O.K. I was very excited when I drove a Californian Jesuit to the airport this morning. As we were on the last stretch of road to the airport, I notice that some new lanes were opened. I saw two remarkable features. One was newly striped lanes to help people stay between the lines. The other was exit signs with numbers on them, like Exit 7R, 8R, 9R, 10R. This will certainly help in giving directions.
Right now we say things like, "Take the exit after you see the red building next to a wheat farm." Now, we'll be able to say with precision, "Take Exit 10 R." Yea! I hope these numbered signs catch on because it will make traveling much easier.
I also like the development that is happening on the airport road. The government is making it tourist friendly with a few hotels, gas stations, and other shops. A very large IKEA is under constructions. I've never visit an IKEA so this will be exciting for me.
~~~
On another note, I'll be saying one last Mass this weekend. I'm doubly excited because it will be the last Roman Catholic Mass that we say on the Orthodox Calendar. We have been out of whack since early February. I have been living in two time zones - writing homilies for parishioners for one season, and writing a blog homily for a different season. We will finally catch up. Thanks be to God.
I can understand that the churches want to present one set of holidays for the kingdom, but internally it does not make as much sense. In the days when social media were non-existent, people could more easily accept being out of sync, but most Catholics in Jordan are attuned to what is happening in the rest of the worldwide Church and we really feel the effects of being out of sync. With today's feast of the Body and Blood of Christ complete, we can now revert back to Ordinary Time.
In Puerto Rico, my husband Paul always refers to the freeways by their numbers: 18, 22. But our Puerto Rican friends refer to them by their names: Martinez Nadal, Luis Ferre... Every culture has a different way of dealing with reality :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you'll now be in sync with the rest of the world :-)
Being in sync will be a relief.
DeleteEvery street name in Jordan has three of four different spellings.
Re the new signs, maybe someone in the highways dept has been reading your blog on the Jordanian traffic problems !!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep writing then!
DeleteI am directionally challenged so I would be very excited with the new signs if I were driving there!
ReplyDeleteI do find it interesting that IKEA is building a store. I wonder if they sell the same furniture, etc. in every country or if there are some differences due to culture, climate, etc. IKEA is very popular in Canada.
Enjoy Ordinary Time!
I'm sure the Jordanian market for IKEA will be of different quality, but it will be nice to see such a massive store here in Jordan.
DeleteI'm delighted about the street signs. It gave me a boost that was unexpected.