Where do you live?

Where do you live? That is a difficult question when you live in the Mid East. The authorities are giving names to the streets and in some cases there are numbers, but not everybody is familiar with them, because it is not the way you describe where you live. Even the taxi drivers are not always aware of the street names. When you eventually describe where you live the next problem is getting access to the apartments - the 'buzzer' system works, but which button? We're the third up on the right, and being very western we have now put our name next to the buzzer, and by our door bell - we are now awaiting our visitors! P

Keeping on our fleeces

We have arrived safely in JD and we are settling into our apartment. It is very comfortable, but will be even better in the spring because it is currently freezing. The homes are built for the long summer and not the cold months of January and February. The floors are tiled, there is no heating, apart from a gaz-bottle fire which is wheeled around, and just to add to the suffering we are north facing, great in the summer but no warmth from the sun in the winter - we go outside to warm up!
We have mains water for one day a week during which our storage tank refills, this is then our water for the rest of the week, the only problem is that there is no way to see how much water is left. We are getting tips on water conservation such as collecting the water from the shower before it warms up and using dish-washing water to flush the loo.
We are using a computer in the local library because we do not have an internet connection at home so communication will not be on a daily basis and definately not on Fridays and Saturdays when it is closed. But we do have a telephone in our apartment, if you would like the number please contact us, there is a company in the UK that connects you for 1p a minute. P

Temporary lapse in blogs

The last few weeks have been exceptionally busy, visiting family, friends and churches - we have visited five churches over Christmas and New Year including Bath Abbey, which had the prize for the largest screen. We're off on our travels again on Tuesday, flying to A in JD, where we will be learning Arabic for 4 months, it could be a long spring! As soon as we get connected to the internet we will post a blog. P

That warm cosy feeling!

Blazing wood burners, large hot steaming mugs of coffee, German neujahrskuchen ( new year cake), friends and family; all good ingredients to propel us to a the new year.

At this time of year we are grateful for all our friends and family who love us and support us. As we are very nearly coming up to the time for leaving the country again, these relationships become all the more precious. Time with each person is like a gift to be grasped and appreciated in the moment and then remembered with affection and fondness over time. We are grateful to God for each one of you. J