Andrew and Chana Alder

ONE-BEDROOM GUESTHOUSE...

2010-09-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Our time here in Virginia is going by so fast. We can't believe it has already been one month. There are definitely good things about this place and definitely things we miss about our Provo home. Here's a little photo update of what we've been up to the past month...

Our first month here started out with a visit from my MOM. It was so fun to have her here. She and I (Chana) spent our days scouring fairfax county for thrift/antiques stores. We had great success! She was a gem to have around. She helped me hang curtains, make pillows, and paint end tables, just to mention a few things.

One of our favorite second hand/antique stores

(Ok, so I stole this picture off the internet; we went in August not December)

The month continued with our SECOND ANNIVERSARY. Andrew and I celebrated by going out to dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the wharf in Old Town Alexandria. We ate outside and it was amazing. The view of the Potomac River was breath taking, the company was perfect and the clam chowder was to die for.

Andrew and part of our view of the Potomac

Our restaurant

(We ate right under the blue umbrellas)

Andrew and me on the wharf

Next came our SECOND set of visitors. April, Trevor and Douglas. (April and I went to France together. Trevor is her husband, and Doug is her little brother. I actually knew Doug way before I knew and loved April. Doug is best friends with the little brother of one of my best friends (Carli) so we got to know each other very well with all the time I spent at her house during college.) The three of them came for a rally in DC and we were so excited to have them stay at our little apartment. April and Trevor slept on our blow up mattress and Doug... he slept on the floor with our couch cushions. It was a tight squeeze but oh so fun. We spent hours talking, laughing and touring museums.

Group Picture at 4:00 am

Our month here came to end with a THIRD set of visitors. Our favorite little family came to see us. Eric, Rachel and Lucy. Eric is getting his MBA at Duke in Durham, North Carolina, which means they are only four hours away and we are very excited to have more of these weekends. Andrew's mom came along with them, which made it even more exciting. We had a great weekend. Our one bedroom apartment was very crowded, but it was so fun. We spent the weekend going to DC monuments, going to museums, eating delicious food, swimming, and baking amazing peanut butter cupcakes.

The girls in front of the Capitol

The White House at dusk

Taking a break from walking at the Washington Monument

We felt right at home amongst all the BLUE and ORANGE in DC

(the BSU/Virginia Tech game was that weekend and there were fans everywhere we looked)

Andrew and I at the Mall

Lucy

(she was such a good little mama)

Despite the distraction of all our visitors, Andrew has been very disciplined at his school work this past month. He comes home every night with very tired eyes from reading all day long. We are finally filling settled in to our new adventure in Virginia... now if we could only find me a job.

p.s. Visitors are always welcome. We have a very comfortable blow up mattress and a couch.

VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS...

2010-08-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Not that more than a handful of people noticed, but we’ve failed to update our blog for a long time. Why, you might ask? We don’t know. Maybe we are lazy. Or maybe it’s because anybody who does read our blog probably already knows what’s going on in our lives. After blogging all last summer about sand, camels, pyramids, and singing and dancing with Arabs, perhaps writing a sufficiently interesting post about our life in Provo, Utah is simply a hard act to follow. It’s not like we have been sitting on the couch twiddling our thumbs. I (Andrew) graduated from college, we have a new sister named Roxy (she married Craig), and Preston left on his mission to South Africa. Despite our long and mysterious absence though, we are back.

You may have heard the saying “Virginia is for lovers”. If you’ve noticed how intensely in love Chana and I are, you now know the saying is true (Chana is now rolling her eyes). That’s right, about 2 weeks ago we packed up everything we have and moved east (again, anybody reading this probably already knows). We will be here for at least three years for me to attend law school at George Mason University. Now on to some things the handful of you reading this may not know....

We had a pretty cool trip out here. We were lucky enough to have friends also moving out to the D.C. area so we came up with a master plan to split the cost of a moving truck. Even better, they offered to drive it out for us a couple weeks early and put our stuff in storage. So it was me, Chana, and Stella (that’s our Toyota Corolla) driving across the country. I quite enjoyed the company. Chana enjoyed Stella and put up with me. Stella was a trooper though she lost her sight in one eye, which resulted in a $25 ticket while cruising the streets of Chicago after dark. We stayed one night in Kearny, Nebraska, then two nights and a day in Chicago, and one night in Cincinati, Ohio. It was the first time to Chicago for both of us and we had a great time. We did an architectural boat tour through the Chicago river, spent some time with Chana’s cousin who introduced us to the world famous Garrett’s popcorn, and had some delicious Chicagoan pizza for dinner.

We live in Fairfax, Virginia in a little one-bedroom apartment west of D.C. We’d never seen the place in person so we were a little nervous. Despite a few minor glitches, we are happy with our pick. We’ve yet to really meet any of our neighbors . . . it’s not quite the same as our BYU married couples complex in Provo, but it’s a nice little community and we have any store imaginable within 2 miles of us. We live about 15 miles from my school and something like 20 miles from D.C. My school is in Arlington, VA, close to the Arlington Cemetery and Pentagon. Chana swore she saw Michelle Obama just walking down the street by herself. She eventually conceded that the first lady probably wouldn’t just be walking by herself. I take a bus/metro combination and it takes just under an hour to get to school in the morning and about the same to get home. Pammy (Chana’s mom) spent this last week here with us. She was a huge help in getting our apartment set up and keeping Chana entertained while I started school. In short, we love our new home. Virginia and D.C. are beautiful and we haven’t even scratched the surface. Of course we really miss friends and family back west but are excited for our new adventure.

