Flashback to 2011

Exactly 365 days ago...this was our life. Wowza. Our 12th move in 14 years of marriage.

{It is a good exercise to try to get all your worldly possessions into 17 boxes!}

When History Repeats Itself

Our family had an experience this week where history repeated itself. It happened at the zoo.

Way back in 2005, we took the kids to a zoo right outside Amman. Going to a zoo in a developing country is quite different than going to a zoo in America. Most the animals in the zoo in Jordan were sick or 'deranged' animals that had been left behind from the Russian traveling zoos that passed through the country. Zoology is not offered at the local universities, so the people running the zoo are, uh, just people running a zoo.

So, when my small boy walked past the bear exhibit {the angry, hungry, deranged bear in a cement block cage} the bear decided to roar at the top of his lungs and rear up on his legs so the small boy could see how small he was compared to a big, angry, hungry, deranged bear standing on hind legs.

Fast forward to 2012. I took the kids to the zoo this past week and while going past the bear cage, my small daughter got to see how small she was compared to bear up on his hind legs.

 

Except this time it was all clean, cute, cuddly, nice and safe. 

We did, however have a very strange zoo experience that you would have thought should have happened in a developing country with deranged animals. One I would never expect to have seen in real life  mostly because I have seen this scene play out between the characters in Madagascar...a cartoon.

We approached the chimpanzee enclosure. One of the chimpanzees was right in front, making some great monkey faces and sounds. He seemed to be quite pleased with himself.

More and more people were gathering around as he carried on. He then bent down and picked up a piece of poop. Strange, I know. Picking up the poop just made him more charged up. He was starting to dance around and do the typical 'jumping, scratching the armpits' dance that monkey's are stereotypically known to do.

It was right after I snapped this photo above, that I decided to switch my camera from photo to video mode. This monkey was getting down and I needed to get it on video! But, in the split second that I was flipping the buttons, that coo-coo chimp flung his poo right up in to the crowd! We screamed, he fell over laughing, and my son grabbed my arm and said "mom, we gotta get out of here!"

That is when I decided two things:

1. I should not be so critical of the deranged animals kept in a developing country's zoo.

2. I did not evolve from monkeys because throwing poo at people and laughing about it has never crossed my mind.


Quite a day. And this was the zoo trip right after we found out my son needed glasses {ostensibly so he could better see poo flying at him} and had his 8 stitches removed from his leg by an evidently inexperienced PA who missed two...so my former ER nurse husband had to finish the job when we got home.

And I thought life in America would be relatively boring.

Iftar in America

We were invited to join some friends at their iftar last weekend and it was quite a night!

First, some definitions {copied right from wikipedia}:

Ramadan {Arabic: رمضان‎} is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting. This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon. While fasting from dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinking liquids and sexual relations.

Iftar {Arabic: إفطار‎}, refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after Maghrib (sunset) time.

Now, the opening scene:

We were invited in and joined the crowd that was already gathering. A few guys were working on setting up a new TV that had recently arrived. One guy introduced them all like this:

I'm Tunisian, that guy is Egyptian, this guy is Syrian, but was raised in Kuwait, this one is Palestinian, that guy is Iraqi, but lived in Jordan and this guy is Jordanian. We have been trying to decide what to watch on TV for the last 15 minutes and can't agree on anything. We may have to call Kofi Annan.

That is when I knew we were in for a fantastic night. 

We waited for the sun to set {which is quite late when Ramadan is during the summer!}. 

And then, dug in to the amazing food!

We lined up and cut into an entire lamb...

accompanied by all the traditional delicious side dishes...

I lost count, but I believe we met around 50 new people. {And a little girl that went 'shopping' in our shoe pile that accumulated by the front door and adopted my daughters flip flops for the remainder of the night.}

After way to much food and wonderful conversations with people from all around the world, we walked away with big smiles and full bellies, having been reminded of all the delightful and quirky things we love about the Middle Eastern culture!

Nobel Peace Prize Candidate?

I was recently downtown in a tourist shop looking for some gifts. Since this area of the world is full of olive groves, there is a vast assortment of items carved from olive wood. I glanced up on the shelf and saw this display:

Yup, there's:

David with his junk hanging out
Mary {a very man-looking virgin} with Jesus

Salahadin with dagger in tow (or perhaps Lawrence of Arabia, since that film was shot near here)
Some crusader guy with cross in tow
and...
Batman

I think this shop owner should get points for promoting peace in the Middle East. He just goes to show us that there truly is something for everyone!

And really, if there were any problems, Batman would take care of it.

