Ants and Dates and Ant Updates

The food in Jordan is really good, in my opinion. There are all kinds of new foods for all of us. We are even venturing out and making some new foods. The other day I tried to make some hommos (hummus is the same thing) from scratch. The recipe calls for a blender, some garbanzo beans, olive oil, tahini sauce, garlic, and a few other items. I had all the ingredients except a blender. The blender is very key in all of this because smooth hommos is good hommos. So I made some nice chunky hommos. It tastes okay, I guess. Sometimes we try some new foods from the grocery store like fresh dates which are quite different from dry dates. I like them both. The fresh fruits are amazing and I love seeing olive trees and fig trees everywhere. The olives aren't quite ready yet and I don't think they taste very good straight off the tree. Someday I would like to press some olives and make some olive oil. If only I had a press. The ants have been tasting a lot of our food after we've had a chance with it. They like to clean our dirty plates and pick up the crumbs off the floor, or at least they DID! Tine and I went on a wild goose chase for a container of white powder that would supposedly make the ants never want to come back. Along the way we saw every shop but the one we were looking for. But then, there it was, a little shop on the side of the road selling all kinds of plants. The man in charge had exactly the powder we were looking for. I powdered the kitchen and the ants ate that too, and haven't come back. I know it's only been a day, but I am hopeful. And home feels a bit more like home now that there are no pests to watch out for. Finally we can enjoy our food in peace.


Lewis

ANTS!!!!

So Lewis and I have had for the past week or so an annoying problem. One morning we woke up to ANTS on our counter, so we killed them. We went to work, and that evening, ants again, and of course the next morning, MORE ANTS! We kill them with various methods, poison, boiling water (my personal favorite), and as Lewis said, "I'd kill 'em with my shoe, but it doesn't work, there are gaps in my shoe, but there are no gaps in my fist), as he proceeded to smash them with his fist. We took the baseboard off to try and find the source...to no avail. Once the hardware store re-opens we will find some actual ant poison. I'll give them one thing, they are a tenacious species. Enjoy the pictures of the few that have survived our ant massacre.

Big Hearts - Emily

As Lena mentioned earlier, I am volunteering at the YMWA for special education. Our first day we got a tour of the facilities, and met some of the teachers. The students arrived the next day, so we got to jump right into helping out at the school. A bit overwhelmed, I tried to take in the experience as a new person in an unfamiliar place. Even though I know just a few words of Arabic, the students were not shy about trying to talk to me. One student in particular caught my attention right away. She's a tiny girl, but she has the biggest eyes and the brightest smile. It didn't matter that we spoke completely different languages, she was so excited to share whatever she was doing with me. Everytime I think about her, I smile. For such a small girl, she has the biggest heart. She isn't able to do many of the things other kids her age can do, but that doesn't stop her from giving it her all. If she is struggling with something, she doesn't give up, she just keeps trying until she gets it right. Coming to a new country with only a few familiar faces has been quite challenging. But seeing such friendliness from people that I can barely communicate with has definitely made things easier. When I see the students succeeding in activities that seem very challenging, it reminds me that we all have challenges we face everyday. Sometimes they seem too overwhelming for me to handle, but with a positive attitude and the help from God's Spirit, we can overcome any obstacle that comes our way!

Lewis in Amman

Since we've been in the country we haven't traveled too far and seen a whole lot just yet, but we did make it downtown with the help of one of the friendly neighborhood bus drivers along as our tour guide. Kamal showed us every single famous spot that he could remember including the sweets shop, the juice stand, the first market downtown, the oldest townhouse in Amman, a very old mosque, and some ancient Roman ruins.