Graduation from BYU

Craig and Roxy's Reception in Boise

Preston entering the MTC
(we love Preston and miss him so much)

Chicago after the architectural river boat ride

Andrew enjoying the boat ride

We made it!

Andrew in front of his school in Arlington

P.S. Chana posted the pictures (I'm really not that obsessed with myself).

FALL CAME AND WENT...

2009-12-27T19:39:00.001-08:00

This post is very late, considering it is the end of December, but we thought our families and friends would enjoy some pictures of what we've been up to lately and some of the wonderful fall traditions we've started. Plus fall is my favorite season so I wanted to remember what a great time we had...

Andrew proposed at Sundance on the Full Moon Scenic Chair Lift, so at least once a season we try to go and remember that perfect day...

Andrew and Chana on the chair lift

Another tradition that we've had since we've been married is going to a pumpkin patch and picking out our very own pumpkins. This year our good friends Stephanie and Kyle Atwood came with us on our adventure. After picking pumpkins we bought the best apples and apple juice from the orchards and went home to carve our pumpkins...

Us on the trailer, being pulled by a tractor that takes you from the big red barn out to the pumpkin patch.

Chana and her pumpkin

Andrew and his pumpkin

Andrew carving his pumpkin.

The finished product.

(Andrew carved a weiner dog and Chana carved the owl... I told Andrew that Halloween was about creepy animals not snugly ones, but he insisted on carving a dog that resembled the one at his parents house- Amos Earl)

Fall continued with a trip to Boise for Blake's 50th birthday. It was so fun to be with all of the Alders. We had many great activities planned for the whole family, but we did make sure and have a special girls activity as well. We loved having Eric, Rachel and Lucy around and wished they lived closer so we could see them more often.

Sisters shopping at a craft bizarre

The whole crew outside the church

The Fall ended with another quick trip to Boise. This time it was for Thanksgiving. Andrew and I spend most of Thanksgiving with the Alders and had a great time. Sheryl and I watched all the boys play in the annual Turkey Bowl, we all ate an amazing Thanksgiving dinner, Andrew and I had dessert with the Allreds/Blackburns and I ended the weekend with shopping on Black Friday with my mom and sister.

Andrew in running the ball

(He was by far the best player of the whole game)

Preston, Blake and Craig

The Turkey Bowl players

Thanksgiving Dinner

"OH SEPTEMBER".....

2009-11-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

September was a month of getting use to life in America again. We do miss things about the Middle East (the heat, our awesome shower, long bumpy bus rides, our apartment guard Mussin, the lack of pork, the call to prayer 5 times a day, and Ahmed.... just to name a few) but it sure is nice to be back. September was eventful and busy but lots of fun.

First, we were so blessed that Chana got a job within a week of being back in the states. She worked hard in Jordan searching the web and emailing potential places for a job. She hadn't heard much back from anybody until the night we got back when she found a message from The Black Goose Design on her phone that we had left with her parents. She called them back the next morning and they wanted her to come in for an interview ASAP. So we left Boise early and made the trek down to Utah. Not surprisingly she rocked her interviews and got the job. Best of all she is doing what she loves - designing! She has to commute to Midvale five days a week but for our situation and how the economy is doing we won't complain.

Second, we got to meet for the first time our brand new (and first) niece who was born in June while we were gone. Eric, Rachel, and Lucy came to Utah to do Lucy's baby blessing and of course mom and dad Alder came too. Craig also got back from his mission while we were gone so it was the first that with the whole family together. Lucy is awesome and she quickly decided that Chana and Andrew are her favorite aunt and uncle.

Third, Chana turned 23. Chana doesn't really like to celebrate birthdays and against her will mom and dad Allred came down for the weekend to party. The dad had tickets for us to all go to the BYU game and after that we went out to eat at Chana's least favorite restaurant, The Pizza Factory. Chana also hates sweets, but we forced her to eat some cake and ice cream. Lucky for her though she got a brand new sewing machine as a present.

The whole family at Lucy's blessing

Moving back in

Dad enjoying the game

Rise and shout, the cougars are out...

Mom and Chana frosting the carrot cake

THE HOLY LAND...

2009-09-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

Although this is a month overdue we just wanted to write a little post with some pictures of our trip to Israel/Palestine on our way home from the Middle East. It was HOT and tiring because we were going going going, but also relaxing because Andrew was done with all of his big tests and we were pretty much just on vacation. We saw some awesome things and it was an educational experience we will never forget.

We spent the first few days up north in Nazareth and around the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth is where the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, where Jesus spent his childhood, and where he began his ministry by announcing in the synagogue that he was the fulfillment of prophecy. It’s a fun little city mostly populated by Christian and Muslim Arabs and has beautiful churches. We stayed for two nights in a convent that is run by a French order of nuns. Under the convent we got to see ruins of a first century house that is traditionally believed to be Joseph’s house.

In the Galilee was stayed for two nights in Tiberias in a hotel right on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. The sight from the balcony of our room was beautiful. Christ did much of is teaching and preformed many miracles on and around the Sea of Galilee. On Saturday (the Sabbath in Israel) we took a boat ride across the Galilee before church. The church building in Galilee is incredible. It’s up on a hill and behind the pulpit are a big glass wall and a balcony overlooking the Sea. After church we toured the cities and churches in the area including Capernaum (home of Peter and where Jesus spent much of his time) and the church of the Beatitudes.

