"Also, I was stabbed..."

SO. It's been a while, and SO much has happened...
Ranging from community service involving oil based paint, gasoline and an orphanage to thinking I'm going to die hiking/feeling like the fat kid in gym class on the Abraham Path to hanging out on a beach and reading 3 Cups of Tea to seeing schools of tiny blue fish jump over the water in what looks like fish-clouds to standing where Moses stood, looking out into the Promised Land, and figuring out life- and forgetting it all as soon as the sun set completely behind the mountains to coming to Irbid to the wrong hotel... then to the right hotel only to find out it was very wrong because construction wasn't done... Only to find out, it's just fine, because what's life without a bit of adventure?
What's an overseas trip without a bit of getting lost? :)

Hmmmmmmmm.
We left off with...
Wow... Mt Nebo and Madaba! It's been SO long since I wrote!
Madaba was beautiful. There was wonderful people there.
we went and saw the Orthodox church in Madaba, which houses the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land... however, the church was SO beautiful, I forgot I was standing almost on top of the oldest map! haha :) But truly, the church was so beautiful. It was so still and lovely- How can anyone stand in such a holy place and not feel that wonderful stillness?
(Psalms 46:10a... Be still and know that I am God...)
I love the churches here. The history, the people, the art, the candles constantly burning... They're so lovely, and beautiful and, running the risk of getting emotional- my heart can barely contain the beauty. (I won't quote American Beauty, I'll spare you.. haha :D)


So, after we saw the church, and I saw in the pews, and enjoyed the stillness... Rachel and I decided to head to the bus to grab my backpack... But then got a bit lost trying to find the Archeological park where everyone else was... However, the people of Madaba are so gracious and wonderful, they saw two lost white girls who were frustrated, and they kindly pointed us in the right direction.
Eventually we ended up in the right place.
The archeological park was interesting, but I was excited about walking around shops and pizza- and upset about being late. Because as much as I'm a last minute procrastinator, there's nothing I hate more than being late or getting lost because I left my stupid backpack on the bus! :)
BUT. I love when things work out!
So after that, we walked around Madaba and talked to some shop owners- lovely people.
But eventually, we met up with some other folks in our group, and one of the shop owners called us in and said "Come, the tea is almost ready!"
I'm not a girl to turn down tea- especially not here, because the hot tea is incredible- minty and lemony and super sweet... It's so good.
When Tarina and I walked in, we saw a few people from our team already sitting down and chatting with Yusef, the shop owner.
I had forgotten that Yusef has a tea drinking competition with the student groups who come through Madaba.
He was so gracious- gave us tea and cookies and talked about Jordan and his niece, Julia Sawalha, ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/prideandprejudice/characters/lydia_person_page.shtml ; http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/3500000/bennets_1600x1200-pride-and-prejudice-3580174-1600-1200.jpg ) who played Lydia in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice.. awesome.
[i do hope i got her name right AND the correct character.... that would be embarrassing...]
I really wish my pictures would upload so I could show the picture of Filip and Myself-- we all kept tally of our cups of tea on our arms.
I wimped out at 8 cups of tea- it was boiling hot and my tummy was SO full... but the 6'4 Filip gulped down 26 cups of tea. So, he had hashmarks all down his arm, and I had 8 tiny ones on my wrist. hahah From the look on my face in the photo, it look as if I so clearly won :)
[i hope that works!]
I ended up buying several headscarves from Yusef. He actually told us not to buy anything from him- that we were only there for his hospitality. But I wanted to give something back for his warm welcome.

People have really been so kind here. Everytime we meet new people, they welcome us to Jordan- they don't care how long we've been here, it's always "Welcome! Welcome to Jordan! How do you like Jordan so far??"
The culture and the people are truly wonderful.


That night we headed to Mt Nebo- by far one of my favorite places in Jordan. It was gorgeous! You can see for MILES. We sat and watched the sunset. It was so beautiful.
And really, it was incredible to think "Moses stood here. I am standing where Moses stood."
What a thought.
So inspiring. I swear, on that mountain, I thought I'd figured out the whole world- I felt so at peace.
I wandered off by myself for a bit, so I could think and pray and reflect and enjoy the solitude.
(1 Kings 19:11-12: And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.)

[this is my favorite photo of the day- maddi and alex. it's lovely and candid.]


