Looking Forward...

Apologies for the long absence!  It was a combination of excessive busy-ness and a rather long internet outage.  It was very eye-opening how dependent we are on the internet; we were all crawling through the city like zombies until late in the night, seeking a place to get wired...Anyway, here is the post I've been meaning to share:

Lately, I've been feeling ready to go home.  It's not so much living in Jordan that I'm tired of, but the "camping out" lifestyle: No, we don't have to live in a tent, but we are roughing it in the sense of trying to survive in a place that is not and can not be home, with only a few of our personal belongings and none of the things that make life easier.  At home, I always considered us to be on the poor-end of the spectrum of society; but after living with even less, I am ecstatic to go home to our abundance of wealth!  A little perspective is all it takes.  

Here are some of the specific details I am looking forward to (in no particular order):

1. Having a bathtub...mostly for the kids' sakes.
2. Readily available hot water...I'm not a fan of the guessing game of when will it or won't it be hot, since it's different daily.  I would prefer to shower myself and bathe the kids when it's convenient for us rather than squeezing it in to the water's arbitrary schedule. 
3. Having a shower larger than the width of my body...it's very confining.
4. Using a hair dryer!  Again, I chose not to bring one in an effort to lighten the luggage, and I could buy a cheap one here, but choose not to. 
5. Having all the kids' toys, books, and baby gear.  It's really challenging to be without proper beds, crib, walker, high chair, etc...It may be better for their creativity to be without the toys, but it would be great to read to them!  
6. Not having to wash our underwear in the kitchen sink...What a luxury to have a washing machine and dryer!  Can't wait.
7. Having pump soap to wash our hands...This is just an issue of pinching our pennies; we could buy pump soap, but bar soap is provided for us, so it seems excessive.  
8. Being able to go to the park or museum without being mobbed by hundreds of school girls.
9. Not being stared at or treated like a foreigner.  They treat foreigners in a very friendly manner--don't get me wrong--but sometimes I just want to blend in. 
10. Walking in a stroller-friendly environment, so I don't have to worry about suddenly getting stuck somewhere or having to maneuver carrying 2 children, a stroller, and bags full of groceries up and down stairs and across busy streets. 
11. Having a car!!!  And having our OWN car.  And going un-walkable distances whenever we want.
12. Having our own stuff: our own sheets, our own towels, our own dishes, our own kitchen tools, etc, etc.  Having more clothes than just a few outfits' worth.  Having more than just 4 of each dish, utensil, or cup (which means we must wash dishes at least once or twice a day).
13. Cooking my own food!  One, for health reasons; nutrition has been a sacrifice while being here, and I want to be in control of that again.  Two, my home-maker side is itching to get in the kitchen and create delicious food and try new recipes!
14. Having hot pads in the kitchen!  I'm tired of using a towel in a flame-gas oven. 
15. Having a stove/oven that can be lit without a match.  Maybe I'm just lazy, but saving extra little steps sure does help!
16. Sleeping in a normal-sized bed...Here, they give us 2 twin beds shoved together, so someone (usually me) is always falling into the crack.  We finally had the genius idea to put the mattresses horizontal, but I still find myself falling into the crack the other way.  
17. Being able to go to play groups, Bible studies, outings with friends, social opportunities.
18. Not worrying about the language barrier whenever we want to do something like the above, or just when going to the supermarket, or anywhere really.
19. Perhaps this seems unappreciative of me, but I'm also really anxious to be in charge of cleaning my own house.  I guess I'm just one of those people who would rather do it myself...I'm just tired of having to put things away that we don't want them to touch, and being invaded every Tuesday morning, and I want to clean things when they're dirty rather than at a set time every week.  Having housekeeping service, for me, is more stressful than it's worth.  (Sorry to those of you who wish you could have it!)
20. Diving into a myriad of sewing and creative projects I have swirling in my head, that I've been designing and dreaming over.
21. Trying, in the midst of unsettlement, to create a home, an oasis of rest for our souls.
22. Buying oatmeal and cereal without paying $10/box. In fact, buying ANYTHING at regular price...it's expensive here!
23. Not having to wear pants and long sleeves when it's 90 degrees outside.  
24. When we buy something, not having to worry about "how are we going to get this home?"
25. This one is silly, I know, but: I can't wait to put toilet paper IN the toilet once again.
26. Having consistently working electric outlets.  And having proper plugs on the outlets (some of the plugs on outlets here are impossible to stick anything into...they're just poorly made).  

When we do finally go home, I'm sure I'll have a long list of things I miss about Jordan.  That's just the way it goes: we always miss what we can't have.  Which is why I'm making a very concerted effort to enjoy being here while we're here, but still savoring the promise of home!

Dirty Digging

Yesterday we visited friends from Andrews University excavating at Tall Jalul, near Madaba.  It was so refreshing to see familiar faces!  And, of course, it was nice to be back at the site of a dig in process.  I have only been on one dig, but it was extra nice for Owen, since digging is kind of his life (and what he loves doing).  He went back alone today for the full experience. 

It was fun to see how much Jack loved it, too--he very badly wanted to go down into all the squares, and kept asking for a shovel so he could dig.  Owen found him a trowel and let him dig in an out-of-the-way area.  Later, at pottery washing, they let Jack help scrub sherds with a toothbrush (with unimportant sherds, of course), and he did about a 1/3 bucket's worth...a couple times over!  He was so diligent and attentive.

We also took advantage of the pool at the Miriam Hotel, where the excavation team stays.  It was so nice to swim!  The water was cold, so Safita didn't really feel like braving it, but Jack the Adventurous jumped right in and squealed and laughed away.

After lunch, we went to the souk in Madaba to go shopping.  We've had our eye on some copper jugs for a few months now, but the old man who owns the shop where they live is suspectably dishonest...You know, in the way that true sales people can be.  That was our general feeling about him, and our experience yesterday seems to confirm it.  We thought the price he gave us before was exorbitantly high, so we did some research on what a copper jug--possibly antique--was worth.  This man is funny; his shop is filled mostly with silk rugs (beautiful!), antique-looking items, and random trinkets.  It's not large and kind of dingy.  But, he seems convinced that whatever you might want, he will have it, and it will be the best quality from anywhere else you might find it.  We also were asking about mosaics yesterday, and he said, "I have the most amazing thing, you will not believe it!" and proceeded to pull out some mosaics wrapped in plastic bags and hidden under a pile of rugs in a corner.  He had a few hidden in various spots throughout the store--what??

Anyway, back to the copper jugs, he gave us the same price this time as before, but when we tried to bargain with him based on our research, he acted seriously offended and left the store.  Then a younger man with very good English came in to deal with us, which was great because he happened to know several of our acquaintances here and has himself studied at ACOR.  He made us a deal for 2 jugs for the price of one.  We could live with that (who wouldn't want two??).  The old man nearly had a heart attack when he found out...not sure if he's acting or legitimately felt ripped off.  It was so funny that he kept wanting the young man to give us a price for various things, but when he did, the old man would keel over or cover his face and groan in dismay; it didn't phase the young guy.  Were they playing good-cop/bad-cop shopkeepers?  Who knows. I think the old man is just a character.  The old man had also told us the jugs were antiques, but the young man said, no, these are new.  We found out in the course of being there that the young guy is the old man's nephew.

So, we had asked the nephew (as mentioned above) about a good place to find mosaics, so he took us into the street and was pointing out a few, when his uncle looked at him sternly and said (in English), "Show what you have."  I wondered, why didn't he just tell him that in Arabic so we couldn't understand?  Strange.  So he complied, but he knew his uncle's prices were way too high (and we knew it too, because we had already shopped around), so whenever his uncle was out of earshot he would tell us, "Go check around."  I love buying from honest people.  For a lot of this stuff, there's no way to really quantify its actual value, so it's worth what it means to you; and it's nice to support the local people. 

At the various mosaic shops, several of them took Jack up on their laps and showed him how to put mosaic pieces in--oh, he loved that!  They gave us tea and juice and just sat to visit with us.  They even told us tricks for making a good mosaic--my mind was reeling to remember so I could try it at home!  Again, I loved their honesty: a few of them would make sure to tell us which stones were natural and which were colored, which were local and which were imported.  I'm also still amazed at how much people here love kids, and how they almost beg us to let them play freely in their stores; I know it's not just so they can invoke the "you break it you buy it" policy, because other Jordanian friends have communicated the same sentiment: they are kids, let them play and be free!  When Jack almost knocked a whole row of mosaics off a shelf, one young shopkeeper said, "No, it's my fault.  I should not put them there.  I only want him to not hurt himself."  I'm really going to miss the kid-friendliness of this country! 

Several of the shopkeepers also gave the kids gifts--not uncommon, I'm finding--so we actually came away with more free stuff than what we bought!  Like I said before, children are a golden ticket in this part of the world, and for more than just free stuff.

We ate dinner with a couple friends at this really amazing little restaurant called Adonis.  The cave-like atmosphere was so cozy, accented with Bedouin-style cushions and really neat wall sconces...And the food was amazing!  It was a good day.

Highlights of Lebanon: Days 3-4

Our third day--our last full day--we attempted to travel south, but encountered a few setbacks along the way.  First order of business was being stopped by some bribe-seeking policemen...They claimed we had made and illegal turn, that it was caught on camera, and if we gave them $40 they would erase the picture.  They didn't speak any English, by the way, and we only understood via sign language and a few key words we know.  Owen dealt with them and did a great job feigning ignorance and being bull-headed, so that eventually they gave up in frustration and let us go.

Sidon: Crusader castle

So, we raced off to promptly get lost in the middle of a madhouse-Beirut--crazy roads, crazy drivers, lack of signs, and rush hour.  Somehow, flustered and annoyed at the lost time, we finally made it out of the city and onto the southward-leading road.  The easy sailing only lasted so long, though, as we soon were involved in a car accident.  We are praising the Lord we all came out unscathed! 

Sidon: Crusader castle

Did I mention this was all on Owen's birthday? 

Sidon: looking at the modern city from the top of the castle

The car rental company brought us out a new car, and we moved on with our day.  Next stop: Sidon. For some reason, the region south of Beirut is significantly more underdeveloped than northern Lebanon; I mentioned before how it's easy in Lebanon to forget you're in the Middle East, but on the south side there are some poignant reminders.  It is less European, less developed for tourism, more run down, and has more of the typical shack-like shops that seems standard in poorer areas of the Arab world.

delicious hummus

Sidon was at least still touristy and nice on the main street.  We found a classy Lebanese restaurant right on the Mediterranean Sea and enjoyed a chance to relax and celebrate Owen's birthday (however somberly).  Then we toured the Crusader castle that jutted out into the sea, and went in search of the other archaeological remains.  They were all closed.  The kids had both passed out in the car by then, anyway, so it wasn't a huge loss.  As we left Sidon, we passed what looked like a large tell right on the water, but--so sadly--it turned out to be the city's trash dump!  Right on the beautiful Mediterranean shore!  I think a trash management program could be put to good use in this part of the world. 

the trash dump on the shore of the Mediterranean

Since the kids were sleeping and time was dwindling, we decided to skip the smaller sites on the agenda and head straight to Tyre.  On the way, traffic had been moving freely, then all of the sudden we hit a big traffic jam.  When we got to the source, we were shocked, and a little irritated, to find that a group of boy scouts had blocked off the road down to one lane so they could try to sell their goods to the constricted cars.  Only in the Middle East.  Further on our journey, the freeway just ended without warning--it was unclear if they had simply stopped building it at that point, or if they had blocked it for some reason, but we had to find a back way around. 

Hezbollah flags in Tyre

Tyre is in the heart of Hezbollah country, but really the only evidence of that is all the yellow flags flying from every lamp post, building, and car, along with the general feeling that the area is much more conservative than the rest of the country.  I felt it best to put on my long sleeve shirt, which I had brought in case of just such a situation.  The people were super friendly!  The man tending the ancient site was so happy to see us, especially because we had brought children, and let us in for free.  In this part of the world, children are like a golden ticket!  The locals use the hippodrome at the ancient site as a running track, which I think is pretty awesome.  Wouldn't I love to have a running track like that back home!

section of the hippodrome, pillar-bases on right side held up bleacher seating

Roman road, sidewalk, and triumphal arch

the Roman road leading West toward the sea

some tombs

It was another late night, so the next day we slept in, wandered around Souk Mikael where we had been staying, and took an extra hour or two getting to the airport (not on purpose--we were trying to get to the museum...oh well).  The kids fell asleep in the taxi on the way home from the airport in Amman and slept the rest of the night.  It was an exhausting, wonderful trip.

Souk Mikael

everyone loves having their picture taken!

Through the window of a restaurant--birds kept on a table...First reaction: cute birds! Second reaction: yuck.

just a taste of what the traffic can be like...no rules

Highlights of Lebanon: Day 2

Our second day we headed north, tummies full with French pastries for breakfast--yumm!  First, we hit up Byblos--an impressive ancient city surrounded by a picturesque modern city.  We could've spend days at this one spot alone!  The ancient site represents almost all time periods in history, and is intimidatingly massive even though the full extent of it hasn't been uncovered.  (If you want more details on the actual archaeology, you might want to check Owen's blog.)  There was a beautiful old port where we walked out on the kurkar bedrock into the Mediterranean; the tide was out, so we dipped our toes and got an up-close-and-personal look at some crabs, sea apples, and other shallow-water sea-life.  There were some local guys out diving for something, and they waved for our pictures.  It was so relaxing to just wander along the sea-shore...there's something magical and calming about water.

feeling the ocean on our feet

the harbor, ancient tell off to the right

divers

We had spent about 3 hours at Byblos, and when we were ready to go it was hot and we were tired and hungry.  So we piled ourselves into the muggy car...only to discover that Jack had turned on the lights before we left and the battery was completely dead.  Not the most exciting discovery when you have a whole country to see in 2 1/2 days!  We tracked down some really friendly young men in a Beamer, still in swim trunks since they had just come from swimming, who were able to scrounge up some jumper cables and get us on our way.

an old church in Byblos

one view of the archaeological site...it doesn't begin to show the expanse of it

The next stop was Tell Fadous-Kfarabida...I don't know much about it and didn't even get out for this stop.  Owen took Jack up, but Safita was sleeping in the car, and the whole site required a machete to traverse--covered in tall thorns and weeds.  We didn't stay long, although when we were ready to go Jack decided he was going to stay there by himself and play with the pile of rocks left by the nearby construction crew.  He is an independent boy, for sure; we even all got in the car and pretended to go without him, and he just contentedly waved goodbye.  The promise of ice cream was the only way to make him budge.  

Fadous from the road...nothing spectacular

On our way to fulfill that promise of ice cream (which we were all dreaming mouth-wateringly of at this point) was a "quick" stop at Batroun, where the Phoenicians carved an impressive sea wall out of the local kurkar stone.  It was a little hard to find, surprisingly--you'd think it would be easy since it's on the coast.  We've noticed a trend in Lebanon (and perhaps the greater Middle East) that the road-sign crew seems to think one sign pointing out the general direction is sufficient for aiding travelers in their journey; there is no succession of signs.  I think we spent half the trip getting lost and going in circles.  Anyway, at this stop Jack was happy throwing rocks into puddles, and even Safita tried her hand at it.

the kurkar wall on the right

throwing stones!

The Mussaylha Fort was a short stop off the road on the way to Tripoli.  It was pretty cool to look at, and had a very romantic and quaint stone bridge that you had to cross to get to it.  It was, unfortunately, fenced off and closed that day, so we were unable to climb up and explore, but still definitely worth a stop.  

Tripoli was much larger than we anticipated.  Again, it took us a while to find the old city, due to lack of road signs and/or helpful maps.  And once we found it, it swallowed us like quick sand.  It's MASSIVE--I think it's actually several souks all right next to each other, parts of it drivable by car and other parts pedestrian, just a mass of winding alleys perfect for losing yourself in.  And lose ourselves we did.  We were searching for the best sweets shop in all of Lebanon, according to Lonely Planet--a place called Raf'at Hallab Brothers.  The baklava we had there was worth the pain we went through to get there--it is seriously the best baklava I've ever had in my life: flaky, crisp yet tender, full of flavor, melty...it was like the sweet dew of heaven in your mouth.  We ordered one of each for there, and a box of our favorites to go.  

Tripoli souk

before dismissing this as just a picture of trash, take a closer look to see the giant bones in and around!

We had heard they had old-time coppersmiths in the souk, and have been in great search of reasonable copper items (I somehow have fallen deeply in love with copper), so one of our goals here was to find some copper.  But as I mentioned, we had gotten very seriously lost in the labyrinth and had no idea how to get back to our car; we began by trying to retrace our steps as best we remembered, and on the way the Lord answered our prayers by sending a very eccentric man dressed all in red plaid, and possessing an intricate knowledge of the souk, to guide us back.  And it turns out, he also was age-old family friends with one of the copper shop-keepers, and gave us a whole tour of the recesses of the shop where they make the stuff!  So cool.  Alas, it was too expensive, but it was amazing just to see how they do it. 

coppersmith's shop: production area

By the time we left Tripoli, it was after 6:00 pm, but we foolishly decided to try to fit in an excursion to see the cedars of Lebanon.  I think we thought it was much, much closer than it was.  The drive up was an incredible view, but it became a late, dinner-less night, and by the time we got to the cedars it was too dark to actually see them.  When we finally got back we had to endure kids screaming through showers and a midnight pizza run for hungry tummies, but eventually, somehow, we all got to bed. 

As an aside: My favorite things about Lebanon include:

1) They have curtains for their balconies!  

2) The architecture is the perfect blend of Arab and French, for such a warm, quaint look.  My favorite was when I saw a typical unfinished, run-down, poorly-constructed Arab-style concrete block house--with French shutters on it.  Shutters make all the difference!  I made a note to self: someday, when the only type of house we can afford is a run-down, fit-for-the-dump house, we will buy shutters, and all will be well. 

Highlights of Lebanon: Day 1

Here are some of the more memorable highlights of our recent trip to Lebanon:

aerial view of Beirut & Mediterranean coastline

Monday morning we hopped on a 40-minute flight from Amman to Beirut, which Jack enjoyed and Safita tolerated just fine.  At the Amman airport, it's the first time I've experienced going through a separate women-only security line...and, similar to bathrooms, there was a WAY longer line for the women than the men.  Is it just the nature of women that in any given location there are simply more of us than men?  Anyway, it turned out that they were part of a group of originally-Lebanese-now-Australians who were on a pilgrimage, and they were quite friendly.

our Almond Blooms Guesthouse room

When we arrived in Beirut, we picked up our rental car and made a mad dash through the crazy city traffic, somehow successfully navigating the labyrinth of roads to our guest house.  The guest house, however, was impossible to find--it was a very nondescript place down an alley of the old souk and had no signs whatsoever.   The neighbors down the street didn't even know where it was.  So, it was a tiny place, but the room was nice and it had an AMAZING view!

We got settled and changed, then went to the Dog River, which, apparently, was difficult to cross in antiquity, so all the conquering nations who passed bragged about their success with carvings on the rock cliff.  There are a whole range of inscriptions, from Assyrian and Egyptian to Napoleon to more modern French and Arab. 

this is what the Dog River looks like today

Napoleon's inscription, which he placed directly over a Ramses II inscription...so cocky (and unfortunate)

Left: Assyrian inscription, Right: another Ramses inscription

We ended the day at a delicious Italian restaurant, complete with fresh mint lemonade.  I could tell the kiddos were exhausted, because for bedtime Jack eagerly crawled into his bed, lay down, and fell asleep (it's NEVER that easy!).