LushLureKAJ

The end of July

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:03:47 -0400

My body has finally made progress with the Fire Coral. The swelling has stopped, now my body just itches. I lost the cream. I ‘m pretty sure McFlurry has hidden it somewhere…aka shithead. He’s so freaking cute even though he is constantly messing with my stuff. Today he fell asleep like a baby in my arms and once he woke up we played tag around the apartment. He’s currently sucking on my shirt…he thinks I’m his mom..when kittens are taken away from their moms before they are six weeks, they then have the habit of sucking on clothes and stuff..weird.

On Wednesday we hung out with the Marines that we met in Aqaba. They were supposed to grill steaks but we had miscommunication. We just hung out, ended up eating dinner with them, and drinking a little bit. Their apartment was soo nice! I forgot we were still in the Middle East. This Jordanian woman came and was def sleeping with one of the Marines. On the way home due to the tight space, the Marine hit a taxi as we were passing them. Luckily he ended up getting out of the mess.

This weekend we have to do stamp testing. So no fun for us. We’re back to the stage where we can’t stand it here anymore. I’m so sick of getting eye fucked, grabbed, cars honking or slowing down, and bitchy Arab women. A little girl yelled shame at us a couple of times when we were walking back from the gym, her mom totally egged her on. It’s exhausting being here. Everything is closed during the day, so you are stuck in your apartment. Then at night you can’t do anything either.

Jordan and I just got back form grabbing food down the street. Everything is open late, so we walked down to a sandwich place. The guys are like animals coming out at night. They kept yelling shit from their cars or as we walked by. I started flicking people off…I’m soo done with this place. The food took forever. As we were walking back this guy purposely started making his way closer to me then grabbed my leg as we walked by. I turned around yelled shame on you in Arabic and don’t ever fucking touch me. Jordan started yelling things also. We walked back ready to punch someone. Who ever says this shit happens in America is wrong…I need to remember to tape this shit before I come back to show people how bad it is….I don’t even feel like writing people right now because theres nothing nice to say. 1 more week of classes and a couple of days…

7/29 and 7/30

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:23:39 -0400

So I skipped Sunday from class. I caught up on ROTC things and went to the gym during the day. The fire coral worsened and began to spread down my legs. It burned and itched like crazy! We went to Mwal to eat one more time. It’s so good, the pita bread tastes like a pancake. I’ve avoided bread for the past couple of months, but it was def worth it. When we got back, our electricity was out. The apt manager was no where to be found so we were shit out of luck. It was miserable. There was no breeze and I couldn’t sleep. I kept getting up, went on my dying computer and tried to pass out. Then the fire coral itched. I thought about going to the hospital at night. Finally around 4 I feel asleep. At six I called Dr. Mango ( our mediator through our program) and she met me at the school to go to the hospital.

It was quite an adventure. I had to show them the rash on my legs and then they gave me a shot on my ass and hooked up an ivy for pain medicine. It was hilarious because it didn’t phase me but Dr. Mango kept looking and looking away. It was pretty hilarious. I kept laughing even though I was supposed to sit still. On the taxi back I was feeling the medicine and started to feel sleepy. I went back to the apt and passed out. I skipped another day of class. ooops. The electricity was still off..Beatrice( my roommate) came home and the apt manager was still no where to be found. So we found the fuze/circuit box and turned on our own electricity…we are kind of a big deal. Now we want to fuck with people the last week we are here.

Aqaba

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:14:32 -0400

This weekend we went to Aqaba. It was gorgeous! You could see Egypt across from the Red Sea and Israel. It’s crazy to think that Egypt is not only another country but it’s located on a different continent. Aqaba is really hot, it feels like you are in a oven. The taxi driver ripped us off taking us to the Hostel, I called him a thief and told my friends not to give him the full amount but they did. The staff was really friendly, we were able to wear what we want, no need to be conservative. We put on our bathing suits and went to the Red Sea that was directly across the street. The water was really clear and there were coral and cool things to see just walking distances from the shore. This guy had a extra pair of snorkeling gear and told me to have a look. He would swim beside me and hold onto my hips, I knew he was trying to grab a feel but it was so cool to see everything below. I ended up breaking away from him and was stranded on this rock, which ended up being fire coral, which burned for a good half hour. The guy at the front desk had no idea what to put on it…are you kidding?

