Advent Day 14: Snow

Internet is back on!

The rumors you're heard on the news are true: there is snow in the Middle East. Roads are closed, school is cancelled and flights are grounded. Much like our Jordanian counterparts, we foreigners hardly know what to do with ourselves. I for one did not pack for 45 degree weather, I came prepared for 100 degree days and 96 degree nights. Just two weeks ago the temperatures here stayed steadily between 85 and 90 degrees F. So you can imagine Kara and my surprise to wake up Friday morning and see snow on our mountain tops. This was not the strangest part of the day though. When the two of us left the house to head to the Souk, we got caught in a downpour that became a mixture of rain and hail. Luckily shortly thereafter we found some amazing lentil soup to warm us up.

There is no insulation in my house because it's never been necessary before. Right now my laundry is hanging on racks in my living room because it is too cold outside to hang wet clothes. My struggles are inconsequential though in the grand scheme of things. Many Jordanians associate being cold with catching sickness so no one leaves there house without heavy layers. It's not all bad though. To stay outside, many people build fires and make tea over the flames. Friends come to huddle together and join the impromptu tea parties. As the cold does elsewhere, it brings people together for more than just body heat. Many children are getting to make snow men for the first time. Also, oddly enough, it looks like it will be a white Christmas at least for the towns in the North. 

The record breaking cold brings with it some familiar pieces of home. Yesterday Kara and I joined a group of our friends in a road trip to go a little further North to see the snow. We drove for about an hour up into the hills to where there was a proper layer of snowfall. Once we got out of the car the snowballs started flying of course. We chased each other through the snow and enjoyed losing feeling in our fingers and toes. My friends looked at me strangely though when I declared that it felt like home standing in the cold air with snow up past my ankles. (pictures pending)