Cabin Fever --- Lewis

"Cabin fever" according to Wikipedia, "is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, for an extended period. Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, forgetfulness, laughter, and excessive sleeping."

Being from Western Washington I know what it is like to get out of the house on a rainy day and go adventuring through the woods or to the park, or even down the street to a local coffee shop. But being here in Amman things aren't quite the same. Although it's not as cold here as it gets just yet, it feels so much colder because our floors are made of marble and we haven't bought diesel to turn on our central heating (which we are told isn't that effective in the first place). So we sit around inside all day huddled in close proximity to our little electric heaters, but not so close as to burn our blankets we have wrapped tightly around ourselves nor our new slippers which have rubber soles. Sometimes I run over to the window and open the blinds long enough to soak in a little sunshine as the sun is setting at the perfect angle to be directed inside with us. It's really only about 50F here right now, but all of us wish it were a little warmer.

We are used to getting up early and heading off to work where the heaters are run all day and we are, most of the time, running around after our students (all except Tine who is currently in the warmth and comfort that is Zambia) so we manage to keep quite warm. Zach and I, however, are currently on Winter Break which gives us quite a bit of extra time. We have time to do all kinds of things like catch up on our Bible study, read a few new novels from the ABS library, watch television (which gets old after a while), or perhaps venture out into the city in pursuit of some adventure. Oh wait, it's cold outside so the last option is a little iffy. Actually, for two days straight it rained, including one day and night that was rather blustery. The two of us braved the elements that day for a few hours on a search for some falafel sandwiches. The wind was blowing harshly that afternoon and, if not for Zach, I surely would have been blown into oncoming traffic as we crossed the street and then I would never have met Jimmy.

Jimmy is the owner of new neighborhood falafel shop. I say new because we only this week discovered it existed. Jimmy, whose Arabic name is actually Jamal, moved back to Jordan from the US about five years earlier. He had lived there as a cook for about ten years. Currently he has (if I remember correctly) two children in attendance at various universities in the states. The crazy part of this story is, as it turns out, not merely the fact that Jimmy lived in Ohio but the fact that he lived in the same town that Zach and Emily had lived in. What a small world? How odd is it that we had to travel all the way to Amman to meet one of our neighbors (well potentially they were neighbors depending on time and exact location of course)? We left Jimmy with smiling faces because we had met and friend AND because Jimmy had given us free falafel sandwiches because we were his neighbors both in Ohio and, since we live so close to his shop, here in Amman.

Zach and I continued on our journey down to a local "library," the local name for a shop that sells paper goods and various writing utensils as well as all kinds of other odds and ends, but doesn't lend books. We managed to pick up some ink pens and some yarn for our wives as well as a new USB storage device for myself (I was excited that I got it so cheap and Zach pondered buying one for himself).
We returned home safely and only slightly damp, as it wasn't raining by the time we had made it out the door. This whole ordeal took us no more than a couple of hours. If it were a sunny day when we awoke that morning, we had planned a hike to a nearby neighborhood to scope out some old architecture and to discover a little more about our surroundings.

It's amazing how little one can get done when there is "nothing" to do. The rest of the day, at least for me, was very unproductive and when the wife got home she wasn't that pleased with the falafel sandwiches, although she always fancies a new pen or two (she likes to write). It's not that I had intended on doing nothing and sitting around all day. It's just that the weather had thwarted our plans and us guys aren't too keen on coming up with stuff to do on our own. We actually get quite bored at home alone without the wives. Who would have thought that we had become so boring?

To continue the definition that I lead into this blog post with (again according to Wikipedia, as to give credit to a more credible source than myself), "The word" still referring to Cabin Fever, "is also used humorously to indicate simple boredom from being home alone." As it turns out, Zach and I (or at least myself) have suffered slightly from the effects of Cabin Fever. Our condition could get worse here in the near future (actually starting tomorrow) because we are still on break from work but our wives are still going to be working. Soon enough the monotony of the daily lack of routine will be over and we will be back at school, warm and cozy running after crazed youngsters who we only want to help, all the while keeping up with paper work and grades and wishing to be back on break again.

Emily and Lena will soon enough have their own taste of Cabin Fever. They go on break the day we go back to work.

