ma'a salaama

My last e-mail from Jordan. I’m so glad I was able to write about so many of my experiences over the last month, but there really has been so much more I wish I could tell you and show you. Ive been busy packing and doing last minute things so I haven’t had much time to think, but I wanted to share some thoughts from my journal as my “last letter from Jordan”. I figure I already write about everything in my e-mails so sharing a little from my journal wont be too personal. Please excuse the cheesiness…. This entry was written when I had some time to think while we were on a long drive through northern Jordan.

“As we drive through Jordan I see many sites that were very new to me when I first arrived here. The many groves of olive trees, the rows and rows of off-white buildings, and the people all around. A man, dressed very differently from where I was raised, is holding his little girls hand as he buys her some candy from the market, two little boys are riding their bikes down the street, and the women’s thobs (robes worn for modesty) blow in the wind with only their eyes showing through their head coverings as we drive past. There are many things I don’t understand about the beliefs and culture here in Jordan and it was a little difficult to adjust when I first arrived. But I do understand, better than ever before, that all people have a few very important things in common. We all have thoughts, worries, hopes, and dreams for the future whether we live in America or Jordan. Although people wear different clothes, eat different food, and have different forms of shelter all over the world, it all serves the same purpose. Its amazing to me that we can form connections with people from anywhere in the world, no matter how different we might think we are. Connecting with others brings such a powerful feeling. Whether it’s the connection you form with your spouse, a close friend, or a person from another part of the world who you may never see again. My experiences in Jordan have made me value these relationships we are able to form more than ever before. I have felt the spirit so strongly here as I meet the people and learn of their culture. There is an Arab proverb that states “the deeper you go into the desert, the closer you come to God”. During my time here in Jordan I have gained a greater testimony of the important truths we have in the gospel and I see better how God views his children and loves us all the same. The scripture in 2 Nephi 26:33 has come alive and its truth has rung in my heart as I read that “all are alike unto God”. I have learned so much from the Jordanian people. I have been exposed to a hospitality I never even knew existed, especially in the middle east. I have learned the phrases “ahlan wa sahlan (warm welcome)”, “mish mushkila (no problem)”, and “in sha’ Allah (God willing)”. Phrases I have heard almost everyday here in Jordan. I learned there are still people in the world who respect and uphold modesty and chastity. But truly the greatest blessing has been to feel so strongly in my heart that God loves us all the same. Its easy for me to believe the idea that God loves all his children the same when I’m surrounded by people who are generally quite similar to me. But being exposed to people who come from such a different background and belief it means so much more to me that there is a God who still loves us all. Its interesting to me that I have felt that truth so strongly while I have been in Jordan, among people where at least 92% of the population is Muslim and do not hold the belief that they are children of God. Yet I have felt so strongly while I have been here that we are all brothers and sisters and children of God. I want so badly to have “a love of God and of all men” as it teaches in 2 Nephi 31:20 and to follow the commandment that “he who loveth God love his brother also” in 1 John 4:21.”

I have had such an amazing experience this last month. It was a pretty short trip but I will definitely be glad to be back home! I love you and I’ll see you soon!

Love Karen.

La

I'm almost home!! Luckily we got to have lots of fun yesterday so the week really is going by fast. We went to wadi mujib yesterday...it was incredible!! maybe not so amazing if you’ve been to Zions and other similar sites in Utah...but I havent so it was great. We walked through beautiful canyons and swam over waterfalls. sometimes the current was so strong we had to hold onto a rope. It was so fun and the water was really warm.










Today we're doing some shopping downtown and tomorrow just last minute things we can think of. Friday we leave really late at night but because of the time change we'll be back in the America Saturday morning! I cant wait. haha, I said “the America”...didnt mean to do that... I really need to get back home. But I will definitely miss taxis. We have had so many great experiences with the taxi drivers. By great I mean memorable... driving in Jordan is so scary. Like you really do feel like you might die. I just got used to not looking anywhere when we're in the car. We always try to use Arabic words with them and I’ve had a few tell me all about the messenger Mohammad... "(taxi)you know what a messenger is? (me) like a prophet? (taxi) yes!! a prophet! Just like Isa and Abrahim" I have to bite my tongue not to tell them about my prophets... But I cant wait to walk places and not be the center of attention. We really make a scene wherever we go. EVERYONE stops and stares. I cant wait to "fit in" when I walk outside. And all the men have a comment also...usually welcome, beautiful, hi, hello, good evening, where you from...another funny thing about the men here is the male hair salons all over. They always have pictures of leonardo dicaprio and brad pitt on the front sign. But they are everywhere. and sometimes its spelt male hair saloon which is interesting... I'm trying to remember all the weird things that have become so normal for me... Well I have lots of pictures. I cant wait to be home soon. I want to eat lots of American food. and drink tap water. and take a shower thats a normal temperature. love you and miss you!!

Karen

p.s. la means No. Its fun to say. like la la la la la... I dont remember if I already told you this but its worth repeating...

Some random pictures

Celebration on campus:

Shopping Downtown:

This picture reminds me of the market place in Aladdin...