The rest of our time we stayed in the BYU Jerusalem Center, which is on the top of Mount Scopus overlooking the Old City. The center is absolutely incredible and we loved our stay there. We had breakfast and dinner in the cafeteria everyday and we had sack lunches waiting for us at breakfast to take on our daily excursions. We did everything most tourists would do in Jerusalem (Temple Mount, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Garden Tomb, Gethsemane, Bethlehem, Orson Hyde Gardens, the four quarters of the Old City, Western Wall, etc.). In addition, however, almost every night we had some kind of lecture, which made it more of an educational experience. We heard from and met numerous people involved in the government and public policy including Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, an Australian, and a Brit. One of the coolest was a renowned leftist Israeli attorney who took us on a tour of the security wall and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It was kind of surreal to be right there in the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You can feel the tension and the more you see it in real life and learn about it from both sides the more you feel like it’s kind of a hopeless situation.

On a happy note we loved Israeli. It was, in a way, a dream come true to be right there where so much history has occurred, including so much history of the three major monotheistic religions of the world. The atmosphere and feeling is like no other place either of us has been in the world. The trip was a perfect way to end our four month journey in the Middle East.

A beautiful view of Nazareth from the roof of the convent

The Church of the Annunciation

Chana twirling yarn at the Nazareth Experience

(It was a little museum where you got to see everything how it would have been during Christ's day.)

The view from the church building in Tiberias

The city gates of Capernaum

Remains of a Synagogue in which Christ taught

The Security Wall separating Israel and the West Bank

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

(It was like a huge zoo in there... people everywhere.)

The Garden Tomb- a beautiful and peaceful place

The Garden of Gethsemane

The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount

More of the Dome of the Rock.

IT WAS AMAZING

The view from the Orson Hyde Gardens

The Western Wall of the Temple Mount (aka. Wailing Wall) on a Friday Night

SABBATH FRIDAY...

2009-08-07T23:44:00.000-07:00

So we thought we would post a few pictures of what we do on Friday.... our Sabbath day. Because Friday is a holiday in Islam the Middle East has their weekends on Friday and Saturday and so Sunday is a normal work/school day. So we go to church on Friday. We’ve been part of the Amman branch for the summer, which consists of mostly expatriates working for government agencies and other companies, a number of Arab Christians, and for the summer half of the branch was BYU students. There is also a branch up North in Irbid which is made up mostly of Arabs. We went up there for a weekend to visit two weeks ago and had a great time. It’s been such a blessing to have the church as a place of refuge and to feel the spirit of the members here.

P.S. We leave for Israel/Palestine in two days!

Andrew with our favorite old Arab member, Solomon (Sue-lay-mon)

Chana was asked to work with the Young Women this summer. They LOVE her and are really sad she has to leave.

We love this Sri Lankan family. There is also a father and two daughters in Young Womens with Chana.

Andrew and Stevey (named after Stevey Wonder) playing at his house.

Chana and Stephanie

This is a lady we stayed with overnight in Irbid when we went to church up North. She's not a member of the church but lets the students stay at her house

The church in Irbid

A LITTLE BIT OF RANDOMNESS...

2009-08-07T03:43:00.000-07:00

Since our last major trip to Petra nothing specifically big and exciting has happened. But we have been on some little adventures, had some neat experience, and met new people. So for this post we thought we would post a random sampling of pictures we brief explanations of what we've been up to.

Andrew playing with some Palestinian kids

Two of Andrew's teachers (Ahlam and Heeyam)

Andrew and a few other students were invited to give a presentation to a class on campus about stereotypes. Afterward class they met two sisters (Abeer and Aya) who eventually invited them (and their wives) out to their home just outside of Amman. The dad works for the government so they have a beautiful home and just the nicest family. We ate more than we could handle and we will forever be grateful for their amazing generosity and hospitality.

Hanging out on campus

(Andrew spends a lot of time here)

We went to a beautiful place called Ajlun and did a hike/service project with some of the Amman branch members. In the picture Andrew is riding a donkey with Tutu. Tutu is a member kid in primary. He, his mom, and his little brother are from Taiwan.

We went a little place called Jerash North of Amman. It's basically an ancient Roman city that is super well preserved. We saw some cool ruins and had a great time just exploring.

This is an old chariot race arena in Jerash

In front of the chariot race arena in Jerash

We visited a place called Umm Qais up North. From this view you are standing in Jordan but you can see the Sea of Galilee in Israel (top left corner) and the Golan Heights/Syrian border to the right.

Here we are playing with some kids at an orphanage

(They loved Chana even though she doesn't speak any Arabic)

More playing with the kids

مي, L'EAU, ВОДА, WATER...

2009-07-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

Getting water in the Middle East is no easy task. A typical Jordanian family gets water once a week. The city fills up a tank on the top of their house/apartment through a serious of pipes. The water runs through the pipes for 24 complete hours and that is it. Once the tank is filled that’s all the water you get for the week. Since we have 40+ wasteful Americans living in one building we pay to have a private water truck come once a week in addition to our weekly city fill up. The water truck looks kind of like a gasoline truck and there is always water leaking from the tank and hoses (seems a little inefficient for a country that has water issues).

This week we thought we would document the truck arriving and filling up the tanks. Here is a little slideshow.... (as you are looking through these pictures imagine water leaking from the hose and out the back of the truck.)

The arrival

Little boy throwing rope up to Muhsan (the guard) on the roof

Little boy tying rope to water hose

Mushan pulling water hose to roof from little boy

The final product: water hose filling up tank on the roof

(This is where the water really starts to leak. There are holes all over the hose.)

A WONDER OF THE WORLD...

2009-07-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was our much-anticipated trip South to Petra, Wadi Rum, and Karak. We left Saturday morning and returned Monday night. That means everyone got two days off from classes – which none of us complained about.

