And there is joy...-- Lena

I have noticed, as of late, that our blog has had a melancholy note to them. I thought today would be a great day to rectify this situation, because we are not a particularly melancholic group. In fact, I would say that we verge on the side of silly. So I thought today would be a good day to relate some of our more silly stories. First there was our attempt at exercise. Now some of us do better than others when it comes to moving around, however, one day (one that will go down in infamy) we decided to exercise together, our form of exercise was to turn ABBA up as loud as we could and dance around like a bunch of idiots. It was fantastic and, lucky for us, Zach decided it would be a good idea to video our endeavors. If you are a member of facebook you can see the video here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=58174207958&subj=501191784

Another incident, which we don't have video proof of is our joke evening. It was after one of our group meals, and we were sitting around telling jokes. Zach decided to tell a fairly corny joke, with the best results. The joke goes: A duck walks into a hardware store and says, "Got any Gwapes?" The guy behind the counter replies, "Of course not, we're a hardware store." So the duck leaves, the next day the duck walks into the same hardware store and asks, "Got any Gwapes?" The guy behind the counter says, "I already told you we don't have any grapes, now get out of here." Third day the duck walks into the hardware store, and the guy behind the counter says, "Listen buddy, we don't have any grapes, if you ask me one more time I'm going staple your bill shut." So the duck asks, "Got any staples?" The guy behind the counter answers, "no." so the duck replies, "Got any gwapes?" This is the point at which Tine loses her mind laughing, which in turn causes all of us to do the same...I'm pretty sure we laughed uncontrollably for 15 minutes.

Now this last tale I will tell wasn't very funny at the time, but looking back on it, it's pretty funny. I would like to believe I'm much braver than I really am. In fact I'm pretty much a sissy when it comes down to it. On our trip to Petra we stayed in the little village just outside of Petra called Wadi Musa (which you have seen videos of, or read our blog about). On our first day there we decided to take a little hike, which started out pleasant enough, and we even did a little climbing. Towards the end of our day Zach decided to follow the goats up to the top of the little mountain we were on. Of course we all wanted to go. So up we went. The trouble was we couldn't really get back down the way we came. The rocks had come loose so that trail was pretty unstable. If you could have seen the state I was in. I was scared and angry. I was pretty sure we were either going to die trying to get down, or be stuck on the mountain and die there... (the goats got down, I'm not entirely sure why I didn't think we could). The sure footed Zach led Emily and Tine to safety one at a time by the most direct route, straight down. I'm pretty sure he slid down most of the way on loose rocks, while Emily and Tine scooted their way down on their butts. I, on the other hand, was having none of that, I made Lewis take me a round about way. It took twice as long to get down as it did to get up, but we made it safely, and without a scratch. Tine and I said we would never do anything like that again....Until, of course, the next day when we went to Petra and I just HAD to climb to the opening of the lions den. Its never the going up that gets you, its the getting back down.
We live in some somber times, it seems like everywhere you look there is more bad news. It can, and is, and should be sobering. There is no way to look around at the suffering in the world and not be affected by it. I'm a firm believer that God didn't place us on this earth to be miserable. We may go through tough times, but there should ALWAYS be joy. We've been blessed with lots of joy here in Amman. Whether it be seemingly harrowing situations that turn out just fine, inane conversations around the dinner table, acting like goofballs, or visiting chubby babies at the Creche (day Care), we have joy. I can only hope that our wonderful blog followers are enjoying the simple things as well.

"Amal Means Hope" -Em

I signed into Blogger, with a mission in mind. I had decided to write a blog about names. Much to my surprise as the Blogger page loaded, I was not alone in my endeavor. Another "blog artist" (of whose blog we follow) had created a blog entitled "Power of a name". Although I only know that this person knows someone I know, I somehow feel connected through a common idea. My thoughts on the subject are not quite as profound, but I thought I should share something I have noticed about names upon coming to Jordan.

