Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a couple blogs posted by my group members about the past couple of days :)
I will try to do my own when I get back!

Friday, November 27, 2009
Jerusalem over Thanksgiving
We crossed the border from Jordan to Israel yesterday starting at 7:15 am from our apartments in Amman reaching our final destination, the New Palm Hostel in Jerusalem just after 1pm. The time was mostly consumed by security checkpoints. The actual bus ride across the bridge over the Jordan river from Jordan to Israel soil took no more than 20 mins if that.
It seems as if we've lived so much more than a day and a half worth of time since we've arrived in Jerusalem. We began yesterday (Thanksgiving Day) by exploring the old city and walked through every quarter of it (Armenian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish). There were vendors and shops stuffed in the city walls although not quite as overwhelming as the markets in Bangkok (where we attended the Feast this year). On our way out in the evening (eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha) we ran into a few parades or I should say they ran into us. First there was a large group of men and boys singing in
Arabic walking together through the already crowded shops lining the city walls. Then as we were exiting through Damascus gate which was utterly packed to the brim we saw what seemed to be the beginning of a fight between two men. There was really no way to turn to get away because of the masses, but fortunately the fight did not erupt right then and there. We were shoved into the stream of people exiting the gate and thought it couldn't get anymore crowded. Alas, that was not so. Ahead and coming toward us we saw a man who was trying to clear a path and a second later we saw the reason. A marching band, yes, a marching band was coming through the already bursting at the seems gateway. Jamie made the comment "when you think it can't get any worse..." We were assuming all the parades and crowds were due to the Muslim holiday.

We slept fairly comfortably in our hostel dorm room at the New Palm Hostel just outside the old city Damascus gate. The beds are quite soft, there's hot water with wonderful pressure for showers, free internet, breakfast and nice heating in the rooms. Although those things may be somewhat basic I keep thinking we're in the lap of luxury here. The breakfast this morning consisted of pita with labneh spread or butter and jam/honey, cucumber tomato salad, boiled eggs, nescafe and tea. Perhaps I was quite hungry, but I thought it was all very delicious. After breakfast we set off with bus numbers in our heads (listed in the lonely planet tour guide book) as our first clue in how to get to the Holocaust Museum in the Jewish quarter of the c
ity. After walking around our entire block, finding another bus station and talking to a driver who directed us to find the green buses not the blue ones, finding another bus station with green buses (but not the right ones), asking numerous people along the way, hiking up a hill next to the old city wall and finally to a bus stop that seemed to be right according to people waiting there we hopped on a bus for 6 shekels each (approx $1.50) and headed to Mt. Herzl. The trip took no more than 15 mins and then we hiked the short distance up Yad Vashem (given a place and a name taken from the scripture Isaiah 56:4-5) to the Holocaust Museum, research center, children's memorial, etc. We were there for more than 3 hours and still didn't completely read, listen, look at all the available information and displays. It was incredible and so full of meaning at every turn. Every part of the building (including the architecture itself) was to teach something about the holocaust. It seemed their foremost purpose stated at the beginning
and that really did show through in much of what I experienced was that the Jewish people were real, they were individuals (each individual being a world unto himself). One thing that struck me with intensity was how clearly planned, organized and the carrying out the whole plan of exterminating the Jews was. It started maybe somewhat slowly with Hitler being elected as chancellor, but didn't seem to take long for the ideologies to take off, gain momentum and lead a completely selfish and racist way of conducting a nation and people to move against another group of people. The museum begins with a scroll type video of excerpts of films and photos taken of Jewish people before the second world war in their "normal lives" as German citizens and of other European nations as well. It was to show how their life was truly productive and part of the culture surrounding them. From there it went into the gradual process of government and decrees and then actions that lead to the holocaust. I can't even begin to cover how completely overwhelming it all is. We were actually pushed very quickly through the last 3 or 4 large exhibit halls due to the early closing time on Friday evenings before the Sabbath. We could have spent another 3 hours easily although in some ways I don't know how much more of that I could really bare.

