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!

A Day in the Life ... A Visit by the Prince

I arrived early to ensure that everything was ready for Prince Hassan's visit to the Clinical Skills Laboratories. The 2 nurses who work with me in the labs had been working hard to prepare everything but there were a few last minute adjustments. For example, we needed to move some of the manikins into different rooms so that the tour would be suitable.

Royal protocol

Some of the medical students had volunteered to demonstrate different Clinical Skills, so I briefed them on what they needed to do to demonstrate measuring blood pressure, listening to heart sounds, taking blood and having a medical consultation. I also walked around the labs with the Prince's protocol officer to ensure that the tour would be appropriate.

Is it alive?

I then waited in the main lab with the main patient simulator, that was looking quite life like - breathing and blinking his eyes! This is one of the most advanced patient simulators in the Middle East! We heard clapping and cheering to signal that Prince Hassan (the King's Uncle) had arrived. Very soon he entered the lab with his entourage and was introduced to me. We talked about Oxford University (where he studied) and Cambridge University (where I studied and also his daughters and wife). Then we began the tour.

A Jordanian welcome

His Highness spent time talking with the medical students about the Clinical Skills course and he even had the opportunity to feel the pulses on the main patient simulator. As we walked to the second laboratory there was a crowd of students waiting to catch a glimpse of the Prince and they welcomed him in true Jordanian style with clapping, singing and ululating!

A down-to-Earth prince

The medical students in the second laboratory gave very good demonstrations of their Clinical Skills and everything went very smoothly. I was amazed at how the Prince, such a famous and important person, was so approachable and down to earth.

At the end of the tour there was an opportunity for photographs and then the Prince moved on to give a lecture in the main auditorium.

Day in the Life ... First Day at New Schools

First Day at my New School – by Kira

It was my first day at my new school. There was too much traffic, because lots of other people were also going to school, so we had to park and walk the rest of the way. I led Daddy to my classroom, because he didn't know the way. I learnt the way when I went with Mummy to visit my school for 2 hours, last Wednesday.

It took a long time for everyone to arrive at class, because of the big traffic jam and 5 kids didn't even come at all. I sat next to a girl called Lillian. My first lesson was Arabic, but since it was our first day, we watched a movie while the teacher was getting our Arabic books ready.

No one to play with

At break time, I went to the playground and I stood by myself, because I didn't have anyone to play with. But then 2 children from my class asked me if I wanted to play. I sat and played with them for a bit, but then they ran into another part of the playground, and I was not sure if grade 1 kids were allowed there, so I didn't follow them, and then just sat in the same place by myself, until the end of break.

Lot of movies

We went back into the classroom and had a French lesson, where I learnt that Samedi is French for Saturday. Then we had another break to eat our lunch. After break we watched another movie until going-home time. I hope school is like this next week, but probably we won't keep watching lots of movies like this. Lots of other kids were picked up early and there were only a few of us left when Mummy came to pick me up.

First Day at my New School – by Isaiah

Daddy walked with me to my new school after we had dropped Kira off and there was still lots of traffic jams. I'm in Barney class and my teachers are Miss Zena and Miss Wissam. We played with play-dough and a singing teacher came and we sang “If you're happy and you know it...” in Arabic. I liked stamping my feet.

I had bread with Lebenah at break time. It tasted funny, a bit cheesy, a bit yoghurty. I also had Zataar which I liked.

The teacher drew round my hand and I coloured it then she cut it out when Mummy came to pick me up. My teacher says they will put all our hand pictures on the wall to show that we are helpers.