In my last blog post, 6 months ago, I mentioned that we had moved to a new apartment and that I would do a before/after post like I did with our first Jordan apartment. I love seeing other people’s before/afters in the Foreign Service because they give me ideas about how to hide or mitigate the Drexel Heritage furniture. So I have posted the photos below–enjoy!
I also mentioned in the last post that lockdowns were coming back, and that the winter would be challenging. Well, we made it through. At times, Jordan was one of the worst spots in the world (for per capita COVID cases), but they took it very seriously here and imposed measures that undoubtedly saved many lives. I wish I had kept a blog during the worst times, because my memory of it isn’t great. It’s all kind of one big blur of quarantine. We spent so many months in various forms of housebound quarantine (no walks allowed). It is not something I can recommend. Whenever a friend in another country tells me they are “in quarantine,” I fear my reaction is really not strong enough. I want them to know that I completely understand that awful feeling of being trapped inside, not allowed to leave for any reason. I feel terrible that they have to endure it. But at the same time: 2 or 3 weeks of total lockdown sounds like nothing to us, now. It’s hard to muster the correct reaction, when we went through that so many times last year that it become normal. I am not sure how that will affect us long-term, but hopefully it will just make us more grateful for the times we are able to move about freely.
Things started looking up a couple of months ago. Jordan’s COVID situation got much better, and many people are getting vaccinated now. We adopted a pandemic puppy (yes, totally regret that decision–she is pretty traumatized and extremely anxiously and possibly untrainable, but we love her anyway). We got vaccinated. We are finally allowed to leave the house and go to the pool, or even restaurants (though we’re sticking with outdoor seating). Curfew was recently extended to 11 pm, and we are allowed out on Fridays. This is huge news. We are set to travel to the US (as long as our COVID tests are negative) in a couple of weeks! I can’t believe we haven’t seen our families in 2 years. It’s by far the longest we’ve ever gone without a visit. This fall, schools will finally reopen here. I can hardly remember what it’s like to be able to work without kids interrupting me every 10 minutes–but I know I will miss them, too. Life is simpler in some ways, not having to worry about after school activity pickups, or having to choose between conflicting weekend plans. We are never very busy; we’ve stuck to a very small bubble of friends over the past 15 months. Those friends are now like family. I am really tired of juggling work and the kids’ online schooling… but I really can’t complain. Life is good. We are so lucky.
Living room before:
Living room after:
Second seating area in living room before:
Second seating area in living room after:
Dining room before (I hate those chairs with such a passion):
Dining room after:
Patio before:
Patio after:
Hallway before:
Hallway after (yes, I still have the books in rainbow order):
Kid room 1 before:
Kid room 1 after (they each have their own bedroom now!! They are so happy! Oh and I took the headboards off the twin beds and put them in a closet, and voila, now they have window seats. Not pictured: a few Drexel bookshelves in the corner):
Master bedroom before (it’s HUGE):
Master bedroom after (I hide a lot of Drexel in here! Not pictured: 2 Drexel dressers!):
Kid bedroom 2 before:
Kid bedroom 2 after (not pictured: a couple of Drexel dressers and bookshelf. It’s a very crowded room but she doesn’t seem to mind):
My office/gym before:
Office/gym after (another very crowded room, but I love having a gym/office! Notice the Drexel couch):
Kitchen before (so big! but STILL–no dishwasher!! It’s been a decade for us!):
Kitchen after:
