Yum!

This guy is making Jordanian bread called shraak. It is reeeally thin and stretchy and delicious.

More fresh, tasty bread!

The butcher shop next to the bakery. 

Roman Ruins at Jerash

Just north of Amman, Jordan is the city of Jerash. We headed there for a visit on Day 3 of our trip. Neither Pete or I had ever been to see ruins such as this, so it was pretty cool...but the annoying wind and dust kind of made us ready to go home after only being there a short time!

Amphitheater where they STILL have shows (I wish I could go to one)

Did not expect to see bagpipers in Jordan

Sitting on the steps of the amphitheater

Roman columns and Pete

The old road going through the city. There were ruts where the carts used to go down the road and manholes too! 

Buoyancy

After we visited the baptism site, we headed towards the Dead Sea. We checked in for the day at the Holiday Inn...

Then we headed down to the beach to cover ourselves in Dead Sea MUD!

Pete and Waleed floated out to wash it all off. 

I enjoyed feeling weightless for a bit. You float so much that you can't even put your feet down to touch the bottom - the water just bobs you right back up! It is a very strange feeling.

Pete had fun taking pics of the bump. 

Apparently, the thing to do is to bring a magazine and take pics of yourself reading it while being held up by the water. We didn't bring one, so I just took a pic of someone else doing it. :-)

I saw this funny sign by the bathrooms at the Holiday Inn...reminded me of the things I have to look forward to.

Where Cheesus Was Baptized

Waking up in Jordan on Day 2, we prepared for a day trip to the Baptism Site of Jesus (or, as our guide pronounced it: "Cheesus") and then to the Dead Sea.  The baptism site is on the Jordan River, which runs along the border of Israel and Jordan. There was a lot of military presence in the area. Apparently, it was only opened to the public in the last few years because they didn't even want people visiting the area! Now there are several different churches under construction on the Jordan side of the river for those visiting this Holy Site.

The baptism site is right at the bottom of those stairs behind me...

A mosaic map detailing the area.

Pete and I in front of one of the churches. 

Pete found some kittens in one of the gift shops - much to his dismay we had to leave this little guy there. 

Welcome to Jordan

We arrived in Jordan last Friday and were greeted by gorgeous weather and a nice change of scenery.

We stopped on the highway to buy some freshly picked chickpeas from these young lads. 

Green! Trees! Hillsides! Really...amazing.

We stayed the first few nights at Ayyoub household (the family of one of Pete's coworkers). One of the son's showed of his oud-playing skills. 

I Scream...

You scream, we all scream, for ICE CREAM!!!
There is an ice cream man in our neighborhood now - just in time for the sweltering heat of summer.  The kids even run and chase after it, just like they do at home! Soon enough, I'm gonna have to go inside to eat my ice cream, or risk having it melt down my arm in 3.7 seconds.

My Favorite Place in Dubai

Since the weather is slowly deteriorating here, I thought it would be nice to fit a few activities into some of our few remaining weekends of good weather. This included taking Pete for a visit to my favorite place in Dubai. I went there around this time last year, so I knew it would be HOT, but it was well worth a visit. 

We started with a delicious lunch and refreshing mint lemonade,

then we went exploring around the courtyard (this is Pete, ducking to come out of the tiny bathroom door), 

after lunch we appreciated some of the artwork on display,

including this phone - covered in melted wax, 

then found a shady alleyway to escape from the sun (can you see the bump?), 

and we even saw a really old tree (planted in 1890)! 

Last Minute BBQ

We somehow managed to plan a very impromptu BBQ and birthday celebration at our villa last weekend. It was the week of Saint Patrick's Day, and also our Irish friend Dave's 33rd birthday (and the weather is still just nice enough), so we thought what the heck? Everyone who came brought a side dish, so we were all very well fed in addition to the burgers, sausages, and chicken wings that Pete grilled up.

We had to borrow a few chairs to accommodate everyone! 

Happy Birthday Dave!

Pete getting in some practice with little Reuben :-)

Important Weekend Errands

Pete and I had a couple of important things to do this weekend:

This included trying out the one and only Taco Bell in the UAE (located inside of Dubai Mall). It was kind of a letdown, but I'm glad we tried it anyway. It was a good attempt at getting a little piece of home right here in the Middle East. 

The mall also has a really cool multi-storey fountain, a full-sized ice skating rink, and a huge aquarium (and about a million shops)! 

We also stopped by Rajab, the tailor where Pete is going to get some suits made. With the exception of the local attire, most of the clothes (and shoes) in this country are not made for someone as tall as Pete, so he has a really tough time finding any ready-made items. He had a couple of suits and dress shirts made for him last year and they turned out wonderfully, so we went back for round two. By the time we leave here, Nasser and Pete will probably become very close friends... 

A custom fit!

Springtime Rain

In the middle of the night on Monday this week, Pete and I woke up to some crazy thunder and lightning at about 2:00 am. Having dealt with some leaky windows in our house during a rainstorm a few days before, we decided to get out of bed and check the weather. We were faced with this:

Once we shored up the water that was coming in the windows on one side of the house, we (Pete) had to tackle the odd little cubby hole located in our upstairs hallway. We're not exactly what the original intention of this thing was, but it seems that the little doorway opens up to a tube that runs straight up to a large funnel on the roof. Water was pouring in! 

After the bucket filled up about 4 times in 15 minutes, we moved onto a larger container: 

The rain finally started to slow down and thankfully, this bucket never overflowed.  Here is a close-up of Pete's creative problem-solving:

Also, we finally got that backyard pool we've always wanted: