AS-SA LAA MU ALEE KUM

October 19, 2007 Friday

AS-SA LAA MU ALEE KUM (Hello…. Peace be upon you)

Another week, already! We first want to say “THANK YOU” to all of you that write us. What a blessing to feel such support and encouragement. It’s been wonderful getting your e-mails; we look forward to them so much. It’s great to hear what’s going on in each of your lives. It sure helps us feel connected and not so far away. Isn’t e-mail great?

We have had a good week. We have had the opportunity to meet with some of the Government Officials this week. Introducing ourselves and letting them know we are here in this area and what we are doing. The president of one of the NGO’s that we have been working with wanted to take us to meet the Governor of Al Husan and the Director of Social Development. Then we went to meet the Governor of Irbid. We had wonderful visits and hope to be meeting with them again soon. Irbid is supposable one of the largest populated cities in Jordan. I always thought that Amman was bigger. Amman is much more modern and has many more different cultures residing there, but Erbid has more people living in the city and the outlining areas. When we drive in the downtown sections of Erbid it is quite the experience. We see all variations of life styles. A live goat may be tied up in front of one of the small market shops and the next minute you don’t see it and then it is dragged back in front of the shop, dead, ready for gutting and being prepared and skinned right there on the street. The next shop might be a beautiful clothing store. Then the next could be a “hole in the wall" hardware store or fresh produce market. No rhyme or reason to the set up. There are so many different little markets and shops all over the city with the people living on top or behind/beside their business. I really don’t know how they all stay in business. But it seems to be a real social gathering for the owners and their families. If they don’t have enough change they run over to the next business and see if they have any. When you get outside of the downtown area the houses are clustered together throughout the countryside. Some live in tents, some live in very poor circumstances and then others have nice homes. There are a few people that have become rich because of the war and have come here to live because things are much more settled here than Syria, Iraq or the other Arab countries. That’s comforting to know. We are still on an on-going alert and have a plan to evacuate at any given time. Irbid is not far from the village we live in. We have some of our members of the church that live there and have to take taxis or the bus to get to church in Al Husan. It’s a challenge.

Ramadan is over. There have been celebrations going on all over the country. It’s one big party. We go to bed listening to loud music playing and fireworks going off. Gun shots blasting in the air with yelping and howling! This is the time for many weddings also. Yesterday we came home and heard drums playing from one of the neighboring homes. I looked out our kitchen window (we live on the second story of our building) and saw a large group of men filing out of the gate in one massive force, dancing and chanting down the street with the women and children following. It is the wedding dance for the groom and all the males gathered for the wedding celebration. It was so fun to listen and watch them. It was so impressive to watch them dancing in rhythm and listen to them chant their songs. It reminds me of "line-dancing” but much more rhythmic and Jordanian.

------------------October 20, 2007-------------------

It’s Saturday morning and I’m trying to finish this up. Our alarm went off this morning. Now, we have two alarms that go off at different times. One at 5:00 am... a loud speaker chanting a long on-going chant over a loud speaker from the nearby Mosque and the other is the bus starting at 6:15 with 4 rapid honks and then one long held honk that seems to last for minutes with another 30 seconds later. So we pick which one we want to get up to. Our problem? We can’t turn them off!!!!! The horns go off every 15 minutes or so for the rest of the morning till about 9:00. We live by a bus stop that picks up and drops off the university students.

Yesterday at church (remember Friday is our Sabbath day) we had a Peace Corp worker come with her father, mother and brother that were visiting from the US. We had them over for dinner after church along with 2 other missionary couples that were visiting. It was enjoyable having them over for the day. For a pre-dinner meal we served them some Zatiar (a spice that resembles thyme), some Jordanian bread (which resembles Pita bread), and some olive oil used for dipping (olive oil made from the trees that are grown here). The Zatiar is placed in a small community bowl and the olive oil is place in a small bowl and the bread is placed on a large platter so each person can take one and tear it in bite-sized pieces. Then you dip the torn piece of bread in the oil then in the zatiar and EAT! You never second dip, that’s the rule!! Cut some cheese and serve some fresh fruit. The Jordanian way to serve a guest fruit is to bring it out on an individual plate with a knife and let them cut it themselves. Dad loves it! This week our landlady, Zooha invited us over for a wonderful Jordanian meal. She is Christian, Catholic, does not speak English, is about 65 years old and has been a widow for 6 years. Such a wonderful person! We have grown to love her! She takes care of us...we take care of her. She has 3 sons who have all graduated from Birmingham Alabama University in the States and 3 daughters who are also very well educated and speak English. None of her sons live close by, but all her daughters live around this area. We have been so blessed to have such good living conditions.

It’s time to get back to work! Always something to do... somewhere to go... and people to see! We love you all and pray that you are all blessed with the strength and energy to go accomplish your dreams and righteous goals with a strong desire to make a difference. You are all so wonderful and have blessed our lives so much!

Love,
Your Jordanians missionaries

Quote:
“If you don’t stand for something…… You will fall for anything”