When we left, we made our way back to the old city by bus again. On the way we were
accosted by a taxi driver telling us the buses weren't going anymore because of the soon coming Sabbath (more than 2 hours away) and offered to drive us where we wanted for "only" 80 shekels. However, that price compared to the bus price seemed worth not listening to him for a bit to check out the situation a little further. This lead to good results as we were on a bus headed back to the old city in less than 5 minutes after that. When we got back we entered the old city through a gate not far from Jaffa gate, but we don't know what its name was. Just inside we found a little falafel place. We got the most delicious falafel which included eggplant and hot peppers (a different variation from our falafel experiences as of yet). We walked on through the old city eating our falafel past the wailing wall and out through another gate just next to the western wall of the temple mount to the east side of Jerusalem. We hiked up the Mount of Olives and watched the sunset leading into the Sabbath over the old city.
It was amazingly beautiful. Eduardo read out passages from Isaiah and Zechariah about Jerusalem and Christ returning and the Mt. of Olives cleaving in two. It's quite simply easier to understand when we saw the whole landscape before our eyes; we read about the war that would surround Jerusalem but tonight seemed fairly quiet and peaceful. After waiting a while to see the old city under a night view we made the trek back down the mountain and around the outside of the city wall toward our hostel. When we got back around to the Damascus gate it was amazing to see the difference from last night. It was so quiet and quite deserted comparatively. All the vendor shops and parades were gone and we stood and watched many of the Jewish people pour out of the gate in their traditional Sabbath wear after what seemed to have been an evening prayer time. What a stark contrast from the marching band parade and crowds of people we'd seen only 24 hours earlier. We've now settled in for the evening and are enjoying the beginning of a much needed Sabbath. Tomorrow we hope to enjoy resting a bit, listening to a pre-downloaded sermon/Bible study on someone's computer and visting the Garden Tomb and perhaps one or two other sites within a short walking distance. Happy Sabbath!
~Audry~


Thursday, November 26, 2009
It's a happy Thanksgiving in Amman!


It's Thursday...Thanksgiving in the States, the start of the Eid holiday here in Jordan.

Eid is a Muslim holiday celebrated in honor of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Ishmael (not Isaac). Traditionally, families will roast a goat or a lamb and share it with friends and family and those less fortunate than themselves.


We had our Thanksgiving dinner this evening - roasted chicken
(turkey is a bit harder to get for a reasonable price)with all the regular works thanks to everyone helping with the menu! Eduardo even made an apple pie - Jordan has a way of bringing out hidden talents :)

Isam, the music teacher from the YMWA, was able to join for his first Thanksgiving dinner.
And thanks to the Schreibers,
we even had a few
autumn decorations!

We have a five-day break due to Eid, so we are heading to Jerusalem!
Our adventure begins bright and early in the morning...

as much as things stayed the same… things started to change

As things and events here get more and more “normal” for us, I feel like I don’t have a whole lot to write about. However, as much as things stayed the same… things started to change! I have a couple random stories I would like to share.

1. I joined a soccer team! I’m very excited about this however the season maybe ending soon but for now it is great. I go to a sports club in Abdoun (a very nice area) and I believe practice is 4 times a week. From what I have heard the age range on the team is 16-23. They are all very nice girls and the coach is really nice too. All of them speak English but of course use Arabic the most and then translate to me what to do. It is kind of different since we practice on a tennis court sized “field” which is really more like tennis court flooring…. Different for me since I have not played much on anything but grass and turf. But I’m so happy to be able to play and it’s so great for me right now and also meeting new people.