We had dinner and talked to some Israelis, it was interesting talking to them about their beliefs and how they feel about the current issues. Afterwards we just went to bed, our hostel actually had air conditioning! Amanda kept grinding her teeth, I thought there were rats in our room…nope just Amanda. The next morning we hate breakfast and Matt met up with us to Scuba Dive. It was amazing! I was scared because I don’t like not having the option to breathe through my nose. Two professionals led us on the adventure. The older guy asked if I had a bf…”yes”…okay I’ll talk to her..he was hilarious and super sarcastic. “you look like Cinderella, you stay with me.” Since I was nervous along with Alex we held his hand while he led us. I was totally okay with that..I didn’t have to do any work and I held the mouth piece to my mouth scared it would fall out. You had to ignore the thought that you can’t breathe on your own and that you were under water. We saw an octopus, it was small and pink/purple. The guy kept touching it. I had to come up a couple of times because water filled up my mask. I freaked out a little. It’s crazy because you couldn’t do this in the US. I def want to do it again. We also rented the water camera…waiting for them to email us the pics!

Afterwards we went to town, ate dinner with these Marines we met. They were nice but def trying to get some. Oh well, I did what I did best…I was sarcastic and made fun of them. Overall it was a success…they live in Amman too. They are training the Jordanian Mil how to shoot and prepare them. They said it’s a mess. Afterwards we went shopping at the shops, since most of them were finally open at night due to Ramadan. We saw a car on fire and immediately thought its an IED. I bought some cool gifts from the oldest store in Aqaba. The owners were so nice, they gave us good prices and free water and tea. Then, we met up with everyone else.

The next day we went to McD’s prior to the bus station. It was crazy because McD’s was one of the only places open and we weren’t allowed to eat on the property due to Ramadan. We had to get it to go and eat outside on the steps. It wasn’t bad, the manager would come out and apologize..we felt like jerks eating in front of him and he felt like a jerk making us eat outside in a corner. The bus ride was extremely bumpy, they drive insane here! Overall it was an amazing trip!

July 26th Class

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:59:12 -0400

I had a test in my class. It was oral of course! So much fun, he just asks us random questions and then he goes on tantrums. I’m pretty sure he only cracks up at his own jokes. It’s pretty entertaining, I just stare outside at the street..waiting for another car crash. It happens so frequent.

The day before I ran 10 miles on treadmill..this is reminder that I need to buy joint medicine and I need new shoes. My knees kill. I can’t wait to go home and run outside. Everyone is looking forward to going home. We are all ready to just pick up and leave. At least we go to Aqaba this weekend!.

This week I had to do quite a bit of ROTC stuff. I mean its not even August and I’m in Jordan but hey why not. I don’t even have the technology for proper communication with everyone else. Oh well, hopefully its easier later.

July 24th

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:54:59 -0400

Jordan and I went to a party of a girl who Jordan went to high school with. Def crazy that she ran into her in Jordan. The apartment was next to Doors Cafe and Gloria Jeans. The people there were very interesting. A lot of them were also in Aries (the girls apt) class at University of Jordan. This girl there went to a women’s gathering of Arab women. I def wish we could experience that. It would be nice to see how they are in everyday life.

Afterwards we both decided were fat and went to McD’s for McFlurries. I’m just saying the KitKat one is amazing, too bad the KitKats taste different in the states. It was funny because all the workers came to the front where we were to make our McFlurry, they even fixed their outfits…too funny. Afterwards we ate outside. I saw this kitten just chilling there by these guys. I was determined to touch it. So we picked it up and just woke off with it. Everyone was screaming things out at us, “thats our cat” , “what are you doing,” we kept walking and grabbed a taxi. It was hilarious. McFlurry (the kitten) was adorable, he is extremely playful and cuddly. He just purrs as you hold him. He started in Jordan’s room, but due to her roommates dislike of animals he is now living in our room. In the middle of the night he will sit at the foot of my bed, look up at me, go back to hiding, look up at me, and then attack. However, now he just follows me around throughout the night, cuddling up to my side. If I put him down, he just jumps right back up. I want him!

