Mr. Salaam

An Iraqi man picked me up today and swung me around by my arm and ankle. Who does that?!

3 day Getaway :)

"I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves.  They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD." -Ez. 26

So I had a few days off of work for the Eid Celebrations that mark the end of Ramadan. They told me at the gym on Thursday that I had 9 days off before I have to return. So spur of the moment I asked my roommate if she felt like going over to a neighboring country. Sure enough she did and we booked our ticket a day later and flew out on Monday to Beirut, Lebanon. 

As you flew in to the city the sights were breathtaking. Storm clouds of thick rain rolling in over high mountains on the edge of the Med. Sea. I haven't seen rain in a while. It felt good, sounded good, and was beautiful. 

Day 1 consisted of biking along the Cornish. We rode over to Penguin Rock, a famous Lebanon landmark, got a little rained on, and enjoyed the oceanic scenery. Messed around the downtown area and ate some fabulous Lebanese food. (two thumbs up!). 

Day 2 was one of my favorites. We drove down to Tyre Lebanon where we heard the good beaches were. We passed through a city where the crazy Queen Jezebel was from. Got out to take pictures. Passed several old Crusader castles from the 

1500s and passed closed to where Elijah gave a widow some water. 

But arriving in Tyre was awesome. The morning we went to see the largest recovered/found Hippodrome in the the world. We saw a full size field where gladiators once fought for deadly entertainment and the locker rooms for the home and "visiting" team.

Later, we are lunch of beef and hummus and then spent the day swimming over the ancient city of Tyre prophesied above to one day be underwater. It was incredible. You could snorkel over ancient columns of the city and see old pottery and rooms and Roman baths and find ancient Egyptian/Roman/Grecian/Tyre coins engraved with their respected carvings. It was breathtaking. Granted the current was really strong over the rocky ruins but it made for an adventurous swim. Not to mention the thrill of avoiding massive jelly fish that had swam over from Egypt.

Day 3 consisted of driving out to the Cedars of Lebanon. Crazy beautiful. You HAD to drive to

 spectacular mountainous views to get there  and once near the summit of one mighty mountain Cedars were abundant and beautiful. The air was cold but my favorite thing was the smell. It was heavenly! We saw one 

tree dated back to be more than 3000 years old--sometime before Isaiah. Crazy to think these were the trees so demanded around the world and used for the building of the Temple Solomon would build. 

After the Cedars we had to hurry or we'd miss our flight--- but man it was an amazing vacation! 

Culture Experience #44 and counting...

If you've ever lived overseas, you always have awkward "culture experiences". And for those of you who know me well, know I thrive off of awkwardness. But hey, it keeps me as well as others laughing!!

So here's my most recent "culture experience":

I was invited to a sports banquet hosted by former King Hussein's brother, Prince Hasan (or King Abdullah's bro). In any event, Princess Rahma, Prince Hasan's daughter, was there and as always, gracious as ever to those involved with the gymnastics federation. 

In any event, this occasion had a high amount of security due to the four members of the royal family present which obviously makes sense. So it was required everyone bring their invitation as proof that they were actually legit invites. 

So I get to the King Hussein's Club where the banquet was and was greeted by soldiers. Showed them my invite and they let me through. Check.

I thought that was it.

So I keep walking... 

But I hear the other gymnastics coaches all of a sudden yell, "Katie, Ta3ely! (come here)". So I figured it was some important person I had to meet. So I walked up to people dressed in normal attire and greeted them and introduced myself and shook hands. Then I noticed everyone was laughing. Finally I realized what I had done. I had shaken hands with the guards who were assigned to the next role of security to frisk people. So basically I was like, "Hi, I'm Katie" to the people who frisk you.

AWKWARD.

but I did get to laugh about it for a good long while and occasionally I'd remember it during the Prince's speech and would start laughing. Whoops.........

Out East

It's another beautiful day here in Amman. It rarely is cloudy. I have seen one cloudy day since July. The temp is in the low 80's today and tomorrow marks the Night of Power for Ramadan. I'm sitting here about to get ready to go to language where I'll spend two hours with a girl going over verbs and vocabulary. Fun Fun. To bad one can't be fluent over night...

My fridge broke down again. Going on week 3. The repairman said 4 days ago he would come. nothing. He said "tomorrow, insha2allah". And nothing. and yesterday...nothing... and now today. He was suppose to be here this morning. Still no word. Starting to get a bit frustrated at this point...

I have an iftar at the Sheraton hotel tonight with the gymnastics federation. Iftar is the breaking of the fast at sunset as soon as the 4th call of prayer is heard. It will be fun. My girls are excited that I am coming. 

So all in all, all is well here! I still love it here! Even without a fridge....

Sunday in ArabLand

Well, we're half way through Ramadan here in the lovely city and it's been a very productive day! Woke up early, reported to Arabic class. Spent two hours learning vocab there. Progressing slowly. Oh well; here's hoping I'll be able to communicate affectively ONE day!

Came home. Spent some quality time catching up with the roomie who just returned from Amrika [America if you aren't quick to figure that out ;) ), watched 2 episodes of Arrested Development, went to the grocery store. Made dessert for a dinner tonight I can't go to, Abed (my guard) came and brought a man to fix my fridge (yay), went to a "meet the parents" night for my athletes hosted by the Princess. 

And Most importantly, will shortly proceed to cheer on my Ole Miss Rebels as they leave the Memphis Tigers back in the dust... (insha2allah). Go Rebs! 

Shout out to Brian for allowing me to use his slingbox! woo hoo!