Florida

MammaBean, I dedicate these to you!

Praise God for rainbows, a visible sign that He will never again destroy all earth with a flood. The calm, beautiful, and clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Grammy and Olive Oil ridin' the waves!

It doesn't get much better than this:

When I went to the Dead Sea, there unfortunately wasn't their trademark sunset, but I think God gave us this one in Florida to make up for it!

Mass

One of the most moving experiences we had in Amman was going to the English language Mass. The church was located (I think) in Jebel Webdeh and it was gorgeous. What was so moving was hearing the mostly Phillipino members singing in accented English hymns that we sang as child in my church. My mom and I were literally moved to tears. Midway through the Mass, we could hear the call to prayer, which brought for me, a surreal quality to it all. I thought about the fact that here I was, from one side of the world, here the Pillipinos were from the other side of the world, and we were meeting in the middle to worship Christ! It felt like a glimpse of heaven.

Downtown Amman

Furs for sale, downtown Amman.


My family has several Jordanian connections. One of my mom's friends from work (they worked together even before I was born) is married to a Palestinian/Jordanian. Our hair stylist is married to a Jordanian and one of my mom's close friends from work, lived and worked in Amman at the Amman Heart Hospital for several years. And I have a friend who is Jordanian. Before we went, we got so much adivce. Regarding downtown, we heard two very different opinions. The first was, don't go alone. The second was, it's totally fine. Just go, and if you do feel a little odd, take a head scarf.
My mom and I are very independent. She might even be more independent than I am. This past year, she began taking Tae Kwon Do and her instructor/master showed her some self-defense before we went on our trip. So, needless to say, we ventured downtown on our own the second day we were in Jordan.
Before I left the US, I tried on a large scarf that I own. It's a cream color and I wear it nearly all fall-spring, especially at church where keeping my coat on is a little rude. I tried it on my head, not sure how to wrap it. Instead of taking the shock off of my very blonde hair, I looked even more shocking- picture Casper the friendly ghost! The scarf stayed at the hotel. I did wear pants and a sweater, as did my mom.
Ok, so back to downtown Amman. We asked the hotel to tell the taxi to "drop us off downtown" somewhere. To this day, I still have no idea where he took us, and we even went back to look for it. It was a Friday, so many of the shops were closed. I do remember seeing the Bagdad hotel, so I know were wer near there. We arrived just as prayer was getting out and the first thing that my mom and I noticed was that there were very few women around. I mean maybe 20, tops! So we began to just stroll along. Pretty soon a guy walked by me and purposely bumped into me. I know it was on purpose because there was no one else, except my mom on the street w/us. I did what I normally do in the US, ignore and shoot a dirty look his way. About five minutes later, he came by again and pinched me in the hip!!! This time, I shot him my most evil teacher stare (being a teacher comes in handy during the most unexpected moments)! He got the hint and ditched.
The funny thing- I told my mom, "That guy just pinched me!!" My mom, Ms. Tae Kwon Do, hadn't even noticed!
After talking to Kinzi- I realized that I had every right to make a big scene and yell/hit him. Now I dare anyone to touch me!!! GRrrrr.... Of course, it never happened again and this was the ONLY time anything like this happened in Jordan during our 2 weeks. We felt very safe there and we even would walk places at night and never feel unsafe.
We did make it back to downtown, this time accompanied by my friend. It was during the week and there were many more women around. We had a great time, stopping for knafe at Jebri too.
After the pinching, my mom and I took a taxi back to Sweifeyah. My mom experienced her first true falafel. The next morning, the first thing she said when she woke up was, "Mmm...I'm still thinking about that falafel...."