Our Savior

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:26:04 -0400

Last night Jordan, Amanda, and I met up with Muhanan for dinner. We met at the Balad at 9pm, he was actually relatively on time. Then we tried a couple of restaurants but a lot of them were closed. i guess they are only open during the break of the fast. Pretty crazy. We finally found a restaurant still open, all the workers were eating also and giving Muhanan crap. They were jealous to have three girls…aka they thought we were Russian. Jordan over heard them talking.

Afterwards we went to Jefora to smoke Hookah and tea. I shared hookah with Mahanen, I picked the watermelon flavor. After smoking a couple of times I was already light headed. It was extremely strong! I’ve decided I”m going to buy a hookah and try to bring it back. He told us a lot of information about the Middle East, it was nice to know his opinion on different matters. Overall he was awesome, we all love him and have decided to become sister wives.

Baptism of Jesus

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 13:10:15 -0400

Today was def an adventure. It started with Jordan, Amanda, and myself trying to rent a car. We were waiting for Monte Carlo to open..aka when an Arab says he’ll be there it means an hour later. If he says en shala that means maybe two hours later. As we were waiting this guy named Muhammad sat next to us and talked our ears off. He ended up taking a cab with us to check out a different car rental place. Turns out he was our savior. He talked to the rental place for us and set it all up. Then as we were driving away we were forced to find out the hard way that Arabs don’t fill their rental cars up with gas. So Muhammad took a taxi to the gas station as we waited on the side of the road. Once our savior came to our rescue we dropped him back off at University of Jordan, we all agreed that we would marry him and be sister wives. Did I also mention that he called us as we were driving towards our destination to make sure we were going the right way?!

Jordan drove the car, while Amanda and I chilled and tried to add some help with directions. We were heading to the Biblical site where Jesus was Baptized, where John the Baptist lived, and where Elijah was lifted into heaven by his fire chariot. As we were trying to follow the signs in Arabic, we notice this Saudi who would not leave us alone. He would drive beside us staring at us, then he would drive behind us riding our cars ass, and then move in front of us. So I decided to take a picture of him, apparently he did not like that. He raced off…guess he got the point.

The drive was amazing. We had to stop for goats to cross the street. There were also many camels just chilling along the side of the road. The drivers in Jordan are crazy, they speed like no other and no one stays in their lane. We stopped along the way to get a picture with the bridge that crosses into Israel. After stopping at a Military checkpoint we finally made it to the Baptism site.

There were girls from ecuador who wore skanky summer dresses, we were shocked! I guess they don’t understand the concept of modesty or Ramadan. We took a shuttle and had tour devices that went into detail of the different spots we visited and the historical significance. It was very hot, probs for the tour guide who was fasting for Ramadan. The site of the Baptism site of Jesus was really neat. We couldn’t get very close but close enough. The tour guide was hilarious. He took pictures of us so we could all be in the same picture. He said it was his honor because we were beautiful women. He asked if we wanted to get married, I pointed to Amanda. She goes no thank you, his response, “‘I’m the man, you have no choice you’re the woman, you can’t say no.” He was just kidding, but it was hilarious. Amanda blushed! Then we went to the Jordanian River, which is known for healing people with illnesses such as Cancer. It was crazy because when we arrived there were people across the river being baptized. It was a huge group of them and they were singing songs in Italian. I was like does the tour end there? Then I looked up and saw the Israeli Flag. Def not, we asked if we could get in the river. “As long as you don’t cross the middle of the river, otherwise you will be shot.” There were Jordanian soldiers and Israeli soldiers on the other side holding rifles. It’s crazy how close we were. The river was pretty hot and thick like the Dead Sea.