***PS - To show you how boring I knew this break had potential to be, and to add to the vicious effects of Cabin Fever, I decided to schedule an exam for myself during the early part of my break. I came home from work on Monday and the very next day I took a cab to a different part of town and proceeded to take the GRE (GRE stands for Graduate Record Examination). It's basically an entrance exam for graduate school. I painstakingly studied away many nights in preparation for this exam, and by "painstakingly studied away many nights" I mean I studied a couple of times and took a few different practice exams. There are three parts to the general GRE exam (the version of the GRE that I took): (1)the verbal reasoning section, (2)the quantitative reasoning section, and (3)the analytical writing section. The writing section has to be read by an actual person to be scored so I don't know the conclusion of that area. Although I can't say that I am a brilliant essay writer I once got an A+ on a paper in high school that was basically an essay about nothing, according to my teacher, but he loved it. On the practice tests I took I was averaging above 500 (out of 800) points on the verbal reasoning section which is only slightly above average. On the actual exam I scored a measly 400 points. I give credit for that low score to the fact that I don't read a whole lot. In the quantitative reasoning section (basically a math section) I was averaging above 600 (again out of 800) points which was again only slightly above average, except for engineering students whose average score is somewhere above 700 points. On the actual test (this part is amazing and what I consider to be a miracle) I managed a score above 700 points up there with the engineers! That's good because I happened to study engineering in college and getting a score up there with the rest of the engineers makes me feel like I did take something away from college.***

"Life is Like a Box of Chocolates"...Tine

Tucked away in the heart of the Middle-East, the last thing you tend to expect is guests (much less UCG guests). I mean, it’s not like brethren just happen to be “in the neighbourhood.” But believe it or not dear reader, since my last blog...we’ve had three!

Our first guest was Michelle Mills, a native of New Zealand who now lives and works in the Emirates as a journalist and editor. She was in Jordan for business and we made plans to spend the weekend together. This was quite a pleasant surprise because apart from the Hook family in Kuwait, we were unaware of any other UCG members in this region.
One of the things we were able to do was take Michelle on a historical tour of downtown Amman.
Our first stop was "the Duke's Diwan."--The oldest townhouse in Amman. The townhouse was built in 1923 and operates under the patronage of the Duke of Mukhaibeh who has since turned it into an intellectual and cultural haven where scholars and artists can retreat and ruminate. Post Duke's Diwan, we made a stop at a second hand bookstore where Michelle bought some “antique” legal tender while I bought an old cook book and dug up a dusty and obscure manuscript of English prose which I acquired for 0.5JDs ( I convinced the vender that the prospects of him finding a more generous buyer were slim to none:-). Next stop--the splendid Roman amphitheatre, a 1900-year-old historical Bonanza, where we indulged Michelle as she went crazy with her camera.

Last stop: the "Hill of the citadel"--an ancient Roman fortification that showcases ruins from the Temple of Hercules and the Umayaad Palace complex. After touring the site we did silly impressionisms on the ruin mounds and then made a whirlwind tour of the Jordan archaeological museum (dead sea scrolls anyone?).

Michelle, what a sport! We tried to wrestle another visit from her, we’ll see if it worked.

Our next two guests were Shannon & Samantha Sweat. Shannon was born and raised in Africa (she actually grew up with my aunt!), and has been through several continents before settling down in Dallas, TX. One unsuspecting morning, we received an email from Mr. Horchak saying that Shannon and her 7 month old baby Samantha would be in Amman on a 6 hour stop over and was enquiring as to whether we could “put them out of their misery.” We obliged. Emily and I made our way down to the airport (in very interesting circumstances), picked up the Sweats and brought them back to our apartments where they relaxed and had dinner before heading back to the airport. As an aside, Samantha is the most agreeable baby I have ever met. She sat on a blankie with wooden spoons and plastic bowls smiling the entire time, not once did she cry or fuss (and this is not an exaggeration.) Her mother said she had been that way the entire trip and Lena told Lewis that if he could promise her that their baby would be that way, she would consider having one. Lewis said he couldn’t make any promises...

