Bordercrossings

When we left Jordan to travel to the border we knew it would be a long process. 8 hours later, with tired feet and hungry bellies, we finally made it. Our experience was one of little hassle, thankfully. We expected more but were very happy to say it was uneventful. The lines, crowds, and general feeling of anxiety reminded me of a huge crowd leaving a football game after a disappointing game; everyone just a little too sober wanting to get where you need to go but add to that tons of luggage and varying passports. To say the least, once we arrived, we were forever grateful and ready to see all we could see. We were now in the Holy Land.

I couldn't get too many pictures as I didn't want to get flagged and questioned.

Videos Galore

Here are a few amazing videos of our trip.  I hope you enjoy!

Lettuce Lady

While searching the news today we found the Lettuce Lady was visiting 1st circle today.  If you don't know what the Lettuce Lady is, which I personally didn't, it is a lady dressed in all lettuce advocating vegetarianism.  Check out the link below and even the video.  Do note, she wasn't ALL in lettuce but was wearing normal clothing and a hajab with lettuce over it.  I mean, it would stop traffic and probably cause a riot here if she was only in all lettuce.  Only these types of things happen in Amman.  Seriously, what is next?  The lamb lady??

http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=9127

Wadi Rum

Our trip to Wadi Rum, the southern desert of Jordan, started out in usual Jordanian style. We left a little late, otherwise known as Jordanian time. We were stopped by highway police 4 times along the way, once for having bikes on the top of our bus (go figure since we were going for a biking trip), once for not having a name of a school on the side of the bus (I couldn’t figure this one out but wasn’t surprised by the strangeness), another time for the bikes and going over the weight limit, and the last time for unknown reasons. I think they just felt the need to pull us over since they were bored. Each time, we were pulled over, about 4 guys jumped out to be involved in the discussion and others jumped off for their much needed smoke break. It was rather hilarious each time. But as you can imagine, by the fourth time, it was getting old and the trip was taking much longer that we all expected. The sun was setting and the idea was to arrive in Wadi Rum to bike into the camp at sunset for a nice cool and scenic ride. Thank goodness we arrived just in time and headed off. The bike trail was exactly 15K and pretty easy but the scenery was amazing! With the sun setting, the mountains turned an amazing orange and red, something very similar to our honeymoon location of Sedona. I was in heaven!

The bikers!

Sunset

I had heard that when you are in the desert you can see stars you would normally not be able to see in the city due to all the lights, clouds, and pollution. They sure weren’t lying. We laid out a blanket next to our tent and took it all in. I was amazed by the sheer number of stars we could see. In some areas, it looked like small galaxies were visible. I even saw my first ever shooting star!!! Rob was keeping a watchful eye and saw 5, if you can believe it! They say the three wise men followed the North Star to find the baby Jesus and now I can see how.

After only a few hours of sleep we woke up before dawn to climb a nearby mountain to await the sunrise. The view on top of the mountain was breathtaking. We could see and hear a small town with its roosters sounding the sunrise. We, on the other hand, watched God’s grace in silence.

Next on the agenda was our guided tour around Wadi Rum. We initially wanted to do ATVs but decided after getting little to no sleep it was a better idea to go via 4x4 truck. As we all piled into the back of the pickup, Rob and I looked at each other eyebrows raised…was this really safe? Of course, we were assured continuously by the locals, it was fine. Every seemingly dangerous activity in Jordan is “fine”. We held on for dear life when we went around some of the turns, afraid of rolling out but in the end, all was okay. Our bedouin guide took us to some amazing spots through the desert Wadi and we even drove down a huge sand dune. I couldn’t get over the different colors of sand we saw…some bright red, others burnt orange, then desert khaki, and finally a light sand color. The even odder thing is they tended to gather by color in the flats of the desert. It was like a huge sand box! But for me, I think the neatest thing we saw were wild camels! Boy, I am such the tourist.

Me in the desert.  Funny...cover the arms but not the legs.

I thought the heat would be oppressive and we would practically melt but the timing of our adventures was perfect. We biked at sunset and did our desert tour in the early morning. Both allowed for cooling breezes and shaded areas for rest. It was hilarious even in the heat we were offered hot tea or coffee. I am still amazed they can drink such hot beverages while sweating! Only in the Middle East…better yet, only in the desert.

