My missing shopping bag

Have you ever wondered what happens if one of your bags goes missing at the supermarket? Well today I found out.

Weekly shopping at Cozmo today - I really go less and less to that shop, mainly because I find going to Spinneys much more convenient and it's closer to home. Today however I decided to go because I wanted to buy some of the Cow Gate cereals for Bobsy - I didn't get any because they were all expired, hmmm expired baby food? - well anyway, I get to the check out and one of the guys help me and empties the cart and for once actually listens to me when I tell him food items first. Another guy packs my shopping, with too many plastic bags, as usual, and he laughs because I repack after him and I give him some empty bags back.

With all this I forget a bag. Of all bags it had to be the baby wipes - nearly 9 JD worth of baby wipes - I know a bloody rip off. So I get home and realise that the bag is missing. I need the things so drive all the way back to Cozmo, not really believing that I will get my wipes without paying for them again.

Well, I was wrong. I go to the "customer services" counter and tell the guy behind it my little story about my missing bag, showing him my receipt. Surprise, surprise... out comes a big black notebook, he looks under today's date and says "yes madam we have them". I was stunned. Seriously, I was so surprised. Jordanian efficiency? Something new.

Queen Alia Airport: Top 10 worst airports

I was not even half surprised when I read this article about the world's 10 worse airports and that Amman International Airport was also on the list.

The article talks about a few things, including the un-cleanliness of the toilets. I haven't even tried the toilets and it's still one of the worse airports I have been through. The current terminals are ugly and dark. A new terminal is in construction - by ADP (Aeroport de Paris), let's hope they make a better job than with Charles-de-Gaule, Paris' main international airport... funny enough that airport is also to be found on "the list".

Well arriving to Amman is kind of ok. You spent some time queuing, but then you do that everywhere. You queue for the visa (20JD), you queue for the passport control. When you are done with that you enter a horrible lounge to pick up your luggage. Porters are easy to find. One luggage scan and you are allowed out of the place. However,  if your luggage is not there, then the fun starts, in a country where nobody knows how to queue. It happened to me once when I came on a connecting flight over Istanbul, with a very tired then under-one-year old Bibs. Not funny. There was about 100 people squeezed into a little space behind one of the belts trying to get the attention of one of the 2 agents sitting behind a counter... who didn't speak english. So imagine me, Bibs in a stroller, climbing over bags and people to get into this tiny space and trying to explain to the guy that I actually don't have a clue what my luggage looks like: Black or grey? the brand? my name on there? Yes maybe. Surprisingly enough it only took 2 days for the luggages to appear again.

But the true side of Queen Alia Airport, you see it when you leave Jordan. Once you have demonstrated to the customs guy that you are willingly walking into the airport (by showing him the flight tickets and passport), you need to have your luggage scanned. 2 or 3 belts and lots of people and lots of luggage: a few tourists, but mainly Jordanian or people from the gulf who again have no idea what queuing means. They arrive with 10 supersize luggages and just jump the queue. I don't know if they actually don't understand the concept of queueing or they just think you won't realise. I tell you it takes time and patience. A lot of patience and a bit of shoulder fighting. The ladies lane is a bit better but really not much. So through with all your luggage, your are trying to get to it. Remember the guy who jumped the queue with his 10 supersize pieces of luggage? well he is nowhere to be seen but all the suitcases are actually blocking the belt. Finally, you manage to get to the check-in counter.

Then you have to queue again: for the passport control. You have those who are standing nicely in the lanes, having no choice really and then those who are trying to discuss their way through the diplomatic lane (even though they are not much more of a diplomate than I am). It takes a good 20 minutes. They check that you haven't over stayed your visa (if you have, don't worry they will let you out - you just need to pay 1.5JD /day). Once you are done, you think it's over.

You arrive to the duty free shop which is one of the most boring ones i have been in, unless you are after really cheap cigarettes or dates. Then you need to find a counter at which you can actually pay - some are open but have no change, some are open but the cashier is busy arguing about this or that with a colleague. You can also get magazines and a little food and that's it.

Then you need to find the gate. You thought the scanning was over and done with! But no, you need to scan all the hand luggage, one more time. Once you are through there is no coming back, and beware there is not a shop, you can't even get a bottle of water. And it's depressing. Dark and gloomy with even lower ceilings - or so it feels.

A little bit more "non"-queueing and finally you are in that plane and you are happy, because it takes you away from Amman Airport.

I am maybe exaggerating a bit, but not much! There are so many things in Amman more enjoyable than the airport.  

More about our new bins

If you read my first post about Amman's new bins (click here to have a look), you might remember I mentioned the street cats.

Well, today I saw with great relief that our street cats have accepted the new bins.

They don't look that bothered, do they? By that strange woman taking pictures of them...

A piece of cake

A year ago I had to drive all the way to City Mall to get some cake from Paul's. But that changed around Ramadan last year - some guy had the brilliant idea to open a shop in Abdoun. Life changed.

I'll go and take pics one day of the actual cafe in Abdoun, but I couldn't resist sharing today's cakes. I didn't eat them all by myself and even kept de coffee eclair for Bobs. Maybe he would have preferred the mille-feuille, but that one was too good looking! And as we say in French, absentees are also wrong!

Above... Strawberry tart, raspberry tart, lemon tart (definitely one of my favourites), banana and chocolate cake (for the kiddies, but the mummies loved it as well), strawberry mille-feuilles and the coffee eclair. Which one do you prefer?!

If you want to indulge, looking for some comfort, or simply have a sweet tooth like me and any occasion is  good for cake-time  (today lunch with a couple of mummy-friends) go to Paul. In my opnion, their pastries are the best in town. 

And because Bobs is still not home, I might just go and suck out a bit of cream of that coffee eclair! 

The donkey-man

In West Amman, we have...

... nice cars...

... and huge houses...

large hotels...

Sheraton Hotel

Then we have sheep and goats...

...and also the Donkey-man.

thx my norwegian friend for this pic :)

I love the contrasts of Amman.

on a cold cold friday...

... today has been a very. very. cold day in Amman. How cold I don't know because I actually haven't been outside. It started with wind, lots and lots of it. More and more clouds came and the rain came, lots and lots of it. We stayed at home.

I started my day with a good cup of coffee and the Jordan Times, while the rest of the house was still asleep. There were a couple of interesting articles. One about Jordanian Politics, this one about water conservation (it made me smile) and an other one about press freedom in the Kingdom, among others.

Then as the weather went from bad (wind) to worse (rain), I cut vegetables, I steamed vegetables and I pureed vegetables for my ever hungry growing Bobsy. And now it is dark and still wet outside I decided to brighten my mood with some holiday pictures. I love holiday pictures on such a day... and of course they are from Mauritius! I needed some pictures that reminded me of summer.

Beach - I love this panoramic feature on my new camera... a Sony nex-5

end of the day...

Bibs...  

Sunset and the fisherman finishing his day

and the night pics as well... without a tripod! 

I can't wait for spring to arrive. I know that we need water in Jordan and it's good that it is raining - but I miss the sun already! 

New bins in Amman

Look at that! Brand new green bins, with a lit to close them and the Amman Municipality Logo on and the whole lot!

At the beginning of my street I was wondering what was going on... 8 men were taking the old metal bins away - yes 8. But then they are heavy I suppose, especialy if they don't empty the bins first... I really wanted to take a picture but there was this car behind me... Then I saw one of the street cats looking bemused on the bins where it usually looks for its food and I understood: an old and a new one!

Let's hope the new bins look new for a while... I mean have they also invested in the lorries that go with them?!