After a month of trainings and holidays spent in Amman, I have decided that I should stay in my village for the next few weeks to hang with my fellow Shobakians and work on my work. Of course, the only appropriate way to begin such a stint is to go grocery shopping.
To buy any groceries, including such Arabic staples as bread, vegetables, and fruit, I must go to a nearby village by car/taxi. I try to only go there a little less than once a week, considering that my stipend doesn't exactly include transportation and I've been pinching pennies since I replaced my holey shoes and manseff-tightened exercise pants.
When I got to Shobak, it was pretty normal.... the post office was closed (at 2.15...), and everyone asked how Peter is (another volunteer - everyone confuses me with his wife). One older taxi driver even stopped me to chat about a volunteer a half-hour away.
So I headed into the government subsidized grocery store to find three women who immediately began to talk about me, how I'm the ajnebiiya in the nearby village, etc. In the dark (the electricity was out) I filled my cart with all the necessities that I've been ignoring for the past month after saying "assalaamu alaikum" to the woman who worked there. About 20 minutes later when I went to check out, the woman laughed at me... "How are you going to buy those if the power's out?".... good question. Thanks for telling me before I spent that time and energy wandering the dark aisles!
Guess I'll try again next week!
To buy any groceries, including such Arabic staples as bread, vegetables, and fruit, I must go to a nearby village by car/taxi. I try to only go there a little less than once a week, considering that my stipend doesn't exactly include transportation and I've been pinching pennies since I replaced my holey shoes and manseff-tightened exercise pants.
When I got to Shobak, it was pretty normal.... the post office was closed (at 2.15...), and everyone asked how Peter is (another volunteer - everyone confuses me with his wife). One older taxi driver even stopped me to chat about a volunteer a half-hour away.
So I headed into the government subsidized grocery store to find three women who immediately began to talk about me, how I'm the ajnebiiya in the nearby village, etc. In the dark (the electricity was out) I filled my cart with all the necessities that I've been ignoring for the past month after saying "assalaamu alaikum" to the woman who worked there. About 20 minutes later when I went to check out, the woman laughed at me... "How are you going to buy those if the power's out?".... good question. Thanks for telling me before I spent that time and energy wandering the dark aisles!
Guess I'll try again next week!
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