XXX

The Dead Sea -- Zach

3 days and 2 nights at a 5 star hotel at the Dead Sea sounded like a pretty nice get away. The catch? Take 14 students with you! Last week I got to tag along with Lewis and the Robotics team to the annual First Lego League robotics competition at the Dead Sea. The students had been practicing for a couple months to come compete against 58 other teams from Jordan & some neighboring countries. Lewis is the coach for one of the 2 robotics teams at ABS, and I volunteered to help supervise...field trip mom was my official title. We got to spend a lot of time with the small group of students and get to know them a little better. I haven't laughed as much as I did in those three days in awhile. There were definitely frustrating moments too though. The boys found it hillarious to try to teach Lewis & I some new Arabic words, telling us they meant one thing when they meant something totally different (as if Arabic isn't hard enough!), but one of them would always flash a sneaky smirk or let out a giggle, so we knew something was up. It's amazing how you can go to the other side of the world and kids are still kids! We enjoyed the warm hotel room, hot showers, swimming in December, and the beautiful view of the sea, but the best part was spending time with the students. Sometimes they are challenging and they test my patience, but for some reason I always want to come back to them. The good out weighs the bad I guess, or maybe it is because I see in them myself just a few years back...

Growing Older -- Lena

Today was my birthday, or rather, it still is, for a few more hours at least, and this has put me in a philosophical mood, well, as philosophical as I get. You see 29 years ago today I graced my family with my presence (trust me, this is said with a good deal of smirkiness, and very little seriousness). This makes me the oldest of our little group here. Well, I've always been the oldest, but since there aren't anymore birthdays for a few months, it feels as though I've widened the gap. It has been a very good birthday. I had the opportunity to speak with my parents briefly on the phone, some of my fellow teachers at the Bunyat Centre threw me a little party and gave me some delightful gifts, and my wonderful Jordan Crew family baked me a cake and gave me some invaluable gifts (chocolate and warm socks). I'm not sure what 29 is supposed to be like, but hopefully I do a good job of it. I had just gotten comfy with 28, but I suppose time stops for no man (or woman). If someone had asked me at 19 where I would be in 10 years, I doubt Amman, Jordan would have been anywhere on the list. This is the beauty of life, we never know where God might lead us, I've been truly blessed that my path has been fairly scenic, and graced with so many wonderful friends and family. I've included a couple of pictures of me and my family when I was at my cutest. What are families for, if not to post embarrassing photos for all the world to see?!

Swings N' Things

Spending time with the students in my weaving class is one of the things I most enjoy about my time here in Jordan. Since I can only say the simplest things in Arabic, it’s hard to have an actual conversation with the students. But as I learn words here and there, I’m understanding more of what they say. Throughout the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the chance to go on various field trips. I went horse-back riding, to a birthday party, a pizza place and a park. What I enjoyed the most about these trips was having fun doing activities and not needing to speak the same language! Swinging as high as you can only requires a weeee! and a woohooo! Eating pizza can be done with just one word: zachy (delicious). I learned about a few students' family members by writing their names in the sand, and I even got to see-saw with one of the teachers (I definitely got my work out as the students lined up for their turn). Sharing special time outside of class has given me a chance to connect with the students, and get to know them in a language we can both understand: food & fun!

Little Man - Lewis

So this is my friend, Little Man. Actually his name is Japeth. Let me tell you a little about this little guy. He lives in his stroller a lot of the time. He can't walk on his own because he has cerebral palsy. Cerebral Palsy (CP) in its various forms is simply damage to the brain that affects motor skills. It is most commonly developed somewhere between pregnancy and three years of age. CP can have an affect on mental capabilities in children but for Japeth it is purely physical. His mind is sharp but his body is weak and he has to concentrate really hard just to move his arms and legs. So how does a guy like this at the young age of 4 communicate with the world (and with all of his sisters) when he can barely talk (or rather be understood) and can't even begin to sign with his hands? He uses his eyebrows of course (actually sometimes he would rather bite or try to throw a punch when his sisters are involved); and boy does he know how to use them. He expresses every emotion and can point at people or at something that he wants you to look at or notice. It's amazing that anyone could have so much muscle control in their face and yet lack that same control every where else in their body.

I met Japeth at the Feast in Sri Lanka. I was first intrigued by the opportunity to meet yet another small child. I love spending time with children and hearing what they have to say about things and just getting to know them, but with Japeth it wasn't so easy to do. His words were hard to understand, although his vocabulary was large. Luckily I speak many dialects of small child in various languages and in all kinds of conditions (this does not however include the crying baby dialect no matter how loud the cry). This God given talent enabled me to hear just what it was that this little man was trying to say. He appreciated that someone could speak his language for a change and we quickly became good friends. In fact at nearly every meal soon after our first dining experience together I was invited over by Japeth himself to help him stuff his face.