Jordan

I don't know where to begin about our trip to Jordan. I'm sure it will take many posts for me to really process and explain it all. The first day we met up with Kinzi (http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com/). She saw my mom and I walking back from Cozmo. Gee, Kinzi, how'd you know it was us? He, he. The same thing happened when we were meeting up with a friend that one of our family friends wanted us to meet. He called b/c he spotted us walking near his store. I guess two blondies are easy to spot:) It was wonderful meeting up with Kinzi and meeting her kids. They are extremely well behaved! We had lunch with a friend and got a tour of Amman (well, west Amman). We absolutely loved our hotel (thanks for the recommendation Kinzi). The people working there were extremely nice and helpful. The breakfast was tasty and the first day back, my mom and missed our Mediterranean breakfast! My mom also got a chance to eat her first Arabic meal at our friend's house. I've had some Arabic food in the States, but my mom had only had some maqluba (which I made, therefore it wasn't truly Arabic) and some felafel, which we bought mix for, therefore not truly Arabic.
Our first day impressions:
The people are really, really nice.
Men stare at blondes.
Driving is very scary!
The architecture of the houses is amazing.
The food is awesome.
There is a lot of trash everywhere.
In some ways, we don't feel at all like we left home.

It's a Small World Afterall

My family is a family of readers. We are always reading something new and we often share bits of what we read. Last year, my mom read this book called Holy Land, Whose Land? by Dorothy Drummond. The book doesn't attempt to answer the question posed in the title. Rather, it is a history of the peoples inhabiting the Holy Land. She said that the maps were excellent and when we decided to travel to the Middle East, she kept looking for the book. Well, I found it and bought it for her for Easter this year.
I'm home for Mother's Day this weekend, and today I picked up the book to begin reading it. At the front were many reviews, and right away I noticed that several were from Indiana State, Indiana University, and the Indianapolis Star. I thought that was a little odd. Then, I noticed that it was published in Terre Haute, Indiana. Very random. Well, it turns out the author lives in Terre Haute! It's such a small world, as I live only an hour and a half away from Terre Haute. The author is scheduled to be in Indy this month and I hope that I can hear her speak somewhere before we leave for Jordan. She is mostly widely recognized as being neutral (as much as one can be) regarding the politics of the area. Her first visit to Israel and Jordan was in 1958 and she's been back many times since.
This makes me think of a billboard that I pass on my way to my childhood home-
"It's a small world. I know. I made it"
God

Another Artistic Expression I Could Never Do...

My friend sent me the story of "Brown Dress" by Alex Martin; she made a brown dress and wore it for an entire year as a commentary on consummerism. It got me thinking, though I have to admit. My first reaction was that I was kind of grossed out. I mean, one dress, one year? Seriously, my clothes tend to reflect my mood and one brown dress wouldn't cut it. I'm also thinking- the gym (gross!), weddings (yikes!), dates (probably wouldn't be getting any in the brown dress). However, the more I thought about it the more I remembered the following:
1. The first 18 years of my life were spent in a uniform- grade school was a hunter green and navy plaid skirt and high school was a navy skirt. I actually liked/didn't mind my uniform. It represented my faith and my school (I always pretty much liked school).
2. I tend to own the same things in different colors. If I like something and it fits (sometimes a problem for petites) I will buy it in different colors.
3. Even when I buy different things, they tend to look like things I already own. I have a zillion white basic fitted T's, khaki pants, and anything black.
Who am I kidding, though? It would be very, very hard for me to wear the same brown dress to everything!
Anyway, I thought it was interesting, because I'd never think to conduct this type of experiment.
Here's the full article:
http://littlebrowndress.com/brown%20dress%20archive%20home.htm

To Royal Jordanian or not

Ok, so we've settled on where we are going to travel this summer. Now, the debate is what airline to take. We are working on a pro's and con's list.
Pros for RJ
$300 cheaper
direct flight from Chicago

Cons for RJ
doesn't look like we can pick our seats
when we asked a Jordanian about it-"noisy, lots of kids, person sitting next to you will ask a zillion questions why you are going to Jordan"

Pros for American Airlines
can pick our seats
maybe a more comfortable option
I fully admit this is a "teeny little pro" but they stop over in London and my all time favorite accessories store is in London (Accessorize) and they have one at the Heathrow Airport

Cons for American Airlines
more expensive
indirect flight (sometimes you just want to get somewhere)
maybe not as culturally enriching as RJ, besides I put up with (and enjoy) 50 teenagers everyday, what's 13 hours with a bunch a kids?:)

Suggestions?