questions welcome

this is your chance. ask away, anything you want to know about life here in jordan, or why we are coming back. oh, and, how are you doing and what's new in your life?

also, become a follower of our blog (see sidebar), and let me know if you don't want to receive it in your email (if you did).

one more thing, read all the other posts here too. we love you.

death

our land-lady's husband died of cancer this morning. he's been suffering at home for the whole time we've been in jordan. very sad. i came home from the clinic today and there were 15 men sitting outside in the courtyard near the entrance to our apartment, smoking their marlboro's, kent's, and gittanes', dressed in white and/or black. i peeked into the apartment and saw about 10 women, sitting in a circle, wearing black and looking numb. i made a swift assumption...then wondered what we should do, as neighbors and as human beings.
thankfully, we had tutoring this afternoon with our tutor, so we asked her what to do. she gave us some things to say to the family and told us a little about what to expect. she said that the wife (our land-lady) will wear black every day for at least a year, sometimes up to 5 or 6 years. in this culture, they want to remember the dead, not move on swiftly and get on with life. she also told us to wear dark colors if we choose to visit, but not to make any food or anything like that.
when we returned home, one of their daughter(s)-in-law told us that the funeral will be tomorrow, in another city. she said the body will come to the apartment tomorrow afternoon for the women to view it, since they will not be allowed at the funeral. she also warned us that there will probably be a lot of bummed out people around until then.
so, we changed clothes and plunged into the mourning process with these people that we have only met during this waiting-for-death period...the brother from canada, the son who helped us with our internet, the son-in-law who lives next door, and her and her daughters that live close.
inside, the women were weeping and not a word was said unless it was to greet or offer quick condolences. just sitting around and crying. outside, the men drank a quick cup of coffee, water, and smoked and talked a bit. most were confused as to why i was out there with them...except for those that we had met.
although death has opened the door, we gladly will step through and seize this opportunity to dangerously love this family. pray for them...and us.

grace

traffic is really congested these days around 1-2pm, because everything closes down early during ramadan and people are anxious to get home and either a:) cheat and eat/drink or b:) forget about how hungry they are and relax. we were on our way home yesterday in a sarvis, and our driver was very agitated. he attempted to blow by a guy in a truck who wasn't moving forward with the line of 50+ cars at the stop light. the guy in the truck accelerated to keep our car from being let in. this started a very heated argument between the two that included very many choice words between the windows of the two vehicles (thanks to the tower of babel i couldn't understand any of them). the other men in the sarvis with jessey and i were trying to encourage the driver to drop it and to pursue peace, but the driver was incessant. 30 seconds later, after we had pushed in front of the guy in the truck, the driver of the truck came up to the window of our car. not good. our driver started yelling immediately, caught off guard by the sudden presence of this guy he truly hated at his window. but something happened. the guy at the window was pursuing peace. he was trying to rectify the conflict, to make things right, to show grace to the sarvis driver and ask forgiveness...in the middle of traffic. as cars began to go again, they smiled, shook hands, and we pulled forward. what? normally i would be holding that grudge for at least a whole day, telling everyone about the idiot in the other car who did this or that. apparently, reconciliation is more important in this culture than in ours.
i learned a lesson in grace in a completely different way last night. we had dinner at some friends' house. the meal is pictured above. i know, it looks absolutely everything except appetizing. like bugs or green sausages or even worse. i've never been a truly adventurous eater. i'm not the most likely guy to eat tomato paste out of the can, if you know what i mean. but, after a while, you realize that the most gracious thing you can do is eat the food that is prepared for you. what is pictured is grape leaves rolled and stuffed with rice and meat (yeah, and it doesn't work to be a vegetarian and refuse the meal either). the bigger green things are vegetables called marrow (?). you pull out the insides and stuff them too, also stuffed with meat and rice. my friend worked on this meal, rolling each individual grape leaf, for 3 hours. i had to eat it. and it was good...much to my surprise.
learning lessons that i didn't know i needed to learn.

rent/netflix/download/buy/stream/watch this movie

where in the world is osama bin laden?

yes. that's the name of the movie. and its a must-see if you want to get a feel for what we are experiencing here on a small (minute even) scale. its a movie by the same guy who did 'super-size me' where he ate only mcdonald's for i don't remember how long and almost destroyed his body permanently. anyway, it just might help expand your mind about what is going on in the world and what arab culture and the middle east is really like, and how our nation's foreign policies and bad decisions (my opinion) have shaped their opinion of you.

