What I've discovered about Jordan in our first week here

 1. Driving- There are usually no painted lanes here, lots of traffic circles, merging is AGGRESSIVE,  speed bumps on the main roads, cars stop or park where ever they please, people are very brave and walk right into traffic (you can see in the picture below a man in the middle of traffic), and long signal lights! 

I'm not allowed to drive the government vehicle Josh is using. Beside missing the freedom to go where and when I want, I can't say I am sad to be missing out on the experience of driving here. It's scary enough being the passenger. 

 2. Mosques-  They are everywhere! We have one by our house and they are loud. They have a prayer song that plays several times a day (and through the night). The picture below is of the King Abdullah I Mosque. It is sometimes called the blue mosque. 

3. Food- I have been surprised at the food items I'm having a hard time finding. 

Milk- every time we try to buy fresh milk we end up with like a watery greek style yogurt. I've just been using powdered milk.

Baking soda- still can't find this one! Surly Jordanian need it too, right?

Wheat flour- I've only found very small expensive bags. 

Trash cans- Okay, so not food, but can't find one that is not stupidly expensive! 

Cereal- It's about $8.00 a box!

Salted butter- Apparently they don't believe in the deliciousness of salted butter.

Cilantro- I guess I'll be growing this one.

 Some of the food are quite different than in the States. 

These tiny tomatoes Katie is holding are wonderful and sweet!

The zucchini is teeny and delicious! 

We love the bell peppers here. 

 We got some figs. They are pretty good. Similar to a kiwi, I think. 

Hyrum inspecting the veggies with us.
A friend told me about a market that you order online and they deliver it to your door. I love it and they have great produce (except for the strawberries, they were tine and sad).  

 The potatoes are normal sized but yellow on the inside and more moist. Very yummy!

 Hannah loves the tiny apples, bananas, and juicy oranges. The watermelons are also very good here.

My bag of flour. 

Hyrum's formula. 

 Sugar (it's not as fine as it is in America)

 Arab version of top roman. There are 3 spice packets inside each. A normal flavoring packet, chili powder, and an oil with some sort of oriental spices in it. 

 

4. Granite, tile, and stone EVERYWHERE!- I thought I likes granite, but holy cow is it slippery (especially when it's wet)! It is pretty much all our flooring in our house, the stairs, it's on walls, it's inside, outside, EVERYWHERE! 

5. Shopping carts- This is defiantly one American item I really miss. The carts here look like our carts but all the wheels are spinning wheel. It is so hard to make them go straight. I tried pushing one last night while holding Hyrum and was zig zaging down the isle. I passed a Jordanian mom holding her child and with one hand pushing her cart in a straight line. I was very impressed. 

6. Cats- They are everywhere! They are all super skittish. We had a mamma cat a a few kitten in our back yard a few days ago. The kids love it. None of them are friendly. 

7. Prices- $ to JD is about $1.50 USD to every $1.00 JD. Things are so much more expensive here! Very little is cheaper than the states. 

8. Bright!- Most buildings are white or off white so it seems so much brighter here.

9. Friendly-  Jordanians are for the most part super friendly and love kids. They love to take pictures with the kids. 

10. Water- In our back yard we have stairs (slippery granite) that lead to the boiler room. There is is big cistern in there and we have to go check where our water level is so we don't run out. We also have to check the amount of diesel fuel for the house in there too.
We can only drink the filtered water.