All in all, our trip to Wadi Rum was total adventure filled with majestic mountains, smooth sand dunes, and desert winds. I can say my travels of Jordan are now complete. We definitely saved the best for last. \

Pony rides

This evening when walking out of the local Stop & Shop we could hear the giggles of excitement. I turned curiously to see where it was coming from and it was two little kids on the small entertainment rides outside of the store. It could have been a picture of any American kid smiling ear to ear while riding the electric pony or light up truck outside of Wal-mart. It brought a smile to my face knowing that kids across the world could get such enjoyment out of a 25 cent ride to nowhere. We reminisced about the good ole days of begging our parents for trips on these said rides and how they would eventually cave in after a while. Thank you for making those memories and hopefully one day I will be able to create new ones with my own kids.

World Cup

Every 4 years I become attached to the TV watching men run around kicking a soccer ball or as they would say here a football. Rob would say I get obsessed with it but I just like to say I am a big fan. Here in Jordan, people really get into it. The odd thing is the World Cup games are not played on most satellite channels but are only played on what we would call the pay-on-demand channels or specialized channels. So for me, it makes watching all the games a little more challenging. I have watched most online but with an erratic streaming feed I tend to get more frustrated more at the computer than the players. Yes, I am a yeller when watching sports. Well, maybe vocal fan is more appropriate. So the last few games, we decided to venture out and watch them at a coffee shop. What an experience! Keep in mind; most coffee shops here are small in size with maybe one TV. Our local coffee shop, Jafra, is right around the corner from us so we decided that was the perfect place. We arrived a few minutes before the game started to find it was practically full. Taking a seat, we looked around thinking okay, we can see the TV, and this will be great. Within the next 20 minutes, people streamed in and about 30 more chairs were shoved into places I didn't even know existed. I guess there is always room for one more when it comes to soccer. We cheered with the locals, yelled at the refs for bad calls, and gave high fives when appropriate. It was interesting to see the how the room was cheering for one team for the first half and then when there was no way they could come back, they instantly shifted to the other team. It is amazing to see how flexible people are here. I would never see that happen in the states. After all was said and done, we left smiling and looking forward to the next game.

Check out the security man watching the World Cup game! 

We even saw a police car pulled over to see the score a little further down the road.  Too funny!

Happy football!

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

It is funny when a holiday so “American” comes along, like the 4th of July, you feel sort of strange not to be home in the states celebrating with your family and friends. You look around in your home away from home country and know there will be no official fireworks celebration, no pool parties or gatherings of friends around the BBQ. So I wanted to make this year our own special July 4th celebration. One that can be All-American as it can be with juicy burgers, baked beans, slices of sweet watermelon, and Red,White,&Blue sprinkled cupcakes. Shout out to the family who sent the sprinkles, so we could have something special and remember you on this fun holiday.

Today is a day to remember how thankful we are to be American with amazing rights and privileges some countries do not have the luxury. Living outside of borders makes you realize how good you really have it on so many different levels. Thank you to all those who have served our country, past and present, without you…we would have nothing.

God bless America!

Welcoming committee

How I love the neighborhood! While walking back from watching the World Cup game yesterday evening we ran into one of our neighbors. They are an elderly couple, the husband is Jordanian/American and the wife is Greek. We have chatted with them occasionally in passing and tonight striked up a conversation about the game we just watched. A little shout out to Germany!!! A little while later, the couple invited us over to watch the later match at their house for a “social evening”. Their cute words, not mine. Once we arrived they offered us drinks were we politely asked for water. They laughed and Mr. Jerry advised us that he didn’t serve water to guests…only the good stuff. Again, I state lovingly how much I love our neighbors. Rob had a scotch on the rocks while I had an Italian cocktail. We ended up not really watching the game but hearing wonderful stories of their past, enjoyed family pictures, and talked about hobbies. Mrs. Mareak (Greek for Mary) showed me her amazing knitting work of baby clothing which I absolutely adored. I think I raved about them so much she offered me some baby booties for our future little one. They are so adorable and I just had to share a picture. Their kindness and openness to help and offer hospitality was so refreshing in a big city atmosphere of strangers. I felt like I was with my grandparents, oh how I miss them.


Hugs to the ones I love!