Burning Bush and My 9 Commandments (just short of Biblical) for Living in Jordan

The other evening I was holed up in my room studying for the evil GREs when my nostrils picked up a whiff of smoke. I thought one of my neighbors had overcooked her dinner but the effluvium grew to be pretty powerful and an associated crackling noise sent me to the window. About twenty feet from my hostel a large bush had caught fire and the wind was whipping the flames through an open field in our direction. I ran downstairs to Miss Fatima, our landlady and curfew enforcer, in a panic. "Don't you see the fire? Shouldn't we call the police? It's spreading!" She looked at me cock-eyed, "You mean across the street? Eh, la mush keela" (my lame transliteration of "No problem!").
I ran back to my room and grabbed all the water bottles within reach and stood vigil at my doorstep, ready to douse the flames I imagined would be lapping at my room..... But to my surprise the brush fire eventually starved itself out. Staring at the burning bush [see actual picture below] reminded me of another famous story of burning foliage, and my subsequent pondering eventuated in a few commandments for living in this crazy, wonderful country. :-)

1. Thou shalt not be alarmed by random roadside brushfires and/or a pervasive smell of smoke or burning plastic. (Be wary though, you never know! ha)
2. Thou shalt not expect taxi drivers to know their home-town, (note this is not a faux ignorance for tourists, even when with Jordanians who made me stay mute the whole time taxi drivers have gotten woefully lost). Can't blame them, half of the streets in my old neighborhood didn't even have names!
3. Thou shalt find a balance in attire between what your great-grandmother would have worn and hoochie mama. Jordan is a lot more accepting of tasteful Western dress than one would imagine.
4. Thou shalt not assume that drivers in Jordan who whiz millimeters past your limbs at breakneck speed are anti-American. They are simply insane. In Amman there is an accident every 75 seconds, and I'm surprised the duration between fender benders is that long.
5. Thou shalt not be afraid of being American here. Although many Jordanians aren't fans of "King Bush," they open their hearts, homes and to visitors, and proclaim sincerely, "I LOVE AMERICA!" and want to move there. Be prepared for endless cups of salutary coffee and tea.
6. Thou shall not drink the tap water unless thou wants to incur an intestinal plague of Old Testament proportions.
7. Thou shall expect an abudance of conversational non-sequiturs from relative strangers such as, "Are you a virgin?" or "Why did Jennifer and Brad break up!?!?!"
8. Thou shall be ready for a plethora of eye-openers about the effects of America, both politically and culturally on the region. I.E.: The economic effects (specifically the abrogation of importing Iraqi oil at cost) of the war in Iraq on the Jordanian economy
9. Despite the long-term health risks of continued use, thou shall try shishah at least once. It's a national/regional pastime and exhaling the fruity smoke makes you feel like mix between a beatnik and the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.

Unlike Moses', this list is open to alteration. :-)