Officially, less than one week left in Jordan after today, wow has it gone fast! Too fast! We’ve been so busy the past few weeks that we haven’t had time to process any of this yet. I’m sure once we get on that plane it will hit us and we’ll be very sad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to go home and see everyone, but we feel like we’re leaving here at such a good point. We’ve made wonderful friends and finally are comfortable and feel at home, of course- this is the time we always end up moving! : ) Ahh, we’re used to it now. Like I always say, better to leave while you’re still loved!
Life has been exceptionally crazy though, as typical for the culture here, we have to see everyone at least one last time before we depart. This means a night out (which never starts before 8:30 and dinner before 9:30) so I’m beat from one late night after another. If I’m not careful, I’m going to start getting that pregnancy heartburn! We’ve also had many B-day parties going on which have been tons of fun. My favorites have been our Jordanian friend’s kids and getting to meet their extended families. My friend Mervat is a modern gal, but her parents are very traditional… for instance, her father will not shake hands (touch) an unrelated female. We all laughed when another American friend got her hand rejected upon introduction! This was not as bad as the time I got my traditional greeting of a kiss on the cheek rejected by a male friend. Awkward! Waving thru these cultural waters keeps me on my toes and quite entertained! As much as I love my Arab friends here, I’m not going to miss having to dress impeccably for every meeting (another thing I always fail to pull off, me- the casual American!) These women look like they’re heading out for a day of shopping in Manhattan just to go to the playground. To you mom pals in DC, please be prepared to meet in sweatshirts, jeans and slippers!
I’m going to post some pics next of J’s trip to Qatar last week. He spent 4 nights there and had a good time, also visited with old neighbors of ours from CA. While he was gone, we threw a birthday party for Jane and I got to meet all of her Filipina friends. That was another interesting night! Tonight we went out with an Iraqi woman and her husband that I met (thru a Chinese lady who taught me how to make Chinese dumplings, random! I’m telling you this place is truly a melting pot!) She and her husband fled Iraq three years ago – they actually were planning to just come to Amman for a holiday and left everything in their home out as if they’d be back in a week. They’re still waiting for it to be safe enough for them to return. Talking with her was fascinating. There is just nothing like hearing a story first hand. For all of the accounts I’ve watched on the news throughout the years, this really gave me a true prospective of what life was like under Sadaam and after. She’s invited us over for an Iraqi meal tomorrow so that should be even more interesting. If you get the chance, watch the BBC movie “The House of Sadaam”, it’s four hours long but terrific!
Well, J, K and I want to wish everyone a great Thanksgiving!!! We’ll sure be thinking of our families and wishing we were with you. We’re spending the holiday at our Pastor’s home. We’ve found a wonderful church (another thing we hate to leave) and they are hosting a dinner. The funny thing is; it will be mostly Europeans! I love that they won’t be able to compare my pumpkin pie with their moms though : ) I’ve already made two for “practice”, yum! It is sure getting us in the mood for turkey day. We have so many things to be thankful for, especially as Americans. I’m thankful for food banks (and a social system that supports poor people) so I don’t have starving children begging me for money every time I go grocery shopping, like they do when I’m shopping here. I’m thankful that women have equal rights and can do whatever they want without the approval of a male family member. I’m thankful for free speech! And; I’m so very thankful for the opportunity to live in the Middle East and experience a place that is quite different from America. I wish everyone could do it… diversity is the spice of life!
Finally, I forgot to post this about our recent trip to the Sinai in Egypt…
Despite all of the trouble this trip gave us (our last one in the Mid East!), it turned out to be well worth the effort. Although, I admit for a while I was wondering if God was trying to send us a sign not to go! We had a great time as a family and our four nights there flew by too quickly (they always do). The first thing we learned when landing in Sharm El Sheikh is that it is unlike any place in Egypt- you forget you’re in a Muslim country for starters. The place was FILLED with Russian tourists and all of the hotel staff we spoke to spoke Russian (sometimes better than English). The first sign is that instead of the traditional (conservative) dress we usually see on our trips, this place was all skin (and I mean skin!) For once, I started to miss the Birkini (can you really blame me after gaining 10lbs for not wanting to be surrounded by Russian supermodels all week? LOL!) This also meant lots of alcohol, which we usually don’t see. As K spent her days playing with the Russian kids in the pool, J and I laughed that 30 yrs ago when we were her age our parents probably wouldn’t have dreamt of us playing with little Russian kids. The world has sure changed!
On our first full day there, we drove into the town of Sharm and checked out the outdoor markets, this lasted about 20 minutes until we decided it was all junk and went back to the pool. It did give us a glimpse of where the bombings had been though. It was easy to tell what’s been recently rebuilt. After the terrorist attacks there, they started building a wall around the town and since the more recent attacks on other cities in the Sinai; the security is quite heavy everywhere with frequent police checkpoints and passport control.
Our second day was a little crazier; we had planned to drive to the town of St. Katherine’s to see the famous monastery there and Mt. Sinai. We decided that we wanted a low stress day so we hired a driver to take us in our rental car. Well, sure enough, the driver never showed up and we wasted a long time waiting for him. Our frustration was compounded by the fact that I read in the guidebook that the trip to St. K’s would take twice as long as we had expected at it closed at noon! We raced to the car and drove the entire way there afraid we’d arrive too late. After several police checkpoints and very desolate roads we made it (2 ½ hours thru the desert). We parked the car at 12:15 and then had a quarter mile walk to the monastery. We raced the whole way knowing it was closed but hoping for sympathy. There were busloads of tourists leaving the place and when I saw an open door, we all snuck in and made our way to the “burning bush” (the main attraction there). Turned out we were lucky to get there late; it was empty compared to the mob that usually surrounds it and we got some good photos.
After we left the monastery, we wanted to get a glimpse of Mt. Sinai. J had intended to climb the mountain but we just didn’t have time since sunset was so early. We decided to save time and hire camels to take us partially up so that we could get a look at it. I enjoyed my ride but with J carrying K, he was miserable. She loved it though and it was definitely the highlight of her trip. After a mere hour and a half there, we had to drive back to Sharm because we didn’t want to be caught on the roads after dark. Even though we spent a lot of time in the car the trip was worth it- seeing Mt. Sinai was awesome, next time we’ll have to climb it. K kept talking about how she got to see where Moses lived!
Our third day was slightly wasted driving to the Ras Mohammed National Park, despite the great snorkeling we were promised we never found it. The park was all sand, water and dirt roads. We spent the rest of the trip relaxing at the hotel. The snorkeling there was incredible and thankfully, there were plenty of things to do to keep K busy. We were bummed to see our last adventure in the Mid East come to an end but when I arrived home late Sat. night, I said a prayer of thanks with relief. After all the miles we have driven/flown/trained/bused/taxi’d/ridden/floated this past year and the places we’ve been, God surely protected and blessed our travels! Believe it or not, I can’t say that I ever felt “unsafe” anywhere--- I hope I can say the same for Washington D.C. LOL!!
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