IFTAR

The other night was Jordan Fiscal Reform Project II (JFRP II)’s Iftar. An Iftar is the breaking of fast at sundown for Muslims during Ramadan. An Iftar is like Thanksgiving Dinner every night of the week for a month! It is a huge feast - Mainly celebrated with family. However, businesses will put on Iftars for counterparts, coworkers, and friends from time to time.

This Iftar was celebrated at the Hotel Intercontinental. We arrived about 6:45pm. Since Mark is the COP (Chief of Party) and his project was funding this event, he was there to meet and greet. Seating and hierarchy is of great importance to Jordanians. Mark was sitting at the head table with the Minister of Finance, his wife, and several other government officials. There is 10 to a table and I would make one too many. I offered and was asked to sit at a different table. Technically, I wasn’t suppose to be there as this was for people associated with the project only – being a wife just didn’t count. However, I was the unofficial official photographer for some of the events making me “associated with the project”. So I got to sit with the “media” group.

So, why is this important? Well, it’s not really important to me, but as I said, it is important to the Jordanians. I had some wonderful people come up to me and tell me that they were very upset I was not seated at the same table as Mark. I had to reassure them that it was OK for me NOT to be sitting there; that it was OK with both Mark and me to be separated for this event. The last thing I wanted was for Mark to get flack for where I was sitting. However, I did appreciate the concern that was shown for me.

Iftar not only includes fasting from food and water but from smoking. The women at my table were more interested in smoking than eating…..I guess that’s why they were so thin! LOL! There was a huge feast with all kinds of salads, breads, meats, chicken, lamb and desserts too numerous to count!

I went to Mark’s table to say hello to the government officials as I didn’t want to be rude. Mark ended up sitting with me for the last part of the program which was a play put on in Arabic by a famous Jordanian actress of whom I’ve never heard. Although I did not understand one word, it was obviously a very funny play, poking fun at the government and specifically the Minister of Finance. He took the jokes in fun. Mark and I enjoyed watching Widad who was doing a lot of laughing herself. All in all it was a very fun evening.

Mark has been to separate Iftars. One with just men only and one with just senior staff of the project.

We enjoyed another Iftar with a woman that works with Mark. It was her husband and 3 of her 4 daughters as well as Ruba and Leo and Christina. The woman is a lawyer, her husband is a physician – specifically an OB/ GYN. The daughters were all so pleasant and personable – especially the youngest who had the most sparkling eyes! There was enough food for 2 armies. It is Jordanian custom to put the food on your plate – something I really try and avoid. I wish to TRY a bit of everything and they want you to EAT everything. I took a few grape leaves and the husband took the spoon from me and gave me about 12!! There was still so much to eat! I am really working on this. I feel like all we do is eat and I don’t have much control over this. Leo explained that the concept/philosophy/custom whatever the correct word, is to show people you have plenty, especially foreigners. This helps me understand but I still don’t want all that food!!

Well, that is my problem, not theirs. We had a wonderful time with some wonderful company.

Ramadan is coming to an end. This is called Eid which is apparently a big event. I am heading home prior to Eid. I am at London’s Heathrow Airport right now waiting for my connection to Washington DC…..home.

Ramadan

I’ve known that Ramadan is a time of fasting for Muslims. I’ve had many Muslim patients. I have seen and heard various things about what they are allowed and not allowed, such as they cannot have their blood drawn during the fasting time. I have heard that if you cannot fast you can “pay” the poor to fast for you – which I think the better interpretation of that is that you can give money to the poor in place of fasting. But living in a Muslim country and experiencing Ramadan from a much closer view is very interesting.

What is Ramadan? Well, it’s the time when the Prophet Muhammad met with the angel Gabriel and they went into the desert and started writing the Qur’an. Why it’s a month long, I don’t know because it took the Prophet Muhammad 23 years to write the Qur’an – it was finished writing when he died.

Ramadan is a time of reflection, doing nice things for people, understanding the poor and those that have no food, a time of charity and kindness. Ramadan is a time of controlling oneself. Fasting includes no eating, drinking, smoking, or sexual activity during the daylight hours. So the Muslims get up prior to the sun, pray, eat then fast until dusk. The breaking of the fast is called the “Iftar”. I think the fasting helps you appreciate that which you do have and what others don’t.

People decorate their houses with flashing lights around trees and of moon and stars – it’s really quite lovely and reminds me of Christmas.

