Friday, May 3, 2013

Staying in a Resort and The Hospital


The year is winding down and several exciting things have happened.

To begin, my mom and sister came to visit. That was a lot of fun. They successfully covered all of Jordan in the span of a week. I met them at the airport and helped them rent a car and then direct them to my house. My mom got her first taste of driving in Jordan on that ride. She soon realized that she was the only person on the road using her blinker or following any signs or speed limits. After spending some days here, she equated driving to go-karts and I quite agree.

Here’s a list of all the places they saw:
- In Amman: Citadel, Roman Amphitheater, Hashem’s Falafel, Habiba’s, King Hussein Mosque, The Royal Automobile Museum, City Mall, the restaurant next to Bab Al-Yemen
- Outside Amman: Wadi Al Seer, Salt, the ruins in Jerash, Dead Sea, Madaba, Mount Nebo, The Baptism Site, Wadi Rum, Petra

The Jordan River - that's Israel on the other side

The site where Jesus was baptized

I accompanied them almost everywhere, except they did the Wadi Rum and Petra trip while I was in school. My favorite part of their trip was our stay overnight in the Dead Sea. We stayed at The Movenpick, which is the most fabulous hotel/resort I have ever stayed in. My host family has a cousin that works there so she got us a discount, which was awesome. She also gave us a wonderful fruit basket and a tray of sweets!

The resort was absolutely stunning. Our room had a balcony and wasn’t too far away from anything in the resort. The Beach Area included a summer infinity pool, a winter pool (basically a giant hot tub), a kiddie pool (complete with child-size lounge chairs), an adult infinity pool (next to a bar area), and the actual Dead Sea. I’ve never seen or swam in an infinity pool and I have to say, it’s pretty incredible.

The summer infinity pool. It's beach on one side and pool on the other side of the divider.

Sunset at the Dead Sea

I, of course, had not packed for a 5 star resort. Luckily, my sister, Queen of Fashion, had something suitable I could steal. We had a Jordanian buffet for dinner, which was delicious. I had been voting for the Italian restaurant since I have not had real Italian food in a while. But my mother pointed out she did not fly halfway across the world to eat Italian food in Jordan. She was right, but still…pasta…cheese…

These next morning we ate a breakfast buffet, which was delicious. It’s one of the things I miss the most about America. They had cereal! And doughnuts! And toast with butter! And waffles! And they made me a pancake in the shape of a turtle! They even had milk! It was wonderful.

My turtle pancake and waffles!

All in all it was great to see them and I’m so glad they were able to see what my life has been like living here.
My sister and me

My mom and me


Next adventure: Jordanian hospitals.

I ended up in the emergency room very early one morning with bad stomach pains. They did some testing and I had a parasite (entamoeba histolytica in case you were wondering) as well as a severe infection. I was in the ER for a couple hours and then they sent me on my way with five different prescriptions to take. Overall, my experience there was fine, except there was no soap in the bathroom. And no toilet seat. The toilet seat was supposed to come out and around when you pushed a button (so it would be more sanitary) except the button did not work. Slight issue.

So I went home with my medications and dozed off throughout the morning. I ate about five noodles for lunch, tried to take my post-meal medication, and I threw up. Back to the hospital. Except this time we went to a different one. They admitted me and said I should spend the night. I got hooked up to an IV and that’s where I stayed for the next 44 hours. My doctor was really awesome. He made sure I knew everything that was going on and why. The first night, after the nurse took my temperature, he called me on my cell phone to let me know that the nurse just informed him I had a slight fever and he was checking in to see how I feel. I was touched.

I had several visitors over the course of the two days. My host brother was there the most. He was really great about the whole ordeal. He brought me my laptop, movies, hairbrush, and clothes. My host mom and Lama came to visit me as well. My friend Amanda came to visit the first night when I was still not doing so hot so kudos to her for that. The mom and daughter of the family I babysit for came to visit me the second night. The girl made me a card and they brought me a pack of Kit-Kats. I want to thank everyone who came to visit – it meant a lot to me.

My get well card :)

Little tidbits about hospital #2:
- There was a cockroach in my room but the janitor came and killed it.
- They did an excellent job cleanliness-wise. My room and bathroom was mopped and wiped down twice a day. They emptied the trash even more frequently than that.
- When I had my chest X-ray, I was told to strip down to my underwear. I left my bra on because it didn’t have any metal. The technician (a male) told me I had to remove my “breast holder” as well. I found it funny, but I figure that’s probably the literal translation of the Arabic word for bra.
- I had a balcony and an excellent view of the city; however, I was connected to an IV in my bed so I couldn’t go on it often.
- The second night, I didn’t have a roommate.
- Also on the second night, two women came into my room, waved at me, and walked onto the balcony to sit. I wasn’t sure if they were patients or visitors. The next time the nurse came in I asked her who they were. She says to me “what people?” and I pointed to the balcony. She then starts talking (loudly) to them in Arabic. “Why are you here?” “We come here daily” “It’s not allowed!! Not allowed! There is a sick person here!” …So then they left.
- There are no visiting hours. You can show up almost whenever.
- There are no hospital gowns. You can wear your own clothes the whole time.

Only 9 more days and I’ll be back in the US!

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