The shop owner really wanted me to try it on.... he wrapped me up

I promise the shop owner made me where this also...

fresh squeezed juice in Jordan is everywhere

Eating:

Eating our favorite bread from the bakery

Our favorite "fastfood" Abu Jubara

Our instructor Elaine had a beautiful apartment and we loved having yummy dinners there!

The House and around town

Doing laundry at our house was always exciting, we flooded the kitchen a few times

shopping at the market

A silly mail hair "saloon" sign

The computer lab at the school where I sent all my emails from

talking to Chandler on skype...my sunday ritual

More traveling

This is going to be a long week. I am SO bored! But I didn’t get to tell you about the little weekend trip we took after we got back from our long trip. There’s a man in the ward, Salah Houran, who took us and some of the other BYU students from the Arabic speaking program on a fun trip. First we went to a castle that had a tunnel under ground. We had to use flash lights and it was like hundreds of steps below. It was cool. Then we went to spend the night in a really old village. Like 400 years at least... and they just got electricity last year. It was like some of the ruins Ive seen except people were living in them... and they made some hotels out of them so we got to stay there too!! It was fun except I woke up the next morning covered in spider bites. Theyre itching me right now... So then we went and hiked another wadi. The Dana Wadi which is a nature reserve and it had lots of cool caves that we climbed around in. Tour books describe it as "lush" but I dont know if I would go that far... there’s some trees...On our way home we stopped at a place to eat Manceff. Manceff is the traditional Jordanian meal which is rice with goat meat (usually the goats head is served with the meal...) and some weird fermented goats milk concoction. I like the rice...and a little meat. I actually do like the goat meat. just not too much of it. So it was a fun trip.

The Castle

walking down under the castle

Climbing out of the tunnel
Dana Hotel

Walking in the Dana Nature Reserve

But I have to tell you more about Salah. He is one of the only real Jordanian converts. I think there’s like 4 in the branch and the rest are workers from the embassy. We had breakfast with him and he told us his conversion story. He grew up in a really poor family. Like they ate out of trash cans ("theres no shame in that" he added). He said he never dreamed of having a life like the one the church has given him. So he was working doing tourist stuff and he met people who were members and they gave him a book of Mormon (he was Christian) but he didnt really think anything of it. During this time he was really thinking of committing suicide. He said that he felt like such a huge burden for his family and he had planned out how much money he would be saving them if he was gone and he had a real plan to take his life. Then he came across the book of Mormon he had. He prayed so hard that he would find those people again and be able to learn more about the church. Of course he did find them and his prayers were answered. When he joined the church the government took away his ability to work. I guess in Jordan if you work in places like tourism you have to have permission from the government saying your in good standing. Because he joined the church they took away his ability to work. I guess they dont like the church? I dont really know that much...other then its a huge deal we're able to meet in a building every week...we're very lucky I am told. So members of the church taught him english and he was able to use his English abilities to make money. He then met an American girl who was visiting Jordan and they got married in the temple in Germany. They just had a baby, one of the first babies to be born under the covenant in Jordan (maybe THE first...in Jordan). It was so amazing to hear his story. He’s coming to BYU to get his Masters but then he plans to go back to Jordan. He said he thinks its important that his family be an example for the church in Jordan. it was so cool talking to him. He had a strong testimony of the gospel.
So thats my cool story for now. I dont know when I'll be on again...I'll try to think of something interesting to write! Oh, I have to tell you about "in sha Allah" Its a VERY common phrase here. It means "god willing". But you say it all the time. Like if you ask when will the war end? When will you see your family again? Are you coming to dinner tomorrow? All of those could get the response "in sha Allah". its very noncommittal but you cant really quesiton it. You just smile and say "yes... in sha Allah". I wish I could say it in America because I think it could get me out of a lot of inconveniant things... Like "when will you start working? can you make dinner? Will you speak in church?"...
love you and miss you!

I'm a tourist

Marhaba! Kayfhalak?I know its been sooo long! Last Thursday was my last day of clinicals which means I havent been to campus which also means I havent had internet for the past week. I've had a pretty fun week so lets do a quick recap...
-Friday (5-22) after church we were invited to dinner at the Ambassadors house! Steve Beecroft is the ambassador here in Jordan and he happens to be Mormon. It was really fun and the place was beautiful. Nothing super special happened besides that...



-sat. the student council at the University of Jordan wanted to take us touring for the day. It turned out to be a lot more touring then any of us really wanted... The trip was supposed to be just to Umm Quass (the spot where Christ cast the demons from the man into the swine...) which is way up north right on the border. But they kind of held us hostage for the whole day. We stopped in Irbid and they drove us all over playing really loud Arabic music and clapping (the student council was about 4 boys...) and then they stopped at this river pulled out a hooka and had a picnic. We kept saying we needed to get back but they were just so excited to show us around... ALL day! We were all pretty tired and kind of annoyed but by the end we just had to laugh when they would stop at one more place...

It was really windy...Dr Jehad was worried about me so she held onto my skirt!

The dead sea is in the distance

-sunday. We left for our week of touring with Elaine (our instructor). First we drove to some random old city which I know nothing about but there was some really cool mosaics...

