Returning to Jordan from DC is akin to returning to school after summer break–it’s painful, traumatic, and the last few days of ‘summer’ are ruined from the impending doom on the horizon. To Raj’s credit, he anticipated a case of the ‘Jordan Blues’ and planned a two night layover in London in hopes of counteracting my mood. (Smart man; it worked, at least temporarily.)
We had a great three weeks in Old Town, Alexandria. Reintegration into American culture took all of one second as we were greeted with smiling faces and people driving in an orderly fashion. The highlights of the trip included:
- running OUTSIDE, along the Potomac River
- going to yoga EVERYDAY
- walking about town, wearing whatever I pleased
- shopping at my favorite stores
- eating at Cheesetique, multiple times
- getting my hair done by my favorite stylist
- eating Greek yogurt
- seeing friends
- catching up on all of my favorite TV shows
- and much, much more…
London was fun, despite my trepidation of returning. We enjoyed an afternoon at the National Gallery followed by one of the two things Raj had requested: fish and chips for dinner on the first night and Indian food on the second. The second day we spent at the British Museum followed by a stroll through Harrods. After working up an appetite from all of the walking, Raj was on a mission to find an Indian restaurant to make up for the terrible meal the night before. On a doorman’s recommendation, we headed to Victoria station. We got out of the station across the street from the Apollo Victoria Theatre and saw signs for Wicked. Raj, continuing on with his quest to make me forget where we would be heading to soon, spontaneously inquired about tickets for that evening’s show. We bought tickets and headed out to find the Indian restaurant. Dinner was terrible, but it didn’t matter; Raj got his fix. Wicked was great, as were our seats.
We landed back to Jordan on Thursday evening, attended the Marine Ball on Friday, and now I’m prepping up for a Thanksgiving feast, Jordan style, this week. I’ve promised Raj that I’ll try to be more positive and that I’ll post more than once a month now that I’m no longer ‘working.’
Jen Maan in Amman 
Oh, how I’ve missed your posts! I’m glad you got to take a break from Jordan and feel at home at least for a little while. A Thanksgiving meal abroad will prove challening, but I hope you two have a wonderful holiday :o) I do not have to cook this year! I’ll have to make my homemade cranberry sauce though. I never trust others not to open a can.
I tried Yoplait’s Greek yogurt and loved it. I’m sure there are others out there even better. What is your favorite brand of Greek yogurt in the States?
Thanksgiving won’t be the same here. I went to two stores today looking for pumpkin puree. All I could find were pumpkins and I’m not about to go through the process of making puree from pumpkins. This is just the beginning of the quest too…I haven’t even begun to look for cranberries or the rest of the fixings…oh well. Enjoy your year off cooking. I thought this would be my year off too and that we’d go to Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant or hotel, but I can’t find any offering holiday meals.
My favorite Greek yogurt is Chobani, but I also love Trader Joe’s brand. I’ve tried the Yoplait version. It’s good too.
I’ve enjoyed your gratitude posts on FB. How are your UoP classes going?
Thank you with regard to the gratitude posts. A friend does it every year and I thought I’d give it a go this year. It is actually very rewarding to post about things I’m grateful for! A way to smell the roses, if you will.
I’m going to try your favorite Greek yogurts too so I can enjoy what else is out there. My daughter Jenna loves it too but she didn’t like it when I used one to make a smoothie in the Bullet. I thought it was great! She wants me to buy those packaged banana-frothy smoothie mixes. I just can’t bring myself to do it because it’s all sugar. I’d rather her drink a Danimals yogurt drink. (Now I’ll have to go check the sugar content on THAT.)
Nutrition class in UoP right now. Hence, worrying about how much sugar may be in a Danimals! This class is tough! I like that we do one course at a time, allows you to really focus on that content alone. They are condensed, though, so it’s a course every 5 weeks. I had a 6-week break before this course started two weeks ago, and the break was nice, but I did lose some momentum. Took me the whole first week to feel like I was in the groove again. I have a four-month break in February. I plan to work on all my voluntary hours, CPR and other tasks that are outside the online course work. Four months is a loooooong stretch to be off! However, most of the teachers at the kids’ school have new books that need to be AR marked, and our library could use some extra work. I’m only in there one hour a day and that is barely enough to check books in and out, put books away. If I can pick up court reporting work in the mornings, I’ll grab that too. Anything to stay focused on the prize of this additional education journey I never thought I’d be doing again! Thank you for asking.
Do you plan to work again while you are abroad? I would be crocheting too many blankets, I think. It’s one of the few activities I’ll sit still for! :o)
Have a wonderful day!
Well, it’s about time that you got back to the business of blogging. How is the dog? Did he miss you? Can’t wait to hear about your first overseas Thanksgiving. I assume that the expats have the day off. I didn’t know that you squeezed in Wicked. i’m thinking of going over Winter break.
I’ve been really busy as you know, but now that I’m retired, I’ve got some time. The dog could care less about us. His wound is healed, or so it appears, thanks for asking. I can’t find pumpkin puree anywhere. I’m may have to make apple pie instead. I’m buying the turkey already cooked (I don’t want to hear it…I don’t have my roasting pan; they don’t sell foil roasting pans large enough…) so I’m not sure what I’m going to do about gravy without the pan drippings. I looked in your boyfriend Rick’s book and he was no help–all of his gravy recipes call for ‘drippings’ and I’m assuming ‘gravy’ will be as difficult to find as canned pumpkin.
Wicked was great. Did you read the book? Add it to the list to read before you see it.
I can only say how much I have missed your blog. Your comments make me smile and I can see how much you missed Old Town and your daily runs and shopping trips.. It is nice to come home to such a wonderful place you called home for so long. You’ll be back, just like Arnold use to say…The pictures are always fun to look at an you should be getting paid for your purse commercials.. Looking forward to more blogs, cooking, travels or just plain Jenisims. Love, Joep aka Dad
It was so good to see you! We miss you already. Glad we got a few dinner/Housewives dates in. Good luck with the Jordanian Thanksgiving, I’m thinking you should attempt the puree from whole pumpkins. It would make for a good blog entry. I’m cooking at our house this year for everyone, should be interesting. Come back soon – we now have a puppy for you to meet!
It was great seeing you guys as well! I’m mad about you getting the pup after I left. Hopefully she’ll still be puppy-like by the time I get back. Thanksgiving here will be a bust. I’m only making the pie (apple) and the rolls; we’re buying the rest. Total cop-out (is that how it’s spelled?), I know, but I’ll make up for it next year. Good luck with your feast. I’m sure it will be incredible…with a side of Skinny Girl?
Not sure which cookbook, thinking its one of RR, I have a recipe for gravy w/o the drippings. If you google how to make gravy w/o drippings a bunch of stuff comes up. The basic is butter, flour, chicken broth and seasoning. I pretty much make gravy all of the time w/o drippings but I will delve into my collection for you and do research for the time I cooked veggies and squeezed then through a sieve for flavoring.
Thanks, but don’t bother looking. New plan. We’re buying the whole meal, stuffing, gravy, and a side included. The only thing I’m making are the rolls and apple pie. Who else is attending your feast?