came to give us a set of keys and answer a few of our questions. Jaleel is a very sweet man of maybe 65 years old. He speaks decent English and was very excited to rent two apartments in one day. 

Then, the three of us put together a shopping list of things we would need- mainly groceries. Then we walked to the Food City, a grocery store about 3 blocks away. As we walked in, a heard Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing. If you know me, you know that this is my go-to whistling tune and in fact probably the only thing I actually whistle. Sign? I think so. We did our grocery shopping in about an hour and checked out with a 67JD bill ($93) for a good amount of food and other supplies for three people. We are bargain shoppers. We had too much to carry back by ourselves so we got a cab to take us back to the apartment. 

A little while later, Betsy and I walked to the ATM while Shadea took a nap. Jaleel requires three month's worth of rent up front. Essentially, we each owe him 600JD by Monday or Tuesday. This is pretty typical. Most landowners want a year's worth up front but Jaleel has dealt with Fulbrighters before so he knows the procedure. On our walk back from the ATM, Betsy and I looked down and saw BUCKEYES on the ground! Can you believe it? Buckeyes! Another sign? I'll say yes.

The BUCKEYE!

Shortly after getting back to the apartment, Jaleel's daughter came up to our apartment and installed wireless internet! Yay! She said that the internet would cost us 41 JD per person per year. What a great deal! Now I can skype, chat and email from the apartment! Glorious.

Kitchen 2

Shortly after, the three of us left to visit Betsy's former host family- a single mom, Janet and her 16 year old daughter Lara. They welcomed all three of us into their home with open arms. They were very curious about us and what we were going to be doing. Lara reminds me of a typical teenage girl. She plays basketball, she wants sillybands and she loves learning new English words and American phrases. 

My bedroom

Hallway

After the visit, us three girls went to get dinner at Lebnani Snack where I had fatoosh and mango with strawberry juice. It was great. After a long day, we walked back to our apartment and crashed. 

Dining Area

Half Bath

Yoga Room

I need to continue to remind myself that this was never meant to be easy. And, as a great friend once told me, the more unsavory the experiences the more shaping they will prove to be.

Living Room Part 2

Living Room part 1

 

 

 

Dining Area

Kitchen 1