Top 10

So, I am getting ready for my COS (close of service) conference. This will be the last time my group will all be together and probably the last time I will see many of the volunteers while I am in country.
While I am sad about this, it is also a great time to reflect and I am excited about the conclusion of my service.
At the conference we will be working on many things such as resume writing, closing out of our service in the village, post peace corps plans, etc.
One of the things that we were asked to bring was our favorite 10 pictures from service. They will compile 10 from all of us (15 volunteers left from my group) and make a slideshow for each of us on CD. So, i spent the afternoon going through all my pictures. And these are the top 10! Figured since my website pictures have gotten a bit out of hand, this would be a nice place to put the best of the best.


My training group when I was in PST




My best friend in Jordan! There are days I probably wouldn't have made it here if it weren't for Adam





My first christmas in Jordan




Quite possibly one of the best people I have ever met! I'm so lucky he's a san francisco boy. Here he is doing what he does best... pondering (most likely, something very profound)




Us girls asked Josh (my village mate) to take our picture at Petra. So, Josh being JOsh, decides to get in on the action himself with a nice self portrait (so his big head takes up half the picture... LOL)




This is one of my students who I call my "little monkey" cause she is one! She is so cute but definitely keeps me on my toes!




This was our 80's party for one of the volunteers birthday! but it gave me the chance to get this picture of my three closest friends here in Jordan




This is a pic that was taken the first time I went to mt. nebo. I just like this group pic... cause it reminds me of good times!




This picture is of the young boy I fell in love with at Operation Smile, Iraqi mission. He is blind and autistic and this picture was taken just after we had played some music together. The first mission he came to (where this picture was taken) he couldn't have surgery but this last mission, I was allowed to scrub into surgery and it just so happened it was his surgery I got to watch!




This picture was taken during training when we were up at some ruins in the north called Um Quaiss. I just like the composition and if you look at the mountains in the background, that is Syria. The picture was taken about 5 kilometers from the Syrian Boarder.

Hercules Made National News???

Oh my word... ask me how surprised I was to bring up my yahoo and see on the national news section an article about Hercules! I knew the town was fighting wallmart... but considering what a sleepy little suburb we are, who would have thought we'd make national news!

Anyway, here's the link to check out

Ryan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060523/ap_on_bi_ge/hercules_v__wal_mart

Well, no vacation can be perfect

So, all in all this has been a great vacation! But, there have been some things along the way. Unfortunately, they both happened in two consecutive days causing a minor meltdown on my part.
The first was the day I traveled to Nazareth to see the church of the Asencion. Well, by car this takes about 2 hours each way. But my friend was working, and I'm a big girl, so I hopped on the bus. Well, busses being what they are and so forth (and, apparently, Nazareth not being much of a destination) it took me 10.5 hours round trip (this involved a lot of waiting for busses that never came, etc) to see the church for about 40 min.
Needless to say, I was tired. So, the next day (yesterday) I was to get up and go see a street faire market that is held two days a week in downtown Tel Aviv. I was excited about this and, in the morning, went to the ATM to get some money out. Well, the machine ate my card so I went inside thinking that this specific bank just wouldn't take cards from the US. The woman retrieved my card, and called VISA to clear it only to get off the phone, tell me my card was reported stolen, and not release it to me. I was REALLY upset (as I did not report my card stolen) and very confused and had a bit of a meltdown.
Thank god for my friend I am staying with. She let me call the states and so forth and, to make another long story short, turns out that my mom thought when the bank called they were referring to her card not mine... so when she heard there were a bunch of purchases being made in the middle east, she had them put a block on it.
So now, my mom has wired me money (which I am to pick up at western union this morning) and a new bank card will be mailed to me in Jordan and today is the last day of my vacation.
My friend has work so I will putz around Tel Aviv (and maybe meet up with her friend who I have met and love... hers was the birthday party I went to the first night I was here).
Then, tonight, we are going to Jerusalem for a concert of a friend of hers and then to a bar.
Tomorrow morning, I head back to Jordan.
Also wanted you all to know, that because I had access to a MUCH faster computer here, I was able to upload all my pics from the trip as well as all my videos (33 of them) so my webpage is quite full.
In my pictures, the folder is called "Visit to Lilach's"... and I was also able to finish uploading all my pictures from easter and the baptism site as well as from Operation Smile.

