Making do (The Welcome Kit)

As I mentioned in my last post, we made the error in judgement of arriving in Amman the week before Eid Al Adha. For my non Muslim readers, this is the equivalent of arriving right before Christmas or Thanksgiving. The government shuts down and people are celebration the holiday.

T and I have done some exploring with our extra free time including visiting four different grocery stores in an effort to get the lay of the land. We've also made multiple trips to each of those stores because, of course, each time we go into the kitchen we realize we need something we forgot on the last list. Tonight it was foil.

Since we enter each new post with nothing but two suitcases and a carry on each to tide us over till the rest of our things arrive. We are provided with a welcome kit to hold us over until the rest of our things arrive. In Jakara that took three months. I'm hoping this time it will only be 1-2.

Now I had heard about the failings of the Welcome Kit before we even headed to Jakarta. I knew to pack some of my own knives. I also learned to bring my own can opener, wine opener and sheets that weren't made of 20 thread count blend. Tax payers should safely know the State Department isn't wasring your money on Welcome Kit items.

I made the mistake of thinking that all Welcome Kits would contain the same items. I was pleasantly surprised in Jakarta to find a muffin tin. Our arrival in Amman proved otherwise. Not only was there no muffin tin but also no frying pan! We quickly corrected that with another trip to the store.
This time I brought a cheese grater with me only to find one in kitchen drawers, but as I set about making dinner tonight I realized there are no casserole dishes. Sigh.

Fortunately the little corner store, that from here on we are going to call the Store of Requrement (Harry Potter fans will understand), is open even if it is a holiday and I had bought and pre-shipped new some Pyrex bowls that I am I love with (they have snap on, though not ovenproof, lids!) T made a quick trip to the store and now we have our makeshift casserole dish.

Find them here:
http://www.pyrexware.com/smart-essentials-8-pc-mixing-bowl-set/1086053.html

Necessity, the mother of invention!

On a side note. I'm reading My Life in France, the story of Julia Child. She is perhaps the most famous trailing spouse. I wonder what she would think of the Welcome Kit. She probably would have figured out how to make soufflé.


Link to the NYT book review http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/books/review/28riding.html?_r=0