Saturday was an early start. We left Amman at 5:00 a.m. and headed for Petra. Petra is by far the highlight of any tourist trip to Jordan. It is one of the new 7 wonders of the world and is an absolutely incredible site. It’s basically an ancient city carved into rocks and mountains tucked away in a remote valley basin in the middle of southern Jordan’s Shara mountains. It’s shielded from the outside world behind a huge barrier of rock.

The area of Petra has a long history and is even mentioned in the Old Testament. It’s believed to be where the Israelites came after forty years in the desert. In the hills just above Petra is where God commanded Moses to produce water for the Israelites by speaking to a rock. Petra’s golden age, however, came during the first centuries BC and AD under the Nabateans with a population of about 30,000. During that time it was a wealthy cosmopolitan city. A hundred years later the city was passed into Roman hands and declined from there. It was unknown for hundreds of years until a British explorer stumbled upon it in the early 19^th century.

Petra is difficult to describe in words and pictures don’t do justice. It’s just something you have to see. We were in the city for about seven hours and still didn’t see everything. It was blistering hot and we walked for miles – and drank a ton of water. We did two major hikes – one to the summit of a big mountain to “The High Place of Sacrifice” where they sacrificed animals and perhaps even humans. The view was amazing. The other hike was up to a huge monastery carved into the mountainside.

The next day we went further south to a place called Wadi Rum. You don’t usually think of the dessert as being very pretty but it was gorgeous (and hot). We stayed at a Bedouin camp and slept in Bedouin tents. We hiked sand dunes, went on a truck ride through the dessert with the Bedouins, ate their food, and watched a stunning sunset. If anyone reading this is familiar with Lawrence of Arabia and the movie made about him, he is believed to have gone through this desert during his journey a lot of the movie was filmed here.

On the way home we stopped in Karak and went through an old crusader castle. It was really cool too but this post is turning into a novel so I’m going to end it with that. It was difficult to decide what pictures to put up.... here is a small sample of our trip!

The canyon that you walk through to get to Petra

The first thing you see as you walk out of the canyon (aka The Treasury)

Part of Petra

Chana wanted to marry this donkey, we saw him on our way up to the Monastery

(no I didn't but he does look so cute)

The Monastery

The Beduin camp that we were staying at in Wadi Rum

Chana next to our tent

(it was camel hair fabric which made it incredibly and uncomfortably hot)

The trucks we rode through the dessert in

The view of the dessert from the sand dunes

Our truck group

The beautiful sunset

Karak castle

MY HUSBAND THE FIREFIGHTER...

2009-07-16T03:19:00.000-07:00

Being summer here, Jordan is very hot and very very dry. We live in an area of town where they are just beginning to develop. Because of this we are living next to an empty field. In this field there are multiple weeds, grasses and other brush that is very very dry. The other thing about Jordan is the service people. They are very kind but they do their job their way and there is no telling them to do it differently. One day our program director (Dil) saw our garbage man burning some of the paper products he had gathered from the dumpster (apparently he does this so that he doesn’t have to take it to the dump). The only problem with this was that the fire we was starting was right next to our building. Dil proceeded to tell him that if he ever saw him starting anything on fire next to our building he was going to report him. The next day Andrew woke up early and looked out he window to see a fire in the field next to us. Seconds later the Amman Fire Department was there. We assume that it was our same beloved garbage man.

A couple days went by and everything calmed down. Until one Saturday, Andrew and I walked out of our building with another couple to find another fire. Robert (the other husband and our assistant director) called Muhsan (he’s the "harris", guard in English, of our apartment building) but he was going to be a couple of minutes so Andrew and Robert decided to take matters into their own hands. They ran inside the building and grabbed the fire hose out of the hallway. Then they dragged the hose out to the fire and started to turn it on when Muhsan got there. He decided that he and his friend could take it from there. Andrew did however go supervise and made sure the fire was completely out. After the flames were gone the boys helped Muhsan put the hoses back. We had an eventful afternoon to say the least and knowing that Andrew has such skills puts me at ease. I know our building will never burn down with him around.

The actual Amman Fire Department

Andrew pulling out the hose

(Look at that boy's smile... he is so excited to put out the fire.)

THE FIRE

Andrew supervising Muhsan, making sure the flames are completely out

Putting the hose away

HERE COMES THE BRIDE...

2009-07-06T11:37:00.001-07:00

You may recall a previous post about visiting a traditional Arab family in a small village just outside of Amman (where we ate goat brain, tongue, etc.). Well since our visit I (Andrew) have stayed good friends with Ahmed and last weekend we were invited out to his house again to attend his sister’s wedding party. It was a Thursday night (which is the beginning of our weekend here) so at about 4:00 we bought some flowers for the bride, found a bus heading to the village, and saddled up for a long night.

When we arrived to Salt Ahmed picked us up and took us the rest of the way to his house. We were the first guests to arrive so we got to see the decorated house before everyone got there (which was especially cool for us guys to see where the women would be partying before we had to split up). There were two huge red throne chairs up on a platform for the bride and groom and we got to sit on them and take pictures. Once the guests started to arrive the guys went outside to sit around and shoot the breeze for the rest of the night while drinking tea and coffee and smoking. We also set off fireworks from the roof of the house during the middle of the party. As for the women – they danced.... and danced.... and danced. And apparently they were all dressed up in fancy outfits, (for example- one of the sisters was wearing black fish net leggings, a really short skirt blue and white skirt with a matching spaghetti top shirt and lots of black necklaces) and dresses. Chana describes the bride as wearing a big blue puffy prom dress.

