Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Stayin' Alive

We made it to Amman, Jordan yesterday (or this morning, I guess) at about 2 a.m.  We had to first stand in line to exchange money, and then stand in a much longer line to get our visas.  And then stand in another line to get our bags.  And then drive half an hour to the hotel.  Oh, but on the way we saw not one, not two, but 5 fast food chains... KFC and McDonald's, (of course) Burger King, Popeyes and Hardees.  Whoa.  AND (hold onto your hats folks, this is a biggun') a Benihana!  I have no idea where they are and couldn't get back if I tried, but it's nice to know they're around.  We didn't get in until around 3.30, and then didn't get to bed until about 4.  And then Matt, in his infinite wisdom, went to work at 8.30 a.m, AMA (against my advice).  I know he wants to make a good impression and be ready for anything for the customer, but because they gave him the option of deciding when to go, I think he should have taken advantage and gotten more than 3 hours sleep.  Or maybe not.  Whatever.  He isn't home yet, and I don't expect him for probably 3 or 4 more hours, but we'll see how he feels then.  Probably will be just about dead on his feet.  I know I am, and I slept until noon today!  It wasn't very good sleep, though, because of the time difference and the fact that our room is right by the stairwell and thus very loud.

The hotel is really nice... maybe not the nicest one I've ever been in, but definitely the nicest we've stayed in on a job.  It's a Marriot, so we get free happy hour with snacks and up to two (two!) alcoholic drinks in the evening.  I haven't left the hotel yet today, and probably won't until tomorrow.  I did go check out the fitness center and walked for 5 miles on the treadmill... I know, right?  I was too tired to run and I have blisters on my feet from yesterday, so I just walked for forever instead.  It's not a bad gym, but kind of small, and it got really crowded with sweaty mustachioed men toward the end of my workout.  I sat out by the pool for a while after that, but got too cold.  By the way, it is way colder here than I thought it would be.  It's probably around 65 F, I guess, which isn't bad, but I was thinking it was going to be in the 80s, and thus only brought one pair of jeans, and the rest are capris, which I don't think I'm supposed to be wearing anyway because they show too much leg... like up to mid calf!

I haven't decided on a course of action for tomorrow yet, but I really want to get out of the hotel for a while.  We don't appear to be right in the center of things, and this is a HUGE city, so I don't think I'll be able to do my usual walk around everywhere.  I guess I'll take taxis from the hotel or hopefully I can get some outside the hotel because I'm sure they'll be much cheaper.

Anyway, things are going okay so far.  Haven't done anything yet, obviously, but at least we got here safely.  We flew from Chicago to Frankfurt and had a 10 hour layover, so instead of sitting at the airport, we got a hotel and slept.  I was pushing for renting a car and seeing the city, but Matt wanted (and needed) the sleep, so we did.  We were just outside of the airport, but there was this great little walking trail around a big pond in the woods behind us, so we walked around there some.  Germany always amazes me with how well they preserve their nature.  We were just outside of a major city, and we would have never known it.  Anyway, I only had one pair of shoes, and they were not walking shoes by any stretch of the imagination, thus the blisters.  I think I'll live, though.  Oh, on our flight from Frankfurt to Amman, we were on a tiny little plane, and as we were taxiing to the runway, all the flight attendants went sprinting down the aisle to the back of the plane.  Apparently some guy was sick... he looked like he was having a heart attack... I don't know what one looks like, but he was clutching his chest, and they put his arm over his head and kept checking his heart rate.  So then we started taxiing back to the terminal to let the guy off, but before we got there, I guess he decided he was okay.  So we turned back around and flew off.  I know this is probably insensitive, but if someone acts ill enough that we have to take him back to the terminal, he damn sure better get off the plane.  But he didn't.  And later I saw him up chilling with all his friends and charming the lady folk.  What a phony.

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