Ramadan changes from year to year. It is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. It starts on the day of the new moon. Sometimes the Imams (religious leaders) don’t always agree as to the exact day of the new moon as they have to rely on their own eyes which can be a problem in a cloudy situation. It is also different from country to country. The first day of Ramadan here in Jordan was August 10th and it was either the 11th or 12th in the USA. As you can imagine, fasting in August is different than fasting in December when the days are shorter. In Jordan, the people get up about 4am to pray and eat and Iftar is about 7:35pm. We are currently experiencing a heat wave where the temperatures have gotten up to 107+ degrees.
During this time, gov’t closes at about 2pm as do banks and some businesses. Many restaurants are closed during the day. If they are open, they must pay a fee to the government to have the right to stay open. NO alcohol is sold during the month of Ramadan. The liquor stores are all closed off. I had to stock up on beer and wine before Ramadan started. Next year I will get more wine! At the time of Iftar (the breaking of the fast) many businesses close and then will reopen later in the night and stay open until 11pm or so. You are not allowed to eat or drink in public. You could be arrested for this action. Even if you are not a Muslim. I think it is to make a point.

So, as you can imagine, life changes for non Muslims also.
It is said that you should stay off the roads if possible in the late afternoon/early evening as people are tired, thirsty, hungry and haven’t had a cigarette all day and they are behind the wheel of a car. People are trying to get home or wherever they are suppose to be for Iftar. I have heard that people in the government offices start getting bleary-eyed as the day progresses. I have heard of shorter tempers and more irritability. The newspapers have articles about the heat and Ramadan and that there were over 3500 ER visits for dehydration and fasting problems in the first week of Ramadan.

When I had asked some of the locals how they felt about fasting during the month of August, some said they were used to it and since they have done it before it shouldn’t be a problem. Others say that they feel great and spiritually more alive. One lady we met in the mall admitted she was having a difficult time; her lips were all dry and cracked.

It’s been 12 days so far. We have not even reached the halfway point of Ramadan. The temperature seems to be dropping a bit. We should be going into the low 90’s this week.

Today is morning coffee with the ladies. Our usual venue is closed for Ramadan. We have found another place where we can gather for chatting. But I think everyone prefers the other place. Anyway, it’s almost 10 and I need to meet with the ladies.

Part 2 – Girls visit to Jordan

Wednesday, July 21 we were suppose to get up early and either go to Jerash- the Roman Ruins or Mt. Nebo – where Moses saw the Promised Land. I went to wake up Melissa who had no desire to get out of bed. I went to tell Cara that Melissa wasn’t getting up and she bolted out of bed and told Melissa to get up! Melissa said she had a headache and promised to get up early enough the next day to go to the sights. So, Wednesday was another lazy day.

Thursday we got up early and went to Jerash. The girls enjoyed seeing these Roman ruins, the column that is always moving, and the chariot races in the Hippodrome. It’s definitely worth seeing the races and gladiators put on a show. We had thought about going to Ajlun castle, but I realized I didn’t have much cash left and we needed cash to go to Wadi Rum and Aqaba the next day and I had to have cash for those places. So, we headed back to Amman and cashed some dollars. It was about 2 pm and Melissa and Cara were getting pretty hungry. I wanted to take them to “Wild Jordan” – a restaurant with a beautiful view. I have only been there a few times and by taxi only so I wasn’t sure exactly where it was. I headed downtown to Rainbow Street. I passed a street and said, “Oh, I think that was it!” It’s a one way road and the streets are very narrow and crowded. As we were driving down Rainbow Street you could see the world’s tallest flagpole and the citadel. So I told the girls, “That’s the view you would have gotten from Wild Jordan” and I kept on driving. I had to find my way out of this area. I had a pretty good idea how to do it and after a few “unique” turns, we ended up on 2nd Circle. The guide books will tell you that the “Best Shwarma in the Middle East” is on 2nd Circle. I had never been there before and I told the girls, “we’re gonna eat the world’s best shwarma today!!” Melissa got out an ordered us each a shwarma and we enjoyed that in the car. It wasn’t quite the lunch I had planned, but it was good…..Not so sure it’s the middle east’s best, but it was good.

We had been invited to dinner at Widad’s house in Madaba. Widad is a wonderful sweet Jordanian woman who works for Mark. She and her husband were at our home in VA for Cara and Jesse’s engagement party when they were in the states for a conference. So, when the girls were here, she wanted to have us over for dinner. Madaba is a wonderful little town with some great shops and we stopped in one of them before we got to Widad’s home. Melissa bought a nice little mosaic for her new home. Widad served Mansef – the classic Jordanian meal normally served with rice and lamb, but Widad made it with goat. A mellow yogurt sauce goes over it. She also served a Palestinian chicken dish which is Mark’s favorite. There was enough food for a small army and there were 6 of us at the table. The dinner and the company were just wonderful and the girls got an opportunity to enjoy Jordanian hospitality.

Widad has 3 beautiful daughters who were showing us photos of themselves. They took out the photo book of Widad, but she forbade the girls to show it to us because Mark was sitting there. Widad wears a hijab and stays covered. Only men of her family can see her hair. She called the girls and me over to look at her photos from when she was married. She is beautiful and that’s all I can say about that!!