At about 10:00 we were invited to a room upstairs and somebody went and got our wives to meet us up there. It was totally unexpected but because we couldn’t go to the mansaf party the next day (we had church) they prepared a little mansaf dinner just for the 5 of us! It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture (mansaf is not a quick fix) and once again another demonstration of their generous hospitality. This time it was with chicken as opposed to the goat meat we had last time. After we ate and sat around for a while we were invited back downstairs. All the guests had left and it was just the family. Because it was just family the guys and girls got back together and they had a little family dance party and wanted us to join. So we danced.... and danced... and danced some more. Finally we told them we needed to go (it was past midnight by this point) despite their begging us to spend the night. They refused to let us take a taxi home so ended up driving us all the way back to Amman (and absolutely refused to let us give them ANY gas money).

We’ve been lucky to have some authentic cultural experiences with the people here, which most foreigners visiting the Middle East would never have. It’s helped us understand and gain a greater appreciation for the people here and what they have to offer.

Us sitting on the heart shaped thrones

(This is where the bride sat during the party and where the bride and groom sit during the ceremony the next day.)

Ahmed's parents sitting on the thrones

(Notice the flowers: we gave those to the bride.)

Where the guys hung out and where the ceremony takes place the next day

(The ceremony consists of the groom coming and giving the bride a ring and a necklace. Then they drive to their new home followed by all of the guests who attended the wedding honking their horns the whole way.)

The five of us plus Ahmed's brother-in-law eating Mansaf

Ahmed's brother-in-law, his brother Sayel, Andrew, and Chana

Part of Ahmed's family

HOME, SWEET HOME...

2009-07-02T02:50:00.000-07:00

Although we had some complications with our apartment when we first got here to Amman (no stove, no air conditioning, only mini-bar refrigerators, and spotty electricity) we have learned to love our little home for the summer (especially since yesterday when our air conditioning finally got fixed)! One thing we especially love is our location. We live in a nicer part of town (NOTE: we are living in a third world country, so when we say nicer it is all relative) and are about a 15-minute walk to campus and about a 20-minute taxi ride to almost anywhere in the city. Since we live near the University our apartments were designed for four single students, which makes living here as two married couples a little interesting, but we make it work. Since we have been here almost two months we thought you would all enjoy a little picture tour of our apartment.

The dining table

The living room

More of the living room

(When we moved in we found six little side tables, who really knows what they are all for.)

The kitchen and stove

(The stove has enough room for one 9x13 pan.)

More of the kitchen

The communal refrigerator.

(It's a little bigger than the mini fridges we have in our bedrooms.)

Our little bathroom

(Notice the square on the floor- That's our shower. Everything in the entire bathroom gets wet when you take a shower!)

The other side of the bathroom and our washing machine

(The washing machine fits about 4 pairs of pants... that's it!)

Our bedroom

(The mini fridge fits in the cabinet under the T.V.)

More of the bedroom

(All the furniture for the bedroom looks like old hotel furniture with brown little spots of paint all over them where they were damaged when moving them.)

A DOSE OF REALITY...

2009-06-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief (inferred from all previous posts), we are not just on a summer long vacation riding camels, swimming in beautiful slot canyons, visiting ancient religious and archeological sites, and shooting the breeze with Arabs. There actually is a purpose in our being here and we’ve even developed daily and weekly routines here in Amman. We thought we would add a quick post filling in the gaps – explaining what we do in between our weekend excursions.

ANDREW: Every day Andrew wakes up at about 6:30 to work on homework. He studies for about an hour before he heads off to the University. The University is about a 15-minute walk from our house, which is nice and convenient. At the University he takes a variety of classes all of which are in Arabic and range from writing to international relations. After hours of classes (some days 1 hour other days 5 hours) he heads off to do his speaking. He is required to speak at least two hours of Arabic with native speakers outside of class each day. Andrew typically goes around campus and talks with friends he has made. Some days he switches things up by going to mosques to speak with sheiks or by going downtime to talk to shop owners and people in coffee shops and restaurants. The other major half of his homework is to spend 2-3 hours a day reading and translating Arabic newspapers, which he does sometime in between classes and speaking. He finally returns home between 5:00 and 6:00. We eat dinner and then some nights he gets to play and other nights he has newspaper homework or other assignments from classes to work on. He has been an Arabic machine all summer! I’ve been amazed at the progress he has made.

CHANA: Every day is a little different for me. But they all start with all of the wives coming over to work out. The gyms here are very expensive and most don’t allow women, so we have made our own gym in our living room. We work out to a couple of different videos throughout the week. After that my days vary with what day of the week it is. Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday I go to a beginning Arabic class. Andrew’s program director started it for us so that we could learn to read signs, recognize numbers and tell the taxi drivers how to get us home. We still have a long way to go, but it makes the days go faster. On Monday and Wednesday I spend most of my time at home reading books and working on my online class (it’s true I have one more class until I officially graduate from BYU- actually I only have two more lessons and a final!) Throughout the week I do laundry, clean the house, and sometimes go on outings. As wives we try to keep ourselves as busy as possible. Some of our outings have included lunch and swimming at the American Embassy, shopping, making and taking baby hats to the hospital, and exploring our neighborhood.

On Friday Andrew and I go to church and spend the day together. On Saturday we typically have an outing planned with the group or we create one ourselves. Then next thing we know the week starts all over again. Although life is VERY different here we love it. It has been such an amazing experience and we are sad to see the days passing so quickly..... well, kind of.