Afterwards, we went to the Dead Sea for a couple of hours. It still surprises me how you just float. The salt is overwhelming. After a half an hour, we left and hung out at the pool for a little bit. Then, we headed home and returned the car. The day was a success!

Running Trail

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:44:10 -0400

This week Jordan and I have been constantly mistaken as Italian. They literally speak Italian to us. I mean its def better than Russian and I am Italian but I didn’t just get off the ship from Italy. The real question is why do Arabs know Italian? It’s the small things in life.

This week we found the outside track. It was behind the gym. We went at night so we wouldn’t cause too much commotion and get unwanted attention. The place was packed with people. They smoke their hookah along the trails. The trails reminded me of Colorado, they turned a lot and it was nice to run outside. Def different than running on a treadmill. They had side things where you could run through tires, do abs, pull ups, and etc. So of course we showed the Jordanian men up…”A woman can’t do this” haha they didn’t really say that but their facial expressions said it all. We wore leggings and a t-shirt, people wore similar clothing. The only problem was it got dark really fast and there were no lights to see the trails.

Tequila Tuesdays

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:37:53 -0400

So on Tuesday I had my midterm. I studied 8 hours on Monday and woke up at 5am on Tuesday to study more before my class started. The first two hours of class we spent learning a new topic then took the disgusting test the next 2 hours. Okay the test wasn’t that bad, but it took forever and I was so ready to be done with it.

Chandler was talking about going to this place that had $1 Tequila shots. I told some people in my class and we went later that night. We started out taking a shot every once in a while. I felt fine. Then, Tyler and I decided to talk to this group of Arabs. Our whole table joined them. They had a tray just full of shots. They started handing me one right after the next. There was an American there, I told him he didn’t look American…yup I think that was the tequila talking…okay it was just me being an ass. After three straight shots..I had about 8 shots all together..my memory of the night ended.

I woke up the next morning with my roommate asking how I was doing. I was confused, great why do you ask..Then an hour later I decided to get up and realized I missed class. I talked to Chandler and many other that saw me that night. Well I threw up quite a bit at the club, I fell going to the bathroom (hint the bruises on my hip, knee, elbow, and head. This guy had to help me to the bathroom. Then, Jordan and the Taxi driver helped me into the cab to get home. This guy outside my apt building helped Jordan to get me up to my apt. Once inside my apt, I got into a fight with a tree in my living room, the tree won. My roommate realized I was not okay. The next couple of hours everyone was deciding if I was going to be okay. They though about taking me to the hospital. Glad they didn’t. There was a lot of drama between the other people in the apartment. I def gave them a one of a life time show.

Wed morning I barely could move, of course it was 106 degrees and our electricity went out, let alone our ac is broken. At the end of the night I felt fine, everyone was glad I was okay. Def never repeating that mistake!

Today in class my teacher was like were you sick…umm yes. Tyler and Queeny who also enjoyed tequila night had also left class early. If our teacher only knew what really happened..

July 13th

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:30:12 -0400

Today I turned 22! I know I’m old as shit! I had to wake up early because we were taking a trip to Jeresh. We all tried to sleep on the bus but one of the teachers decided to dance and sing. I think I might throw something at him the next time he goes on a trip.

Jeresh was really cool, it was the city where the Greeks first ruled then the Romans. Caesar and Alexander the Great both ruled there. 80% of the buildings were still underground. Archeologist all over the world come and spend years trying to rediscover the underground city. It was a really hot day, in the 100s, with no shade in sight. The tour guide kept looking at me weird, so I smiled and he just looked at me even weirder. Later I took off my sunglasses and he smiled. We had a moment.

After the tour we watched a gladiator show. It was pretty hilarious even though I fell asleep. Then, we went to lunch. The lunch makes it worth it because it was a buffet of delicious food. Did I mention that this was free?! Afterwards, we headed back to Qasid.

I went home and took a nap for a couple of hours then skyped my mom, Lance, and Tara. My mom bought me a cake and showed me my presents. It was hilarious and awesome at the same time! Only my mom would do something like that!

July 12

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:20:47 -0400

On thursday I had a test in my second part of class. It lasted for 2 hours, and it was orally. I did okay, the girl who was I was paired to annoys everyone so it took the attention away from me.

After class we went to the gym, the supervisor of the gym is the biggest guido ever. He is def top heavy and wears short shorts. He’ll do a set and then stare at himself in the mirror. He came over and wants to help me speak Arabic, by teaching me the different body parts. He touched my abs..I was wondering if thats allowed by was too tired to care. I asked how I can sneak into the pool, where last week I got 2nd degree burns…my skins healing. We shook on Friday that he’l sneak us in.

After the gym we just chilled. Later that night we went to Jordan’s friends apt to pregame before we went to the embassy party. Her friend lived a couple of apt buildings down from us. As we were heading inside, these two boys from the window were staring at us. Jordan waved and they waved back. Then we went inside and waited for the elevator. All of a sudden one of the boys showed up who was not a boy but a man. He looked to be around 40 and gave off a creepy persona. We were all freaked out, then he jumped on the elevator with us, he got off the next floor up. Then we went to the top floor, when the doors opened his face was practically in front of us. We all screamed…it was like a scene from the shining. I don’t know why not one of us punched him. Finally we made it to Jordan’s friends apt. Jordan’s friend ended up knowing one of my friends in Chicago.

The embassy party was fun, I was disappointed that half of the people weren’t even American. So annoying, but danced with this Jordanian. He was nice, he invited us to his friends pool party on Saturday, I gave him Jordan’s number. Later that night one of the guards was leaving with us and he wanted to hang out, again gave him Jordan’s number. Not a good idea, they both called over and over again on Saturday.

Over the Weekend

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:54:58 -0400

On Thursday, July 5th we went to G Club. It was very American, the Dj played American music and was from Louisiana. The girls were dressed in very short dresses and high heels. Everyone in my group wore conservative clothes. I wore pants and a 3/4 shirt with sandals. I couldn’t help but think sluts, and it was funny to see the roles reverse. The stereotype of American women are that they are easy and whores. Matt went crazy with drinks and we all took an Irish Car bomb shot, too funny. I immediately went to the dance floor which was extremely small and let loose. I loved it! I think I ended up sweating about 2000 calories. All of us had a great time. An Arab guitarist would come on everyone in a while and played the electric guitar, we acted like groupies. Didn’t you know flattery gets you everything. The DJ and I had a dance off, It was great. Everyone circled around us, it felt like I was back home. It was a nice break. Even though above the first floor was the VIP..aka where the prostitutes and their clients hung out. I know gross.

On Friday, Jordan and I went to the pool at the gym we go to. It was very relaxing, I put on sunscreen however after 6 hours, we were burn’t. I’m pretty sure it’s 3 degree burn. The worst part is that I was blotchy. Oh well, at least my ankles and the rest of my body finally saw the sun. Totally worth it. Everyone around us wore bikinis, some wore the muslim swim suit that literally covered their whole body including their hair. I posted the link on Devin’s wall before I left..people actually wear the suit. The water was extremely refreshing, it was a very hot day. The weather hear is always the same hot and sunny. Sometimes theres a breeze but it never rains. Afterwards we tried to go to the market thats downtown and only open are Fridays. The taxi driver was an ass and wouldn’t take us, only to the Balad so we had to walk. I hate the taxi drivers here, they try to rip us off all the time, or ask us if were Russian…which really isn’t a question..its meant to be a statement, do you want to have sex? The market wasn’t that great and were forced to wait at the Balad for hours, since the taxi drivers wouldn’t pull over and drive us back. Again, I hate them.