Friday we drove to Wadi Rum. It’s about a 3+ hour trip. We had a blast in the car playing “I’m going on a picnic”. You’d think 4 adults would not find this very fun, but we did. We stayed at Bait Ali in Wadi Rum. The woman who owns the place is a native English speaker – maybe from Australia – and she has lived in Jordan for about 20 years. She “upgraded” our rooms to the bigger rooms. I thought that was so nice. They were very simple rooms with 3 twin beds and your own bathroom. There was one fan on the wall. When the guy brought us to our rooms he opened the windows in this very warm room and told us it would cool off in the evening. We believed him.

Wadi Rum is a very famous place and you may not even know it. If you’ve ever seen the movie, “Lawrence of Arabia” then you’ve seen Wadi Rum. TE Lawrence was a British officer who was instrumental in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916-18. He based much of his operations out of Wadi Rum. A wadi is a dried up river bed and Wadi Rum is the largest in Jordan. It’s desert with sandstone mountains. Quite an amazing sight.

We had decided that we wanted to take a camel ride in Wadi Rum and a jeep ride. Since it is the desert and it was in the middle of the hot summer, we decided we’d try and do these things in the evening and morning. We went to the visitor’s center and decided we take the sunset jeep tour. There was a young couple from Belgium and we shared the cost of the jeep with them. The wife spoke fluent Arabic since her heritage was from Syria. Good thing we had her there, the jeep driver barely spoke a word of English!

The “jeep” was not actually a jeep; it was more of a Toyota pickup truck with seats in the back and a canvas covering over the top. The truck had seen better days. We stopped in the village and got gas. How does one fill up a gas tank in the middle of the dessert? With a funnel, of course!! The truck had some trouble with the ignition and would stall from time to time….but that couldn’t possibly be a problem in the middle of the dessert!!

The jeep tour took us to several locations and “tourist spots”. We stopped at the first sight….we don’t really know what it was all about since the driver couldn’t explain it to us. But, the girls got to climb up the side of a sandstone mountain. There was also one tree in the middle of this dessert….so amazing to see this. I wanted to break out into song, “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong……” None the less, it was quite lovely.

Then we went to a cave with some ancient writings on the wall. Mark and Melissa climbed in through there. I got the photos I needed. One thing that I found amazing was the color of the sand. It was RED. And it was redder in the shadow of the mountains. It was a busy place and there were tour guides there with their camels. There was a great sight with 3 camels riding in a line in the middle of the dessert with the sun setting. Since we were in the truck going 60mph in the sand, it was hard to get a good photo of that.

Off to the largest sand dune in Wadi Rum. Mark and Melissa had to conquer this sand dune. About ¾ of the way up, Melissa just sat down and played in the sand. It reminded me of when she was a little girl. She got up the energy and they climbed the rest of the way up. They said it was really beautiful from up there. Cara and I hung out at the base of the dune and just chatted and people watched.

Then to watch the sunset. I don’t know if this was the original spot he wanted to take us to or not. We were running a little behind and he stopped in the middle of the dessert and we found some seats on the sandstone and watched as the sun set behind the mountains. The area is so vast and desolate. If you just sat and listened the quiet was deafening. It was so peaceful and tranquil. It was like the rest of the world didn’t exist. I guess I expected to see bright orange and beautiful colors, but that didn’t happen. It was just the yellow sun setting casting long shadows.

The trip back to the village center was remarkable. Our truck and a real jeep decided they would race back. The sand was whipping up, the wind was blowing and every last little bump in the sand was felt. Each of us hung on for dear life!! Thank goodness the woman who spoke Arabic told him to slow up a bit. Besides there was no way we would have beaten the better car.

Back at Bait Ali, we had a traditional Arabic meal. It was very warm, but tolerable. We played cards. I learned was “BS” was. Seems like my family are pretty good at “BS-ing”! We did a lot of laughing then called it a day. Back at our rooms we discovered that they didn’t cool down at all. There was no cross breeze and all we had was the little wall fan. I went to bed with a frozen bottle of water that we brought with us in the cooler. It was the only way to stay cool! However, the night was quite fitful. Melissa and Cara barely slept at all. They had considered taking their mattresses and sleeping on the porch area. The next morning we were all so exhausted from a lousy night’s sleep that we decided no camel ride this trip. The girls will just have to come back here so they can have that experience.

The next big adventure was Aqaba. The town located at the very north part of the Red Sea. We’ve been there before and it’s just a wonderful place. We stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental. We got settled into our rooms, got our suits on and headed to the pool for a very relaxing afternoon. Mark was coming down with a cold and just didn’t feel great, so relaxing was just what the doctor ordered.

The next day Melissa, Cara and I went snorkeling. Mark just took it easy at the hotel. I brought snorkeling equipment back from the United States and I am ever so glad I did. Mark and I had been snorkeling there before and learned that the equipment was only fair. The girls and I rented one set of equipment which Cara started off with. Melissa and I used the new stuff. Cara was struggling with the equipment and I gave her mine and she was enjoying the experience much better. I, however, did not and decided to sit on the beach and read for a while. They had a grand ole time exploring the beautiful reefs.

A little later on Cara and I went to the other reef and snorkeled while Melissa read. Cara found a fish that defended it’s home. She was enthralled with this little guy. If you put your hand near it, it swam around as if to say, “Go away, you are not welcome here” and then would hover over it’s home. I could hear Cara giggling through the water!

One of the disadvantages to snorkeling is the sunburn that is almost inevitable that occurs on your butt or upper thigh! I was pretty lucky, but the girls were not so lucky. We went back to the hotel and met Mark and had a lovely Lebanese meal in town.

At some point during this weekend – I think it was before we went snorkeling – Melissa had a ripped contact in her eye. I flushed her eye a lot but nothing ever seemed to come out. The next morning she was still feeling something in her eye. I just couldn’t find anything. We had a 3+ hour trip back to Amman. Since she was still feeling irritation in her eye, I tried to take her to the eye doctor. There were no openings and they wouldn’t see her on an emergency basis. We opted not to go to the ER. (NOTE: The ripped contact ended up falling out of her eye about 2 weeks later when she was in Bangladesh. Hopefully, no permanent damage to the eye and she feels much better.)

Melissa left the next day for her new adventure as a 3rd grade teacher at the American School in Bangladesh. Cara and I went downtown Amman where she bought a little gift for her boss. Cara left the next morning for Virginia. I think she was really missing Jesse.

This was such a wonderful time with my girls. I know they were happy to get on with their lives, but it was fun while they were here.

Part 1 - Girls visit to Jordan

We planned for the girls to come to visit us this month. Melissa packed out her belongs and shipped them off to Bangladesh and scheduled a trip to Greece with her friend Anne and then she was coming here on her way to Bangladesh. She brought Anne along with her to Jordan. We had Cara come during the same time. We could not convince Megan to come. She was insistent that she work as long as she could before starting her new job at Livingston School in Shanghai. I must tell you, she was sorely missed.

It was Thursday July 15th and all the girls arrived on the same night just a few hours apart. Cara coming from Washington, Melissa and Anne coming from Greece. I expected Cara to be completely wiped out and jet lagged and thought we’d have to take her back to the apartment then go back to the airport to pick up Melissa and Anne. Cara’s flight was a little delayed and Mark and I were just hanging around the airport. Cara was one of the first ones off the plane. I was so excited to see her. She said, “Mom, I was on business class from London to Jordan!” I booked the flight, but do not remember booking anything for business class. I think she was just lucky enough to be bumped up! She said she slept most of the flight and she was feeling fine. So we all waited for Melissa and Anne-which was only about 45 minutes.

Melissa and Anne got off and again we were so excited to see them. I couldn’t believe we had 2 of our 3 girls with us and Anne, who we adopted as a 4th daughter! She fit in very well!
Melissa and Anne were pretty hungry so when we got back we had some hummus and pastries and cheese and crackers. It was about 2am by the time we all got to bed.

I had to plan our sightseeing around Anne since she was leaving to go back to Tiblisi, Georgia on Tuesday July 20th at 6:30am. I felt it important to get the major sights in – Petra and the Dead Sea. So, we headed south to Petra the next day. I let the girls sleep in. Petra is about 3 hours from Amman and we had planned 2 nights in Petra. We left around noon. Mark wanted to take the Dead Sea Highway to Petra because he said it was much more pleasant a trip than to drive through the Desert Highway which is just….desert…and boring.

We stopped at Lot’s Cave. Yep, Lot….from the bible. Remember his wife turned into a pillar of salt because she turned back to see Sodom destroyed? It is said that her pillar is in Wadi Mujib-a nature reserve not far from Lot’s cave. We followed the signs to Lot’s cave and got out of the car to discover it was about 100+degrees with no breeze – just stifling hot! To get to the cave you have to walk UP many many steps. The entrance to the steps has a sign that says, “Sight closed for restoration. No visiting without an escort”.

It is said that that sign has been there forever! Some gentleman saw us and “escorted” us without us asking. It’s ok, he was very sweet.
Oh, the steps….the heat…the steps……We made it up to the cave. There had been a church built there and you have to climb through a gate to get to the cave. It has a beautiful view. It’s just a little place, but it’s historical and now we can say we’ve been to Lot’s Cave.

Back on the road headed south, but we have to cross over the mountains to get to Petra. I had my little tour book and I use the map in that to get me around the country of Jordan. So we follow signs to the main city near Petra. It was quite a spectacular drive. The land is very dry and beige and the terrain is very rugged with incredible mountains. Cara had decided that these weren’t actually “mountains” since they look more like gigundo rocks. Anne sort of agreed. But their description of the “mountains” was going to change quickly. Driving through this land you notice that no one is around. There is very little greenery- just a few scattered evergreens that are indigenous to the desert. There is no water, no people and very few cars. You travel the roads alone. Cara described it as “foreboding” and it was such an accurate description.