Andrew after a long day of studying Arabic

Chana next to the flowers Andrew bought her for our 9 month anniversary

"I'M SITTING ON A CITADEL, CONTEMPLATING LIFE"...

2009-06-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took a break from traveling outside of Amman and spent some time in the city. Just the two of us kind of took it easy and spent the day together. Of course we had to get out of the house so our adventure for the day was a trip to the Citadel in downtown Amman. It is basically a big hill in the middle of the city and from the top you get a beautiful panoramic view of Amman. The hill has been the focus of human settlement in the area since the Paleolithic Age, more than 18,000 years ago. When the Romans settled in the area they threw much of the remains from the previous ages over the slopes, much of which was later found mixed in with the Roman remains.

At the top of the hill is a pretty good archeological museum that displays the remains of the various ages. Just outside the museum are the remains of the Temple of Hercules, built by the Romans during the same time that the famous Roman Amphitheatre was built at the base of the hill. On the other side of the museum is a big Ummayad Palace (Ummayad refers to an early Islamic time period) that was built over pre-existing Roman structures in the 8^thcentury. Anyways, most of you reading this probably have no interest in that brief history lesson but it’s nonetheless a place with a rich history and provides an awesome view of the city.

Picturesque view of Amman

(They love their Jordanian flags here!)

At the top of the Citadel (the Roman Amphitheater is in the left corner)

The Temple of Hercules

The Ummayad Palace

400 METERS BELOW SEA LEVEL...

2009-06-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we made a trip to Christ’s baptismal site and the Dead Sea. Like many other ancient sites in the Middle East the baptismal site is only a guess and likely not the exact spot where he was baptized. There is, however, greater substantial evidence than other sites and was only recently discovered. About ten years ago archeologists discovered Byzantine churches and other various Byzantine artifacts that revealed where they (the Byzantines) believed the baptismal site to be. Of course the Byzantines didn’t come until a few hundred years after Christ was baptized but it’s still a significant discovery that gives greater credence to claiming it as “the place.” The Jordan River is narrow and super dirty but it was nonetheless a special experience to stand on the ground where Christ himself walked and taught.

After the baptismal site we made our way 400 meters below sea level to the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth. The rumor is true – the water really is so buoyant that it’s literally impossible to sink! As you walk in your feet are forced from under you and if you lie back the water supports you like a cradle. It’s so salty though that the coolness of floating in the Dead Sea wears off pretty fast and you want to get out. It feels like you are covered in oil and the salt stings every part of the body. It was still way worth it though. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in a beautiful chlorinated pool overlooking the Dead Sea. We definitely had another successful weekend excursion.

Standing in front of the alleged place of Christ's baptism

A section of the Jordan River

Dipping into the Jordan River

(you can actually be baptized there, but we decided our toes were enough)

One of the signs marking sea level

Floating in the Dead Sea

A view from the pool overlooking the Dead Sea

OUR NIECE... LUCY!

2009-06-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

Eric and Rachel welcomed little Lucy Alder into the world on June 6, 2009 at about 6:00 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time that is) and we became an aunt and uncle! We are so excited for Eric and Rachel and can’t wait to meet Lucy in August. It made us homesick to be so far a way during all the excitement but we are so happy she’s here and everything went well.... as far as we know (we still haven’t gotten the whole story and fill a little neglected). Here is a small sample of the pictures we’ve received so far, we think she’s adorable! Congratulations Eric and Rachel. We love you!

Eric, Rachel, Lucy and Kristen (Rachel's sister) at the hospital

She definitely got Eric's long chicken legs

(but we think they are perfect)

WHO SAYS THERE IS NO WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST...

2009-06-12T03:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went with a group of about ten to a place called Wadi Mujib. It was one of the most beautiful sites we’ve visited so far and definitely a must do if you ever tour Jordan! It’s a narrow slot canyon that leads up to a huge waterfall. You start at the base, which flows into the Dead Sea, and then hike up about a mile to the waterfall. You are in water the whole time but sometimes it’s only ankle deep while in other areas the water is over your head. There are a few mini waterfalls where you use ropes and ladders to climb up and then some fun rocks to do a little cliff jumping. It’s definitely no cakewalk and Chana showed how hardcore she really is.... she needed very little help. It was super refreshing to get out of the heat and into some water while enjoying the beautiful scenery!

The mouth of the canyon where our adventure began

Part of the river inside of the canyon

One of the mini waterfalls where you had to use a rope to get to the top

A view of the canyon

The waterfall at the end of the adventure

The group behind the waterfall

CAMPING AND DANCING WITH BEDUINS...

2009-05-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend (weekends in the Middle East are Friday and Saturday) a member of the church put together a two-day trip to some beautiful remote areas south of Amman where many Jordanian Beduins live . The trip was about $75 per person so we had originally decided to not do it. Well Thursday night we got a call from the guy and to make a long story short there were two open spots and he offered them to us.... FOR FREE! So we said yes, packed our backpacks, and left with the group Friday morning after church.

Our first stop was the Shobak castle which was the first castle to be built by the Crusaders in Transjordan. The castle had all sorts of cool things like chapels, tunnels, and secret passage ways that we messed around in. It's most famous for a huge pitch-black tunnel that goes down in the ground forever. It ends at a ditch with the clearest water we've ever seen (especially in the Middle East) running through it. After the Shoback castle we traveled to Dana Village which is a small Bedouin oasis overlooking the rift valley. When it's dark you can look across the valley and see the lights of Palestine (Israel). We watched the sunset, made some beduin friends who showed us their gardens, ate dinner (which was.... interesting) and then had a little dance party. Our beduin buddies played the bongo drums and sang Arab music for hours. They made us dance with them which was a real cultural experience. Our rooms for the night were tents on the roof of the hotel because they didn't have enough rooms inside the hotel.

