Snow Days

I’m from Michigan and no stranger to long cold winters with snow that lasts for weeks on end. Although snow was inconvenient, it seldom disrupted our lives.

Like most of my countrymen, I had no idea that Jordan could have severe winter weather. The first five years that I was here I froze. We had one space heater that could hardly heat a closet but was great as an extra cooking burner. Then we had one of those Syrian stoves with an oil drip that did give off some heat in one room when it wasn’t sputtering and spewing soot. I didn’t know a house that actually had central heating so obviously everyone else was cold, too. Whenever I asked about it I always got the same answer, “You see, we really don’t need it; winter is hardly four months of the year!”

That reasoning was a big cover-up! Jordan was too poor a country for such luxury. People couldn’t afford central heating in their homes. They couldn’t afford boots and warm coats either. Unfortunately, many still can’t, and with current price increases central heating is yet again a luxury. The one pleasant aspect of all this is the unplanned holiday of snow days. We can stay home knowing we aren’t going to be missed or miss anything. We can sleep in, eat hardy soups, and do whatever we want to do at home. And best of all, we know we have replenished some of our water and can look forward to a glorious spring.

ASH