2. A story: The other night Jamie and I were headed to soccer practice and we found a cab right when we walked out of our apartment. We thought we were lucky because we usually have to walk a little before we can get one. He was very nice and spoke decent English. Right away he needed to do a U-turn to go the opposite way. When he did this there were 2 men walking on the side of the road, he stopped in the middle of his turn because he could not go any further since the walkers were in the way. I remember thinking, “woah! We got close to them.” We waited a couple seconds as the men kept walking so we could complete the turn. When the driver thought they were ahead enough to keep going he accelerated and completed the turn. Okay 1 problem… the men were not out of the way enough yet. WE ENDED UP HITTING THE GUY ON THE OUTSIDE WITH OUR BUMPER! I was watching the whole thing and knew before it happened what we were about to do. The car bumper hit him in the back of the knees, which forced him to sit on the car a little until we stopped. Jamie and I were probably as wide-eyed as we could get! The taxi driver got out of the car, we then saw him showing them were the sidewalk was and how to use it. (yeh right, Jordan has the worst sidewalk system I have seen and no one uses it because there is no point). The guy who got his was okay but very very mad. He seems to exchange some not nice words as they began to argue. Next thing we know the guy who got his turns around and comes back swinging a white paint bucket over his head trying to hit the taxi driver in the head with it! The friend of the guy who got hit stopped him. The only thing better than a video of this would have been a video of us in the back seat saying, “what do we do!” I realized I had my cell phone clenched in my hand but, let’s be real, who was I going to call! Ha. Anyways they kept yelling at each other until every now and then someone would step and try to fight where the friend would step in and stop them. This went on for a while. Finally the friend pushed the hit guy away to just walk away and leave, we thought, “okay its over.” NOPE! Taxi driver all the sudden runs after them! We knew this was our escape. We ran out of the taxi back to our apartment and up the stairs. Audry laughs so hard now when she thinks about us stumbling in out of breath telling her the story. Only a minute later we saw out the window the taxi driver came back to his car and looked for us and then drove away. We thought it was safe to try again, so back out we went. We saw him parked only down the street a little talking to a guy again so we ran the other way and took the long way down to hill to find a different taxi. It was the craziest thing ever. WHO HITS A WALKER!!

3. I took my first taxi ride alone! Okay I was very nervous considering the events from the night before but I had practice and that’s the only way to go! But it turned out fine. The way there was okay, I think he went the long way trying to make me pay more but on the way home I had a very nice guy who lived in New York for a long time who spoke perfect English so that was great.

4. Jamie and I visited Red Cross/Red Crescent hospital the other day. She is a nurse and wanted to volunteer there a couple hours while we are here. They were very nice and welcoming. But on top of her doing her nursing, they asked if we would teach English to AIDS patients there. We were already looking for a way all 5 of us could come together for 1 project so this is a great thing we can all do together. Once a week for an hour.

5. We start Arabic classes Monday. The long awaited classes are now set. We have learned some already and have a better ear for it so I’m ready to get started!

6. I may have my own art class at my school. We had a talk yesterday and they are trying to use me better and make me happier doing what I like. They kind of came up with an idea that I would have my own projects I would work on with kids throughout the day other than the regular art class that they always get. This is going to be interesting. I will be in the same room as before so we will have two classes going on at once. I feel like there might be some awkwardness between the art teacher and me doing different things because we had very very different ideas on how art should be taught and how the kids should be treated. And remember none of the kids speak ANY English so that will be a big challenge for me. Other than the awkwardness I’m really excited about it and keep thinking of projects in my head.

7. We still haven’t gotten our residency cards. This is a crazy thing. However we have made friends with the bus drivers when they take us around. A couple times they have taken us out to eat as well and I think the secret has built a little bond so we have fun with them.

I think that’s all for now. This week has been crazy. We used to look at our calendar and say, “well! Any day will work for that, it’s not like we do anything else.” To now we are thinking, how will we fit in our Marathon training! Now I will have practice 4 days a week, Arabic 1 day, and AIDS English 1 day. As much as I enjoy sitting around and watching movies, I’m going to enjoy being busy!

This is the girls at the Blue Fig restaurant. Yum.