The next morning Andrew woke up early and went on a little adventure walk, then we had breakfast (which consisted of stale pita bread, jam, tomatoes and cucumbers) and then drove to the Dana nature reserve which is just below the little village. It was a beautiful area and we did a couple hours of hiking. Then we drove to a city called Karak where we had a big traditional mansaf lunch waiting for us (mansaf is the Jordanian national food that we experienced with Ahmed's family in the previous post). Only this time we ate with utensils and there was no goat brain and tongue (darn). After that we had a couple more hours on the bus back to Amman.

Overall it was a pretty awesome deal for getting to go for free!

The Crusader Castle

Beduins in their traditional clothing

(These ones were on the side of the road next to the castle.)

A beautiful home in Dana Village

Our tent on top of the roof of the hotel

(The hotel is from the middle ages so it was terrifying sleeping on the roof... you never knew when it was going to cave in.)

Sunset over looking the rift valley

Us watching the Beduin party

Dancing with the Beduins

The Beduin Band

(The one in the hat is the man from our branch. He grew up as a Beduin.)

Part of the Dana Nature Reserve where we hiked

EXPERIENCING AUTHENTIC ARAB CULTURE

2009-05-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

We’ve been in Amman for about two weeks now and recently had our first experience at a traditional Arab family’s home.... and it was quite the experience to say the least!

As part of Andrew’s homework and quest to learn Arabic he is required to speak at least two hours a day outside of class and make Arab friends. On one of our first days here he met his first friend Ahmed. Ahmed is a student at the university (so Andrew is able to practice Arabic with him almost day) but is from a small village just outside of a small town called Salt which is just outside of Amman. Last Saturday we were invited to his home for “mansaf” which is a famous Jordanian dish. Little did we know we were in for a cultural experience of a lifetime.

Our day started by meeting Ahmed and his brother who drives a big van at about 1:00 near the university in Amman. In order for Chana to not be the lone girl we invited one of our married couple friends to come along and another one of Andrew’s friends from the program also came. Although you always risk your life with an Arab at the wheel the drive was beautiful and we eventually made it to his home and instantly became the greatest celebrities the village has ever seen. When we first arrived we met some of the family members and were taken to their front room where we sat around on small mats and pillows that line the walls. The dad and some of his brothers sat with us smoking and drinking their tea. We warned Ahmed ahead of time that we don’t drink tea and coffee so they had water and juice to ready to serve us. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left we were constantly being offered something. Because it was a very traditional Islamic family we didn’t see the women much and as soon as dinner was ready Chana and Gloria (the other American wife) headed off to eat with the women....

Eating with the women: As soon as we left the men we were ushered into a small room with more mats and pillows. Before we could sit down we asked Ahmed’s sisters if we could go see the kitchen and final meal preparations. That’s when the surprise came for us... two huge plates of mansuf with a boiled goat head on each plate sitting on the floor. Ahmed’s mother was finishing pouring the yogurt sauce in the bowls. We then went back to the little room and ate with three of the sisters and their daughters. Two girls showed us how to peel the meat from the bones (the men got both goat heads so we didn’t have to deal with those) and pour the sauce. We were women so we actually got to eat with spoons. Also because the room was only filled with women the girls didn’t wear their hijabs. The girls were so kind and did everything to make us feel comfortable.

Eating with the men: Before I (Andrew) knew it we were brought two huge platters of mansuf. Mansuf is basically rice flavored with sour yogurt sauce and some kind of meat (sounds gross but it’s quite tasty). What was different this time, however, is in the middle of both platters was a goat head. This was one of the most generous families I’ve ever met and we are pretty sure they killed two of their goats just for us. In their culture it’s a big deal to get that much meat, and considered a great honor to eat the head. The traditional way to eat mansaf is to sit on the floor and eat with your hands. You only use your right hand and you basically make rice balls mixed with meat and nuts and pop it into your mouth. After eating for a while the dad came in with a knife and started cutting up the head. He started by cutting off the tongue and dividing it up between the three of us. Then he cut a hole in the head and pulled out the brains. It wasn’t the easiest thing to eat but they didn’t stop serving so we ate until we couldn’t put anything else down.

After dinner they brought the wives back and we sat and talked and were served more drinks (Arabs sit a lot). Then we went outside to see the family’s goats (they had sixteen) and they took us to the roof of their house were you get a good view of the village. Then we went to the brothers house on the second floor and sat some more....and we were served cookies, fruit, drinks, etc. We sat in a room and listened to the Quran being recited on the TV for about an hour.

Then we went outside and they showed us their land where they grow grapes, olive trees, tobacco, etc. We kept walking and they took us to some caves in the foothills. One of the caves had a bunch of holes in the wall that they claim to be former Roman tombs. No kidding we saw human bones. After some time we headed back to the house and everyone told us goodbye. The women were so cute and all wanted pictures with Chana and Gloria. But that wasn’t the end. We told the family goodbye and got in the van with Ahmed and his brother Sayel to head up a mountain to a view that overlooks Palestine (Israel.... but Arabs don’t like to call it Israel). We spent the next 3 hours watching the sunset, sitting around a campfire, drinking more juice and Pepsi, talking, cooking wheat in the fire, watching them smoke tobacco from their massive pipe, and we even had a little dance party. Finally at about 11:30 we told them we should probably get going. They wanted us to just sleep at their house and offered us to take us to school in the morning. That wasn’t going to work out so well so we talked them into taking us back to Amman that night.