Shortly after that, the week of craziness began.
The Abraham path.
The first day was hiking... I was actually really jazzed about it- especially after checking out their websites and seeing the lovely photos- it looked like an enjoyable hike.
It turned out to be not so fun...
It was up and down and twists and turns and up and down and the part we weren't on concrete, it was mostly loose rock, so my ankles had a hard time keeping up and the ups were UP and the downs were DOWN and it was intense.
Also... I fell out of the bus. Which was hilarious later... but then, not so funny because I was super sleepy because I had just woken up from the bus ride...
But seriously. Ajloun nearly kicked my ass.
So, Tuesday, we did Community Service... which, to be honest, I was a little weary about- we didn't really know about it until it was right on top of us.
However... it turned out to be pretty incredible.
Half our team went to pick up litter in the mountains, and half of us went to paint a mural in a Catholic School/orphanage.
We chose Noah's ark for the large mural- and when we got there, it ended up being that we actually had two walls-- so we split up, a few of us painted the two Ark panels, and a few of us painted a soccer match mural- it was adorable, and the girls did SUCH a lovely job. I really liked it a lot. I think the kids did too.
With the ark panels, I think we have had too many cooks in the kitchen but our finished product was pretty awesome, SO I guess our cooks did just fine :)

It actually took us two days to finish- which was perfectly okay for me- that meant we got to miss a day of hiking AND we got to hang out with some of the kids AND they helped us paint AND we got to have lunch with them. It was really really fun.
That night, we headed back to the school/orphanage for a mishmatch soccer game- kids just playing soccer on the concrete with their net-less goals and no lights for when it got dark...
Some of us got to play too... but by the time I was brave enough, it was dark and some of our girls were already ready to go...
SO I had a lovely time watching them play.

After the game was over, the Priest asked if we wanted a tour- we, of course, said yes.
He showed us where the school building was, where the library was, where they've built and established a physical therapy building for both Christians and Muslims.. and then he showed us where the orphans lived.
We saw where the kids lived, where the babies sleep, we go to see where they eat and play and read and have downtime...
The most wonderful part was Sister Angelu.. she spoke wonderful spanish. (ah... muy rapido, indeed...) BUT. even when I told her it was very fast, she took Rachel and I by the hand and took us into rooms and showed us pictures and used her hands to talk and pointed...
The thing about being in Jordan is that nearly everyone TRIES.
Cabbies try to communicate even if their English is poor, and our Arabic is worse... Sister Angelu talked our ear off... but we understood, because she TRIED.
Communication here is so different from communication in the US.
But I love it. People try here. People listen carefully to the things you don't say, but instead to the makeshift sign language, the way your face moves, the directions you point.

The worst part was leaving.
There was one kid I really really wanted to bring home. His name was Sam.
At first I suspected he was special. Perhaps a bit slow.
But now I think maybe he's just got that little brother, loud mouth, lazy little boy who doesn't like to read thing going on....
I told the Priest I thought Sam was funny, and he was my favorite.
The Priest told me Sam was lazy and didn't care to read or write because to quote Sam, he "had a bad teacher". lol
Boys are so stinkin funny- I get it, man... no one likes to do the hard stuff. And maybe for Sam, reading and writing is freakin hard. I get that.
I've experienced a lot of kids who just don't get music, so they need a bit of extra help, some short cuts or helpful hints... Maybe Sam just needs someone to sit with him and help him realize reading is pretty awesome.

I'm considering maybe going back.
They need help with their english-speaking/teaching program.
I also suspect they might need help with soccer nets and comic books for little boys who don't like to read... maybe nail polish for little girls who live at the orphanage.
And you know, it's not about the fact that they're Catholic and I'm Baptist and you should leave the Catholic missions up to the Catholic churches.... It's about kids. And people. And helping.
Because if people don't start helping people- it's going to be a bumpier and bumpier ride...
(I keep thinking I Have it all figured out-- Antiquities, minor in Religious Studies, masters in Mythology... be a story teller forever... but then I realize that I just want to help people. And do community outreach and help people paint over graffiti and plant gardens and inspire change in the world. But i don't think they offer degrees in 'graffiti painting' or 'inspiration'.)

ANYWAY.
I cried when we left. Because Sam is adorable and I wanted to take him and his sister home with me- and I have a sneaking suspicion I might adopt someday... But not babies- kids who need homes and love but no one will take them because they aren't cooing/pooing babies...
Kids are the future, man.