Then we drove through Wadi Mujib which is the grand canyon of jordan. Ive never actually seen the grand canyon but this place was BEAUTIFUL!! I think we might go back there this week to hike some waterfalls.

Next we stopped at Karak. Karak castle is a really cool old crusader castle. It was so huge and incredible. I got lost in all the different rooms and passageways. I really did get lost... it was scary. We've seen quite a few castles on this trip but this one was my favorite.

ok, this looks a little freaky, btu we thought the random sunbeams were AMAZING!

After Karak we stopped at a Mosque. First I have to tell you about Waleed. Waleed was our driver/tour guide. Hes a friend of Elaines and he drove us all over in a van this last week. We were asking him questions about Islam and so he stopped at a Mosque and showed us around. It was really cool.


Before we got to our hotel in Petra we stopped at the site where Moses smote the rock and water came out... It was a really random spot and I dont really know how they know its the actual site but....
Anyway, we ended in the city of Petra at a semi nice hotel.

view from the hotel

the BOY who worked there serving us drinks...

-monday. All day in Petra. Petra is one of the seven world wonders. It is incredible. It was a really long hot day of walking but it was so worth it.

Indiana Jones

After a long walk we finally made it....

At the end of the day we decided to go to a turkish bath to relax after lots of walking. Turkish baths are really popular in Jordan. I have to say I'm not a fan... yah...thats all I'm gonna say.

-tuesday. We drove to Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is a big desert. The Bedouin (native Jordanians who live in the desert) villages are all over Wadi Rum and they host tour groups to come stay in their camps. So first they took us for a tour of the desert. We sat in the back of a four wheel drive pick up and drove all over. It was so beautiful. We drove over sand dunes and hiked up mountains. The funnest thing was running down a really huge steep sand dune. It was like skiing on the sand. So fun. We watched the sun set over the desert before we drove back to the camp. They made us dinner (cooked in the ground) and then played music while we danced around the campfire. They taught us fun Bedouin dancing and the music was really fun! After the dancing some of us stood out under the stars with Walleed. Walleed loves the desert and he dressed up in the traditional Bedouin clothes while we were there. He told us about how the Bedouins would travel at night and use the stars to guide them. Then he sang some cool Arabic lullabies and prayers. He asked us to sing for him so we sang a few primary songs and hymns. He loved them and asked if he could have a cd of the songs. It was so cool. That night we slept in a tent made out of camel hair... I loved it.

Our campsite

That night we had a party with lots of dancing

Waleed dressed up in his Jordanian clothes

wednesday- we woke up to watch the sunrise. The coolest part was that we rode camels out to a spot to watch the sunrise. camels are pretty dirty animals... I was a little afraid because I got the ornery one. Everyone got on their camels and I was standing there waiting while the guide yelled at my camel and the camel hissed back at him. He wouldn’t get down on his stomach for me to climb on. The guy kept telling me to get on but I was too afraid... "yella, yella (come on come on) Karen" haha, finally the camel laid down and I jumped on. you literally have to hang on for dear life when they stand up because its like a 5 step process.

I know my face doesnt look that close, but that was SO scary!!

On our wasy out of Wadi Rum, Walleed got us each a gift

After breakfast we left Wadi Rum and drove down to the red sea. Aqaba is a little town that borders the red sea, The Sinai peninsula is on the other side. We were only stopping there for a few hours so we took a glass bottom boat around. The water is so incredible. The coral reefs below are gorgeous and you dont even need the glass bottom boat to see stuff because the water is so clear. We didnt bring our swim suits because it was just a quick stop but I was dieing not going in. I hadnt been close to the ocean in so long and I wanted to jump in soo bad. Elaine finally was like Karen, you cant come here and not jump in, you need to get in the water, So they drove the little boat over to the shore and everyone got out to dip their feet in the water, I really wanted to swim but I couldnt convince anyone to get in with me. The next thing I know Elaine grabs my hand and says "I dont usually go in the ocean, but you are swimming in the red sea" and we started walking into the water. So we all wound up swimming in the red sea...in our clothes... it was amazing. Afterwards we boated around and dried out on the bow of the boat.






After our short trip at the red sea we drove up to the dead sea. For some reason I thought the red sea was dirty and gross....its amazing. It was so beautiful and we were staying at a 5 star resort which was incredible. Normal toilets and good food and comfortable beds. It was so nice. It was seriously gorgeous.

The Dead Sea

hotel pool

random guy who served great lemonade our of whatever that thing is...

BEST food of my life!

-thursday. We woke up and walked down to float in the red sea. It was the coolest thing. I sat and read the newspaper and bobbed around like a buoy. Then we covered ourselves in the mud and had our own little spa treatment. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the resort before we drove back to Amman. It was an amazing trip.




Obviously this was a really condensed version. I wish there was time to tell all the random funny stories that happened along the way... but the pictures are pretty amazing too. I cant wait to show them. I have to say I kind of like just living with the people and getting around town better than being a tourist. But it was still pretty fun to see the amazing sites of Jordan. I only have a few more days here and I wont have too much internet access but hopefully I'll have time to write about my random thoughts as the trip comes to an end. I love you and miss you!
love Karen