It was a long day but truly a priceless cultural experience. We were touched by their generosity and sincerity and hopefully learned something from their example of the importance of the family and what’s most important in life.

This is just a few members of the family on the roof of their house. Ahmed is sitting to the right of Andrew

Chana with some of the girls

They taught Chana how to open the petals of the flowers and make earrings

Andrew with Sayel (Ahmed's brother) in one of the caves

Sayel, Colby, Andrew, Chana, Carl, Ahmed

Lounging on the mountain before sunset

(don't worry.... we didn't smoke that huge pipe behind us)

Ahmed teaching Chana how to release the seeds out of the wheat

BOAT RIDE FROM HELL AND GETTING SETTLED IN AMMAN

2009-05-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

After a day of bliss in a posh Hilton hotel on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba we woke up to a huge windstorm (In Arabic its called a "Khamsiin"). As a result our scheduled touristy ferry ride to Aqaba city in Jordan was cancelled. At the last minute we got tickets on a poor man's cow ferry. It was a joke trying to get 45 Americans with all our suitcases through security and on the boat. After getting kicked out of a restaurant because we didn't want to order meals they finally found seating for us on an area of the boat without air conditioning. Apparently these boats don't have scheduled departure times so they just leave when they feel like it. We ended up sitting on the boat playing scum for about 3 hours before we even left the dock.... rocking back and forth. Finally we left and the actual boat ride was about 5 hours (the original ferry was supposed to be 2-3 hours). We passed most of the time with more scum.... except that I (Andrew) got a terrible headache and had to walk around. I ended up on the top deck taking pictures. When I tried to go back down all the doors were locked. To make a long story short I had to squeeze through two guys and run past a security guy to get back to Chana and my bags. Unloading the boat and getting through customs is another story in itself. We arrived in Aqaba late in the evening, stayed the night in a hotel, and got on a bus the next morning to Amman.

So now we are getting settled in our new home in Amman for the next 3 months. Amman is very different from Cairo.... much calmer and cleaner (not clean.... just cleaner than Cairo). The Jordanians are super nice and we haven't had any problems. We live right next to the university in a pretty nice neighborhood. I'm trying to get used to a new Arabic dialect (and just trying to understand and speak Arabic in general!) and Chana is trying to get used to life in a totally foreign country not speaking the language at all. She is a trooper though and even took a taxi to Carrefour (like a Wal-mart but nicer) with another wife who doesn't speak any Arabic. I'm so proud of her. She's put up with a lot of hard things and has been so willing to accompany me on this adventure and has such an awesome attitude.

Sorry this post was so long! We finally have internet now so we will update more often and not cram so much in one post.... Inshah Allah (that means "God willing" and the Arabs say it after everything.... so if something doesn't work out it's not our fault, God just didn't will it).

This is a shot of the Gulf of Aqaba from the top deck of the boat ride from Hell. That's my friend sleeping.

This is our hotel room in Sinai. It wasn't top of the line but it was fun.

Back patio of our hotel room at the Nweiba Hilton.... it was pretty nice.

In Nuweiba, on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba

From our apartment complex in Amman. Jordan University is just down that street.

MISS AMERICAN AND ARAB MAN...

2009-05-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I have been in Egypt for officially one week and it has been crazy. We arrived in Cairo last Sunday after twenty-four hours of traveling to turn around and board a night train to Luxor. We spent a couple days in Luxor where we saw a few ancient temples, tombs and rode on a sailboat down the Nile. After Luxor we headed on another night train to Cairo where our first encounter with our hotel bellboy was him saying to me (Chana) "Hello Miss American." From that point on I became the "Miss American" (it was never Miss America but ALWAYS Miss American) of the Pyrimisa hotel in Cairo. Our first day in the city we went on a tour of Islamic Cairo and saw the progression of the Islamic mosques in Egypt as technology and culture changed. The way the tour worked was we started at one mosque then rode the bus a ways to another mosque and then we all got out and went on a death march as we walked through the slums of Cairo looking at many of the smaller less known working mosques. It was hot, dirty and we walked for miles... The mosques were amazing but the part that really hit Andrew and I was the poverty level. While in Cairo Andrew and I also went to the Pyramids at Giza, the Egyptian Museum, went to church at the Cairo branch and did some souvenir shopping. Yesterday we went to Sinai and hiked Mt. Sinai (or so the people claim it is Mt. Sinai). This again was another death march... hot, dirty (there was camel poop everywhere), and long (it took two and a half hours to hike up and an hour and a half to hike down), but the view and experience was amazing. Today we came to Nuweiba (a little town on the Gulf of Aqaba) and it is amazing. After a long week of traveling we finally got a break. We laid on the beach, swam in the Red Sea and played in the pool all day long. The adventures will continue tomorrow with a ferry to Aqaba and then a bus to Amman on Tuesday. We'll post again when we can but for now, here are some pictures to aid in the description of the adventures we have been having...

A peasant man sitting in a window of the Karnak Temples in Luxor

Andrew helping the native row our sail boat because there wasn't enough wind to get us down the Nile River

Sunset on the Nile

The second mosque of the day... it is a working mosque so the girls had to cover their hair with scarfs

At the Pyramids Andrew and I rode a CAMEL

Mt. Sinai... we hiked from way lower than where this picture was taken all the way to the top

On top of Mt. Sinai

WE'VE OFFICIALLY JOINED THE BLOGGING WORLD...

2009-04-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

... MAKING YOU THE LUCKIEST PEOPLE ALIVE (according to Andrew).