The surpriser becomes the surprisee!

So, you all know I blew my surprise for my family when I went home in Jan. Well, apparently my family is better than I am. Last night, to my shock, my sister showed up at my door step here in Jordan for a visit. She had apparently contacted Josh (my village mate) and made her way down here without me knowing!
What a great treat! We are working on wedding stuff (I am supposed to do the invitations but her bags got left in New York and wont be here till tomorrow night... so i'll start then).
Anyway, just wanted to share the fun news!

Amazing Film!

Well, I had the opportunity to watch a very powerful, controversial film and I wanted to pass the message along. The movie was filmed on location in Nablus, is entirely in Arabic, and tells the story of two young men who are recruited to go on a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. I wont say any more about it than that but it does discuss a lot of very controversial topics in (what i felt) was a well directed film.
The film is called "Paradise Now" and if anyone can check it out, I really suggest they do. Gives a log to think about and also (because of the language and where it is filmed) really does look a lot like where i live!

Cool Playlist for IPOD's

Ok... I cannot take credit for this... but I did want to share it! As volunteers, we sometimes have extra time on our hands for little projects.... be it knitting, cross-stitching, or making different music playlists for the volunteers.
One of the volunteers decided to make a playlist for our IPODs with all songs that referred to God (and these are secular songs). Then, he looked at the message, and retitled them by what they related to in the Bible, and then put them in order... so, I will list it below with the "Peace Corps" title first and the real title and artist listed in the parenthesis following. Enjoy

Genesis (Phil Colins- In the Air Tonight)
The Exodus (Kaiser Chiefs- Oh My God)
The Promised Land (U2- In God's Country)
Samson and Delilah (Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah)
Psalms (John Denver- Thank God I'm a Country Boy)
Jonah (Phish- God Never Listens)
The Nativity (India Arie- I See God In You)
Baptism (Mindy Smith- Come To Jesus)
The Disciples (Depeche Mode- Personal Jesus)
The Resurrection (Ben Harper and the Bl... - Pictures of Jesus)
Doubting Thomas (Tori Amos- God)
Saul to Paul (Coldplay- God Put a Smile On Your Face)
Letters to The Apostles (Kanye West- Jesus Walks)
The Armaggedon (Great Big Sea- Its the End of the World as we Know It)

33 Things Not to Miss in Jordan

This list came to my mind because I checked off another one this weekend by snorkling in the Red Sea.
In the book "Rough Guide to Jordan" there are 33 things not to miss. I am hoping to hit all of them while I am here... so, below are the 33 things. The one with the (+) next to them are the ones I have already completed... the rest are things yet to do.

1) Wadi Rum
2) The Monastery at Petra (+)
3) The Colors of Petra (+)
4) The High Place of Sacrifice at Petra (+)
5) Walking the Siq at Petra (+)
6) The Treasury at Petra (+)
7) Petra by Night (+)
8) Burqu
9) Jerash
10) The Wadi Mujib "grand canyon" (+)
11) Camel Riding
12) The King's Highway (+) --- which, as a note, is the main road through my village
13) Umm Quaiss (+)
14) Bedouin Hospitality (+)
15) Madaba Mosaic Map (+)
16) Red Sea Diving and Snorkling (+)
17) Mt. Nebo (+)--- which, as a note, is my favorite place in Jordan
18) Dead Sea (+)
19) Pella
20) The Eastern Badia
21) Dana Nature Reserve (+)
22) Trekking
23) Jerash Music Festival
24) Hammamat Ma'in
25) Umayyad Palace, Amman
26) Qusayr Amra
27) Roman Amman (+)
28) Qasr Azraq
29) Baptism Site
30) Kerak Castle (+)
31) Qasr Hraneh
32) Jordanian Cuisine (+)
33) Shaumari Wildlife Reserve

Amazing Weekend!