After a lot of twists and turns we found the road to Petra. We stopped at the rock where Moses is said to have hit it with his staff and made water come out. Cara and I both wonder how they know that these are the places of these historical events. But I suspect that there has been a lot of investigation as to the location of these places. Finally approaching Petra. The 3 hour trip took about 4+ hours with the stops at Lot’s cave and Moses’ Rock. We checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel, just a short walking distance from the entrance to Petra. We changed and went into the pool and watched the sunset. We had a fairly crappy dinner buffet at the hotel, but we agreed that we were all a little too tired to go to a nicer restaurant in town.

We got up early the next morning to get ourselves into Petra by 9am. It is the summer and the sun is very hot in the desert so the earlier the better.

Mark and I had been to Petra before when we came here in January 09. But we had only been there for about 3 hours and just walked along the main road. I had done some reading on Petra and knew that there was a lot more to see. If you’ve ever seen “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” you have seen a part of Petra. It is the last seen when Indy and his father find the temple where the challis from the last supper is hidden. That “temple” that is carved out of the side of a mountain is the “Treasury Building” in Petra. It is the first thing you see after you walk through the siq.

The Siq is a long dark narrow gorge that you must walk through to get to the city of Petra and the Treasury building. The Siq is about 1.2Km long and is a steady downhill walk. Then as you come to the end of the Siq, the Treasury building starts peaking through and then as you leave the Siq everything just opens up. I had tried to explain this to the girls before we got there, but words just don’t work well, it’s something you have to see to experience. So, as we were walking to the end of the Siq, Anne who was up ahead came running back to me with this delightful smile and wonderment on her face and said, “I see the Treasury!” Then ran forward to Melissa and Cara as the world of the Nabateans opened up to them.

We decided that we would hike our way up to the High Sacrificial Sight. We found the stairs that led the way UP. Slowly but surely we climbed to the high spot. It was getting hot outside and so we tried to stay in the shade of the mountain as much as possible. When we made it to the top the view was breathtaking. Petra lay below and you could see for miles. Anne sat down and enjoyed the peaceful view.

Melissa made a friend with a little girl whose name escapes me. Many of the local children are around selling items to the tourists. But this little girl was different. She didn’t try and sell anything. She befriended Melissa and gave her 2 packs of post cards. She talked with Melissa about the locals, their homes and about herself. Melissa decided she would reward this young bright girl and give her 5 JD which is way more than she would have gotten if she just sold the postcards to Melissa. Melissa says she has a soft spot for bright young girls.

We spent some time at the top, drank some water, and enjoyed the peace and the beauty.
Then we found another way down, like taking the back roads to a village. It was a wonderful adventure, but it wasn’t over. It was around 1 or 2 pm and we stopped at the little café. We got some sodas and water and I had granola bars and nuts with us and that’s what we ate. It wasn’t a lot, but it was so hot and we had so much walking in that it was just the right amount of food. The girls decided they wanted to go to the Monastery. We knew that it was another climb up, but we had no idea that it was over 800 steps UP until we started the ascent. Remember we are now doing this in midday with the sun beating down. I will tell you that this was a very difficult climb. I had to stop very often and after a while I started to feel very poorly. Mark and the girls were great and very patient. They would wait with me as I would stop in a shaded area and drink what cold water we had left. About 2/3’s of the way up there was a gift shop/drink stop and Cara got me some Gatorade and that made all the difference in the world. We sat in the shade and I regained my strength and we continued our climb UP. The Monastery was beautiful. Although, in honesty, the Treasury was more intricately designed and the High Sacrificial Sight had more of a view. Having said that, there was a place you could climb to and it said it was the best view in Petra. Mark and I decided we were finished climbing and the girls went to the top to get the view. Mark and I rested and he had a tea with mint (a favorite drink around here).

We headed back down and out of Petra. Now remember, walking in the Siq was a steady downhill walk, so now it was a steady uphill walk. Mark and I were just exhausted and took it slow. I think he was happy I was the one who claimed to need the break this way he didn’t have to admit he felt the same way. The girls were ahead of us and towards the end I told them to go ahead. We had decided to have drinks and dinner at “The Cave” which is just at the entrance/exit of Petra. They made a little bar/restaurant inside a cave and it’s really cool! However, the chairs outside in the shade were much more comfortable and that’s where we sat.

What I have not mentioned was this was July 17th, Megan and Cara’s birthday. It was the first time in their lives that they were separated for their birthday; so needless to say, we were really missing Megan-especially Cara. We ordered a round of beer and on rather empty stomachs and aching muscles and fatigued bodies and blistered feet, one glass was enough to make us very happy. Cara and Mark had a second glass before dinner arrived!! I told the waiter that it was Cara’s birthday and he asked if she wanted a cake. I said yes and asked him if he had a candle to put in it. He said he did. A little while later he came out with a piece of cake with a tea light in it!! It was hilarious. It was the only time I didn’t have my camera out, so no picture of this unique birthday cake! It was a spectacular day and Cara was very happy to spend her birthday this way.