A favorite activity of mine has always been swimming. I have especially fond memories of swimming in outdoor pools at the Feast as a child as it was a treat not often enjoyed in western Washington. Japeth happens to enjoy a good swim as well. It gives him a chance to stretch out his arms and legs and exercise and develop the muscles that he does (or will someday) have. We had a good time in the pool as you can see. And when he is happy, Japeth has the biggest smile and the most delightful laugh. But don't get on his bad side. Those eyebrows work well for all kinds of things including the expression of anger. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the angry eyes.


Lena began calling Japeth "Little Man" at some point during the Feast and the name stuck. He no longer wanted to be called by his given name and insisted that he was Little Man. That's where we get the title to this blog entry. Meeting the little guy was one of the biggest delights of the Feast this year. There were others like finally being around a larger group of brethren for the first time in 2 months, hearing all the fascinating stories and adventures they had been on in their lives, oh and who could forget the amazing weather and the fantastic view of the sunsets over the Indian Ocean. But there is something special about seeing a child smile, knowing that they think the world of you because you gave them a little bit of needed attention or becuase you understood something about them that no one else could see or hear or feel. I can't wait for the next time that I meet Japeth again. Maybe he will have a few more successful surgeries to loosen those stiff muscles. Perhaps his legs will work properly and he'll be able to get up out of his chair and walk around. Maybe he will be able to speak with ease and swim like a fish. I look forward to that day, when the deaf shall hear and the lame shall leap. Japeth will be there on that day and he'll be right along with the rest of them leaping like a dear, but he'll also be growling like a tiger (one of his other favorite pasttimes).

Humanly Speaking...Tine

In my nomadic wonderings, little intrigues me more than the human dimension. Yes, I enjoy the architectural oddities, the distinctive landscapes and texture, and sure, sampling the exotic cuisine always has its appeal. Ultimately though, it is always the people that hold my attention. The more I travel, the more I am persuaded of the transcendental quality of the human experience. The full smorgasbord of human sentiment (pain, joy, anguish, fear, hope…and everything else) is universal regardless of one’s precise or approximate locality.

The human aspect of Bentota, Sri Lanka held even more charm because of the feast’s potent humanitarian dimension. For the Jordan 5, it was especially gratifying for us to be able to serve and fellowship with people with whom we had an instant camaraderie. Whether it was over cocktails by the pool, or while bringing the roof down to Rodney Vanheers exceptional saxophone genius, we relished in the opportunity to probe the unique experience of each feast attendee, learning and growing even as we communed. The Sri Lankan brethren have a corner on the market as far as hospitality and generosity go. I was so very moved by their unrelenting efforts to make sure we were settled and happy, and was almost moved to tears when they lavished us with the feast gifts they had so carefully prepared. When we sang “God be with you till we meet again”, I felt that recognizable lump in my throat. Saying goodbye was emotionally draining, and yet we know that the future holds out to all of us in exceptional promise.

Personal Feast Highlights: The Hook’s baptism; Extracting a promise from the Hook’s to visit us in Jordan; The bus ride to Galle; Rodney Vanheer’s saxophone extravaganza; Teaching the “stepping stones” in God’s plan to the little ones; Encouragement from Mark Wine; The story of Carol’s calling; The day I was “sorted” (inside joke, dear reader); The ruminations of the inconsolable 3 (Andrea Mather, Becky Horchak, Tine Banda); Hearing the sea roar from my hotel room (delightful); The tuk tuk ride into Bentota with Andrea and Mrs. Mather; Laughing till my stomach hurt (Thanks Becky); Lena & I freezing in the so-called “hot” tub; Zach’s “Got any grapes” joke at the dinner table; Seeing the Jordan 5 so content, so exhilarated, so hopeful.

Sleeping in Abu Dhabi --Zach

We had such a great time in Sri Lanka for the Feast this year. Like Lena said, we enjoyed the beautiful, hot, humid, rainy country of Sri Lanka, and we especially loved getting to spend some time other brethren. We knew we were missing our church family back home, but we didn't realize how much we missed having real church services and singing with other people. We got to see some sights and spend some time with some of the cutest kids in the world. It was a great Feast and we didn't want to come home, but traveling can be tiring...especially when you fly over night, change time zones, and have your flight delayed. But no worries, we are adaptable. Our flight from Colombo to Abu Dhabi was on schedule and we were ready to waste our 3 hour layover in the airport. But our flight from Abu Dhabi to Amman was delayed a few hours and we got to take a little nap in the airport. We did our best to make our cold, tile, airport floor into a cozy little napping habitat, but it didn't work out so well. After we spent a few hours waiting by our gate trying to cuddle up and sleep in many different positions we were told it was time to move. We got on a bus and drove to another part of the airport where our new gate would be. We only had a little bit of time left before take off when we arived at our new waiting area--a warm, carpeted area that would have been perfect for napping. Go figure! Oh well, what are you going to do? We had a lot of laughs from the situation, and when you look at the pictures below you will understand why. Things seem a lot funnier when you haven't slept, but if you are Emily things just always seem funny. She stayed up and giggled all night while she watched us try to sleep on flip-flops, jackets, or on a row of seats with arm rests in the middle. Check out the creativity in this group...