Ever since we came to this lovely country, we have been meeting and getting to know different people. Since my first day in the weaving class at the YMWA, people have been telling me the meaning of names. One of the teachers in weaving is named Amal - I don't know how to spell it in English, but she told me it means "hope". Heba means "gift from God". Sajidah - "one who prays". Someone once asked, "What does your name mean?" My answer? I had no idea. In fact, I couldn't tell you what any of my family members' names mean. I'm pretty sure I was named after Emily Dickenson, but that's all I really know. So I looked it up online and found out that my name means "laborious" and "rival". Which translates into - difficult, painstaking, enemy, competitor, adversary... the list goes on. Needless to say, I'm not very excited to tell everyone I meet the meaning of my name. Now, it is true that one of my students calls me enemy, but surely she doesn't mean it... does she? Anyways... Hopefully I can overrule these attributes by the way I live and the way I treat other people. In fact, we are actually told in the book of Revelation that one day we will receive a new name, that God will actually write His name on those who overcome! So despite those seemingly unpleasant descriptors of the name Emily... there is hope! And hope is what keeps me going! With all of the death and destruction going on so close to us here in Jordan, it is easy for me to get depressed... but as I learned in the research of my name, there is hope! Someday we will all have a new name and a new nature. No more "enemies", no more war, and definitely no more death! So, even though "Emily" doesn't exactly mean what I want it to, whenever I think about names, I'll think about hope. "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."(Revelation 21:4)

The same old story--Lena

Despite the distance between us and the fighting in Gaza it seems to be never far from our minds. I believe that despite what politicians would have us believe the world isn't all that complicated. In fact, looking around at the conflicts in the world today (Israel and Gaza included) I'm reminded of my little sister and I when we were growing up. You see, despite being pretty good friends as children we fought. We fought a lot. In fact anyone who knew us from about age 2 to about 20 knew about our fights. We were notorious. First I would like to say that despite the narrative you are about to read my sister and I love each other very much. My sister is all grown up and a good wife to a good husband (Neil), and an amazing mother to two of my adorable nephews (Riley and Blake).

I can honestly say that I don't remember what most, if any, of our fights were about. Sometimes it was our rooms, sometimes clothes, sometimes cleaning, and sometimes, seemingly, about nothing. Like the fighting in Gaza, the reason doesn't seem to matter all that much. Many of our fights would culminate in both of us grabbing huge handfuls of hair and pulling with all of our might. Eventually we would end up with our heads practically touching the floor yelling, "YOU LET GO!" "NO YOU LET GO!" Eventually we would tire out and decide to let go at the same time. We usually had several false starts where we would count to 3 and one or both of us wouldn't let go. When we finally did release each other, it was never without casualties...we would both have huge chunks of hair left in our clenched fists. Just like neighboring countries, we didn't trust each other to do the right thing, and apparently justly so. Both of us would have had our reasons for doing what we did, and feel totally justified in doing it no matter how much it hurt(again, just like our neighboring countries), neither of us willing to say we were wrong. After awhile both of us started losing feeling in our scalps and the loss of hair became commonplace, the same way people can become desensitized to the mounting death toll around them. Thankfully my sister and I have grown up, and an even bigger blessing gained God's Holy Spirit. We don't always agree, but the hairs on our head can go on to live long lives these days. God willing, Christ will return soon and the people on earth can gain peace like the hairs on our heads.

Just Next Door -- Zach

Our neighbors have been on the news all over the world lately. Not our next door neighbors here in Amman, but our neighboring peoples, Israel and Gaza. Attacks on Gaza from Israel have been going on for about 12 days now, and it seems like it is the only thing on the news & on people's minds, not only here, but across the globe. We are less than 100 miles from Gaza & less than 50 miles from Jerusalem. We live among Palestinians who are not happy with what is going on; some even have relatives living in Gaza. Naturally, since we are living in this part of the world, people keep asking us what is going on here. "Is it affecting you?" Well, it is definitely affecting people we interact with every day. It is affecting the world. From what I hear from home, it is just as much in the news and on people's minds there as here. Everyone seems to want the same thing...peace. Everyone wants peace, but ironically, people look to war to force others into peace. The world is seeking something they cannot obtain on their own. Hopefully the hundreds of deaths & the fighting in Gaza will come to an end soon, but will there really be peace? Not yet. True peace will not come to be until God intervenes and brings peace to this unpeaceful world. So is it affecting us? Yes. Maybe not in the form of rockets blazing overhead or hostility from locals, but we do see people mourning for their families. We see students bringing in money to school to donate for humanitarian needs in Gaza. We see people wearing green, sometimes with painted faces and Palestinian flags wrapped around them. But most of all we see the need for true peace on the earth. The fighting just next door is affecting us, if in no other way, by showing us even more clearly that we need something better. We need peace, but we can't do it on our own.

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).