The next day we headed northward toward the Dead Sea. We stopped at Karak Castle. It was a crusader castle and a major stopping point along the trade route. We had a guide who spoke very little English. He showed us where people were hanged. He took me by the arm, brought me to the hanging spot and put his arm around my neck to show what type of place this was. It was very weird! It was interesting enough but nothing compared to Petra.

From Karak we went to the Kempinski Resort at the Dead Sea. Mark and I have been there many times before. His project has put on many a workshop there and of course Mark and I have to go along.

The girls were just thrilled to visit the lowest point on earth – the Dead Sea. They got their suits on and we took them to the water. It’s very weird going into the Dead Sea. You just don’t know what to expect. So, with some trepidation they slowly walked in. The beach is very rocky and hard on your feet. When they were about 12-14” deep in the water I told them to turn around and just sit in the water. They said that they were afraid their butt would hit the ground, but I reassured them that that was not going to happen. They did as instructed and were amazed that they just floated as they sat. Again, it’s one of those things that words don’t work well for and you have to experience it.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and went to the Baptism sight of Jesus. It was my third time there. Each time I go there I am more disappointed and saddened because the Jordan River has dried up so much that it’s just a hole in the ground that has some water in it. None the less, it was one more historical biblical sight the girls got to see.

Back to Amman. We scheduled a dinner at a wonderful Lebanese Restaurant with Christina, Leo and Alison. It was Anne’s last night and we needed to make sure she got some good Middle Eastern food. It was a wonderful time.

Anne’s flight was at 6:30 am which meant she had to leave by about 4am. I asked her if it would be ok if we got a cab to take her to the airport and she was very agreeable to that. Thank God!! Melissa and I got up and saw her off and went back to bed.

We had decided we would take that day and rest. We took it easy and went to the grocery store, the local bakery and spice market and fruit/vegetable market. Just so they could have a taste of the “life” of Jordan. I made a nice spaghetti dinner and we played Cranium. We had a lot of fun!

WHAT'S WRONG!!

When we arrived back in Jordan the driver picked us up at the airport and took us back to our apartment. We had no water and no internet service so I couldn't tell anyone I was back home. My plants were on the verge of death. I had asked Lucy, our housekeeper if she would water the plants for us. She left us a note saying there was no water and she was sorry. Well, after a 17 hour flight we both felt a little grungy. Mark sponge bathed with the water from our water cooler......doesn't that sound delightful!! I, however, decided I stay in my filth for one more night. Sounds even MORE delightful!!

The next day Mark went to work and I called Waseem, our landlord, and he sent over someone to fix the water. It seems as though Mark turned off the water pump with the switch on the wall thinking that was the right thing to do when you leave for a few weeks. BUT, it wasn't. Air got in the pump and wouldn't work. The "Mr. Fix-it" guy - Maqmood - got the water up and running pretty quickly.

As far as the internet goes, it seems as though the bill was never paid. Mark got that worked out and it took 2 days to get the internet going.

Waseem remembered that I asked him to put in air conditioners in the extra bedrooms for the girls. So I waited around for the air condtioner guys to come and do their work. They work on "arabic time". Meanwhile, our airconditioner in the main part of the house was not pumping out much cool air. (I don't like the heat) so they "fixed" it while they were here putting in the new air conditioners.

When we were trying to figure out why we didn't have water when we first came home, Mark noticed that our desiel level was only about 1/3 full, so we had to call to get that filled. I waited for Aymen to get the desiel truck here only to find out we had more than half a tank!! Oh, well, we filled it anyway. Don't want that getting empty. We had that happen in the winter and we had no heat or hot water!! We like to learn things the hard way.

Mark reminded me that he had used one of the propane tanks for our stove/oven while I was gone and we needed it replaced. Now, getting propane is a unique experience here in Jordan. Getting propane is like getting ice cream from the ice cream man in the States. Propane tanks are in the back of a truck and the driver of the truck plays music - like "Happy Birthday" to let you know he's on your street. Normally, each apartment house has a "Boab" - a man that lives in the building a cleans the steps, makes sure lights work in the halls and gets the propane guy when you need propane. OUR apartment does NOT have a Boab. We live on the top floor of the apartment building and the propane guy usually comes in the morning....when you are still having your coffee and in your pajamas. The first time I had to run and get the guys I was in pink capris, brown sweat shirt, blue crocks and I just got out of the shower.....you get the picture. I went running down the road and asked him to bring the propane, which he did. THIS time, it happened that I was just getting back from bringing Mark to work and he went by. I turned the car around and chased him down to come to our building, which he did. He noticed BOTH tanks were empty and they were both leaking propane, so we not only needed 2 tanks, we needed 2 valves. He was able to replace them right then and there. I was very grateful I had seen him when I did.

