Thursday, April 30, 2009

Parents visit and a trip to Jordan

So this month, my parents came to visit and we had a great time. During the visit, we all went to Jordan and discovered a fascinating country with really friendly people!

The beginning of my parents visit consisted of a trip to the grocery store, where my mom found some hilarious things to take pictures of. First off...
Why kid's food and cake are in the same area, I will never know. Actually I do know...because they love sweets and candy here. I think I've mentioned that Max is offered candy at least once a day by complete strangers. And they all look at me like I'm a freak when I say no.


So the next day, we went to a kid's carnival, which consisted of the most dangerous rides I've ever seen....none of them would have been cool in the U.S. My favorite was a kid's train, that had no railing or fence around it--just an electrified rail that a train was moving around on...and it played Christmas songs. Nothing like listening to Jingle Bells when it's 90 degrees out. Anyway, Max dared the slide (which was seriously taller than my house).


My mom and I took a walk around our compound the next day and found this interesting sign. It is SUPPOSED to say Assal Circle, but something went wrong here.


Moving on to the trip to Jordan. Wonderful is the only word to describe it. We stayed in Amman and took days trips to Jaresh, a HUGE Roman ruin's site, which rivals Rome itself, and Umm Qays, another site of ruins. Then on the third day, we went to Petra and the Dead Sea.
On our first stop in Umm Qays, Keith and I were walking with Max and we were suddenly MOBBED by high school girls on field trips. All staring at Max and wanting to hold him and practice their English. We looked up and there had to be 50 sixteen year olds surrounding us. it was hilarious. Yelling, "What's your name?" "What's his name (pointing to Max)", "Let us see his eyes, are they blue?" "We love U.S." and "How do you like Jordan?" We felt like the Rolling Stones! Anyway, here are some examples!


Later on, I was walking by myself and got mobbed by girls. It was like I was Britney Spears. I couldn't decide if it was fun or scary!
So the next day we went to Jaresh, which was simply amazing.





Along the journeys, we stopped many times for various pictures. Camels for example.

And Turkeys.

Here we are in a church that as the oldest mosaics in the world. While Keith made a new friend (what else is new?), Max hammed it up as usual.

Cutie

Some more scenics....



On to the main reason we went to Jordan....Petra. It's been my mom's dream for a long time and my dream for at least 10 years to see this and pictures can't even do it justice, but here it is.









In keeping with tradition, George was there too.

Dead Sea! Dead Sea! Totally fun and it was the weirdest feeling to float without trying. You could literally stand in the water and not touch the bottom.


Covered in Dead Sea mud....notice Max's head in the lower left corner, looking at us like we are nuts. Which we are.


That's all for the trip! But one last thing. Today they were having a blood drive at the Rec Center. Here is the sign to advertise giving blood.

I leave you with that to think about.

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