This past weekend I spent out of site in Aquaba and had the MOST amazing time! Lets see, it was so jampacked I'll break it down.
On thursday my center took a fieldtrip to Aquaba. We started out by having a picnic breakfast in the park, and then we went to the beach. Women here do swim in long sleeve shirts and pants but for many of my staff members, it was the first time they had done anything more than simply wade! It was a great time! The kids loved it and the staff were just liked kids as well. Then we went and had lunch at another park and ended the day with doing a little shopping at the market.
Well, my center headed back home but I stayed in Aquaba with some other volunteers for the weekend.
That evening we all hung out and just relaxed and caught up. Well, the next morning we were very hungry so we headed out to get breakfast. Well, after walking and walking we found that so many places were closed. So, we ended up at the Movenpick (5 star hotel) for their buffet breakfast. It was a lot more money than we usually spend but WELL worth it! It was delicious and we got to have things that are not readily available in Jordan (such as croissants).
After breakfast we went to the Royal Diving Club which is a nice beach club where we rented snorkling gear and snorkeled on a reef just off the coast in the red sea! It was amazing. I have only snorkled one time in my life in Hawaii and the red sea is far more full of sea life!
Then we came back and a big group of us went out to dinner at a nice restaurant and then dancing at a club at the movenpick.
This morning I finished the weeked off with a trip to safeway to get some goodies and then came back home.
Right now I am uploading some pictures and videos from our trip so check them out

Lots to report

First of all, let me put in the disclaimer that i am COMPLETELY wired right now. Those of you who know me know that I don't drink coffee.... well, I have found this cappachino mix drink over here that I really like and have had 3 of them today. Combine that with the fact that I don't drink coffee and you can figure out what state I am in.
Lets see, the past week has been really busy. We have had a workshop at our center training our teachers in special education methodologies. At first I was very excited about this workshop but, in keeping with tradition, the presenters who were supposed to be there the first day at 8:30... showed up at 12:30!!! Well, we were made to wait so we just sat (although, expecting something like this would most likely happen, I have taken to the habit of bringing a book or knitting with me everywhere i go... so i worked on a scarf).
Then we left and I saw a completely eerie sight! My village is only about 40km from Israel. I live on the edge of a mountain range, there is a big valley below me (wadi arba) and on the other side of the valley is israel. Since it is a pretty remote part of israel, and not heavily populated, that is where much of their military training takes place. During the summer I often hear bombs going off so I don't think much about it. Well, on this day it was crystal clear and I could see all the way across the valley. I heard the sound of a bomb go off (which, as I said, is not unusual) but what was new was that, as I looked, I could see the large mushroom cloud of smoke rising from across the valley where the bomb had gone off! It was a distinguishable cloud that could not be mistaken for anything else. It was quite a surreal sight to see.
The next day we finished our workshop. The head of special education was there and was going to go over the new forms with us. So, I am thinking this is going to be an interesting workshop I should sit in on. Well, in actuality they spent the time talking about how to measure IQ's and what causes different disabilities. It was kind of sad to me. This culture is so focused on deficits, labels, etc... they want to know whether someone's developmental disabilty is severe or moderate and what caused it instead of looking at what the child CAN do! So, i left the workshop and worked on translating the new forms.
Either way, it has been one heck of a week!
Next week my center is going to Aquaba on a field trip with the students and we are going the thursday (which, is our school weeks friday) so I am just staying down the there for the weekend to visit with some peace corps friends and go snorkling in the red sea!
Well, that is about all from here... I want to give a birthday wish to Scott, Rufus, Dave and Kristy who all have birthdays this week!

The secret to happiness is...

CILANTRO!!! ha ha ha! After over a year and a half here... I was finally clued in to where to get fresh cilantro in Jordan (and yes, you have to get it in amman). So, thanks to that advice, plus an AWESOME salsa recipe from another volunteer... and I had a ROCKIN mexican dinner tonight with salsa....ahhh, after being in the peace corps, you truly do learn to appreciate the little things