Dinner with friends & family in Jordan, and a Syria Update

More from Rita on her stay in Jordan.

Sept 13: It seems like we never get to bed before midnight and later each night! I went to a friends house and had the famous dish of mansaf - it was fabulous and we all ate and ate standing around a table with our hands the traditional way.  The rest of the day was totally lost after having such a heavy meal and the heat.

Sept 14:  Listening to the news and calling family and friends in Syria. All of them telling me not to come now.  Also the government has made it illegal to be using US Dollars.  Had a friend working with the UN and they came to Jordan to change all the funds and figure out how they were going to deal with paying people.  I called some merchants I know and asked them what they are doing and they had all set up accounts in other countries to be able to still conduct business.  They said they were taking orders from other countries and then sending the items through to Jordan or Lebanon and then out.  This is all they could do to keep going and making some money to live.  There has been no tourism in the country for the last several months.