vote responsibly, please.

communicating between the lines (use your grey matter)

one of the chosen women asked me, 'why don't people in the promised land know there are chosen ones here in the wilderness?' the question struck a chord deep in my heart. why do all those who reside in the promised land, chosen and yet-to-be-chosen, think of the wilderness as a place devoid of chosen ones? why don't we have a concept of his worldwide people, including the wilderness? it seems to the chosen few here that everyone else thinks the wilderness contains only forgotten, lost, or ignorant fools. this is not the case.

johnny sax-o-mo-phone told me today that in his war-torn land to the east there are almost no more chosen people, because of the misguidance of the promised land. they have all run away, fearing for their lives. this happened because the promised land is full of people who claim to be chosen, and they have wreaked havoc on the wilderness, giving them only the option of being murdered or running away. this has left his land without a chosen people, not even a remnant. this made me wonder if ignorance is something of an epidemic in the promised land...ignoring the world and only thinking of itself.

guy whostandsinthestreet told me tonight that, although he does not want to be chosen, he loves the promised land and THE son of man...because his book tells him he should. he told me how he recognized the shared heritage his people, the chosen people, and the original clan have and how he believed that there should be no more war, no more fighting, no more hatred between us. beautiful. hard to believe. hard to comprehend how close guy is to being chosen to play kickball on the promised playground...and how far away at the same time.

this is the most difficult thing to communicate...but so important for you to know and to think about, and to check yourself on.

frank's birthday

frank turned 9 today, though he will tell you he's 12. either way, he's divisible by 3. we had the privilege of being invited to and attending his birthday party this evening (even though we had never met him). he attends the local church we do here in ashrafiyya with his parents. they wanted us to come and meet him. we were more than happy to join in the party, as we are party people...holla.
it was 98 degrees today (and, ironically, nick lachey performed downtown at the amphitheater this afternoon). no one has air conditioning, including us. so, needless to say it was hot in the apartment. add to the heat about 15 5-11 year olds and 10 adults, and there is a lot of hot air floating around the place.
we knew no one. what i mean by that is, we were not friends with anyone at this party (although, everyone is a friend we've come to learn around our neighborhood). we are the new foreigners in the neighborhood, thats about it. but, it turned out to be a lesson in etiquette and family interaction that was priceless.
things we learned:
1. when someone arrives to the house, everyone stands up and greets them
2. its almost impossible to explain to someone that you don't drink this or that, so you just drink it
3. every drink is served on a tray
4. when coffee (turkish, black) is served, it is the indicator that you are free to go whenever, as this party is OVER (leaving before this point needs a good excuse)
5. when someone leaves the house, everyone stands up to say goodbye to them
6. kids are expected to take care of themselves while their parents visit with each other...therefore the kids see what they can get away with behind their parents' backs
7. they sing happy birthday in english and in arabic while the candles are lit (see video)

frank's english tutor is leaving monday for awhile and we were able to step in to help him out with his english homework. this is why we are here. this is why we exist. this is why we dropped everything and moved to jordan for such a short time. to make an impact in whatever small way on someone's life. and the opportunities just keep falling into our laps. al hamdu lillah.

a smiling moon

tonight, throughout all of the middle east (and of course, other parts of the world as well), people are outside, looking to the skies, to see if they have to give up lunch (and cigarettes, alcohol, water, and afternoon delight during the daylight hours) for the next 30 days. Ramadan is upon us, and there is an air of hopeful anticipation that the moon will not indeed be the woeful crescent that indicates the start of the month of Ramadan. people on roofs of houses, shop owners sneaking a peek at the skies, leaving their merchandise unattended, and children playing on the stairs, waiting for the moment that the moon will break through the haze over the city of Amman and tell them if they can eat three meals for one more day. but, chances are very good that September 1st will be the first of 30 days where folks will not be allowed outside of their houses with a snack in hand or water for the walk to the bus. for 30 days, break-fast is at night and start-fast is the morning meal. this is a foreign concept to much of the west. but here you are required, by law, to respect the religious order of Ramadan and not disturb the fast by walking around with water or food to eat. its mandatory. so, as you can imagine, everybody dreads this month of the year, as everyone is agitated (imagine 1 million chain-smokers without cigarettes all day) with each other, and possibly God. hopefully we can learn to trust God more and have the opportunity to share with our neighbors and friends that fasting can be more than just an obligation, more like an opportunity to encounter God on a deeper level. we're keeping our eyes peeled tonight, too.