This post is not intended to offend anyone.

It’s just a few scenes that caught my attention and aroused my curiosity.

-She took a big towel and dipped it in the pool. With water dripping all over the sunbathers, she went and spread it over her “madam’s” knees .The “madam ”,who chose what she thought is the coolest spot in the burning heat of the Ghor,and who was nevertheless sweating her head away, discreetly lifted her dishdash up to her knees to welcome the soothing waters. Meanwhile,in the pool ,the madam’s husband was flirting with a foreigner in her bikini .The Mrs. Was proud. To her,it sounded like her husband was speaking perfect English, and that was all she saw in that scene.In another part of the pool,the children were playing.The eldest, a girl of around six,was splashing her brother of four with water.Her  arm ,heavy with the weight of her  six gold bracelets jingling and glowing under  the sun.

-He sprinkled his son’s head with a few drops of water.The two-year old was being carried around the pool by an African looking maid(Not a common scene in Jordan,but she did look Sudanese or Ethiopian).The maid,clad in a bathing suit but armored with knee-length gymnastics body suit underneath The mother watching from the pool side.

I don’t have any social problem with that. It’s a perfectly  innocent moment,but as my friend ,Zain, put it:Next time the husband’s looking at his son’s vacation pictures,the conversation will go towards the maid,not the mom: “remember how frantic Omar looked when he first went into the water,remember when he swallowed the water and it came out of his nose,Almassa?”

-I have, yet , to see  a “modest” bathing suit that is actually modest .It hasn’t been done, yet! The more you try to hide ,the more you end up revealing. The more you try to distract people’s attention, the more you invite curious eyes. Fashion designers ,and material manufacturers, who have managed to create space suits, self-warming clothing, and fire retarding outfits, have not done this, successfully, yet .If it’s too baggy, it’s hazardous, if it’s too tight, it’s not modest. Period.

-And,finally,a few beautiful pictures of native plants in The Jordan Valley and of landscaping in the Marriott and Movenpick hotels, taken  by Samer,my husband.

If your pedicures are not turning your feet soft enough,then you might want to consider going au naturel with your treatments.check out this article from NewsWeek’s Aug. 14, 2006 issue :

 ((You've tried everything on those flaky feet of yours. Maybe you need the Garra rufa treatment? These tiny fish nibble away dead skin and are used as a treatment for psoriasis sufferers in certain areas of the world, alleviating symptoms and sometimes curing the disease.

The "Doctor Fish" come from hot springs in Turkey and have recently caught on in Japan. Oedo Onsen Monogatari, a hot-spring resort in Tokyo, began offering the treatment in April.

—Naoko Kozuki ))

I have learned, through trial and error,that my kids need to be prepared.The more they know about something,the more relaxed they are when they face it.And somehow,I have ,so far, neglected this fact with regards to this new school routine.The first sign of discomfort on Raya's side was the other day when we went to buy her school uniform.I don't know what she expected,but she definitely wasn't amused when she saw the knee length grey trousers and the white shirt with buttons and a collar.Perhaps she was hoping for a pink skirt and flowery top,and she wouldn't try that awful fabric on. My daughter happens to be a very girly girl,and that look is probably the end of fashion to her.I got upset,and scorned her for giving me a hard time trying them on,while in fact,I hated them myself.How did I expect her to react?Did I seriously think she was going to fall in love with it and be excited about it,when she probably doesn't know that a uniform is a mandatory thing that all schools enforce? I now see my mistake and realize I should have started my lectures a bit earlier.

But this is still not the real reason behind my anxiety.Sending my daughter off to school is putting a lot of emotional stress on me, because I am afraid I will not be able to perform my role as a mother as well as I want to.Every othe mother I know,who has older children,has stressed the importance of the first few years in kids education.I am afraid I might not have the patience to sit there and teach.I'm afraid I might not be able to make her brother realize that her studies is not something he can interfere with ,I'm afraid I might not be able to give her all the attention she needs to shine ,when she certainly has all the potential to do that,and these are not my words.Her teachers in KG were very impressed with the amount of knowledge she has for her age and her willingness to learn,so what if I'm the one to  mess all that and not live  up to the level of care she needs to succeed.All these concerns haunt me, and then I hear myself thinking,and I regret turning into that sort of person.So what if she's not the best in everything?I never was. Neither was her dad. We were both very good in school, but neither was the best all the time.There were times when we'd excell, there were times when we'd lag behind.But this never made our parents look down upon us.We both had a fun childhood,without the pressures of performance from our parents,They helped us improve,but never made us feel inferior if we didn't achieve the exact set goals.Was that too bad?Didn't we turn out all right afterall?(at least we'd like to think so).So from now on,I won't panic,I will try to take things one step at a time,and not worry about the pride that comes with being the mom of the best student in class,especially in parent teacher –meetings.Though that would be such an ego booster!!!Well,who knows?Inshalla!