First Impressions

We have arrived!  All 15 pieces of luggage and ourselves are intact.  The magnitude of what we are doing is still too enormous to comprehend.  We began with our 12 hour flight out of Detroit to Amman.  We were definitely the only non-Arab passengers on the entire plane.  Seeing women in full burqas with gloved hands and slits for eyes was a reality check of where we were headed.  The flight went extremely smooth for having a 19 month old with no place to run or play.  He did great.  Can't say the same for both Shanna and I, as we struggled to sleep when needed to make the 7 hour time adjustment. It's weird to fly at 10:30 am, then halfway through the flight, it is all of a sudden turns dark and "night" has begun.

We were greeted at the airport by our superintendent, elementary school principal, and human resources manager, along with a cadre of drivers and helpers.  They whisked us away in our own bus and took us immediately to our new apartment.

Initial Impressions:

- Driving in from the airport, I noticed groups of camels out in the desert.
- Every building looks the same.  Four or five stories, and every building is beige!
- Driving is absolutely crazy.  I thought Rwanda was extreme, this seems ten times worse.
- There were sheep on the overpass into town.
- Amman is extremely hilly.
- Arab people are very friendly and love little kids, especially non-Arab kids
- Our apartment is beautiful.  (Pictures to come later)

- Here is a sample pic of Amman.