A Night with Her Majesty Queen Rania

After my major 'royal fever' disappointment last month: Will and Kate went to Figi or something like that for their honeymoon...B.O.R.I.N.G. {I think it had something to do with the 'minor' world event that played out in Afghanistan the day after their wedding. World events never have good timing.}

Anyway, It was all redeemed last night!

We had the privilege of attending the graduation of the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts {RSICA} at a beautiful resort here in town.

AND.

Her Majesty Queen Rania attended to celebrate with the graduates and hand them their diplomas!

Fun Facts about RSICA: In 1989 Steven Spielberg was directing "Indiana Jones 3" in Petra. He became friends with Prince Abdullah {who became King in 1999}. Later His Majesty sought Spielberg's advice on setting up the first MFA program in Cinematic Arts for the MENA region. In 2006 a partnership was established with the University of Southern California of Cinematic Arts and in 2008 the school was started in Aqaba, Jordan.

Here are my observations after reflecting upon this delightful experience:

1. Security was not that tight. I actually had major doubts that she would be attending because of the low security. I mean, there were a few secret police sitting in the audience. {nice looking men sitting in the audience, nicely dressed...alone...with no date...too obvious}. We had to go through the normal hotel security to get in. And she, of course, showed up with her security entourage {which were just more nicely dressed men...who could probably bench press me a few times}. But, hey! She is the Queen of an Arab country. I found it endearing that security was not nuts.

She was sitting in the front row next to the balding guy, in front of the priest with the big hat and long hair.

2. She was not the main speaker. In fact she did not speak publicly at all. She sat in the audience. She walked up on stage at the end to hand the graduates their diplomas. She shook some hands and squeezed the cheeks of some babies and then was off. She did not make herself the main attraction. The ceremony was full of the personality of the film school and the creative, accomplished graduates. She is the Queen of an Arab country! And it was not about her. It was about her honoring the graduates.

The beautiful Queen Rania is standing in the middle in the white dress

3. She spent a few minutes talking to the graduates. Can you imagine what this must have meant to them? After the photo that was snapped above, she turned and quietly talked to many of the graduates. The ceremony was still going on and we all just waited as she personally took time to do this. That was classy to me. She did not just show up to shake hands. She showed up and made an effort to personally congratulate them.

4. She was elegantly simple. This came across to me in the low security and the way she honored the graduates. She just did not make a big deal of herself. She was dressed in a simple summer dress. Her hair was down. She came, she watched, she left. Simple said a lot about her.

Image by Nasser Ayoub from jordantimes.com

5. What a country! Since we moved here years ago, I had a goal of actually meeting the Queen some day. This country in the size of Indiana! And I didn't think my goal was too unreasonable. Last night I got a step closer. I still would love to meet her and speak with her. In fact, during the ceremony I ran through some ideas of what I would say if I had the chance to meet her. I figured I would have time for 7 words max. This is what I came up with:
You are just so cute. {lame}
Will you introduce me to Will and Kate? {too selfish}
I watch you all the time on youtube. {sounds too creepy stalker-ish}
Thank you for what you do for arab women. {too obvious}
God give you and your family strength as you lead this country. {true, but she probably hears that all the time}

So, this is what I settled on:
Queen Rania. You rock. {I figured this may be the perfect opener for a great conversation!}

Royal Fever

Okay. Now that the word is out, I can blog about it.
Kate Middleton and I are best friends. {not now, but we are going to be}
This is why she is coming to visit me on her honeymoon. {she just doesn't know it yet}

Why are we {going to be} best friends, you ask?
We have so much in common:
I went to London for Christmas.
She is coming here on her honeymoon.
See?
A lot.
Hey, I even walked through Westminster Abbey. I WAS where SHE is going to get married!

I married my prince.
She gets to marry hers.
{and mine is not in line to be in charge of a country...I prefer it that way}

I am a commoner.
She is a commoner.

Although the list is long, I won't go on with the other things we have in common.
I think I've made my point.

I'll let you know if I spot her!
You guessed it...I will be stalking!!

The Evidence of Adventures

Sometimes the boys of the family feel the need to get away on adventures on the weekends. So they just take off and go hiking or snorkeling or some other grand adventure.

I feel happy that they get time alone together. They get to climb and get dirty. They love that stuff.

Then they come home with evidence of their adventures.

Pictures like these:

There he lays. My only son. On the ancient high place of sacrifice. A mothers heart does not find this comforting.

There he is again. My only son. With his legs going in all manner of different directions.

Am I the only one wondering what will happen when my son {my only son} wants to breathe? Air. Since his snorkel is full. Of water.

Then there is this one...

