Sand!

 

Between Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba, I probably brought home a whole sand dune! Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world, is several beautiful buildings carved into the sandstone cliff faces of Southern Jordan. One of the most ornate buildings was actually part of the set for the Indiana Jones movie which is where most of its fame comes from. This year marks the 200^th anniversary from the rediscovery of Petra. I can only imagine walking through a narrow canyon that looks like something from Arches national park and then coming around a corner to stare at a giant edifice carved into the wall of the canyon. It was so fascinating to see how advanced this culture must have been. Blocks of stone created a pathway that wound through the canyons. Small aqueducts lined the paths that led to these beautiful buildings. Roman ruins lay on top of some of the older ruins. An amphitheater carved into the rock sat just off to the side of one road while older Bedouin dwellings sat on the other side. After trekking through the ruins at Petra, we headed off into the heart of Jordan: Wadi Rum or the Valley of Rum.  However, all the rum was all gone so instead we played football in the sand, participated in a Bedouin dance party, rode in some beat up Toyota trucks, watched the sun set over the desert, and went star-gazing from the top of a sand dune. Bucket List: Check! The next morning we headed out to Aqaba or the gulf of the Red Sea that touches Jordan. From our spot on the beach, we were in Jordan and could see Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The Red Sea was beautiful! Picture water as blue as Bear Lake the difference is that the water in the Red Sea is salty. The water is also very clear which was very helpful for going snorkeling. This was my first successful snorkeling adventure! And it was a great first time. I swam through several schools of fish and swam away from even more jelly fish. I was only tossed into the coral twice, but fortunately I wasn't cut up. While most of my time in Aqaba was spent in the water, I did spend a bit of time looking at the town. One shop I poked my head into was owned by a man named Osama, but not Bin Laden. =) After chatting for a few minutes, his brother also dropped by. His brother is the Imam of the nearby mosque and invited me to come and look at it. So yeah. I got a tour of a beautiful mosque by the Imam. What an amazing opportunity! This actually provided an opening to understand how Osama and his brother, the Imam, live their religion. Both told me multiple times that everyone in the world are brothers. Osama even has a Bible in his shop. It is in English, so that makes reading it difficult, but the fact that he kept it shows the respect that he has for other religions and the tolerance that Islam has for other religions as well. This is something that I think a lot of people don't really see or think about when they look at Islam. Just something to think about.

=)

Clean to Dirty to Possibly Clean

This morning I pulled the tag off of the shirt I was going to wear to work today, but by the end of the day, it was no longer in pristine condition. Coloring and drawing pictures can be quite a project, especially if you need to tell them what they need to be drawing or have the outline already drawn. It gets even more interesting when they completely color one piece of paper with one color and then fold it into a paper frog. Who knew that handling that type of paper would turn your fingers the same color as well as anything you touch? Storytime is usually better, unless they spilled on themselves during lunch and then climb on your lap. In which case, you end up with some leftover mulukhiyah, a somewhat slimy green sauce on rice, on your lap as well. The baby room is next on my schedule and so far I haven't had to change any diapers. It seems like every day, I'm asked to do more and more in there, which is very exciting, so chances are rather good that I'll change my fair share of diaper before the summer is over. However, as excited as I am for that prospect, I did have one 'first' today. One adorable baby decided to throw up on me. It's not the first time ever that has happened to me, but it is the first time this summer.

Shortly after cleaning up a bit, I headed home to throw in some laundry because since today is Wednesday, that also means it's water day! Washing clothes in Jordan is a much different experience than in the States. It's much more labor intensive, but it's still easier than washing the clothes by hand. After filling up the washing machine and letting it run for about five minutes, the clothes need to be wrung out and placed in a separate compartment to spin out. Then you drain all the water and put in clean rinse water. Let the machine run for another five minutes, wring the clothes out, put them in the spinner, and then hang them on the line to dry. It's not a difficult process, but it's more time intensive. And judging by the color of the water when the machine is done, who knows if the clothes actually get clean or if they sat in dirty water for too long. Yep, definitely grateful for washing machines that work!

Artist?

Since I am the great-granddaughter of Minerva Teichert, I have been asked many times if I was an artist as well.  My response has always been one of two things.  Either, "I can almost draw a stick figure."  Or, "No, but my brother is really good."  This time the question didn't come as a reflection on my heritage but because the director at the orphanage was trying to figure out where I would be the most help.  Now, I spend the day trying to pass myself off as an instructer in the arts.  In the mornings, I help in the crafts room helping kids learn how to fold a paper frog or simply watching them draw pictures of things ranging from flowers to future career options.  Later in the day, I attempt to teach piano using an extremely limited vocabulary.  For starters I didn't know what to call the notes.  A, B, C... is not part of their vocabulary.  So I tried alif, baa, taa... (the Arabic alphabet).  I'm pretty sure I only managed to confuse those poor kids.  Today I had a lightbulb moment when one kid starting singing do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.  So now I have names for the notes, but not enough words to convey what I want to or an attention span from one kid to actually get something across.  Oh well, if one kid can play one song by the end of the summer, that's success.

Cute Kids!

The youngest child in the orphange where I am working was born yesterday.  I had forgotten how small they could get!  I had thought that the babies I held today were small, but they are at least a month old.  But most of the day is spent with kids who can chatter all day.  I can sit and listen, but between their lisps and my limited vocabulary, I only catch a bit of what they are saying.  Sometimes I repeat some of the words I heard, but until I actually pronounce it right, they have no idea what I'm saying.  A prime example is the word for frog: Dufda'.  First I heard "tufdH" but judging from the confused looks I got back, that wasn't quite right.  Then I tried "DufdH" and that was close enough that some kids could tell what I was trying to say and correct me.  Thank goodness for kids who are willing to be brutally honest!  This picture is not of the kids that I work with in the orphanage, but they are just about as cute.  I ran into these cute kids at a town just outside of Amman called As-Salt.  Some fellow interns and I had just sat down on some stairs to catch some shade when these guys came out to meet us and offer us some of their green apricots.  Apparently that's the best way to eat apricots...  In return we took their picture.  What a trade!

=)

Happy Independence Day! Yesterday...

Sometime yesterday afternoon, I was given a free, small Jordanian flag and a red and white checked shouba or small koufieya, the national head dress. Shortly after that the “Truck Club” (mostly Dodges because even in Jordan, they know quality when they see it) revved on by. Nearly 20 trucks passed by waving the Jordanian flag. Right behind them was another parade of vehicles carrying flags and pictures of the king. Flags flew from every building and giant flags cascaded down the front of some of the bigger buildings in the area. Later that evening fireworks popped into the sky from several places in the city. I sat with a bird's eye view on a hill called Al-Ashrafiya where Annie, my facilitator, lives. We had just finished a delightful meal of falafel, bread and hummus. The area of town was quiet. Cars were driving on the streets beneath us, but they were too far away to be heard. But as the sun went down, the call to prayer went out. “Allah Akbar!” God is greatest! Echoes of the reminder to remember God rung out over the city as we finished our meal. Then the city grew still with the peace of night. What a wonderful day!

=)

Fun fact for the day:
The seven points on the star in the Jordanian flag represent the seven verses in the first chapter in the Qur'an as well as Arab unity.

I Think We're Speaking The Same Language...

I should probably learn how to speak Arabic. While I can carry on a decent conversation with many adults, children don't really know when to speak slowly and clearly for the American who doesn't know nearly as much Arabic. One sweet girl was kind enough to try and help me learn the basics today after asking me a question that I couldn't understand. First she held up one finger and slowly and loudly said, “Wahid.” Then she held my hand so that I also held up one finger and again said, “Wahid.” Some children speak so fast that I don't have time to figure out what they said before those words runs into the next ones they want to say. Other kids have lisps which definitely doesn't help me understand what they need me to do. But when you do understand them and talk with them, their eyes just light up! Smiles are contagious, but I think that's one epidemic the world could use more of. =) I spent the bulk of the day with children who were about six, but I also got to spend just over an hour in the first baby room. This room has the youngest babies and currently, the youngest ones (they are twins) are only one week old! They are asleep most of the time, but I did get to hold and feed one little girl. It's only a couple more days till I see them again and I'm super excited!

=)

In Sha' Allah

The past few days have been spent waiting for something to happen. Yesterday, it finally did. We were able to meet with someone at the Ministry! Each person in the internship received either a final assignment or a confirmation of the assignment they had previously been given. I am the lucky gal who gets to work in the King Hussein Society which is an orphanage for children from one day old to six years old. Basically I'm pretty stoked to be working with children. For one, children are usually brutally honest which will be very helpful in correcting my pronunciation of many words. For two, they won't be speaking English so I'll have to improve my Arabic skills. For three, children use a different vocabulary set so I'll learn so many new words. For four, those kids are pretty dang cute! I don't know exactly what I'll be doing, but (in sha' Allah, if God wills) I'll find out tomorrow morning and then get to work!

=)