Saturday is considered our Sunday since we have class on Sunday. I was in no mood to do anything, so instead we literally didn’t leave the apartment building. We watched movies all day in Jordan’s room and ordered food twice. I know, it was our fat day, but it was nice to be lazy and let our body rest. We ordered pizza from Papa Johns…it was not pizza. The sauce tastes like tomato soup, the overall pizza tastes like cardboard.

July 4

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 10:50:25 -0400

So today is the fourth of July, which apparently our teachers really don’t care or understand how important it is to us. Tomorrow I have an oral quiz and presentation due. This should be interesting. Lately, I understand whats going on in class which makes my day. The hard part is speaking and listening. Sometimes the words sounds incredibly different than how I would pronounce it.

Today we had to attend a “Women in Jordan” meeting. Basically we heard the same thing, dress conservatively, don’t travel by yourself especially at night, and don’t get in an elevator with a guy. My friend brought up that the women don’t make eye contact with us or wants to communicate with us. She didn’t know how to respond and decided to change topics. I wanted to mention that a women screamed out her door at my friend and I, “how much” or how a woman kept her hand on the horn while driving beside us. It’s def worse coming from a woman. I want to wear a shirt sometimes that says, “I’m American and I’m not a whore.” I don’t understand how they think were whores when the tv’s cut out anything other than hand holding. Now before I start any conversation with a guy, I’ll make sure to ask if he thinks I”m flirting…stupid.

I ran 5 miles at the gym today. It wasn’t bad, the girl at the front desk told us about an outside track. I”m a little nervous with the heat. She wants us to come visit on Friday so she can do our nails. Maybe she’ll let us in the pool for free.

Tonight we are meeting with other Americans at Waffle House to do our hw, smoke hookah, and sing karaoke. Then, I think were coming back to the apartment and lighting fireworks from the top of our roof. Were bringing our American ways to Jordan. Jordanians light off fireworks when there is a wedding or graduation, so they will most likely think someone got married.

Wadi Rum

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:33:38 -0400

After exploring Petra we loaded back onto the bus to Wadi Rum. Once we got there we loaded our stuff onto Jeeps that were from the 1960s. The jeeps rode off the main road through Wadi Rum to our camp where we watched the sunset.

Then we had dinner at the bedouin camp. The tea was amazing! Quenny and I talked to the bedouins. They were extremely nice and had also learned english from the tourist. Since we were in the desert, the view of the stars were priceless. Everyone formed a circle under the stars and listened to the culture of the bedouins. Then, we went on a night hike. Since, I’m a child at heart, our group played tag until we hit exhaustion. The moon acted as our guide, once we climbed up a low cliff people took turns singing. It was very relaxing, afterwards we headed back to the camp.

Everyone moved their mattresses from under the tent into the open where we slept literally under the stars. I saw three shooting stars! Defiantly the best camping experience.

The next morning Jordan, Jessica, Amanda, Alex and I woke up around 5:45am and explored the dessert while we waited for breakfast. After breakfast we went on a jeep tour. The jeeps were seriously old as shit! Our driver looked like he was 12 and drove like a manic. Marks was more entertained watching my reactions than the view surrounding us. Our jeeps took turns racing each other. Through out the day the jeeps would stop at different cliffs and people would climb and explore. My fear of heights def took over, however I climbed a pretty big cliff!

The downfall was that there was no water to drink. We learned quickly that water is a necessity while exploring the desert! Everyone was very dehydrated! Then we had dinner at the bedouins family’s house in the village. They separated the men and women. Of course the men were fed first and we had to wait until their plates and silverware were cleaned before it was our turn. A girl in our group took a picture of one of the bedouin women, the man freaked out and the girl had to delete the picture. Apparently the women don’t want their modesty sold or end up on the internet. The food was okay, I found a hair in my food..I almost through up! Our bus’s AC was also broken so we had to wait for 3 hours, while another bus came.

Overall it was an amazing weekend!

Photo

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:05:36 -0400

Future Husband

The Temple

The View

The view

Photo

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:43:40 -0400

4 Star hotel

Camels!