This was my first week home.

The water pressure started to diminish again and the air conditioner in the main part of the apartment started not working again........Now I'm wishing I were back in the states.

It seems as though there is another water pump button upstairs that must have been turned off when the air conditioner people were putting in the air conditioner in the bedroom upstairs. That now has a piece of tape over it and a post it note on it so it will never be turned off again!!
The air conditioner guys said they'd come one day, then the next day they finally arrived. They did a lot of banging around and put freon in and so far so good.....I can only hope it stays working well.

I did get to go to coffee one day with the ladies then lunch with Judy. I enjoyed that.

Had a photo lesson with Simon who really taught me about the new light source I just bought. We are going out on Sunday afternoon to take photos. I'm really looking forward to that.

HOME

This post was written in the airport on the way home from the US. It was stuck on my new laptop but I couldn't get on line with this computer until last night. So it's a little late.

On May 20th I embarked on my first trip back to the United States of America…..I love how that sounds. The trip was planned because of mom’s 80th birthday party. Robbie and I had planned her party for May 30th - the weekend after May 26th (her birthday). Robbie had a BBQ at his house and I did all the inviting and Ronnie did all the cooking. Charlie and Rosie came in from Arizona. Uncle Phil and Aunt Pat came in from Maine. And then there was the usual crowd including Melissa, Cara and Jesse. It was such a wonderful day. It was hot, but mom did really well in the heat. We were all a little surprised by this, but happy. We got some great photos of her. Occasionally without her oxygen on. Marie and Scott came with the new baby, Ethan. Ethan was born May 26th 2010 – 80 years after mom’s birth!! We got some great
photos of the two of them together.



I spent about 12 days in NY. Mom was upset with me because I chose to stay with Annette when Charlie and Rosie stayed at her house. I tried to explain that I really wanted to sleep in a bed and be comfortable. But she was REALLY PO’d at me for not staying with her. I tried to explain to her that I needed to do this for me. I needed a good comfortable nights sleep. She offered to sleep on the couch so I could have her bed…..yeah, like that was going to happen!! Charlie offered to sleep on the couch, but mom told him NO- she was going to lock him in his room because he was sleep walking the previous night and came into her room and started picking at her clothes!! Startled the crap out of her. Rosie also offered to sleep on the couch. But why should anyone sleep on the couch if they didn’t have to? What to do. I made a choice and I’m not sorry about it.







While I was there we bought her new bed room furniture, cleaned out drawers and closets and had a good time. I also got her to the ophthalmologist. He was not that happy that it had been 4 years since she saw him last and she never got the laser surgery he had asked her to get! He explained to me that she did NOT have glaucoma, but her angles were low and if he dilated her eyes he would most likely cause glaucoma. The procedure is called an Iridotomy. She was scheduled to have it done the following Monday. Needless to say, she wanted me there for that as well as her Rheumatology appointment the following day.

While I was in NY I ordered my new phone and had it mailed to mom’s house. It’s a Samsung 3G, quad band, unlocked phone so I could use it anywhere in the world. I was able to get it up and running, but Jesse had to do more with it….
She was very upset when I left. I had my mammo appointment and dental appointment and I needed to go back to VA. I also wanted to spend some time with my girls and my friends. Mark was coming in the following week. I also set up some time to work on the van. It was hard to say so long, but I did. I got to spend an evening with my in-laws. Kara had a BBQ at her house the night before mom’s birthday BBQ. It was really nice. I felt a little bad that I didn’t get to spend more time with them.

I got back to Virginia and had my mammo and dental cleaning. I had lunch with Brenda- finally and I did a lot of shopping!! Whew! Quite a bit of shopping. I also got to see where the wedding was going to be held. It’s a golf course in Sterling VA and it’s a really nice place. I think it will be a great location.

Mark came in on June 11th.

The following week I worked a day on MY van at the shelter. I had such wonderful greetings from my patients. Almost everyone I saw were “old” patients. I was warmly greeted and welcomed. I worked with Mayra who also warmly welcomed me. I was so afraid I would not be able to speak Spanish nor be capable of caring for my patients. I was afraid I forgot everything. I didn’t forget and it felt sooooo good to do my job again. The following day I went with Sally in the morning to the winter shelter and met 3 pregnant homeless women. All of whom were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. One was ready to pop and the others were earlier on in the their pregnancies. Then I worked for Megan in the OB clinic with Dr. Locket-Benjamin. I really feel like I was missed….like I mattered…like I made a difference. Sally told me that I could work whatever I wanted to work while I was home. She said there was money in the budget. So I picked up another day the following week and worked with Nancy. I think she was happy to have me around. We would have been friends if I hadn’t moved to Jordan! She’s really good with the patients and she is very good at what she does.
I called her after I worked for her and asked her if I did OK. I told her I didn’t kill anyone and I hope I did OK. She said, “NO! How have I been doing?” I never thought that she would think that I was checking in on her nor did I. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I would have felt the same way if Louise had come to work for me. I’d want to know if I was doing OK. I think this only makes sense in MY HEAD!