SO.
The last day of the hike, I opted out.
My ankles hurt too bad from the first day hike and then standing around and painting and crouching and climbing onto scaffoldings... so I didn't go.
And I made the right decisions- because one of our staff came back and said "Anyone with weak ankles would've had a really really rough and bad time today. Lots of round rocks- easy to roll ankles on."
It was fairly boring, not much to do- but I welcomed the break.
We were at Pella- it was beautiful.
Boring but beautiful.
We took naps and read books.
Can't complain.:)
(I was also on drugs. The legal kind. I got car sick, so I took some anti-carsick pills... they made me SUPER loopy. It was hilarious. I'm fairly certain there's a video of me floatin around somewhere talking about how Jesus was not annointed with olive oil because it stinks, and royalty did not stink. loll... or something...)

[Just as a sidenote...It seems everyone on our team journals- even the grads and faculty.. When we get down time, they're always pulling out their journal to draw a picture or jot down some words. I like that.]

Then, we headed for Aqaba.
Ohhhhh wonderful, delightful, expensive Aqaba, how I loved thee.
It was beautiful and breezy and come on- directly on the beach of the Red Sea where I was in plain sight of Israel and Egypt, and not more than a few k's from Saudi... awesome.
AWESOME. seriously.
We stayed at a Radisson (sp? shrug...) and it was fairly westernized..
So that was delightful.
And fortunately (unfortunately?) their website led us to believe their rooms were 100jd a night, and when we got there, they expected 'roundabouts 180jd, I think, for a weekend price..... I'm not sure- I got real upset and had to sit down and eat a granola bar. (lol, kind of...)
HOWEVER. Dave, our fake habibi to ward off Jordanians... raised some hell and we got our rooms for even cheaper than the regular price.
Which is awesome.

So, even if the weekend was, indeed, about 100 more jd than I expected, it was still cheaper than it would've been.

The best part about the weekend was when Rachel and Alex and I walked into our room and turned on the tv and it sai "Welcome, Mrs Hill" everytime. hahaha awesome.
We took pictures.
(Speaking of which... I only got to take a small handful of pictures because Jordanian batteries seriously last about 7 and a half minutes. So. I had no batteries because mine died. Fail. I'll be stealing pictures from the boys or Rachel and Alex.)

But seriously, though.. it was so wonderful. Just to sit on the beach and read, swim in the Red Sea- which is so blue, by the way, I have no idea why it's called the RED sea. (So deep blue, but so clear, you can see the bottom a long way out...)
Beautiful.
I could spend a long time there if that were an option and of course, money were no object.

I think the best part (and by best I mean.... worst. let's all be honest here.) was the bus ride to and from.
We couldn't read the numerals and the stewardess definitely didn't put us in the right seats and on the way there, an entire family of Jordanian women and children got seriously angry at us "but my children! where will they sit!" I wanted to say, I don't give a shit, lady, find a new place- we did. But I couldn't say that, so I just moved instead... and unfortunately, Rachel and I got stuck behind this giant gorrilla of a sweaty man who pushed the seats so far back our tiny midget legs couldn't fit.. so Rachel moved to the front- I stayed and sat sideways, and had tiny baby hands constantly grabbing my tattooed foot.. The stewardess poking me so I'd move my legs so she could stand in the isle and shoot the shit with the ladies who stole my seat... Needless to say, my ride was less than enjoyable and I was very tired when we got to Aqaba.

The ride back wasn't as horrible- but I did have to share my seat with a Jordanian man. I think we both felt very, very awkward about the situation.

The coolest part about Aqaba was watching soccer. :)
It was quite the adventure sitting in the Heatwave (their swanky bar...), watching soccer with some Jordanians... us yelling, them yelling... everything was in Arabic, but we all understood the game...
:)
America and England finishing with a tied game.
Awesome.
Awesome awesome awesome.
That was fun. (even if I did get a bit sleep towards the end..lol)

It's such an interesting feeling to know that the World Cup is SUCH a huge deal- and I'm here, watching it, surrounded by a completely different culture.
(And just FYI- I'm totally cheering for South Africa because they're SOOO the underdogs, and I love the underdogs- even if they lose- I love the underdogs.
But I am, of course, cheering for the American boys... who are also underdogs!
Then maybe England. :)

I realy love soccer because it's such a melting pot of sports... my buddy Dave and sat, watching the game, trying to decide who was America and who was England based on last names and skin color- and we couldn't do it.
(Until we saw the crest on England's uniforms...) It's just cool, man..

