WAOWWW

• current

I am looooving Jordan. The history, the people, the family, the friends. Spending time with the cuz and her fam is excellent and I am really getting to do some good tourism. Plus we went out and spent some time in the diplomatic community tonight, which was new and enlightening for me.

• news

today Lara and I went to Petra. Petra is an old Nabatean city, full of buildings carved into the sandstone gorge and mountains. I think that Indiana Jones might have been filmed there ...
One of the first buildings you see when you enter the site.
The end of the walk thru the gorge, right as you open onto the ...
treasury. an amazing building carved into the side of this stone wall/gorge/cliff
Whether you can tell or not, the best hiking shoes I had were converse ... but I survived.


the city in the hills, literally.

It was a great day, good to have Lara with. She just graduated in Bio from JMU. We talked about religion & science, life in a divorced family, she filled me in on what it's like to be the daughter of a diplomat. Plus she is an activist (esp. with coal issues in the virginias) and she told some stories about her being arrested during an "action" as well as some about less fortunate activists from all over the world.

it was a 3 hour drive to and from petra, and we were both sleeping each way. but as soon as we returned we each took a muchhhh needed shower and went over to another diplomat's for dinner. but it was actually a pizza party for the kids of the american diplomats in amman. so it was a fun mix of watching kids scream and eat pizza combined with talking to various men and women about their experiences abroad. One man was headed for a year in Iraq while his wife and kids waited in Jordan. Another family had just been evacuated from Yemen. It was their first deployment in the foreign services and they had been there for a month or so. Then one day Al Qaeda shot mortar rounds at the US Embassy. They missed and hit the girls' school that is next door. The next morning the media said that "Clearly some of the familes at the school are having serious disputes with one another." ..... yah. Shortly thereafter the same people started hitting the US living compound with shells... so everyone was evacuated. The family was supposed to spend 2 years in Yemen, but now they have been reassigned for 2 in Jordan.
So it was fun and amazing to hear about what everyone had done and is doing today. Then, just before we were about to leave, we were interrupted by bottlerockets, firecrackers, music, and cheering as a wedding parade passed outside the apartment window.

After that, Michael took Lara and I to the Embassy for a going away party (for a marine gunnery sergeant). It is the first time that I have ever been to an Embassy and it was cool being hosted by the RSO (he runss the security for the whole place and is the boss of all of the marines). we talked with some other diplomats, alllmost met the ambassador, and met head of the CIA for the area. the party was in the Marines' living area, which was a little weird, but everyone was nice and I think we left before the party really took off.

• end

I am having a lot of fun walking through the desert every day, being a tourist. I am also enjoying experiencing life in the world of diplomats, ever if for a short time. Plus it's great getting to know my cousin and her family better. They are very easy to get a long with and lots of fun, I wish that I was staying longer than 5 nights!!! That said, I am excited to go back to WI.