On Saturday, June 19th, Melissa and Nicole threw a suprise engagement party for Cara and Jesse. It was Mark's and my responsibility to keep them out of the house. Luckily for us, Cara did all the arrangements for herself. We ended up going to taste the cakes for the wedding, then lunch at the golf course where the wedding will be held then to the hotels to see what they had to offer. Cara was terribly tired and had a headache. Melissa called to say the garage door was not working (that was so we would use the front door) We went back to the house and Cara just wanted to go to bed, Jesse went to the garage and started trying to figure out what was wrong with it. All their friends from DE were there and they yelled surprise! Cara was surprised, but didn't know what the party was for! Jesse heard the surprise from outside and he smiled and went in. It was a lot of fun!



Mark was planning to go to NY the first week he was home, but he broke a filling and needed to see the dentist. The following week he had a conference on Monday and Tuesday. He decided to go to NY from Wednesday to Friday. I had NO intention of going with him, but decided to go and spend some time with his family since I didn’t get to spend much time with them before. We decided to visit my mom on Thursday morning then spend the rest of the day with his mom. Then we’d all go out for a nice dinner. We go to mom’s house and she looked pretty good. The previous day she had gone to see the eye doctor. The day was extremely hot and humid. The walk to the doctor’s office was long and tiresome. Then she and Auntie Irene went to a diner for lunch. She didn’t have her walker or her cane with her and the table was in the back of the restaurant. She became extremely short of breath. Irene got her home ok and she rested. So, when Mark and I saw her on Thursday morning I was a little concerned she’d still be fatigued. I was surprised to see she was doing so well. We were having lunch. While cutting a piece of bread she got short of breath. She sat down, had her sandwich and was chatting about the wedding when she said she couldn’t breathe and said she was feeling so weak. She just started to slump over. I kept her talking but she was weak. She never passed out completely. Mark and I were by her side in case she fell. She started to perk up and went to her chair. I told her to start her prednisone and had her take 40mg. She had been feeling nauseous for the past few days. She went to the bathroom and had a BM, came back to her chair and started feeling the same thing, stating she could feel the weakness through her chest and out her arms. I called 911. When the EMS came she started to go out again. He did an EKG and it looked like A fib. (this was later determined that they were just some PAC’s and not A Fib). She was seen in the ER and a PE was ruled out. She stayed 2 nights and they gave her solumedrol IV. She really perked up after that and had no more episodes. We ended up staying til Saturday – missing Melissa’s farewell party.

It was so lucky that we were there. It was like we were suppose to be there. Mark really feels like she would have died had we not been there. It was pretty scary.

AT LAST!!!

I have been to the Dead Sea 4 times. The first time was in January 2009 when we came to check out Jordan. I went with Aida and we had lunch and enjoyed the view. The day was beautiful! The second time was with Mark and his team for a training. It rainned and rainned and was cold! The third time was with Mark on another trainning and it was cold and overcast and rainny and the sea was a little rough. The forth time was yesterday. A group of ladies decided they wanted to go to the Dead Sea to relax at one of the hotels pools and swim in the Dead Sea. At this point I'm thinking, mmmmm "everytime Mark and I go someplace to visit it rains, is it going to rain today?"

I decided I would go with them to the Holiday Inn. It only takes about an hour to get to the Dead Sea from Amman.

We got good seats by the pool and headed down to the Dead Sea! Remember this is the lowest place on Earth, so everything is built UP from the Sea. This is a view of the Dead Sea from the pool area.

For some reason, I was a little hesitant to get in, but not too hesitant. The water was warm and a little thicker than regular salt water. As you walk in, your body bounces to the surface! It's like someone put a life perserver under your body and your body just floats to the surface! To be in a standing position takes effort (good pilates workout). I should have had the ladies take a picture of me, but when my daughters come, I will have them get a photo!

When you get out of the Dead Sea, your skin feels like someone put baby oil on it. I would have thought it would have been salty and drying but it wasn't. Even floating in the water you could see a swirling of the water like there was oil in it. I don't understand how that works.

We went back to the pool and just lounged around chatting, soaking up the sun, drinking mint lemonade and enjoying each others company. It was simply a lovely day!!

The Ladies enjoying the pool

This is Karin, She is originally from Germany.

Jude and Helen

Gills and Sabeena - ladies from the UK

FYI - From Wikipedia.....

The Dead Sea also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. Its surface and shores are 422 meters (1,385 ft) below sea level,[2] the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond) have a higher salinity. It is 8.6 times more salty than the ocean.[3] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.
The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.
The sea has a density of 1.24kg/L, making swimming difficult