The Most Amazing Vacation

So, I am writing this while sitting at my friends computer in her apartment in Tel Aviv! I have had the most amazing 48 hours!
For those of you who don't know, I have a very good friend from my freshman year of high school. If I were to say I had a soul mate in a best friend, she would be it! She was a foreign exchange student our freshman year and we have kept in touch ever since (so, about 15 years now). She lives in Israel with her parents and i have only seen her once (we met up in Ireland in 2000) since she left in 1991 and hadn't seen her parents since then.
So, I decided, being so close, I would take the bus over and take a vacation in Israel. Therefore, on the morning of the 12th (what seems like ages ago but is actually only 48 hours) I took a bus down to Aquaba (which was the closest crossing point for me) crossed over, and headed up to Jerusalem.
I got in in the afternoon and she picked me up. Turns out, one of her good friends was having a birthday party that night so we dropped off my stuff at her parents and went to this party. Can I just say, I love my friends... but Lilach has some of the nicest friends I have ever met. There were about 12 of us and we had a fantasic dinner party! We sat on the outside patio having wine and hors dervs... and then came inside for a 3 course dinner (man, her friends know how to throw a party). Afterwards, she and I went into Jerusalem cause a good friend of hers owns a bar. Unfortunately, he wasn't there so we had a drink and went home.
The next morning (yesterday) I got up and was greeted warmly by her mom (who I hadn't seen the night before cause we got in so late). Her mom hadn't seen me since i was 14 so it was quite the reunion. We had a lovely breakfast out in the garden and then Lilach, her mom and I headed out for a day of sightseeing. We started at Mt Olives overlooking the old city. From there we took the same walk Jesus did the night he was betrayed. We strolled down the mountain to the garden where Jesus went to pray when all the disciples fell asleep and then wandered down to the Garden of Gethsamene. After that we went into the old city of Jersalem. I went to the wailing wall and then we went to the church where Jesus was washed and burried after being crucified (ok, well the church wasnt' there at that time but you know what I mean). It was all so incredible!
Then we came back and Lilach and I headed to her apartment in Tel Aviv. We decided to meet up with her sister but, as the drive into town went on, Lilach kept remebering people she wanted me to meet. So she kept making calls. By the time we got to the bar (which was the cool, outdoor bar on a pier down on the mediterranian) there were 8 of us and this group of friends was equally as cool as the night before.
So, we stayed out till 2 and then headed home.
Today she had to go to work so I am finishing up here and then taking the bus back to her parents house and then tomorrow I will take the bus up to Nazareth. Tomorrow night is a holiday so there will be bonfires and we will either celebrate with her parents (if her younger brother comes up from boarding school... I saw him when he was 2... he's now 17) or in Tel Aviv with her friends.
On Tuesday night there is apparently some fireworks celebration her friend told us about last night so we will go down to the beach with her friends for that.
On Wednesday we will go back into Jerusalem and in the evening there is a concert of a friend of hers so we will go to that and then Thursday morning I head back.
It has been such an amazing time and I am sure the rest will be equally as amazing!

I have the most AMAZING friends!

So, this weekend was wonderful! We pulled off a Special Education workshop in Amman and it went well! All the participants were thoroughly active in the process and all worked together well. Considering it was my first time really standing up in front of a group, leading discussions and activities, I am quite happy with the outcome. Now, the volunteers and I are going to develop a handbook based on the materials and ideas developed at the workshop (needless to say, I have some homework ahead of me... smile).
But, the most amazing part was one evening. In the evenings, we were free to go explore Amman and there is a bar at the bottom of the Mariott hotel that does Kareoke on Friday nights. Many of the volunteers had been there sometime in their two year service but I had never managed to go. So, we went out on Friday night and, as I'm sitting at the table, the bar tender comes up with the most amazing drink. Now, I don't know my drinks but it looked like vodka (well, it was clear) in a martini glass that he LIT ON FIRE!!! I mean, it was on fire... and I had to drink it through a straw while he kept refilling the "fire cup" with different shots (I think baileys was one... but not sure).... basically, it was a chaser drink that was on fire! Well, as I drink this there is "Happy birthday" playing and everyone sings me happy birthday! Then, we went on to kareoke our asses off! The peace corps girls did a lovely rendition of both "Summer of 69" as well as "Stop in the Name of Love". It was so wonderful to be out with such dear friends just living it up! They really gave me one of the best birthday parties I could have ever imagined! I was hoping to upload pictures tonight but the CD they are on is a bit scratched so I have to get it fixed first... but I want to thank everyone that was there for making me feel so loved!

what in the world am i doing???

Do you ever just feel like you are undertaking tasks in which you are in no way qualified for! Somehow, I have been managing to go along with life and tonight it just kind of hit me what I have coming up... and i feel so inadequate to the task.
I am supposed to be leading (not participating in, not attending, but LEADING) a special education workshop in Amman this weekend with all the special education volunteers and their counterparts. Now, rationally, my mind says all the volunteers are my friends and want to support me, and want me to do well. In addition (and this is not to slam on jordanian work ethics) but I am pretty sure that when it comes to village counterparts, I am more qualified to lead this than they are. However, I am still terified! You give me a room full of disabled children, no problem... i am totally in my element! However, speaking in front of a group of adults/peers... I am not sure what I was thinking!
I want to challenge myself considering i am going back to school for my administrative credential (so i might as well get used to speaking in front of adults) but quite frankly, I would rather be caught in the nightmare where you show up somewhere in your underwear than do this workshop!
Then, to top it off... this workshop is reminding me that I am going to get my administrative credential and will be speaking in front of adults and coordinating meetings once i am done with that...YIKES!!! I am going to write my friend Jason at home (who gives professional seminars for a living) and ask his advice... but man... i guess this is just a vent blog!
And, speaking of Jason (so this is a tangent blog as well) I was thinking a lot about my friends at home tonight and it made me a bit homesick. I'll admit, the homesickness is never as bad as it was the first year cause I can look at a calendar and see the date I'll be home... but I am so looking forward to the time when I can hang out with people who truly know me. Being here has really made me cherish my friendships back home and I can't wait to see you all!

Update on webpage

Hi All,
I just wanted to let you know that I have spent a great deal of time this weekend uploading pictures and videos (and still not done... so don't order any yet mom... smile).
I have uploaded all sorts of videos from easter on mt. nebo, my trip to the baptism site, and videos from operation smile. In addition, MOST of my pictures from my trip to the baptism site are uploaded.
I realize that my files of photos under my new photos are getting a bit out of control so wanted to let you know that the folders are "trip to the baptism site", "Operation smile 2006", and "Easter".

Hope you all enjoy.

Ry