The Treasury

Petra

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:11:26 -0400

On Thursday around 5pm, we all gathered up and loaded up on the buses. Then, left for Petra which was about a 4 hour drive. We arrived to the 4 star hotel around 9pm. The hotel was so nice. The beds were extremely comfortable, we all thought about staying for the rest of our trip! We ate at a buffet in the hotel and then went swimming in the pool on the roof. It was nice to leave Amman.

The next morning we woke up at 645 am and had breakfast. Then began our journey through Petra, one of the Wonders of the World. Every 5 seconds someone asked us we wanted to ride their horse, camel, donkey, or carriage ride, which costs money. The site was gorgeous! We had a tour guide that walked us through the first couple of hours, explaining the significance of the different structures.

The Treasury is the main building. It was taken over by many including the Greek and Romans, each adding their symbols to the gorgeous structure. The Treasury is only seen in the daylight during one hour in the morning time. Luckily we made it! This one boy who was trying to sell us souvenirs lived in the caves of Petra. He learned English from the tourist, it was extremely interesting. He retrieved his donkey for me to ride. I think I might marry him. haha

We then hiked to the Monastery which was about a 20 min hike. Water was essential. Some people rode the donkeys up, but I was determined to get my workout. At the top we saw the End of the Wold and the Top of the World views. It was amazing! We saw the worlds largest rifts. We could see Israel. My fear of heights def kept me from getting very close to the edge and caused me to feel overwhelmed while climbing up the cliffs.

Pictures really can’t capture the view! We talked to the children to find out where the spring was but it was too late to explore because we had to meet up with our group. The experience was incredible. The more you smiled the cheaper the prices on the gifts were and the more friends you made. I made quite a few since I smile and laugh when I feel nervous, scared, awkward, or happy.

Gym

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:27:02 -0400

I joined a gym! For the past couple of weeks I have going to the gym after class! It’s really nice! We are limited to the amount of water we can use throughout the week. So the biggest motivation to go to the gym is the shower. The showers are hot and have great water pressure, unlike our apartment’s shower.

The gym has been my way to release stress and frustration…also to train for the marathon thats coming up pretty soon. I am forced to run on a treadmill, which I’ve grown to like. There is a pretty large variety of equipment. It’s pretty funny because the Jordanians go there to socialize. They don’t run but walk on the treadmill, so they look at me like I’m crazy. I usually wear short and a tank top, but today we were told that we need longer shorts. I’ve been wearing the shorts for the past couple of weeks, I’m wearing them tomorrow!

The Manager is nice, he showed me some tips on how to use the equipment. I’ve been trying to get set in a routine..so far it goes one day running 3 miles, 6 miles, 10 miles for a long run, back to 3 miles, and then 5-6 miles. Sometimes I ride the bike afterwards and then weights.

The gym plays about 3 songs and its like being in a American club. I guess that works too. Oh and before we leave after taking a shower we must blow dry our hair..In their culture if a woman has wet hair it symbolizes that she just had sex.

There is a pool but is really expensive..I’m working on a plan to sneak in!

Dead Sea

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:21:04 -0400

Mud Fight!

Floating at the Dead Sea

Mt Nebo

Dead Sea

Russian Prostitutes

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:12:48 -0400

Jordan is a very modern Arabic country, so the Saudis come to Jordan during the summer to do their fantasy..sexual adventures. Well for the past couple of weeks, Russian prostitutes have been found leaving our apartment building. So why bring this up?… Well the Russian prostitutes have long blonde hair and light skin. Does this sound familiar?

Yup, for the past week I have been accused and looked as if I was a Russian Prostitute due to the similar characteristics. On the way home from dinner at a really nice restaurant a car slowly followed us up the street, then waited at the top by our apartment. He was waiting for us to make the next move, he wasn’t prepared for my not so nice words.

Then the next day my friend Amanda and I, who also has similar characteristics, were walking to the grocery store. A woman yelled out from her car, “how much?” Another woman on the way from the gym held down her horn as she drove beside us. My love for Jordan has been dissolving.