"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." – Helen Keller
It has been another busy summer for the SixAbroad family.
We started the summer in our home here:
Followed by a few weeks in our home here:
In the mean time, our 17 year-old spent some time here:
And as I write, our hard-working dad is here:
In a few days, we’ll all meet up here :
Before heading to our newest home here:
Remember the Seinfeld episode when Jerry and Elaine go to the car rental place? Here’s a refresher. Well, today I lived my own version of Seinfeld; but I actually think that my experience topped his.
I won’t mention the name of of rental company. I would hate for them to lose any business over my bad experience. Oh darn! I already put their name in the title of this post and I have plum forgotten how to edit the title field. Dang selective memory!
So this morning, I made a reservation for a standard-sized car from a certain car rental company. The woman gladly took my reservation and asked me when I would like to pick up the car. I asked if 1:30 today would work and she assured me that it would. So at 1:30, I pulled up to the store with my 19 year-old daughter to pick up the rental. There were three other customers in the store when I entered, and another woman came in a few seconds after us. The store manager then informed us that they did not have a single car at that time. When I told him that we had a reservation, his response was, “Sorry, we’re waiting for them to bring us cars from the airport.” I asked him if he thought there might be a car available if we came back in an hour. His response, “Maybe, but I can’t guarantee it.”
So my daughter and I left and came back an hour later.
Upon our return, we noticed three cars pulling up to the store; three Budget employees then dropped off the keys to the employee working the counter and left. At the counter, there was one guy in front of us. His conversation with the female employee went something like this:
Man: Do you think you could upgrade me from the compact car I reserved to that four-door Ford outside for free?
Female Employee: Sure!
So after they completed their transaction, and the man left with the four-door Ford, it was my turn. My conversation with the female employee went something like this:
Female Employee: So here are the keys to the VW Beetle
Me: But wait, I reserved a standard-sized car, and the Beetle is a compact car.
Female Employee: Sorry, but that’s all I have.
Me: But I reserved a standard-sized car.
Female Employee: Well, if you need to get from Point A to Point B, the Beetle will get you there.
Me: As cute as that Beetle is, I have teenagers and a compact is too small for us.
Female Employee: Sorry, it’s not my fault. This is all I have. That will be $270.05.
Me: But wait. Isn’t the rental on a compact car a lot less than the standard-sized car?
Female Employee: Yes, and I can offer you a 10% discount if you would like.
Me: But wouldn’t the price difference between the compact and standard be more than 10%?
Female Employee: Yes, it’s a lot more than 10%.
Me: But you’re only giving me a 10% discount?
Female Employee: (after tinkering around with her computer for a minute) Sorry! The system won’t let me change your reservation from a standard to a compact.
Me: So, you are seriously going to make me pay for a standard – minus 10% – but only give me a compact to drive?
Female Employee: I can put a note on your reservation and my manager might be able to change it when you bring the car back in a week.
Me: But you can’t guarantee that he will make the change?
Female Employee: No. Sorry, there is nothing else I can do for you.
Whereupon, I left the store without a rental car, but smiling as I remembered that classic Seinfeld episode.
So thank you Budget, for leaving my kids and me in a lurch. We appreciate doing business with you and we look forward to many more happy exchanges with your company.
Or maybe not.
Thank you Jordan for two incredible years. Thank you for your blue skies and stunning deserts. Thank you for your dusty hills and ancient ruins. Thank you for teaching us to love falafel, kanafeh, mansef and figs. And thank you for showing us what real hummus should taste like. Thank you for your beautiful mosques and their stirring Call to Prayer. Thank you for your people, who are kind, generous and hospitable. And thank you for teaching us how peace-loving true Muslims are. You have been so good to the Hale family. You will remain in our hearts forever.
Ma’a As Salaama.
A year ago, I wrote a blog post on my daughter’s prom. If you want a refresher, here you go. But this year I’m the mom of a boy attending prom, which is a different animal. There is a whole different focus when you’re the parent of a boy going to prom. Here is how things went down:
When our 17 year-old Ben was leaving for a school trip to Vietnam a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that there were a bunch of cute girls going on his trip. This was probably a mistake on his part, because we told him to make sure he came back from Vietnam with a prom date. I’m guessing that this was the first time a parent has ever made that particular request. Goes to show, there’s a first time for everything.
Well, Ben came back from Vietnam having failed in the prom date quest (I’m pretty sure he didn’t even try.) But within two days of his return, he had a prom date (success!!!) At first I thought it was crazy that he asked a girl just three days before prom, but I’ve come to learn that that is precisely how it is done at our kids’ school. Pretty much all of the asking takes place a day or two before the dance. And there are no fancy “Promposals” like they do back in the US. Instead, a guy just walks up to a girl and ask her if she will to go to prom with him. It’s short, sweet and simple–just as it should be.
So Ben asked the beautiful and very popular Zeyna to prom. Apparently, her response was, “You awkward squirrel! Yes, I’ll go to prom with you!!” I knew there was something I liked about Zeyna!
So on Thursday night, Ben gussied himself up for his big date.
Zeyna’s parents invited a bunch of the kids and their parents over to their house before the dance for pictures.
But then, to all of our surprise and delight, Ben came home from the evening with this little memento:
When we first arrived in Jordan, almost two years ago, I was in awe of this country. Everywhere I looked was a feast for the eyes and I couldn’t soak in enough of it. Everything was so exotic and I wanted to taste and feel and see it all. This feeling of awe lasted for about six months. Also during that time, I was trying to get my feet under me; figuring out where things were and how things worked. It was frustrating at times, but it was so much fun! It felt like we were on the adventure of a lifetime. I loved those first six months in Jordan.
Then things changed for me. I knew, more or less, how to get around. I had discovered my favorite shops and markets. I was more comfortable with my surroundings. I was settled in. But for the next year, every day as I drove around Amman I would think to myself, I can’t believe I get to live here! I can’t believe I get to experience this country on a daily basis! I’m the luckiest person in the world! I loved that time in Jordan.
But around the year and a half mark, things changed for me again. That feeling of awe started to dissipate. I no longer thought of Jordan as exotic. Those feelings were replaced with a feeling of complete peace and serenity with my surroundings. Jordan had become home. Ironically, I’m still illiterate and I still can’t understand the majority of what people around me are saying. Nevertheless, Arabic is now home to me. So is the call to prayer, hummus, and the constant dust that settles on everything. They are every bit as home to me as the mountains, Five Guys burgers, and chirping robins of Utah.
Jordan is my home; and I have to leave it in 24 days. I don’t know if I’ll ever return to Jordan. I went through the exact same process and timeline in Taiwan and as a Mormon missionary in Italy. I’m still mourning both of those countries–both of those homes. And I’m starting the process of mourning Jordan.
And I’m pretty sure that in three years from now, I’ll be mourning South Africa too.
Spring break in Egypt. March 2015.
The weather in Amman is generally great. The blue skies and pleasant temperatures invite you to get outside and walk around. Unfortunately, it’s hard to walk around Amman. Cars park on the sidewalk and they plant bushes right in the middle of the walkways. In other places there are no sidewalks at all. But we try our best to get out and walk around our neighborhood. Here’s a little walk we did while the kids were at school and we had the day off work (It was Palm Sunday).
Six Abroad 