Hello dear readers.
Since I've last posted much has happened:
1. I had a wonderful visit from my home church pastor. Bruce was traveling around the region and traveled up to Irbid for a day. He was able to visit the school, meet both my boss and my host family, and then we had a wonderful lunch at a beautiful outdoor restaurant. It was great...I found it extremely helpful to verbally process life here and it was nice to spend time with someone from home. Here's a picture of Bruce and I at the church:
2. We had many Christmas parties at school and church. I was Santa a total of 5 times. The kids quickly figured out that I was not the actual Papa Noel.
3. Samira and I hosted a little Christmas party for the youth group we've been attending. During that party I laughed more then I've laughed since moving to Irbid. It was the "can't breath, almost-pee-your-pants" kind of laughing. It felt so good to feel so much joy in this place. That entire day was one of the first days where I've felt truly settled here and where I felt JOY being here. It was definitely a blessing from the Lord that I've been praying would happen. Here's a few pictures from the party:
I made the famous Petersen family Santa cookies.
We did a white elephant gift exchange...which was a new concept for most of my friends here. The gift I gave was a hit. It's always funny seeing what people actually want to keep from white elephant gift exchanges.
4. The last day of school before Christmas break, the school had a Christmas concert where each class sang a song. My after-school English conversation class also had an opportunity to sing a song for the school, so for the past month I taught my kiddos the "Twelve Days of Christmas". I rewrote the words to talk about things found in Jordan. I must say that it was quite the hit...the kids were divided into groups and I made signs for them to hold up at their different parts. Here's a picture of the kiddos singing and below is the song:
The Twelve Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, Santa gave to me a trip to visit Petra.
On the second day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the third day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the fifth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the sixth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the seventh day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Seven Ajloun castles, Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the eighth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Eight tubs of humus, Seven Ajloun castles, Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the ninth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Nine trips to Amman, Eight tubs of humus, Seven Ajloun castles, Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the tenth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Ten Knafih pieces, Nine trips to Amman, Eight tubs of humus, Seven Ajloun castles, Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Eleven nice Bedouin, Ten knafih pieces, Nine trips to Amman, Eight tubs of humus, Seven Ajloun castles, Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me Twelve plates of zatar, Eleven nice Bedouin, Ten knafih pieces, Nine trips to Amman, Eight tubs of humus, Seven Ajloun castles, Six olive branches, Five plates of mansaf, Four grazing goats, Three camels, Two silly sheep, And a trip to visit Petra!
5. To celebrate the beginning of Christmas break, Samira and I decorated our hands with henna. It is common here for women to decorate their hands and feet before a women gets married and we've seen it done at different engagement parties. It was fun to do, even though it took forever to dry.
6. On Christmas Eve my parents flew in to Amman and we had 7 wonderful days together. We rented a car and drove from the south of Jordan to the north, spending time in Aqaba, Wadi Rum, Petra...we drove the King's Highway and I was able to spend time showing them around my former life in Amman and my current life in Irbid. It was such a special time and I'm so glad they had both the time and the resources to come see me. Here's a picture of them on a boat ride in Aqaba. Since they are new owners of an amazing camera, I didn't use my camera all week. However, I also forgot to get pictures from them before they left. Therefore, as they email some of the highlights over the next few weeks I'll try to post some of them here with stories of our time together.
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