Hmm... so. we went back to Amman just to pack up and leave again...
And now we're in Irbid. Our arrival was... rather interesting with the fact that the hotel we were told we were staying in was actually.. incorrect.
Al-joude was not the hotel we were staying in, but Al-jadeen.
And while Al-joude was ready to accept us after all their communication with Dr Walker, we had to leave, because once again- Yarmuk messed up our living arrangements again..
We got placed in Al-jadeen which is actually under construction and not ready for us at all...
It's been interesting, indeed.
Dr Walker had to come in and lay the smack down- I love listening to her speak Arabic. Coming out of her mouth, it's beautiful! Even when she's yelling! haha

So now we have the use of a kitchen and hot water and sheets.
Yes. Sheets.
We didn't have those at first....

The culture of Irbid is WAY different than that of Amman.. I really didn't expect it to be different at all, I guess, considering it's all Muslim and all Jordanian.
But I guess that would be like saying I would expect Seattle and Houston and StL and New York to all be the same in culture and aspects and behaviors- and they're not.
I guess I'm just very surprised by the... bold and outspoken behavior of men in Irbid.
Alex, Rachel and I had a teenage boy (who, I suspect had mental issues, honestly) follow us for a while. He said hello to us, and we kind of waved him off-- but he followed us and tried to shake my hand- which is a HUGE no-no in this community- Jordanian men do NOT touch women unless they are married. He snuck up behind us to tried to shake my hand though, and when he wasn't startled that I was startled, that's when I suspected he had mental issues...
Regardless, though.. It's not okay that he kept following us for a few blocks, and even when we crossed the street, he followed us, and then when we were walking into Hardees to escape- he grabbed Alex's tush.
At the time- it was not funny.
Alex waved her arms, and basically yelled "fuck off" in arabic and the boy sprinted away.
....and then he ran into traffic, right up to some random car that had to stop because of a line of cars in front of them.
I dunno man. I think he had real issues... but still, that's no excuse for the other Jordanian men who whoop and hollar and cat call and hiss at us just because we are A, white women and B, wearing tshirts.
Yep.
I will not miss this part of Jordanian culture.
For the most part, men have been EXTREMELY polite and appropriate and offer any help they can, and they shake the hands of the men we're with and offer their cards (most are cab drivers) and tell us if we need anything we can call, even if it's just translation issues...

When we got back to the hotel and told Dave, our fake habibi, what had happened, he asked if we wanted him to go beat his ass- which made me laugh. Because it's such an american response.
And I dig it a lot.

Irbid is just... interesting...


SO. that's what I'm currently up to.
Today, we didn't do much- I've been updating this and we went and got lunch and met some unruly natives and now Alex and Rachel are napping again and I'm updating this again and later, some of the boys are cooking dinner because they're first on the list. :)

Pretty bummed my Keens finally gave me a blister... so I'm going to blame it on my flip flops. Because flip flops suck. :)

Anyway... there are unruly children in our hotel again...
This trip has made me want to never have children but yet adopt all the children in the world..
Strange. Yet true.
Much like this trip...

In other quick and random news...
I'm thinking about continuing spanish...
And finishing my antiquities degree somewhere other than MoState...
and getting a masters in Mythology...
And researching volunteer opportunties like my roomie Alex did in Africa, because I'm totally interested.

I think if I could be a volunteer forever, I'd do it.
I just want to help make people's lives better.
If I could help make American people's lives better, I'd do that first- because we have orphans and starving babies and poverty and illiterate folk and graffitied neighborhoods that need painting and people with unsafe drinking water and people living in rubbish too....

I just don't know where it seems worse- American where people know better.
Or here, where they might know better and don't give a damn- OR where they might know better and can't afford better.

There is a clash of culture here in half of Jordan- in Ajloun where we were volunteering and hiking- you can drive by the gas station, and see someone herding their goats through town...
It's bizarre to think that there is such a clash of culture, and it works for them.

My brain is all scrambled and I have so many thoughts on these subjects- but really, man, I just want to help make lives better, that's all.

And I'll leave you with that. :)