This time they dragged my little baby girl into it. My only baby girl. Dangling off a cliff. I won't even comment on the dangling position of the photographer {my hubby!}.

But when I see what the camera captured...

The evidence of their adventure makes my heart smile.

Nuns...Bikinis...Camels...and My Husband

It can only be described as a once in a lifetime moment.

I stand in those moments and usually laugh and ask:

How is the world did I get here?

Let me start from the beginning.

We live in a 99% Muslim country.

Muslims are very conservative people.

I respect that.

I try to dress in a way that shows I respect their standards of modesty.

For instance: I NEVER wear a swim suit on the public beach. It would just be a mess!

Well, we {hubby and I} were invited to an event in town that I NEVER would have come up with in my wildest dreams living in the conservative town that I live in....

A Brazilian bikini fashion show to promote conserving the beautiful environment {ie: sea life and coral reef} of our community.

I was invited to display the recycled crafts from the ladies I work with. My husband was invited to give a speech on recycling as a representative of the only recycling company in the country that he consults for.

Hubby giving his speech. Why does he look like Jesus, you ask? My nice camera had a horrible accident and I had to use my iphone camera. Iphones don't work well at night with stage lights.

It got really exciting after the speech.

{that was not meant to be a reflection of your speech, honey}.

{He could just not complete with what happened next}

Belly dancing. See what I mean?

Then...

The bikini models arriving on camels.

 Don't worry, it gets better...

Yup. A Brazilian bikini fashion show.

You want to know the best part of the evening for me?

I was not sitting in the crowd since I was standing by all my wares on display. Therefore, I had a great view of the crowd. All night long, all I could do was stare and giggle at my husband. He was sitting in the front row. Watching the bikini models bounce down the runway. Sitting in the middle of three nuns.

The nuns run a Rosary School in town and were there to support their students who presented the work of their ecology club. Yup. Nuns. Watching belly dancers. Camels. Models. Bikinis.

Next to my husband.

I was inspired to save the coral.

A Middle East Guide to Aircraft Overhead

I woke up the other morning and sent a text message to a bunch of friends that read:

Good morning great friends! Are we the only ones that heard explosions this morning at 6 am?

I find it kind of disturbing that I send text messages like that.
No one else heard the explosions...
It happened again the next morning, but I was too lazy to send a message out again.
I blamed it on the road construction going on behind our neighborhood.

A local friend recently stated when we worried out loud about our safety:

Oh, your city is so safe... you only get bombs or rockets 4-5 times a year, it's not like you live in Baghdad!

{as if terrorist threats are like thunderstorms}

Needless to say, we see a lot of aircraft flying overhead in our little city. My dear hubby created a viewing guide for reference when I hear the chug-chug-chug or whiiiishhhhh and look out the window...then I will know exactly what to do.

I wondered if this may help someone else out there. So, I decided to be nice and share.

A Middle East Guide to Aircraft Overhead

F-16's flying in formation

GOOD: graduation or event nearby


F-16's flying in two-plane attack formation close to the speed of sound

GOOD/BAD: military trying to scare the hummus out of some stupid terrorists

F-16

Desert Camo Huey's in formation

GOOD: someone important is being flown into town


Desert Camo Huey

GOOD: daily coast border patrol

Desert Camo Huey flying 1m from water

GOOD & BAD- Suspicious my husband SCUBA'd in from a neighboring country... one day the border patrol decided to inspect/scare him by flying so close to the water that when my husband surfaced he could tell the pilots rank and eye color {this really happened}

Huey

Osprey VTOL crazy space age flying things

GOOD - troops doing joint exercises with friends

Osprey

Small Regional Jet

GOOD - local scheduled airline flight

Embraer

Boeing 727

GOOD - local airline flight, when regular plane (see above) is broken

Boeing 727

Old Russian-looking propeller plane
GOOD {Scary}: Charter flights from strange locations that haven't yet seemed to catch on to the whole 'jet propulsion' phenomenon.

Old propeller aircraft

Drone, slow flying almost model airplane looking thing

GOOD {and, um, not so good) - Either our neighbors are spying on us, or someone is doing joint training with friends again and watching our son and his classmates at school while they draw pictures of the circling sci-fi looking drone surveillance aircraft {yes, this really happened}.

Drone

Black, small fast helicopter flying just above satellite dish altitude

BAD- Looking for/trying to scare/intimidate suspicious things/person/people who keep launching rockets our way... or it's the traffic-copter... who knows.

Helicopter

Small sport/stunt propeller planes on weekend mornings

GOOD - practicing or performing for the crowds
AWESOME - smoke tails

Stunt Planes