Our Building
We've been away from America for just over a month now. It's about time we show you around.
This is our apartment building. Like all the buildings around here, it's made of stone. Actually, cinder blocks. There are at least 4 or 5 buildings under construction just a few minutes walking distance from our place. A friend of mine said last night, "Soon it'll be like Manhattan." He's right. Buildings are popping up everywhere.
These construction teams are something else. I counted no more than eight men working on one building. Eight guys building apartments while fasting- no food or even so much as a sip of water for their entire working day. One guy will make himself a little lean-to out of cardboard and other scraps. Then he'll sit in the shade and bang on rocks with a chisel and hammer. Another guy will move cinder blocks from a big pile near the street to the guys laying them in place. I counted four blocks on one guy's shoulder and another in his hand. I'm always stunned to see how much they've accomplished at the end of each day, masha'Allah.
If you look real close, you'll notice that the sidewalk in front of our building is tiled. I really like this about Syria and Jordan. The sidewalks are not at all uniform. It seems that maybe the people who build the buildings are also responsible for building the sidewalks out front. The tile patterns are constantly changing from one block to the next, although the colors remain pretty constant- shades of red and yellow. That's jasmine growing over the rail. Many streets are lined with jasmine bushes and olive trees.
Also notice the incline of the street in front of our building. This is one of the milder grades in the area.
Our apartment is immediately through the front doors and to your right.
This is our apartment building. Like all the buildings around here, it's made of stone. Actually, cinder blocks. There are at least 4 or 5 buildings under construction just a few minutes walking distance from our place. A friend of mine said last night, "Soon it'll be like Manhattan." He's right. Buildings are popping up everywhere.
These construction teams are something else. I counted no more than eight men working on one building. Eight guys building apartments while fasting- no food or even so much as a sip of water for their entire working day. One guy will make himself a little lean-to out of cardboard and other scraps. Then he'll sit in the shade and bang on rocks with a chisel and hammer. Another guy will move cinder blocks from a big pile near the street to the guys laying them in place. I counted four blocks on one guy's shoulder and another in his hand. I'm always stunned to see how much they've accomplished at the end of each day, masha'Allah.
If you look real close, you'll notice that the sidewalk in front of our building is tiled. I really like this about Syria and Jordan. The sidewalks are not at all uniform. It seems that maybe the people who build the buildings are also responsible for building the sidewalks out front. The tile patterns are constantly changing from one block to the next, although the colors remain pretty constant- shades of red and yellow. That's jasmine growing over the rail. Many streets are lined with jasmine bushes and olive trees.
Also notice the incline of the street in front of our building. This is one of the milder grades in the area.
Our apartment is immediately through the front doors and to your right.
posted by P-Tribe @ 12:34 AM
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