Jordan: Petra and Joe Biden

For the past 5 days we were in Jordan visiting Dan's cousin Cara and her husband Matt, who both work for NGO's in Amman. It was an awesome trip. Not only did we get to spend some time with expat family, we got a lot of behind the scenes views of Jordan and also got to meet the Vice President of the US, Joe Biden! Here are the highlights from the first part of the trip.

PETRA

(L-R) Our intrepid leaders, Matt and Cara; Gianna stays hydrated (and looks like a giant!); the family in front of the Treasury. Gianna did a lot of hiking on her own, even in the desert heat and up steep rocks. I was proud of her and also proud of Dan for carrying her when she got tired.

JOE BIDEN

Matt and Cara had been tipped off that Biden was going to visit Petra, so we had high hopes to catch a glimpse of the US Vice President. There was a catering table set up, reporters with cameras, and as we were hiking out, a motorcade came roaring past us, kicking up dust. Joe Biden saw Dan's Phillies shirt and hat and waved to us from his suburban. After Biden was out of his SUV, we noticed secret service was not really keeping people far away, so we crept closer for better pictures. I was snapping away like the paparazzi when I realized Joe was looking right at me. I gave a large "come on over!" wave and he started walking our way. As he approached, I shook his hand and said "It is so nice to meet you! We are from Bucks County, PA", then Joe said "Oh really? So is my wife". He shook Dan's hand and asked all of us if we had been down to see the ruins yet and what we thought of Petra. Soon others were crowding around, extending their hands for a chance to touch the VP. I practically skipped all the way back to the car, grinning from ear to ear, shaking with excitement.

Easter Market

This was more like an Easter Bazaar with artisans selling all sorts of decorative eggs and Easter decorations.











The artisan in charge of the red eggs got angry at me for taking pictures, rambling on about posting the photos on the internet. So here they are, red eggs, posted on the internet for the world to see! The German lady's worst fears have come to pass! And some lovely Ukrainian style eggs on the right.







Grandma Janis would have loved to see the variety of wooden eggs. Gianna took home a sugar maple egg. And here are more Ukrainian eggs on the right (this lady also does not seem so happy that I am taking photos).
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Chocolate eggs

This was not part of the Easter market, but it's a sure sign that Easter is on it's way, quark bunnies are available at the bakeries.

The winker

After months of practice, Gianna has learned how to wink. We were eating lunch and she said "Mẹ, good noodles!" I gave her the "this is some good eats" wink and much to my surprise, she winked back! I asked her to do it again and she did it again, and again, and again, of course getting sillier with each attempt. Here she is winking over noodles, while taking a lunch break from car shopping.

Car shopping

Car shopping in Germany is much, much more enjoyable than any of my high-pressure sleazy salesman car shopping experiences in the US. There is a street in Frankfurt Ost that has pretty much every car dealership you can imagine. We hit Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Honda, and Audi, and window shopped at Porsche ;-) I found the family car of my dreams, the Mercedes B180! It was just right in every size proportion, lots of nice options, great gas mileage, and affordably priced. Of course it's not sold in the US!
>:-( That made me very grumpy.











The B180 family car of my dreams...and the slightly less dreamy Honda CRV











The BMW X3, a nice SUV similar in size to the CRV, and the Audi A3 wagon, my second choice for family car.











We didn't make it to the VW dealership, but cased our neighbor's Tiguan on the way home (left). This Mercedes (right) might not fit a car seat in the back.

Cheaper haircut

Lately I've been having occasional panic attacks over the logistics of moving back to the States. It seems to be enhancing my gray hair issue so today I checked out a 25% cheaper salon than those other guys charging €100 for cut and color. Two hours in the chair made my butt hurt, but also gave me a lot of time to think about leaving Germany. People ask me, are you happy or sad to move back? It's like breaking up with someone you've been dating for the last 14 months. The relationship was fun while it lasted. There were good days and bad, but you both knew it wouldn't last. You're from two different worlds; it just wasn't meant to be. So you break up, but promise to still be friends. Here I am staring off our back balcony mentally composing my Dear John letter. (The sun makes my hair look abnormally red!)

Snack Peppers

Today I got a bag of these "snack peppers" for €0.99. Whipping out a whole pepper to eat as a snack seems a little odd, perhaps equally as odd as the German "chocolate-covered peppers on a stick" that you can buy at festivals.

Ten things I like about Deutschland

As we start the final two months of our German adventure, the sun is shining, and I am thinking "there are definitely things I am going to miss about this place". One aspect that supersedes the list is the expat lifestyle. For me, nothing can beat the constant adventure of being a fish out of water immersed in another culture. Every day brings new experiences that leave you either laughing or crying. The extraordinary slowly becomes the ordinary and soon you find yourself becoming "one of them"! Well, on with the list.


10. Food. In this category, I include fresh produce, jam, ultrapasteurized milk in 1L cartons, spaghetti ice cream, crepes, and for Gianna and Dan, bratwurst.

9. Socialized healthcare. Our experience with healthcare in Germany has been 100% better than US healthcare. Service is fast, quality, and everything is covered.

8. Parks, playgrounds, and festivals. This is really a family-friendly city. We live two blocks from two different playgrounds, and if you read this blog at all you know there is always some sort of festival going on, especially when the weather is nice.

7. Safety. Aside from the occasional strassenraub and the drunk bums that litter the parks mentioned above, I feel much safer here than living in the US.

6. Frankfurt airport. We can include the high speed rail system here too. This is really a great base to travel throughout Europe and the world!

5. Walking Gianna to school. For 30 mins each day, both Dan and I have the pleasure of walking aside Gianna as she cruises along on her Laufräder singing songs, pointing out dogs, or asking questions about birds.

4. Asian markets. There are so many to choose from, with many products from Vietnam. I'll have to make monthly trips to NYC Chinatown to find all of our favorites.

3. Bakeries. Oh, you thought this would be number one did you?? We do have baked goods in the States, but I will really miss the German pastries.

2. Our apartment. Despite it's mini kitchen and so-so rental furniture, I am really going to miss our big apartment on the Oederweg. It has so much character; it's bright, has huge windows, a balcony, and best of all no yard to maintain.

1. Public transport. It has been convenient living close to the U-bahn and having a bus stop 1 block from the house. No, the trains are not always on time, and yes, it can be inconvenient in bad weather or when you are carrying a lot of stuff, but it beats owning a car, paying insurance, and filling it up with gas every week.

One more thing to throw on the list are the friends that I have made over the past year. Most are fellow expats, some are German, but it will be sad to say good-bye to all of them. I definitely plan to savor all the good things about Germany in the next two months.