adventures in jordan...

here are some more highlights from my time in jordan...claire definitely took her sweet time coming into this world, so we had some time on our hands!

one day my brother took my mom and me to explore downtown amman. we had been sitting around doing NOTHING for about a week waiting for claire everyday so it was so refreshing to get out and have an adventure!

downtown is filled with tons of small shops and little markets up alleyways. a pic of me and drew in a fruits and veggies market...everyone just yells as loud as they can...we bought kiwis, my new fav.

we ate at one of jordan's most well known restaurants. sitting outside eating falafel and hummas and egyptian tea...mmmm!

we also went to some roman ruins (who knew) and got to enter for free because the guy loved that drew spoke arabic like a native. (his arabic is unbelievable...sometimes people ask if he is arab because he doesn't have an accent...dang!)

here is a pic of our camel friend. this sweet camel lived a few blocks away from drew and mary's house in a neighbor's backyard!...really. this camel was bought for one the big holidays in jordan called the feast of slaughter (it was the day after thanksgiving). this holiday is celebrated to remember abraham's sacrifice of isaac. to celebrate families will slaughter an animal. (yikes! lots of blood in the streets ah). most will slaughter a sheep, however, this family went big and bought a camel to slaughter :( thus, our camel friend is no more! (also for this holiday there are feasts, and everyone goes and visits their families and they give eachother money and gifts...family is such a big deal here..i am learning so much about the culture which i love.

as i sit here writing this blog you can hear an array of noises flooding the streets of jabal hussein (the team's neighborhood). street vendors drive around selling things...they each have their own noise to let people know what they sell. so the fruits and veggies guy has a recording of him yelling in an incredibly obnoxious voice "fruits and vegetables" in arabic. some have songs, some just yell. the cotton candy vendor has a nice, whimsical sounding whistle that he blows as he walks by. and five times a day the call to prayer is blasted from nearby a mosque. never a quiet moment around here...especially now that we have the sounds of a sweet newborn to add to the mix :)

i will be back in the states on wednesday...so sad to be leaving family here :(
but i am excited for the holidays with family and friends in oklahoma!

PEACE AND JOY to you all!