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March 20, 2005

Where is my present?

If you are ever in Jordan, I would recommend buying all of your suviners from a chain of stores called Al-Afghani. The one on Gardens Street is particularly nice. :)

Today Annie, Rob and I went to Al-Afghani to pick up some stuff ordered. We had been three times to look at stuff and order stuff and today was the day that everything was going to be ready. Now, the first time we went to pick up stuff they ended up over charging me for my necklace so they were being pretty nice to us this time. I ended up getting a really good deal on some very nice presents. My friend Annie speaks fluent Jordanian Arabic so she did all the dealing for us in typical Jordanian fashion. One of the typical things to do is to ask for a present if you feel like you are being overcharged. Annie, of course, insisted that we each get a present and wouldn't let the guy forget that he owed us something nice. So, before we could leave, we had to look at the entire store again (just incase me missed something we wanted) and wait for them to find us some presents. On our way out, Annie asked again and the guy reached back behind the counter and picks out three very large tissue paper balls. We were kind of excited to see what was inside, but we politely waited until we were outside. So, standing on the curb we opened our wads of pink tissue paper only to find the ugliest vases you have ever seen waiting for us. The guys in the store must have laughed for hours while wrapping those things up and I know we got a good laugh out of it. Anyways, the moral of the story is: if you ask for a present, be prepared to dispose of it rather quickly.

Posted by rcollins at March 20, 2005 7:20 AM

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Comments

Remember I want a camel, if I don't get one, I'm going to be very unhappy!!!!!!!

Posted by: Sean at March 20, 2005 2:21 PM

Hey, I hope you didn't throw those out! They are still souvenirs from Jordan... ok, even if they're ugly. So maybe you don't have to bring them home if there's not room in your suitcase. But you could still give one to someone who doesn't care too much about quality :)

Posted by: Karl at March 20, 2005 3:22 PM

I won't throw it out yet but it does have the lowest priority when it comes to packing my bags to head home. Although I've been thinking about purchasing a new bag to help carry all my stuff home with (they are incredibly cheap around here!).

And Sean, I hope that you understand that I can't bring you a real camel. Immigration won't like that. . . So do you want a woden one, a metal one, a stuffed one, or a hanging one?

Posted by: Rebecca at March 21, 2005 6:32 AM