Flying with baby

I'm SUPER excited- we are going to Jordan THIS MONTH!!!  It's been 3 years since we were there and this will be the FIRST TIME I will be there in SUMMER!!!  I won't freeze- yay!

Yummy food in Madaba, Jordan

So, right now we are finishing shopping for everyone (and some stuff for us) and then packing and making a schedule. It makes SUCH a big difference to pack for summer rather than winter!  I'm almost done and it's only 3 bags!  Weight is still an issue- as in, my bags are not bull, but they are at 50 pounds-, but I amazed by the room.  We will probably still do 4 bags though- I need the space for Baby Z's travel high chair.

We are flying Turkish Airways to Jordan this time- this is my first time with them and I have heard great stuff about them!  I'm pretty excited- just look at their food choices!  That's their special needs section- with baby, we will be all set; although I'm still bringing our our food- just in case.  But, it's nice that it's all Halal and it's nice that they have all of the special diet stuff.  Baby Z has some allergies now and we don't want to take any chances!!!

Felafel sandwiches in Amman, Jordan

Otherwise, it looks like their flight entertainment and services are pretty similar to other international airlines (non-U.S. airlines).  Yes, I'm a flight snob, but I really find that non-U.S. airlines, when it comes to in flight entertainment and services and comfort are GREATLY better than the U.S. carriers.  But, I know Delta just updated their fleets, so maybe it's better now.  (last time I flew Delta was direct from Amman to NYC and it was an older plane with the TV screens at the front of the cabin- not cool!  And last long flight (over 8 hours) I did for United was to China and my TV screen - along with some others- were broken going over there; they canceled my flight to Shanghai and didn't tell us until we got to the airport, put me automatically on a flight for the next day, and I had to work with them because I was only going to be in Shanghai for like a day before flying up to Beijing (I did a flight to Beijing --> Shanghai which got me in about 3 hours latter than my original arrival, but they also could have put me through the routes IAD--> Tokyo--> Shanghai; IAD--> SFO--> Shanghai; or IAD--> Atlanta---> Shanghai because ARE YOU REALLY NOT GOING TO WORK WITH SOMEONE DOING A 13 HOUR FLIGHT?  You'd think the dates would be important!!!)  Anyways, I don't think I've flown American Airways overseas- they may be a redeemer because I have liked their U.S. domestic flights.)

*end of U.S. plane rant*

So, the other interesting thing about this flight will be flying with a 15 month old baby.  :)  My biggest worry is that she won't sleep enough.  12 hours would be normal, but - as the flight is only 10.5 hours to Turkey- I don't think that will happen.  I would be happy if she did at least 6 hours straight.  We have a 3-ish hour layover in Istanbul and then go to Jordan where we get in around 9 pm.  Which, will be good in that I can (hopefully) get home and get her into bed by 11 pm or so.  She usually sleeps well, but only sleeps in her bed or her car seat.  I'm hoping we can either lie her down on our laps or the floor to sleep or that she will fall asleep easily with the movement of the plane. 

Ajlun, Jordan

I will be going to her doctor tomorrow to check that she doesn't have any ear infections and to see if they recommend anything to help her sleep (ie, Tylenol or Dimetapp) if she doesn't go down easy.  I figure, worst case, she will cry for about an hour before exhausting herself to sleep.  (Yay, people next to us!)  I've heard of people who bring 'treats' for the people around them; what do you think?  I haven't decided if I should do that or not.

Otherwise, I'm excited for this trip because 1. it's summer 2. we get to see family and everyone can meet baby Z 3. I get to go to more sites that I haven't seen in Jordan.  Like ACTUALLY GOING INTO THE DEAD SEA!  It's funny- I have been to Jordan 2 times now (we try to go every other year, but it's been 3 years since I was pregnant and all) and have gone TO the Dead Sea both times, but only to the hotels to eat and have coffee and hang out.  I'm determined to TOUCH it this time!  The other big tourist thing I haven't done yet is to the go to the Citadel in Amman.  I also want to go see the old train stop; I know, odd request, but I think it's really cool. :)

Yay- Jordan!!!  I'm soooooooooo excited!!

Body of Lies review

After having this movie in my house for about a month (I am reconsidering my NetFlix subscription), I finally watched this movie last night.  Or rather, I watched half of the movie and then put it in the return envelope and went to bed.  Yea, it was that interesting.No, I take that back.  It was interesting - I just couldn't get over 2 main things: 1. the pace was really slow (the 'romance' I think made it worst) and 2. yep - that is SOOOOOO not Jordan.  I had wanted to see this movie and then put it aside until I came across a blog that talked about this movie and how it was supposed to be in Jordan, but that it was VERY obviously not in Jordan.  So, I wanted to see the movie anyways and thought - maybe this person was just very sensitive and maybe it's not THAT bad.  ... well - it's pretty bad.

Now, I can't say anything about the Iraqi part.  I've never been to Iraq and while I think it did look more like Morocco there than Iraq... I have not been to Iraq.  (or Morocco for that matter, but I'm more familiar with their landscape and geography - sad, huh?  I should be more familiar with Iraq)  But, Jordan?  Now, that was pretty bad.  I mean - it was pretty OBVIOUS that it was NOT Jordan.  It was good to see some green, but just everything was wrong about the landscape.  

OMG - I laughed so hard when I saw the "American Embassy!"   They made the Embassy like a regular building (for the most part), but for those of you who have been to Jordan, the embassy is essentially a fort.  As in... 1. I can't figure out how to get in - a problem if I'm ever in trouble.  There are huge walls around the entire thing and Humvees with soldiers with AK-47s on each corner.  2. The embassy is a compound and has all of the admin buildings, plus housing for workers. 3. The

 embassy in Jordan is pretty much smack in the middle of a residential area and takes up an entire block of land - so you don't just go down the street and turn into it (unless there is a side entrance

 that I don't know about which is possible since, as mentioned before, I have yet to see how you get in) like they show in the movie.

They tried to insert the King Abdullah mosque into the city scape - I assume that here they used the same technique that was used in The Kingdom where they put in the Kingdom Centre 

(Al Mamlaka) - see picture to the right - into their

 view of what was part of Dubai, I believe...  They actually wanted to film this movie in the UAE, but that was denied and so we got the filming in Morocco.  But, they didn't really work to make the area look like Jordan and Amman.  I mean, Amman is a rather new city.  They are celebrating their 100 anniversary this year.  There has been SO much development there since the Hashimates came to Jordan in the 1920s.  JORDAN for the most part is pretty new - they were part of the Roman empire and then had villages as part of the Holy Land and during the crusades and then as Bedouin tribes - but I don't think people how NEW Jordan is as a nation.  And how somewhere in between 60-80% of the population is not native Jordanian, but is from Palestine.  ...but I digress. :)  (let me know if you want me to write more about this and I'll do extra research)

So, the movie was interesting in how it had the CIA working in the Middle East and how they work with the locals and the partner government agencies (2nd complaint - the head of the Jordan police -or whatever - is VERY not Jordanian - the actor is Mark Strong - complete with a very small pointy noise and everything.  I think he did ok with the accent - it would come and go, but I anyways think that to speak Arabic better you have to think in a British accent to get the vowels correct, but his body language was all off.  He tried to be smooth, which was good, but he couldn't get the defensive posture that I find in every Arab male in that area.  lol - it's quite funny; I can write about that at any request).  They put Leo's character as willing to understand the area and work with people and learn the culture/language and Russel Crowe's character as an ignorant, cowboy jerk.  To which - they both did very good jobs in there roles - I really don't like Crowe's character and I know that's the point. :)  But, the pace was getting rather painful to watch.  So, I stopped...

Now - this movie was taken off a book written by  David Ignatius, a columnist for The Washington Post.   I like reading Ignatius and so I would hope that the BOOK is better than the movie - slow paced stories usually are better to read.  I understand that the romance in THAT book is even more painful, but at least I can skip over it if I need to.

So - the movie is NOT worth renting, but I would try to watch it again if it came on tv...

Some Pictures of Amman, although they don't do it justice: