An Update.

Im not really sure how to organize my thoughts so I'm thinking I will just do a bullet list of what I have been up to this past week.

·         Last weekend we went to Umm Qais. This is an old Roman city where, on a clear day you can see Syria, Lebanon and Israel.  I think we only saw Israel and, depending on where you stand in the Israeli-Palestinian divide, Syria. Dont worry Ommy, I didnt cross into Syria.

·         This location is also important because it is believed to be where Jesus drove the demon named Legion out of the possessed man, into a herd of swine which caused the swine to take off running down a hill and into the Sea of Galilee.

·         On that note I saw the Sea of Galilee there.  That was super exciting.  Actually I have seen a lot of important biblical bodies of water here: the Dead Sea, the Red Sea and now the Sea of Galilee

·         We also went to Pella, a city that is not quite yet excavated so we got to explore some abandoned archeological sites

·         LAST week on Sunday I had an interview scheduled with former Ambassador John Wolf.  He is the current president of the Eisenhower Fellowship. I went to Ruba's house (my boss) around six thirty to meet with her before we went to the Four Seasons Hotel to collect John S. Wolf.  Upon arrival to the Four Seasons we learned that because of high security we were not allowed to film within the building.  This caused us to return to Ruba's house where we conducted the interview.  It was  an easy interview. Short questions with concise responses.  That went well, it was post interview that was enjoyable but long.

        Ruba insisted that we stay for dinner.  She and her mother were just going to throw something together.  About two hours later the former Ambassador and I were seated at the table eating.  I enjoyed getting to talk to John Wolf. We discussed anything and everything in our two hours of bonding including sports and college life and my impressions of Jordan.  It wasn’t until I got home that I recognized how important he was in the scheme of things.  He has a pretty impressive resume.

 

·         My friend Johnny and I attended a lecture of the ambassador's the next night.  Johnny and the former ambassador are from the same city and Johnny wanted me to introduce him so I did.  While I was there I ran into another former ambassador from Jordan which has graciously loaned me his personal video equipment. Then I realized that one of my professors was a Jordanian ambassador to Israel…..this is crazy.

·         The other night I was at my usual hang out spot Books@Cafe when it started to rain.  It was reminiscent of some tornado like storms.  Came out of nowhere and the sky grew so dark.  The wind was so strong and started blowing stuff off the roof.  Everyone was freaking out (we were out on a balcony)

·         It stormed last night too.  Much longer than the previous night.  This time with lightning and thunder.  It was quite exciting till the humidity hit today….

·         Last night I helped my host brother study for his English test. Then we made snowflakes out of paper.  We also discussed the best ice cream in the United States. He cracks me up.

·         I have finalized my plans for our "fall break".  I am going to Egypt for five days!!! The 9 year old Lydia would be very proud of me and probably peeing her pants with excitement. I just hope that all our neighbors stay calm and no more movies are produced in the states so I can go.  I booked my flight today.  I am beyond excited. PS I checked the state department wasnings for Egypt and surprisingly the state department has no warnings out for that country.  Every single country that touches Jordan, on the other hand, has travel warnings against them.  

·         I read the other day that if it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep then you are sleep deprived.  I cant remember laying in bed long enough to have a complete thought while trying to fall asleep.  That should tell you something about my sleep habits…

Okay Im really tired so I am going to end it there.  Im not even sure any of that makes sense. I know I missed some stuff but obviously this was the most important since it stood out in my head.

Salam.