Day in the Life of ... 3 Mother's Days

School Mother's Day (written by Isaiah) - Thursday 20th March

I wore a smart shirt and I made a special hat for Mother's Day party. - but I still had a black eye from falling off a window sill! All the mummies came and Mummy sat in the front row to watch me. I sang lots of songs with actions. Some were in English and some in Arabic. At the end Mummy had to come and dance with me. Then Mummy sat down again. Then I gave a present to Mummy which was a heart necklace that I had made. Then Mummy got a falafel sandwich and juice and marshmallows with chocolate. Then I played a bit with my friends. Then we left. The end.

Jordanian Mother's Day (written by Kira) - supposed to be Friday 21st March but we had it on Sunday 23rd March

We gave Mummy breakfast in bed. We went into the bedroom with a Happy Mother's Day song playing on Daddy's telephone in my pocket. We gave Mummy a croissant, some toast and orange juice.

Later we also gave Mummy some chocolates and flowers. Lillies are Mummy's favourite flowers so I went with Daddy and bought some for Mummy and the shop man also gave me a rose because roses are my favourite flowers.

 

We gave Mummy cards - she had one from Isaiah from school, one from Ethan from playgroup and one from me that I did at school.

We tried to give Mummy a relaxing day but Isaiah was a bit ill (with diarrhoea and vomiting bug) so Mummy had to clear up when he threw up after lunch!

British Mother's Day (written by Kate) - Sunday 30th March

After 2 lovely Mother's Day celebrations (Mother's Day seems a very big thing here in Jordan!), I was treated to another relaxing day on British Mother's Day when we went as a family to the local woods. We walked down to a beautiful spot and made a fire to cook a BBQ lunch. The children enjoyed hunting for sticks for the fire and it was a treat to toast marshmallows too. At this time of year, we have about 6 weeks of green countryside (a short spring!) before everything turns brown in the summer heat. So it was lovely to enjoy the green grass and wild flowers.

 

Day in the Life of ... Playgroup

Saturday morning came and we turned up early to my friend's house where we were restarting a Mums and Toddler group for children aged 0-5 years. There had been a Mums and Toddlers group meeting at a Centre but it wasn't possible to continue using the centre so the group hadn't met for 9 months. We weren't sure how many mums would come and whether it would seem strange for Jordanians to meet in a home or not whilst we continue to search for a new venue!

We also hadn't decided on a name for the group, so just called it Playgroup! We had considered names such as "cheeky monkeys" but it is considered rude to call your child an animal name here (even a cheeky monkey!)!

Toys were laid out and there was an activity table with playdough and colouring. We prepared a kids' healthy snack and a (not so healthy) mums' snack! Then waited for people to arrive. Usually good time keeping is not a strength in this country but one of the mums arrived early and everyone was there within 20 minutes of the start time. This was quite impressive, especially as local mums don't often use maps, preferring to telephone and be told directions to the house.

We welcomed 7 mums and 11 children which was plenty to fill the living room and dining area. After a time of free play for the children whilst the mums relaxed with a cup of tea and chatted, we had circle time - welcoming each child by name with a song, then singing other songs both in Arabic and English. The children loved doing the actions and joining in.

Then we all helped out with the craft of sticking tissue paper onto a heart shape for Valentine's Day. Here Valentine's Day is seen as a day to tell your friends and family how much you appreciate and love them, so it is very common for children to give parents and all their classmates cards, and parents to give their children cards. Kira had asked me to check our PO Box in the hope that she might have received some Valentine's cards from friends in the UK!

We finished our time together with the children playing under a parachute and then catching bubbles. It was great fun to see everyone smiling and enjoying themselves. Many of the mums are working full time and don't get to spend a lot of time having fun with their children. Playgroup is also a wonderful opportunity for mums to meet other mums and share their joys and challenges of parenting.

Princess 7th birthday party

I helped daddy to make the olive and cheese sticks, while mummy, Isaiah and Ethan were out at the supermarket buying the party food. Mummy had already made a cake the day before, which was a flower shape.

Then we put more decorations up in the living room and made sure all the party games and prizes were ready.

Poor timekeeping

The party started at 4 o'clock, but most people were late because Jordanians are not very good at coming on time. 10 of my friends came to my party and 8 of them were Jordanians. 2 of my friends could not come.

Princess Games

First, we made crowns and then we played 'Pin the crown on the princess.' Once everyone had arrived, we played pass the parcel, pass the magic wand, princess freeze and princess thrones. We also tried to play princess whispers (like Chinese whispers), but it was hard because one of my friends could not speak English and two of them couldn't speak Arabic.

After the games, mummy taught us all how to do a beautiful princess dance. In between all the games, we had our nails painted and choose some pretty tattoos to put on our arms.

Upside-down knife

Then we ate the party food and the cake. In Jordan, you cut the cake with the knife upside down, but I don't know why. After this, everyone went home. I got lots of nice presents, which I opened after everyone left, which is also normal in Jordan. My friends all told me that it was so much fun. They don't normally have fun games at Jordanian birthday parties.

Presentation at the Cancer Center

It was the day that I was due to give a presentation at the King Hussein Cancer Center. A few days before, I was worried that the presentation would be cancelled because of snow, but then it seemed OK, since the snow had mostly melted by the time the day came.

