Saying Goodbye

It is hard to believe that I will be home in less than a week. The year has gone by so quickly and has been so memorable. We have all been keeping busy during our last month here in Jordan, but now it is time to start saying goodbye.  

The four of us had the opportunity to visit Israel over Pentecost weekend. We spent a day touring around the Old City and enjoyed a relaxing Saturday morning on the Mount of Olives. We were then able to spend the rest of the Sabbath and Pentecost with the Hoyers in Tel Aviv. Saturday evening we watched the sunset over the Mediterranean in Caesarea. It was such a beautiful way to end the Sabbath and begin the Holy Day!

Life in the KG has been very busy with the KG1 Assemblies. Each KG1 class learned an English dance, song, and play as well as an Arabic dance, song, and play to perform for their parents. The students worked so hard to do their very best. They did an amazing job! One of my favorite parts was when the little girls dressed up in poodle skirts and the boys slicked their hair back and wore jeans and a white t-shirt and danced to Let's Twist Again by Chubby Checker!  The last day of school for the students was on Thursday.  I will miss them!   

Now that our time in Jordan is almost up, we are doing our final trips around Jordan. Stella and I spent Thursday night in Wadi Rum and a day in Petra while Joshua and Eva spent the day in Ajloun and Jerash, followed next week by some time in Aqaba. Stella and I will end our year at ABS on Monday with a whole school luncheon. Then Stella heads off to Tanzania, while Joshua, Eva, and I head back to the States, and Taj (my puppy) flies to his new home in Canada. While it is hard to say goodbye, we are all excited to see our families again, and to try out all of the Arabic dishes we have learned this year!

It has truly been an unforgettable year. We hope the new volunteers have as wonderful a year as we all did! Have a great summer!

Until next time,

Jessica

The Ending of an Era

There are many stages, chapters, acts, or eras in our lives. As one door closes, windows of opportunity open and the chance for another adventure awaits. The curtain is closing on this act in my life and I will soon find myself back in the States! Before my departure from Jordan there are many more scenes that must come to a close.

As the final Holy Day in the spring season approaches, we, the volunteers, are preparing to spend some time in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We will stay in Jerusalem for one day and then join the Hoyer family in Tel Aviv for the Sabbath and Pentecost. This will be a welcome long weekend to help us all push through the last few weeks here and end on a high note.


 
There has been quite a lot going on recently and I’ve been staying busy. The Baccalaureate School, ABS, is celebrating its 30^th Anniversary this year, and a week-long celebration was held at the end of April. The week began with an alumni forum, followed by a “football” aka soccer match, then an art exhibition, and ending with a gala dinner. All four of us were invited to the dinner and Jessica and I greeted HRH Prince Hassan and Princess Sarvath. The evening was very memorable and it was a nice honor to greet the Prince and Princess.


The Director of the Festival of Performaing Arts in the middle
with those of us that helped!  

I also had the opportunity to help the performing arts department with another event, the Festival of Performing Arts. This event included the talent of almost 40 students performing comedy sketches from Monty Python, to various dance routines, and poetry about current events in the Middle East. There were many other students involved in other aspects of the evening from technical crew, to backstage, make up and ushers. The talent of the students is amazing and they received a standing ovation at the end of the show.

With the year coming to a close I’m once again hard at work on the Yearbook. There is so much that goes into making it a success, but it’s a very enjoyable project. The end result will be amazing again this year, and hopefully a step above last years, there’s always room for improvement! I’ve also been working on the CAS program for the grade 11 and 12 students. Ensuring they are aware of the requirements, helping the students meet them, and preparing grade 10 students for next year. Before heading back home I’ll be traveling to Tanzania with a group of grade 11 students, for their final expedition. I’m really excited for this opportunity and look forward to all the adventures I’ll have while there.

As a student in grade school at the end of every art lesson the teacher would say “all good things must come to an end”. Even though my time in Jordan will be coming to an end, so many windows have opened. Many people have asked me what I’ll be doing when I go back home; that I’m not sure of yet. However, what I do know is I get to share this opportunity with others and continue serving where needed. I feel that’s what my time in Jordan has been about and by doing so I will always keep this wonderful experience in my heart!

                                        ~ Until Next Time
                                                  Stella

Wow.. Less than two months left! I can’t believe it!

My life right now is pretty exciting I believe that I have made a wonderful decision by doing baptism counseling sessions with Mr. Erickson, since January. I’ve been thinking about baptism for a long time because it is such a huge decision in ones life. Our sessions were great he helped me to see more clearly so that I could understand things that I had a hard time with before, he answered any questions I had with detailed answers which was greatly appreciated. All the advice and reading material given to me was wonderful. J Now since an elder of “The Church of God” Mr. Sandilands came out for the beginning of the Spring Holy Days & Passover, I was able to be Baptized in the Jordan River by him! I was baptized in the late morning right before Passover on April 5^th! Thanks Mr. Sandilands for taking time to come out here and spend the time with us and to baptize me! This Passover was my first Passover service as a baptized member of the Church of God. I feel so pleased with the commitments I’m making with God and Jesus Christ. For me being baptized is the biggest most important decision anyone can make, and right behind it is marriage. In my short life I feel blessed that God has put this option in my life by calling me and bringing me closer to Him! Plus He has given me such a wonderful, hardworking and loving husband who I am very thankful for. J

In Late Febuary at the Y.M.W.A, Abed Kareem left to move to Qatar, he was the teacher for group four in the school section. I normally worked in his class three days a week assisting him with the children. It was a pleasant experience since he really tried to work with me so that I could do more of my part in his class! Abed Kareem is missed by the children they ask about him sometimes with sad faces. Now I will be with Mrs. Muna’s class more often who is the teacher for group three. Mrs. Muna is great when she works with her kids.

Since February Fatimah Saleem invited me to stay at her home twice now. Both times were pretty great! The first time I went to go/ help with her sons’ graduation party for the close family members on her side. There were over 40 people in her fathers home, it was nice and cozy for the gradation party and I had a lot of fun! Everyone was so kind, helpful and talkative.  I’m pretty sure I was the only guest at the party that wasn’t family which makes me feel greatly honored to have been there. Most of Fatimah’s family did not speak English very well or any at all, but Fatimah and her two daughters Aseel and Leen are good enough to understand and have conversation with. They were sweet and helped me to have conversations with almost everyone which was great! The day next day went fantastic as well we made a chocolate cake, hung out and had tea at Fatimah’s sisters’ home. The second time I went over it was like cooking galore time! We made five different things…. One was dates covered in chocolate with almonds inside! We made like 75 of them! Yummy… The next day us girls went shopping in the early afternoon! I bought a sweet little dress for my sister Caras unborn baby girl!

The weather here in Amman has been pretty crazy this winter/spring. Two different times it snowed and one of the times it did so for three days and stuck. It was amazingly beautiful especially the second day it snowed, that day it snowed the most. Plus it was hilarious to look outside and see around 30+ Jordanians & Palestinians throwing snow balls at cars and each other... which was dangerous and almost caused a car accident at least once… At that time it did make me even more thankful for electric heating back in the states. By the way, while living here I have seen the thickest fog I have ever seen in my life, this has happened multiple times where I couldn’t see five feet in front of me at the least! This was on the edge of Amman near the Y.M.W.A when we were picking up kids on the bus…. We drove so slowly… thankfully we did. At those moments I was a bit frightened but then I remembered that God is with us. J Now that it’s May it's pretty much prefect outside!

Lately in the last month we had so much going on, for the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread we had about 15 people here for services and dinners! Lucky us! We are so happy that they came out here to see us and the beauty that Jordan has to offer! Those wonderful people are Mr. Phil Sandilands, Jason Nitsberg, Jennifer Petty, Laurel Krenz, Lewis and Lena VanAusdle, Jennifer & Kurt Hoyer + their 3 boys!!! Before the DUB, Lena, Lewis, Laurel, Jennifer, Jason were planning on going to the Baptism Site (Bethany beyond the Jordan), Mount Nebo, Madaba, Wadi Rum and Petra! Which they kindly invited us to go with them and our wonderful bosses agreed to us going for two days! J That was so much fun when the boys weren’t getting “lost”… but it was pretty neat to find out that our Bedouin friend who owns our camp site could track!... The guys(Lewis & Joshua) didn’t think that he really needed to use those skills since they could find their own way back after all the were only gone for around 2 hours… Something along the same lines happened the next day too but with all three men in the morning at Petra! We all had a wonderful time though! Some of us rode donkeys and camels, that was great and a bit scary!

In the week heading up to the 24^th of April we had a ton going on at the school everyone getting ready for the Expo. This is when the school sells what they have been working on during the year and all of the money made at the Expo goes to the school. I would say it went pretty good!! The Wood Working, Ceramics, Weaving Sections did beautiful work!!! I wanted to buy so many things but it’s difficult to bring so many things back to America and the money bit… makes it a challenge. Also the Patron of the YMWA Princess Sarvath came to the expo on the opening day with Princess Rahma, and Princess Rahma husband Alaa Batayneh came later. They bought lots of nice things which was wonderful! The school did ask me to contribute by making Chocolate and Vanilla Cake Pops and Snickerdoole Cookies. This was done with some of the students and Muna, she is office secretary in the school section and was wonderful help! It was hard work to keep them cold but we managed. J The Cake Pops were Mrs. Tanya Horchak idea for the Expo! It was a great idea and they tasted great but I don’t think that people really knew what they were until I showed them... which I was okay with doing and all. Now since the Expo is over things have slowed down quite a bit and are going back to normal.

Something new to add is that Joshua and I are now fostering a beautiful Persian kitty who is very cuddly and playful! The people who brought her to us said that we could rename her because her old name did not suit her well. We named her Zarha because it means white, flower.

Love: Eva

Ps. I turned 21 on April 22^nd! J

Spring Holy Days

A lot has happened over the past few weeks!  We had so many visitors come and spend the Holy Days with us.  It was such a treat.

The first visitor to join us before the Spring Holy Days was Taj.  Taj is an adorable and energetic puppy that I have been able to look after until he goes to his adoptive family.  Fortunately the weather is beautiful right now which has made our daily walks very pleasant! 

Lewis, Lena, Laurel, Jason, and Jen flew in and took some time to do some touring in the area.  Mr. Sandilands flew in on the Wednesday before Passover and the following day Eva was baptized!  What a great way to start the Festival season!  The four of us plus Mr. Sandilands all went to Bethany Beyond the Jordan where Eva was baptized in the (freezing) Jordan River.  We had a memorable Passover service that evening that also included the Hoyers who joined us for the weekend. 

 

Everyone pitched in and worked hard to make sure that we had an amazing Night to Be Much Observed.  We began the day doing a little relaxing at the Dead Sea, and then came back home to finish prepping for the dinner.  Everything was delicious, but the most unique dish of the evening was Jason’s vegetable masterpiece! 

The First Day of Unleavened Bread was filled with great messages and fellowship.  I think the four of us got used to having such a “big” crowd (15 people plus one dog).  We said our goodbyes on Sunday to most of the group.  Stella, Jen, and I went with Mr. Sandilands to the airport on Monday for one last get together at Starbucks before Mr. Sandilands headed back home and the three of us went to Egypt.  We had such an amazing time touring in Cairo and Luxor. 

Spending the days in Egypt and then coming out of Egypt to be back home for the Last Day of Unleavened Bread made the week extra memorable and meaningful. 

We are now heading in to the final stretch of the school year. We only have ten weeks left. It is amazing how quickly the year is going by. We will keep everyone updated on our final weeks here in Jordan!

Until next time,

Jessica

What's New?

