Well I just rediscovered our blog and I thought that I would start writing again. Granted we are not traveling all over the world but we are still having lots of adventures. Since our Middle Eastern voyage we have settled in Utah for awhile. We have been blessed to have two wonderful children. Arwen, our oldest, is about to turn 2 while Schaeffer is 2 months. I have been working part time trying to figure out what I want to do career wise. I would love to own my own little shop selling knick knack decorations but that requires money, which I don't have, and guts (which I don't have either). For now though maybe I will post ideas on ways to spruce up your house using the items which you have. Hopefully I will be able to keep everyone interested in reading this little blog instead of speaking to myself and then sending it into the internet abyss.

Under the Stars - Arab Style

Chillin' on the roof.

View of Zarqa.

Bedtime!

So recently I went over to a friend's home with a couple of the other guys in the program to hang out for a while and spend the night. We all thought it was weird that he would ask us to spend the night, but it was really the only way to be able to really experience his neighborhood, which we aren't technically supposed to visit because it's kind of dangerous (Al-Zarqawi, a leader of Al-Qaeda, is from that neighborhood). Imagine the worst ghetto in the states but without guns and that's Zarqa (Al-Zarqawi's name comes from the name of the area). All of those things made me a bit nervous, but Spencer (our group leader) said it was OK for us to go as long as Ahmed was with us at all times.
Overall we had a lot of fun. I was really interested to see what Arabs do when they just hang out, and I must say that they're not too different from anyone else. We sat in their living room for a while to talk when we first arrived, during which members of his family slowly came in one or two at a time to introduce themselves. We mostly talked about where we were from, what life is like there, Islam, you know, the normal stuff.
After that, it was time to hit the town. Ahmed took us to a pool club, which he described as scandalous, so I was a bit worried. Luckily, Arab scandalous turns out to be pretty G-rated by our standards. The most scandalous thing in there was the cigarettes, but they're everywhere. They even stopped the music for the Athan (the call to prayer).
Our trip around town then brought us to a dessert shop, where you would have thought that we were celebrities the way people gathered and stared, and the waiter treated us like we were the president's personal entourage when he found out we were American. This leads me to an interesting thought. Zarqa is supposed to be scary. It's supposed to be dangerous. It's true that the only white people there are the ones with a certain skin condition, but I felt more welcome and safe walking the streets of Zarqa that anywhere in Amman. It was an interesting experience to have.
On the way home, we bought the traditional dinner foods (hummus, fool (beans), and falafel). It's worth noting that we bought enough for all 4 of us for 1 dinar ($1.50)! It was a great dinner, and then we slept out under the stars on Ahmed's family's roof, which doubles as a hang out area. All in all it was a great experience, and I actually had a lot of fun. I really wish that we could go back there again, but time will most likely prevent that.

Petra

I finally got to sit on a camel

The Treasury

Philip doing something silly

The start of the 800 steps to the Monastery

Well we are back from Petra (I can hear you all singing the Indiana Jones’ theme song). We started our hike at six in the morning which I thought was insane but as time went on, I was grateful that we were there early. I didn’t understand how Muslim women were walking around with their hijabs on and in their full overcoat. I was completely drenched wearing capris and a thin white tee shirt. We walked through a siq before we saw the Treasury which is the famous building that you see in all the pictures. It is also the one where Indiana Jones goes to find the Holy Grail. There are several buildings that are still in tact which is amazing in and of itself. We were feeling pretty brave so we decided to hike up to the Monastery which sits on top of a mountain. It takes over 800 steps to reach the top. About half way up, I was wishing that I had brought extra oxygen. Obese girls shouldn’t try hiking up a mountain (jk). It was well worth the trek though. We had a really good time walking around the park and looking at all the sites. I think that next time I will have to train for a day like that.

Here's the picture of us crazy "marrieds" (as the other students refer to us) covered in the famously healthy Dead Sea mud. I don't know if it's really healthy, but it was fun!

Brekke the big chicken

water days of summer

Philip and I floating

our group spelling out Dead Sea

Philip taking on the water

finally reaching the waterfall

So this past weekend Philip and I went to the Dead Sea and to Hike the gorge of Wadi Mujab. The Dead Sea was really cool. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much because everyone that has already been there said that the salt was so strong that you burn the whole time that you are in the water- not the case but I would recommend that you keep it out of your eyes-OUCH! I am usually pretty bouyant in normal water but in the Dead Sea I couldn't even keep my legs in the water. It was so surreal to just sit in the water and not have to worry about keeping yourself afloat. We also decided to take advantage of the famous "Dead Sea Mud" that you can purchase in high rolling salons. We were covered in this "poopy" mud from head to toe but I think that my skin is a little softer. We have now been in the Dead Sea, Red Sea, Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea. After our little spa treatment we went hiking through the gorge of Wadi Mujab. There were some amazing views of where the cliffs had given way to the persistant water. In the states, they would never let you climb up steep watery rocks with just a small rope. There were times that Philip had to push me up from the bottom. I am usually not afraid of heights but with slippery rocks and rushing water I admit that I was terrified. When we finally reached the end there was a beautiful waterfall. Like little children we all went running towards the waterfall hoping to be engulfed and see if we made it out again. That was definatley one of the funnest experiences that we have had on this trip. I will have to do that more often- if not to conquer my fear but for the workout benefits ( I am still a little sore 2 days later). Hopefully Philip will finally write his little shpeal on Israel soon. See you guys soon.(We only have 48 days left!)

The tiny streets inside the Old City

Philip and I in a wading pool in the middle of the desert.

One of the religious sects in the Holy Seplechure Church

Well we have made it back from Israel and Palestine. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I don’t even know where to start. One of the really interesting experiences that we had was listening to several different people come and talk to us about what life was like for them being Palestinian and Israeli. Now for those of you who don’t know the conflict that is going on among these to countries and cultures you really need to read up on your current events because I will not go into that. After listening to the speakers I wanted to write to my congressman(because that is the only thing that you can do) and tell them that we need to send aid to these people and we should be able to do something about this. I felt very lucky to be living in America. One of the coolest things that we saw was all the different religious sects that coexist with one another. Our first night that we were there we went to the Western Wall which is where they recovered the wall from King Herod's Temple (hopefully you guys know about biblical history). There were several members of the Jewish faith that were praying against the wall. Everyone was united and when the sun went down they all started dancing and singing together. They were all wearing their traditional clothing and it was just an amazing site to see. When walking down the tiny crowded streets of the old city you could see so many different cultures. There would be traditional Muslims intertwined with Russian Orthodox Catholics, Jews and then the European tourists who don’t know the meaning of the word modest. We walked in the traditional steps where Jesus walked. We were on the mount of olives then we were at the crucifixtion site followed by the garden tomb. It was so surreal that I still don’t feel like I was ever there. Have you ever read some crazy story in your history books and felt like it didn’t really happen? That is kind of what I felt – just in the sense that it all took place so long ago that there is no way that these artifacts would still be around today. I won’t go into a lot of detail about the trip because I know that Philip wants to write his own entry on Jerusalem but just know that we would highly recommend this adventure to all of you. There was so much to see and talk about. My only recommendation is that you make sure you go during winter. Summer out here is like a death trap. Love you all and see you soon- can you believe that we have been gone for around 2 months?