Weekly Update (snore, snore)

It's been a fun week since I last wrote- nothing too notable although J did lose a fingernail at work (Ouch) and has used that to his full advantage (no baths, dishes or extra details of any kind) ha-ha, can't blame him because I'm quite sure that I'm the one who taught him the old injury line! :) It is healing quickly, thank goodness for all concerned. He’s got some really great stories about working with the Jordanians up close and personal, cocktail party fillers for years to come! Let's see, we went to a party at the Ambassador's house last Sun., he was very funny and I loved that they served hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad and lemon bars! Not what I pictured eating at the Ambassador's but it was fantastically reminiscent of home (we are starting to tire of Jane's distinctly Filipino dishes, God bless her). We also went to a party at the Marine house for Cinco de Mayo. This is the house that all the Marines live in and entertain in occasionally. If I were a Marine this is where I would want to live no doubt (it's gotta beat Fallujah by a long shot). K finally got her first molar in, I've only been expecting it's appearance for two months now. One down, one to go, poor girl! I never knew I could be so happy to see a tooth! Oh, and we have cable TV now! Just when I had come to peace with not knowing what was happening in the States (Idol and so on) J decided that he wanted it. It had kind of become a challenge for me, could I really go an entire year without Diane (Sawyer, that is)? Well, it looks like my addiction to GMA can finally start up again, although with all of the weird times here I'll have to watch it in the evening instead. (I’m still contemplating if this means I should give up my addiction to red wine in exchange?) We are too late to get into Idol I think. Anyhow, no more living in a bubble!
But, since I really can't go an entire blog without at least one editorial, the whole honor killings thing here is really starting to upset me. In the last couple weeks they've had two (six for the year so far) and the stories are so tragic I can barely repeat them. For instance, one girl, 16, was married off and tried to leave her husband because he was evil and kinky and her parents didn't believe her. When she ran away, the police brought her back to her family after the father stated in writing that he wouldn't harm her. Sure enough, that same day he electrocuted her for "shaming the family" by trying to leave her husband. This is just one of many stories. Turns out the father got only a 6 month sentence. We may be giving Jordan 9 billion dollars (more or less) over the next few years; I hope to God that we can find some way to influence the Govt. when it comes to these types of crimes. Unfortunately, though, the problem for women in Iraq is many times worse. There, these types of crimes (and so many more) are happening daily. A friend here, who works for the UN specializing in the cases of Iraqi women, told me it is an absolute tragedy what is happening now to women there. Last year they had roughly 133 honor killings. The thing that makes these honor killings especially lewd is that they are socially acceptable is this culture. Not to everyone of course, because there are plenty of Muslims who would like to change the laws on this, but to enough people that there really isn't a great backlash against it. It's funny, I never thought of myself as a feminist, but, as happens to a lot of women living over here, you really do become one. When you start to see how bad women in other countries have it (and it is much better in Jordan than other places) it just plain p*sses you off! Thank God I’m an American woman and thank God for all of the women who blazed our trail!