The Jordan Diaries 2005: October 28 Day 2.6 More Maiya & a Couple of 7UP to Go .. Shukran

Opted for dinner in the room for a successive night – just less hassle and more relaxing. Made the decision yesterday that as it was Ramadan and Sufian would therefore most likely be fasting, that we would have a hearty breakfast, skip lunch when we were out and about and then return to an early dinner. 

Today was the trial run to see if it was feasible – seemed to work as neither of us had felt hungry and we were happy to push on through the day, minus the lunch break. Also made it easier on Sufian too, hopefully. No wasted time waiting round, fasting, while we were off somewhere tucking into a meal.

 Early in the evening, trotted back over to the mini-mart up on the terrace for more 7UP and water, this time more skilled at judging the speedsters and the gaps in the traffic. The guy in the shop from yesterday had just shut his door, but very obligingly re-opened though he could only sell us water. 

Up the street a little was a rival mini mart, run by a woman who was the very personification of a Shakespearean crone. The shop was packed, and people kept entering and leaving at rather a rapid rate, almost like they had not even stopped to pay. Though when I was able to get near to the counter I could see why. She had the most amazing capacity to handle a flurry of simultaneous business transactions and calculate money with computer-like precision and speed. 

Without a word she held out her hand for money, doing the entire math in her head and with almost a sleight of hand movement the change miraculously appeared faster than a card shark. Felt a little like an interested (and invisible?) bystander, as she had not yet extended her hand in my direction. Finally just as I was wondering how long I would have to stand there hugging my 2 very cold bottles of 7UP, my number must have come up on the queue list in her head as suddenly she reached over the counter and shoved the guy next to me out of the way so she could serve me.  

As a customer I was entirely useless – as I had no idea of how much the bottles cost and was not yet familiar with the currency. I spread a range of coins in my hand and offered them to her to pick from to make up the correct price.  She raked through, collected my debt and waved me away.

With the arduous business of buying lemonade finally over, walked back along the little terraced street lined with olive trees still bearing the odd ripe black olive or two that the neighbourhood children must have missed in their harvesting, back down the steep footpath, crossing the perennially busy Al Hussaini Bin Ali Street and back up to our corner room overlooking Amman and watched as it slowly succumbed to the autumn evening.