Resilient snow

Little did I know that there was still a lot of snow by the Cancer Center, and I arrived to find that the was quite a lot of snow still there. It was a bit slippy and slidy in our rear-wheel drive minibus, so I parked at the first space I saw and walked the rest of the way, trying not to get splashed by dirty slushy snow with my suit on as cars drove by.

5 minutes to set up

I arrived with half an hour to spare, and went to the room of the director of training. We chatted for a few minutes, and then went to the seminar room to set up. I thought I would have plenty of time to set up my presentation, but another seminar was going on, right up until I was due to speak. In the end I was transferring the presentation and clipping on my mic, just as everyone was coming in to see my presentation.

Speaking to 60 managers

I was expecting the CEO and 50 middle managers to come, but in the end it seemed like at least 60 or 70. My presentation was about 'Lean thinking in healthcare' using the same ideas and methods developed by Toyota, in order to reduce waste and increase value and quality.

Lack of response

My presentation went well, although there was very little response to the questions I asked to try and be a bit interactive. Jordanians tend to stand at the podium and lecture, and people are not used to getting involved in a seminar. When I asked them about their Key Performance Indicators (KPI's), there was silence, until the CEO nudged someone with his elbow, who then piped up with a couple of KPI's which they use. All attendees were given a feedback form to fill in about my seminar at the end, and I was taken to the canteen for lunch.

Lunch in the VIP zone

Whilst everyone else in the hospital ate the self-service canteen lunch, I was taken behind the barriers to the VIP zone, where I sat with a couple of the top managers and we were served a nice 3-course lunch.

Awaiting feedback

I am still waiting for feedback and a decision on whether or not they want the 'Lean thinking' programme. In the meantime, they have asked me to submit proposals for courses on 8 different topics, which is a good sign.

Jordan Snow Photos

Merry Christmas

A day in the life of Isaiah: The Car Museum

I was very excited about school, because today was the day that we were going on a school trip to the King Hussein Car Museum.

The safest boy on the bus

After I got dropped off at school, we did not have to wait long for the bus which was taking my class to the museum. We all got on the bus and we filled it, but I managed to sit next to my best friend, Yasmine. I was amazed that the bus had seatbelts, but I was the only one who put mine on!

When we got to the museum, we had to line up at the entrance and then follow our teacher around the museum. They split us into two groups and I was in the red group. There were so many amazing cars and they all used to belong to King Hussein. Lots of them were old Mercedes but I also saw some Rolls Royce’s. My favourite car was the big long white Mercedes with the hole in the roof so that the king could stand up and wave to everyone. There was also a bedouin tent in the middle of the museum and we all had a sit down on the bedouin cushions.

They also had lots of motorbikes, Porsches and Ferraris. King Hussein must have been very rich.

After walking around the museum we got back in the bus to go back to our school and I sat next to Yasmine again. When we got back to school it was almost time to go home.

A Day in the Life ... Eid Visiting

Eid Al Adha is the "Eid of the Sacrifice" when Muslims remember Abraham going to sacrifice his son and God providing a ram to sacrifice instead. On the 3rd day of these holidays, friends visit each other for short Eid visits. I began by visiting my neighbour who welcomed me into the guest lounge (usually we sit in the kitchen or family lounge!) and offered me "qahwa sada" strong black coffee in a little cup and "mahmool" special date biscuits. I had taken along some chocolates as a gift and her 4 young children were quick to appear and start eating them but she kept shooing them out of the guest lounge! We chatted about family, Eid and the story of Abraham's sacrifice and after about 20 minutes I gave my thanks and departed. 

 qahwa sada

After lunch I telephoned Kira's old school friend's mum and asked if it would be a good time to visit. She told me to come and so immediately I took the children in the car over to her house. The children enjoyed playing whilst we ate more mahmool cookies again in the special guest lounge. The mum asked if I would prefer the qahwa sada or tea, so this time I broke with tradition and asked for tea. Her sister and family then arrived so we all drank tea together and chatted for about half an hour. The short visits enable everyone to be able to see each other! So we said our goodbyes, but the children were disappointed to only play for a short time.

mahmool cookies

Arriving unannounced

As we left I telephoned another friend who lived nearby but she was also out visiting so we didn't have a chance to see her. We continued back towards our house and I decided to pop in and see my old language helper and her family. I tried telephoning but there was no answer so I just arrived anyway!

Her sister opened the door and although she was slightly surprised, she seemed very pleased to see me and again welcomed me into the guest lounge. Juice was offered followed by more qahwa sada and mahmool cookies. We had a great time of talking and I discovered that my language helper's engagement had been broken off which was why I had found it difficult to contact her over the past month. She had shut herself away possibly because of the shame associated with breaking off an engagement. I was about to leave when her parents arrived home from visiting relatives, so I stayed to talk with the mother for a while. Then I was ushered into the family lounge since her father was expecting a male guest so they were to use the guest lounge! Interestingly when her mother brought coffee for the men, she knocked on the guest lounge door, her husband took the tray from her and returned to the lounge so that his wife would not need to serve the men. 

a sheep is killed during Eid

Have some of our sheep!

When I finally left, I was presented with meat from the Eid sacrifice. Usually a family will sacrifice a sheep and then keep a third of the meat, give a third to friends and relatives and give a third to the poor. 

The following day we did a few more Eid visits as a family!