129
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Title
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129
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Transcription
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TURKEY TO JORDAN
The Turkey assignment came to an end April 28, 1960. Turkey had quickly become part of our lives, the Turkish farmer was accepting the small equipment, and I felt that I should stay longer; my job was not yet finished. My two counterparts, Naki and Atif, were like brothers to me. Both were pushing hard to get the idea accepted in Turkey, that the farmer could do better with what he could make than what a foreign country might supply. It became obvious that high Turkish government officials thought that Turkey needed to be more modern. Perhaps it was time for me to move on.
The hardest part of leaving Izmir, was to leave the fellowship of the Staff at the school where Verna taught. The Makes and the young teachers became our family. We had taken many trips into Greek, Roman, and Hittite history, we were in Asia Minor. The Turks had treated us like royalty, and we had many Turkish friends.
At 8:00 o'clock the morning of April 28, we left the school with the Turkish ceremony of pouring water on the front wheel of the car, indicating that we would be returning. We spent one night with the Browns at Gazicuntab. where the Mission supported a Hospital. The following day we crossed into Syria. We stayed the first night in Aleppo the next in Damancus [sic], and on May 1st, we crossed the boarder [sic] into Jordan.
We were a little apprehensive, we had enjoyed the climate in Izmir, and on May 1, when we left Damascus, the temperature was about 90 degrees F. It was extremely dry, and women were in the fields pulling up clumps of barley, in order to salvage a little grain. When we crossed the border into Jordan, the temperature was over 100, and by the time we arrived in Amman, we were convinced that we were going to be living in a very hot country.
We reported to the American Embassy as soon as we arrived, and the Ambassador arranged for several from the Agricultural group to welcome us and take us to our living quarters. Everybody assured us that this weather was unusual, and that we seldom would experience anything like this. Our quarters were nice and cool, and perhaps they were right when they said that the weather was unusual. We lived in Jordan 7 years and it was only 5 or 6 times that we ever experienced such weather as the day we arrived. Amman, Jordan has one of the finest climates; elevation of 4000 [sic] feet above sea level, and dry. It seldom froze in the winter and it was unusual for it to reach 85 or 90 on the hottest days in summer, and the summer nights were always cool.
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Rights
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Metzger Memories