Sri Lanka Part 1 -- Lena

I believe there will be approximately 7 blogs or more about Sri Lanka, mostly because we had such an amazing time there and I know we all are going to have something to say, our own perspective to add. Without a doubt we all wish we could go back and be with our brethren again. There were (to start) 32 brethren celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, 6 of which were children (the most adorable children you could hope to meet). About half way through the Feast we lost 2, and we were 30 (Mr. Horchak and Mrs. Horchak went to spend the second half of the feast with brethren in India {I'm not gonna lie, I'm slightly jealous, I've always wanted to go to India}). I recommend that everyone go to Sri Lanka at least once, if not to see the beautiful country (which it is), but to meet the wonderful church family we have there. Although we were comparatively small in number we had a huge number of countries represented there: 1 from Great Britain, 1 from Singapore, 2 from the Bahamas, 6 from the US, 1 from Australia, 7 from Kuwait, 5 from Jordan {us :)}, and of course 9 from Sri Lanka.
Being small in number gave everyone a chance to serve in some way. The Jordan 5 did special music one day and Zach and Emily did special music together one day, and another day Lewis sang with Jude Pereira (one of our new Sri Lankan friends), we had special music most days and it was always wonderful, whether it be an a capella hymn by Mr. Clement Lim, or amazing vocals by Mrs. Jean VanHeer accompanied by a recording of her husband Rodney playing the sax (I think that the Sri Lankan brethren may be the most musically talented bunch I've ever met). Zach and Lewis both had the opportunity to lead songs and give sermonettes while us girls were able to have FYI classes for the little ones. We ate all of our meals together spread out amongst 2 long tables. The food was always delicious with plenty of fresh fruit at each meal. Besides the 3 buffet meals, we also had tea 2 times each day, and each one was accompanied by savory treats in the afternoon, and sweet treats in the evening. Of course all of this had the breathtaking backdrop of the Indian Ocean and beach.
We took a couple of tours of the nearby town (Bentota), and one day we took a trip to Galle, a dutch fort from the 1800's. There were charming shops, and little museums, and even an old dutch church that we got to see. On our way to Galle we stopped at the Sea Turtles Research Center in Kosgoda, Sri Lanka. Turtle eggs are considered a delicacy to some, and therefore there is big money in selling them (although it is illegal). The research center pays money for eggs as well, but they bury them in the sand until they hatch, and then they move them to tanks of sea water where they give the little guys 3 days for their underbelly to harden, and then they release them into the sea. They have been in business since 1978, and in that time they have released around 30 million turtles into the sea. They also run a clinic for injured sea turtles that people bring them. Sometimes they get caught in the nets of fishermen because they are injured, and sometimes they are found on the shore. There was one BIG turtle who was blind and had spent his whole life there in the tanks. There were several that had been found after the tsunami in 2004 that were missing flippers and couldn't survive in the wild. The best part was getting to hold the little guys, they are so cute.
Before we left for Sri Lanka I had told Cory Erickson (our project manager here in Jordan) that one of the things I was looking forward to was seeing rain again (right now the wet stuff is pretty scarce in Jordan). And rain I got to see. It rained every single day, and it was wonderful. We had sun every day as well, but storms would roll in, and then roll out, and we really enjoyed swimming in the rain a couple of times. The last 2 days we were there we had some pretty intense storms that caused some flooding in parts of Colombo. I'm told it's not unusual during the rainy season (which October is). Our hotel was nice, and the staff was very accommodating. Each day and night the power would go out several times, with all of that our services were interrupted only once, it was during the last sermon on the LGD, and it was when Mr. Mather was giving us the last verse in his sermon. We sang our final song a cappella and it was wonderful.
I could probably write forever about the wonderful time that we had. I always find it interesting that the stories of all the things we do in an 8 day period could fill up double that time. I guess the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' is the same for experiencing, only it's even better, it's worth a million and one words. Just a couple of shots from our time there. A sunset from our hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Horchak and Mr. and Mrs. Mather. Lewis holding a baby turtle. Train debris from the tsunami in 2004. A shot dedicated to Laurel Krenz (her favorite flower if I remember correctly {she's always drawing them}). Another beach shot from our hotel. A picture of Mr. Lim and Lewis and I. The Wines (from Texas) and the Hooks (living in Kuwait, but from the States and Sri Lanka).