There is some excellent shopping downtown. Shops selling spices, fresh fruits, meats, you name it and you can probably buy it. We had thought we were going to spend perhaps an hour or so down there just seeing some sights. We ended up staying for quite some time, even on into the night. Our guide got us into the area of the citadel up on the hill at night after hours so we got a chance to look around at some neat ruins under spot light. One of my favorite sights was peering out over the city at night from on top of the hill. The city was alive and lit up. Cars were moving and people were out and about, talking, yelling, honking their horns. Another of my favorites were the ruins. People had constructed these fountains and amphitheaters and archways and some of them were still standing and we were walking around among them. We walked in ancient foot steps. I felt like I was walking through history for at least a few moments.

Tine on past lives...

Speaking of poems, it was Paul Valerie that said “A poem is never finished…only abandoned”. I think the same can be said about a past life. It is never finished, only abandoned in pursuit of some other alternative, hopefully something better. I had a past life before Jordan, we all did. That life was abandoned for Jordan. Whether that was a better alternative will be determined by the sum total of several discrete choices we will have to make during our tenure. I was hoping to say a little more, but it is getting late and a chaotic life (and mind) must be organized in preparation for a new day…and a new opportunity.

Marhaba! That means hi...

It's hard to believe that we have been here for almost two weeks, but it's also kind of creepy that it feels so homey already. Emily, Lena and Tine have a week and a half of school/work under their belts already, and Lewis and I had our first day of school with the students today. Oh what a crazy day it was. I was late for the first day of school because the bus forgot to pick me up. It was nice to meet all of the students though. They definitely had a summer's worth of energy built up and waiting to explode, but I met a lot of nice students. We haven't had the chance to travel much yet, but our neighborhoods are starting to look more familiar at least. The first few days we had no idea where to go. Taxi and bus drivers would ask us where to go and we would stare at them blankly and finally have to say, "I don't know where I live." That definitely takes some getting used too. Another big change is the Sunday to Thursday work week. It has its benefits, but it is really weird when you've had Sundays off all of your life. We are slowly learning some Arabic...slowly. I feel like we are going to learn so much in these next ten months. We've already had a lot of unique experiences that have caused us to really stop and think about things that actually matter. When you are in an unfamiliar place where you don't no anyone it really forces you to rely on the only Help that you can truly count on. Ahh...life in a foreign country. What will it bring next? Zach (with an H)

Welcome blog -- Lena

Welcome to the official blog of the UYC Jordan crew. Our names are Lewis VanAusdle, Lena VanAusdle, Zack Smith, Emily Smith, and Tine Banda. We arrived in our new home almost 2 weeks ago now. It really does feel like home, despite only having been here for 12 days. This is Lena, and I am a volunteer at the YMWA school for special education. I have spent the last two weeks visiting all the different areas of the school to figure out which group I would like to be in. Emily works at the same school, but I'll allow her to post her impressions. Its been challenging, but it helps to have good friends to remind us of the big picture, and the fact that we have amazing support from UCG helps as well. Being so far from other brethren can feel a little isolated, but having the support and encouragement from our friends and family (including our church family) makes a huge difference. We have done a little exploring of our new country, but we know there is much more ahead. We have made the trek to downtown Amman, which is a treat if you like shopping, fruits and vegetables, sweets, or people watching, or history (the ruins are spectacular). Lewis and I have met some locals, and made some wonderful friends already. They call us their son and daughter, and they've taken us to places a little off the beaten track (Palestinian refugee camp, anyone?). We've just started to get into a routine, 1.5 hours on the bus to school, 5 hours at school, 1.5 hours on the bus home...but Ramadan starts next week, so our schedule will change a bit...we will only be at the school for 4 hours, they have early release since everyone will be fasting (no food, water, cigarettes, etc... from sunrise to sunset) during that time. It will be interesting to see how this goes, plus Sanna (my Jordanian mother) is going to teach me how to make Ramadan treats, including kanafeh...if someone ever offers you this, take it...its amazing. We welcome you to leave us comments, either just to say hello, to give us your impressions, or anything else...we'd love to hear from you. Below you will find a picture of Kanafeh, Mine and Lewis's apartment, and some of the ruins in downtown Amman.