Slacker

Well it's official. I'm a slacker. I have neglected to post anything about Jordan or Galilee or the entire last month of my trip. Now school is starting in about four days and I have been home for two weeks and have forgotten intimate details of my wonderful summer. I can never recall that much detail on the spur, it will have to come up randomly and then I'll be able to recall ridiculously specific facts. So in attempts to give just some small look into the end of my trip I'll do a picture gallery. Cop-out? Yes. Effective? Depends on who's looking.

Standing in front of the Treasury at Petra. This was the most dramatic
thing I've ever seen I thought it was so cool.


Me on my donkey at Petra. I thought my donkey was going to keel over as it hiked the 900+ stairs to get me to "The Monastery" which kind of resembled the Treasury. I bought my little guide a water and tipped him an extra dollar and felt cheap. Poor kid.


At the Mosque in Ammon. We had to wear these sweet get-ups to enter the mosque. It was pretty hilarious and we all came to a greater respect for the Muslim women because we were so hot wearing them.

Well, that might just be as good as it gets for the time being. I am leaving Oregon in two days and have yet to pack and clean and shop. We have a German exchange student who is going to live with my parents for the next year (school year I think) and we are frantically getting the house semi presentable for her and get her room ready. But it sounds like the family is in the pool, so I might just swim instead...

Epiphany

I've always wondered why I get sunburned so bad on my nose and forehead despite the sunscreen I put on. It finally dawned on me a few weeks ago why. That's where I sweat the most! Ever since I was a baby I have had little beads of sweat on my nose, and my forehead generally sweats a lot. So in attempts to keep myself dry (and to keep the sweat from pouring down my face in buckets), I wipe it off. This not only wipes off my sweat, but the sunscreen too. I am now sunburned in those two places despite the large amounts of sunscreen I applied in Jordan. I'm afraid it's going to peel.

I am back from Jordan. We arrived home yesterday to be told that we weren't allowed to leave the city due to heightened security. This is largely due to Senator Obama's visit to Jerusalem these couple of days, but there was a mini-terrorist attack outside his hotel a few days ago when we were in Jordan, so we aren't allowed out until further notice. It's not too bad since we have a midterm coming up, a field trip this afternoon and two field trips next week before we head out to Galilee, so I'm not feeling like I'm on house arrest. The good news is that the teachers all seem to think that we will be able to go out today to exchange money. We are going to Bethlehem this afternoon and evening and will have a little Christmas devotional in Shepherd's field. I will write about the Jordan trip later, but here is a little preview to look forward to:

Three quick things about the trip:
1. It was super hot. They told us it was 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) yesterday, but we heard reports of it being 48 (120) when we were at the Jesus Baptismal Site. It was practically unbearable, and the air conditioning on the bus wasn't the greatest.
2. I got a minor eye irritation on the trip and had to wear my glasses the entire time. Not fun when it's bright and you want/need sunglasses. Not having sunglasses doesn't help with eye problems either.
3. Petra might just have been one of the coolest places I've ever been.

Stay tuned for the rest.

"You know you love me, XOXO..." --That's for you Emma and Liz.