VIDEO - Wadi Musa - the Valley of Moses

Petra -- Lena

As a group we had our first big trip this last weekend, directly after Trumpets. We caught a cab to Abdali bus station, and (so it seemed) the mini-bus was waiting for us, we all climbed on, and the bus immediately headed out. 5JD and 3 hours later we were deposited right in front of our "hotel" Musa Springs Hotel. We got quite the deal 10JD a night for a single, 12.50JD for a double, with a shared bathroom. It wasn't worth it, we just avoided the bathrooms as much as possible for the 2.5 days we were there. The first day we were there we took a little stroll down the hill bought a hat, and then back to the hotel for a few minutes. We decided to go up into the hills around Wadi Musa (which means the Valley of Moses--legend has it that the rock Moses struck to get water is there... and that the same spring still runs through the town). Going up into the hills we decided to climb a little mountain. It was a beautiful view with the valley, and then Petra in the distance. We took lots of pictures and spent some time reading. We then decided it would be an excellent idea to go even higher up the mountain, and it was, until we had to come back down the mountain. Tine and I had a bit of an emotional moment, not sure that we could make it down (loose rocks and steep incline aren't a good mix). It all turned out okay in the end, we made it down safely, and a little braver for it too, of course Zach and Lewis were totally in control the whole time, without a hint of worry, Zach guided Emily and Tine straight down, and Lewis and I took a more circuitous route, but we made it safely. Pretty hot, and a little tired we headed back to the hotel, and then back down the hill towards town for food. As we were making the trek a truck pulled up alongside us and asked if we would like a lift to town, we said, sure. We had heard of people hitching a ride pretty regularly in Jordan, and particularly in the Wadis so we thought alright, no big deal. After we got in he asked where in town we wanted to go, and we just said we were going to eat dinner, so just in town, but then he kept driving, and told us he would take us to little Petra first (it would only take a couple of hours) and then he would bring us into town for dinner. He took us pretty far out of town before we convinced him that we really wanted to go back to town to eat, but we finally made it and he took us to a nice (but a little too expensive) restaurant. After dinner we walked back to the hotel to rest up before our full day in Petra.
We got an early start for breakfast and into Petra for the day (around 6am). Since us girls had our residency cards already and the boys hadn't gotten theirs yet we tried to buy the tickets into Petra (for foreigners its 21JD, for Jordanians 1JD). The man didn't want to give all 5 tickets for that price, but Lewis and Zach were very convincing and we all got in for 5JD. When we first got in the gates it was pretty mundane, just a big gravel lane with rocks on either side. There were a couple of carvings here and there, but nothing overly impressive, until, of course, we made it to the Siq (pronounced sick). Words can't really describe how beautiful and awesome this place is. Most of the time we walked around with mouths hanging opening taking pictures of everything. As you get towards the end of the Siq you see just a hint of the treasury through the rocks, its a very pretty sight. And then the siq opens up into a clearing where the treasury is and there are camels and donkeys and people everywhere. Emily got to pet a camel, and later in the day I got to ride a donkey. We got to have to tea with a Bedouin woman and her children, and then we started the ridiculous trek up to the monastery. Basically you climb this mountain dodging donkeys and their "remnants" as you go. At the top of this mountain is another huge carving called the monastery. It was totally worth the effort, and heading back down was much easier. All in all it was a wonderful, and exhausting day, and we can't wait to head back again very soon. The first picture is of Wadi Musa from the mountain we climbed, the second is of Emily and Tine sitting on the rock that Moses reportedly struck to get water for the Israelites. The next picture is of Wadi Musa, and Lew and Zach in the Siq in Petra. The next picture is the Treasury peaking through in the Siq, the Treasury in full view, and Emily petting a camel (look how happy she is!!!). The next picture is of me climbing a wall to see the "lions den", and finally a picture of the Monastery, the two tiny little people in the doorway are Emily and Tine.