A Memory of Things Unsaid
Normally, my parents do not let any of us children out of the house when it starts snowing. Realizing how little it usually snows, the anti-car decision might sound a bit too serious. However, a look at the humble situation of Jordanian roads, which get flooded almost immediately after rain starts falling, and at the mentality of some drivers, the decision can be seen in a different light.
I had to leave the house yesterday morning at around 11 to do something very important. It was snowing and I got to flex my new uber-chic transparent umbrella for the first time against the elements. I discovered that it is challenging to walk with a taller person under the same umbrella if I was holding the umbrella. Hmmm.
Then, after lunch, I went to the office for the last time. My managers and colleagues were throwing me a farewell party at 5:30, and I thought it was very kind of them to propose the idea. Before the party started, at around 3:30, I decided to go out to finalize some paper work and to get lunch.
It’s splendid going out in the snow. I did that for the first time in my life yesterday, thank you parents. I bought me a nice meal, cruised around in Jabal Amman looking for a place to park, and then I found a quiet street with an amazing view of Amman. The radio was on (Ahleen FM - much love) and I was in my mobile sauna, also known as Havana Brown (the car), eating and watching white descending from the heavens.
The setting stirred various emotions in me. I missed someone who played with snow shortly before she passed away, I devoured my meal with what resembled savage passion, and I felt like a child because I was so very happy to be out in the snow away from the reach of parental supervision. One would imagine I am already out of the cocoon, but I sometimes surprise myself with how childlike I get.
The party was absolutely delightful. I got introduced to people who work in different divisions in mother corporate, and I got to say goodbye to them in the same encounter as well. It was highly paradoxical, deeply entertaining, and miserable in some measure.
Farewell party, new beginnings, Havana Brown, and snow. It is that time of the year again…
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December 29th, 2006 at 9:23 am
The thing is about Jordan is that it snows maybe one time once a year. Sometimes it’s a heavy blizzard, the country shuts down, and everyone takes the day off to actually fully enjoy the snow…bask in something pure, if you will.<br /><br />This is great because the next day the snow dissapears.<br /><br />Believe me, after all the years I’ve spent in Canada, the idea that you get a single day to enjoy this element of nature is like one of those cliche movies where the character is told he has one week to live…doesn’t die in the end…but has a sudden appreciation for life. Because it’s much different when it doesnt melt…for 4 or 5 months…and you still have to get up everyday and do your thing. <br />
January 3rd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Hi Tololy! Mabruuk the freedom and the snow…and the lack of work? I saw your note ‘unemployed’ when I checked email, wondered what it meant. Did I miss a post somewhere with JP gone?
January 4th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
You know Nas, I think you made a very good point. I like the fact that it snows just enough for us Jordanians not to think we are deprived of snow, and yet not turn grumpy because snow is there all the time.<br /><br />Kinzi allah ybarek feeki. You did not miss a post about the adventure I am embarking on, because I did not write about it. It’s time for change :)<br />
January 5th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Tololy, but we’re always grumpy regardless the weather :-D<br /><br />happy new year! <br />
January 5th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Hahaha! But that’s part of our charm :)