neighborliness is next to godliness

i finished a steroid treatment for poison ivy on the day we arrived in Amman. about two days later, i noticed i still had poison ivy on my leg (it never goes away, a constant annoying personal struggle, which has me dedicated to never going into the woods again). we contacted a doctor friend to find out what we should get from the pharmacy here and then started a journey to find a pharmacy. we walked down the staircase (jabal ashrafiyya (our neighborhood) is a large hill on the east side of Amman with many staircases built between buildings for easier travel on foot) to the street below ours and stopped in the liquor store to ask for help...hoping for help in english. after i botched asking if he spoke english in arabic (i used the female form of the question) he said yes. so i asked if he could tell me how to get to a pharmacy. it was at this point that i realized that he did not actually really speak english, at least enough to help us with this question. but, instead of saying, "sorry, i can't help you because i don't speak english well enough" (which would have been awkward because saying this would mean he really did speak good english), he called someone on his cell phone, explained in arabic to the person on the other end that we needed help, and then handed me the phone. i said hello, and the person spoke fluent english, and gave me directions to a pharmacy. my new friend, the liquor store guy, thought the directions sounded too long so he grabbed the phone again, explained something again in arabic to the girl on the phone, then handed it back. she then told me directions to an even closer pharmacy. i thanked the stranger on the phone (thanks) and liquor store guy (shukran) and then we went on our way. turns out, the directions were perfect and the pharmacy is really close to our apartment...and the cream i needed was only 1.40 JDs ($2 US). i stopped back in to thank liquor store guy again and was impressed at his willingness to help us out. like he had our back. what i've learned from this and several other experiences like this is that, for the sake of maintaining honor, my neighbors will do whatever it takes to help out so they don't bring shame on themselves. oh that we could all learn a lesson in "loving our neighbors as we love ourselves" from this.

for what its worth

we arrived in Amman, Jordan around 6pm local time, after our 12 hour trek above prince edward island, the atlantic ocean, ireland, england, the mediterreanean, and israel. after basically paying a guy to leave us alone with our baggage, we joined rick (schupp, as in shoop-shoop-a-doop) in his hyundai van for the crazy drive to a community fellowship group his family participates in (the driving is crazy due to the fact that there are apparently no rules of the road manuals in amman, jordan). and it was dark when we arrived . so, for what it is worth, for what we have seen of amman, jordan, with the roadside picnic-ers and the western-styled arab scene girls alike, its been interesting...and we drove by the world's largest popeye's chicken (possibly a true statement) on the way to the schupp home. day one. complete.

tomorrow is day one

two weeks without work has helped us do some reflecting on our past and get ourselves prepared for this trip. today, we sit one day from departure, getting packed and saying some last goodbyes. here are our goals for this adventure:

1. To meet our neighbors and share a meal with them
2. To learn as much as possible in four months about Arab culture from the people around us
3. To focus on learning Arabic
4. To gain a greater appreciation for everyone (we meet) and everything (we have)
5. To learn how to be deeply and truly kind and show kindness in every action and facial expression
6. To use this four months to prepare for the rest of our lives, no matter what our vocation or location may end up being
7. To change

May we not become a stumbling block to anyone and may we see the roots of love grow deep within us and may you not recognize us when we return.

the point, reiterated

the point of this blog is to give our friends and family regular updates on our trip to amman, jordan as we have no other solid way to communicate with them. also, jordan is a "closed country" so please be mindful of what you choose to comment about. thanks, keep reading, and please do make effort to interact with us throughout this experience.

hurry up and wait (patience)

the waiting began on march 3rd. it continues...its been difficult to wait for august 21st to roll around. but tomorrow marks 3 weeks until departure. 3 weeks. after almost 5 months of waiting, we are on the doorstep of the biggest adventure of our lives. yet, we are nervous about one thing: being completely immersed in a new culture that we really know nothing about. not that we haven't been doing everything we can to learn, its just impossible to imagine a world so different from our own. it will be the month of Ramadan ten days after we arrive in amman. everyone (at least 97% of everyone) will be fasting from food and drink while the sun is up. we get 10 days to prepare ourselves for this festival/ritual/sacrament of Islam. and, it is our intention to participate. will we be able to survive? yes. will we be able to be an example of love to these people who are so different from us? i hope. please earnestly pray for us that we can be love and live love and show love while we are in this strange land. here's a picture of us now, prepared for jordan, so you can imagine us in the middle east. ma'salaami

foxes have holes or a place to lay our heads

not 3 hours after i (jeff) posted the last entry, we received word from Rick that we have a place to call home in amman. the neighborhood is on one of the "seven hills" or mountains in amman. its called jabal ashrafiyya. it is a furnished, two bedroom flat in a predominantly arab/muslim neighborhood. here's a quick look at some of the scenery:
(center: roman amphitheater in downtown amman - decapolis city of philadelphia)

(the abu darweesh mosque in jabal ashrafiyya)

needless to say, we're excited about all of the possibilities that are in front of us and the opportunities laid out for us. we are also proud to say we have sold our first house and are all but debt free going into this trip. wow. jessey keeps working on cakes...

...i keep working overtime, and with your support, we have now reached $5630 towards our goal of $9000. and we still have more than two months until our trip!

good hands (the kind we're in)

the last month of our lives has been unbelievable. we have been actively pursuing this trip for about three months now, and have been able to raise $4890 already...wow. it is humbling to know that so many people care about us and believe in us enough to help us accomplish our goals. in this last month we went from $900 to where we are now and have also been able to sell our house. everything is falling into place. we even found an Arabic Language learning course in the correct dialect for Jordan, which was confirmed by the owners of One World Cafe in Peoria who happen to be Jordanian. jessey has been baking graduation cakes to earn some extra money and also worked at Walgreens to help set up a new store for a two week stretch. i have been able to re-work my position at the Children's Home in order to get more hours and overtime so we can be doing everything we can to make this trip happen. from where we stand now, it is looking pretty unbelievable. thanks so much for praying for and supporting us. its working.