Keeping busy

The girls are bathed and in bed, lunches are packed, and bags are ready.  Time for mommy to blog :)  There is so much I want to share, I really wish I had the time to blog everyday.  The problem (well, not really a problem per say- only in terms of blogging) is our days are getting fuller and fuller, so I am more and more tired each day and just don't feel up to blogging. We are truly enjoying our busy and adventurous life though, so I guess I'll just have to try harder at this blogging thing.

A bit about our weekend-

Thursday (remember, this is our Friday) was civvies day! Civvies day means no uniforms, and that includes teachers.  That whole casual Friday thing doesn't exist at IAA, so hence my excitement that I could wear my jeans and converse to work.  Hailee was very excited too, but I must say I prefer the kids in their uniforms!

After school, Hailee had 3 friends from school over.  Most kids here study during the week, and then Thursday is their day to spend with friends. It's the day most play dates are scheduled.  I'll tell you having 4 8-year-olds and Charlee in our apartment was a bit crazy, okay a lot crazy, but it was wonderful to see her so happy. They had a great time, and Hailee's parents, well, they survived. 

After Hailee's friends were picked up, I prepared to head out for my first 'club' experience in Jordan (not that I had many club experiences in the US). We were celebrating the new adventures of a dear neighbor, friend, and colleague.  The club was at a hotel, and the facilities were fantastic. The club was outdoors, and we had our own private deck.  VIP status all the way.  The music was mostly techno (I think that's what it's called) which isn't really my thing, but I was still my goofball self, dancing like a fool while trying to make people laugh ;)

Yesterday, Bill headed out for a bike ride with one of our friends. He took in some great sights, including some camels, and enjoyed a nice long ride.  The girls and I headed out to the mall while he was gone. I always forget what time stores open on Fridays- not until 2, after noon prayer.  We arrived around noon, so the department stores were closed, but the grocery store was open, so we got some groceries before heading home.  Later that day we met up with Nadia, a beautiful friend and colleague, and her 3 kids.  She took us to a local park, the first one we've been too since being in Amman. The kids had amazing time playing together. I look forward to going again- except I have no idea how to get there! Luckily Nadia is up for meeting up again!

Today, I had professional development at King's Academy. First of all, let me just say the campus was amazing.   Seemed more like a college than a grade 7-12 boarding school.  My favorite part of the campus was probably not the beautiful buildings, but the green grass and trees. Something you don't see often in Amman, and something I took for granted living in Colorado. Back to the actual workshop. The workshop was put on by Dr. Michael Thompson, a world-renown speaker and author. He's been on the Today Show, Oprah, etc. The workshop was called Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys, and was based on his book.  I can't wait to buy it and read it!  The workshop was enlightening, and I am so grateful my school gave my team the opportunity to attend.  I highly recommend attending one of his workshops, should the opportunity arise, and/or reading his books.

That about sums up our jam-packed but fun-filled weekend.  I'd love to share more, but another busy week is ahead and I need sleep!  More soon..

Settling in...

I know, I know..my blog posts are becoming less and less frequent. This is perhaps for a few reasons.. one being that I've been completely exhausted and have very little energy when I get home from work. Two being that we are starting to settle in.

 

When we first arrived to Amman, we were trying to take everything in, so I'd go to work during the week and then we would be tourists on the weekend.  We had a great deal of fun, but considering this was on top of being jet-lagged- maybe wasn't the best plan.

 

This past weekend we decided to just relax and enjoy our new apartment. It was just what I needed. The girls..not so much. So the next day, it was off to the mall. The cool thing about the malls here is they are a one-stop shop. We were able to go to our bank, shop, eat at Hardee's (aka Carl's Jr.), grocery shop, and enjoy frozen yogurt at Pink Berry. Definitely a fun and productive outing.

Hailee has started her beginning Arabic class and comes home with new words after every lesson.  She's really enjoying learning a new language.
 

Charlee is... well, a 2-year-old. Terrbile 2s are here in full force, lol.  Yesterday we took the girls to the playground at my school and then went out for a burger.  Charlee is very fast, and on the way back to the apartment she proceeded to open the door of a moving taxi! Scared everyone in the car, including the driver.  Charlee is full of energy, every hour she is awake.  There isn't much down time when she's around, unless she's watching one of her favorite shows..but this too only holds her energy for a short time.
 

Funniest thing is, Bill is settling in the quickest. He feels completely at home and is really taking in all Jordan has to offer.  I told him he was crazy when he walked to the store last night at 9:30 (Something I don't do in any city). The other night I couldn't find him, looked out the apartment window, and he was out front hanging out with a group of the locals laughing and having good conversation.  Today he rode a 39 mile bike ride to Madaba and back with my principal and got to see some great sites, including a herd of camels alongside the road. 

 

A common question is are we homesick?  My answer is of course.  We are human.  There are things that we miss- friends and family, of course. But, there are other things as well.  Friends back in Colorado have been posting picutres of the fall colors, and Fall was my favorite season back home. There are so many "comforts of home" that I often wish we had.  BUT, these are all things I will have again one day.  I don't miss them so much that I am letting them overshadow the amazing adventure we are on.  When we one day leave Jordan, there are things I will miss here, as well. Especially the friendships.  It's crazy how quickly we have formed friendships.. friendships I believe will last for a lifetime.

Things are still going well for the "Not So Ordinary Nelsons" in Amman, Jordan
I stumbled on this quote the other day (I love quotes!) and thought it was perfect- "A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with loves and dreams." Love and dreams are plentiful in this home <3

 

 

 

 

Visiting Al-Pasha.. A Turkish Bath :)

Let me start by saying I feel completely exfoliated and am by far, the cleanest I have ever been in my life.  Yesterday, I was able to visit Al-Pasha, a Turkish Bath here in Amman, with some friends.  Prior to arriving, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but considering how cheap it was to be pampered, it was something I could not pass up.

When you first arrive you are given a key and a locker and then directed to take a shower.  You then enter a very hot room filled with steam, and are provided with a cool wash cloth and a frozen juice.  Those of you who’ve visited the vapor caves in Glenwood,  I found this portion to be similar to my trips to the Vapor Caves, except the room is filled with steam.  From there you proceed to a hot tub...  perfect.  It was quite amazing to just sit and relax. 

 The next phase is the scrubbing.  Yes, I said scrubbing.  Now, for those of you that know me well, I don’t wear bathing suits.  I’m not very confident when it comes to my body, despite the amount of weight I’ve lost…  I’m just not there yet.  So, you can imagine my feelings when the woman directed me to take off my top!  In order for her to scrub my back, stomach, etc. this was necessary.  It was a woman’s day so it was only woman (both patrons and staff) and it was dim lighting, and to be honest, nobody cared what I was doing anyway.. so what the heck, off with the top!  Now let me tell you, having someone scrub you, really bathe you, sounds incredibly weird I’m sure, as I can’t think of anything like it in the states.  The purpose is to get rid of all the dead skin, and they show you some so you can see what in fact they are accomplishing.  It’s quite amazing what they are able to remove.  As weird as it may sound, let me just say my skin feels amazing!  After you finish this step, they pour water over your head to rinse it all clean, and then it’s off to massage.

 Massage… who doesn’t love a good massage.. and a full body massage at that!  A luxury that I would not have been able to afford in the states (at least not in the frequency I will be able to afford it here).  I could have lay on that stone table all day.  It was the most amazing massage, and she released an amazing amount of tension from my neck and shoulders.  Despite my desire to stay there all day, I was directed to the next room.

The next room was completely wood (cedar I think), and smelled wonderful.  There were coals burning in some sort of heating device and there were benches for you to relax on.   I didn’t last too long in this room, as it was quite hot.  We were provided more frozen juice while relaxing in this room.

We had added a foot scrub to our service, so it was back over to the scrubbing area.  This concluded our service, so it was time to shower, and sadly, prepare to leave.  After taking our showers, we headed out to the tea room, where we were able to enjoy a glass of water and some tea before our departure. 

The cost of all this- $29 JOD, which equates to about $40 USD!  This is incredibly cheap for such an amazing service!  I’m pretty sure you can’t even find a full body massage for that price back home, and that was only a portion of the experience.

I highly recommend Al-Pasha Turkish Bath and I will DEFINITELY be back.. many time, in fact!


P.S. I also had coffee at Starbucks with Sumbalina. We met via Instagram a few weeks before we left for Amman. What great conversation.. and we will definitely meet up again soon! :)  

A week of firsts!

It's Friday!  The weekend has begun!  Our work week here is Sunday through Thursday, so the weekend is Friday and Saturday.  It's really not that different- 2 days off is 2 days off.  I was going to blog last Sunday, after our first day, but I was wiped out.  Still getting used to the time change, I guess.

School is going well.  I have some great kids.  The funnest thing is they LOVE telling me about places I should go in Jordan and teaching me Arabic.  I teach them, they teach me.  I love it!  My tutor group, like a homeroom, is 10th graders and they are a bit more challenging.  But, I really am enjoying them.. and I'm always up for a challenge!

I asked Hailee to blog about her first day, and she actually wrote in on the first day of school (mommy is the slacker).  Here is what she wrote-

Today was my 1^{s t}   day. It was extraordinary   day!  Everybody   was so   nice! I   already   have   so  many  friends!  While   I was in religion   almost everybody came up to me and introduced themselves.So I had a absolutely positively quite amazing day!          

I love that she's taking religion.  She's in the Christianity group so she's actually  studying the Bible.  She will also be taking a beginner's Arabic class.  There was a little hang up with her Arabic class in the beginning, but we got it all worked out, and she starts the correct level on Monday.  I was also told by her principal that her entrance exam tests place her at the top of her class.  We are so proud of her and her eagerness to learn!

Some other firsts this week-

-Bill went out on his first group ride in Jordan today with Nader bikes.  The group was really impressed with his fitness!  He is a pretty dedicated athlete.. Nelson family trait I guess ;)

- I got out for my first run.. second now!  But my goodness.. Amman is built on hills and these are some serious hills. The bike paths I ran on in Colorado and streets in Bakersfield don't even compare!  I'm hoping to run the Dead to Red (Dead Sea to Red Sea) w/ some staff members, so I need to get my fitness back.  Working on it!

-First drink in Jordan! (haha...had to celebrate the end of our first week)

-Hailee had her first play date at a friend's house w/ a friend from school.  The mom asked me yesterday at pick up and the girls were so excited I just couldn't say no. It was a bit worrisome for mom, not knowing exactly where she was, but I had the mom talk to our driver, so he knew where she was. He picked her up and brought her home, where we are all waiting outside to greet her.  She had a great time :)

- We will be attending our first party tonight, and the girl's have a babysitter for the first time.  The babysitter is one of my boss's daughters and lives across the hall.  The party is actually at my principal's, which is the rooftop of our apartment. 

-Tomorrow I will be going to a Turkish bath, Al Pasha, with some friends for the first time.  I can't wait!! 

                         

Not sure when the honeymoon phase ends but we are over two weeks in and still feel as if everyday is an adventure!

p.s. The girls are currently watching Nickelodeon cartoons in Arabic.  Hailee said they don't care what language it's in. Who knows.. maybe Charlee will be billingual ;)

New foods! First time we tried this wrap style bread..check out the size of it!

As Charlee calls her, "My Gina" and I enjoying a Thursday afternoon!

Amman Tour

Today was pretty amazing!  Our driver Issam, who is becoming more like a family friend, took us to see some sites in Amman. We were able to see the Citadel, an Ancient Roman Theatre, visit downtown, and ate some delicious and famous hummus and falafel!

We learned a lot about the history of Jordan today. The flag you'll see in some of the pictures used to be the biggest flag in the world. Dubai now has biggest flag (guess, we'll have to go check it out ;).  The buildings you see under the flag were once a Palestinian refuge tent camp. The government later gave them permission to build.

The Citadel was quite amazing! We were able to see ruins and artifacts in the museum that dated back to BC! One of the most intriguing historical facts we learned about the location of the Citadel is the Bible records that King David captured the city in the early 10th century BC.Then Uriah, husband of King David's paramour Bathsheba, was killed here after the king ordered him to the front line of battle.

Next, we headed over to an ancient Roman Theatre.  Walking into the theatre, we were truly awe-struck! The theatre is massive in size, seating capacity is 6000.  Being in the theatre, trying to picture what took place there so many years ago, is quite the experience. This theatre was believed to have been build in 2 AD.

We had planned to spend sometime downtown, but by this time it was getting late. We visited a few shops, and purchased the girls some traditional Arabic dresses in one of the shops.  We also ate at Hashem. We are told that Hashem has the best falafel and hummus in all of Jordan, and that the King and Queen have eaten here. We will definitely be back because it was delicious!

We had a great time and our truly thankful for this opportunity.  Now, it's off to bed. First day of school tomorrow!!