Amazing how time flies, and so much happens over the course of time. There has been a lot going on for me in Jordan since my last post and a lot of excitement to come over the next few days and weeks. With Jordan being closer to many places than the States, it provides a wonderful chance to travel and see other parts of the world. 

Recently, there was a weeklong mid-term break at school and Jessica and I took the opportunity to travel to London. This was my first time to London and I enjoyed every minute of it! The first day was sort of an "orientation" day with lots of walking, taking the buses, and seeing the sites. After getting coffee at a local cafe' the adventure began; walking along the River Thames, seeing the Parliament building, Big Ben, the London Eye, and several memorials. Finding some beautiful parks to walk through, passing many theaters, enjoying the Covent Garden’s area and world famous fish and chips at The Rock & Sole Plaice. Then heading on to Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Notting Hill, and Westminster Abby; before ending the day with a wonderful Sabbath dinner at Dave & Erin Treybig's and spending a nice relaxing Sabbath with them as well.  

Sunday highlights included a tour of the Theater Royal Drury Lane (the oldest continually operating theater in London), lunch at the amazing Chipotle, Piccadilly Circus, and Sherlock Holmes Restaurant and Museum. Monday started off with the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, walking through Hyde Park to the Marble Arch, and then on to the Tower of London with an amazing tour guide. The day ended with dinner at La Tasca and a phenomenal performance of Wicked. Tuesday was shopping day, including Harrods and pizza night with friends. Wednesday was our final full day in London and it was jam packed; visiting the British Library, British Museum, touring the Globe Theater, and ending the trip with the brilliant Phantom of the Opera. The trip to London was amazing and as much as I saw there's so much more!

Since London, I've been busy with work, setting up service projects for students and the yearbook is in full swing. Nothing too exciting going on at work, preparing for the Spring Holy Days, and looking forward to friends coming over. We'll have a total of 15 here to start the Holy Days off, what a blessing! Five of which will arrive later this week and they'll be doing site seeing around Jordan and even spending a few days in Jerusalem. Preparing for this special time of year is even more exciting this year as we get to help set things up for those visiting. This opportunity adds a whole new level to serving here in Jordan. May this Holy Day season be fulfilling and rewarding for all who know and understand.  

~ Until Next Time 

 

Stella

Winter Break

Hello everyone! For those of you who don't know, this is my second visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, I was here in '08 during the educational tour with Mr. Joel Meeker & Mr. Dave Baker. During that time I saw many amazing sites in both Jordan and Israel and this year I'm hoping to share those with my wife Eva.

As you would have seen in Eva's post we went to India for the feast and it was amazing. India even gave me her own special gift and I had to spend two days enjoying it… Also I gave my second sermonette there, I was so nervous that I cropped it down from eight and a half minutes to four and a half... but I'm working on that. When we arrived back in Jordan after the feast it was back to work  for a couple of months at the YMWA centre for special education where I work as a carpenter and general handy man. After the feast I started some window washing classes that Mr. Erickson had suggested. The students love working and accomplishing the tasks, and its fun and fulfilling to help them learn. Though they can be a bit of a handful sometimes, they love working but not waiting for instructions. While I show one student how to squeegee the other will half wash all the windows in the room and want to wash the windows in the next room, but it’s still a lot of fun.

At the end of those couple of months our winter vacation started (January). A week into the break, the Horchaks came to visit and travel for few days including the Sabbath. We had an amazing time going to places in and around Amman with them. Thursday we had a meeting at the school and that evening Eva and I made dinner. On Friday we traveled to Pella in the Jordan valley where there is evidence that the early Christians fled there when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and then we went to the Citadel, which is on a hill in the middle of Amman over looking the Roman Amphitheater and 2000 years ago was the site of a 70 foot statue of Hercules. That along with the museum that contained nearly 4000 years of the sites history made it a very fun and interesting site to visit. Eva and I love going, we have been there a few times now. On Saturday Jessica & Stella made brunch for us all then Mr. Horchak gave a great sermon. Afterwards we took a drive to Madaba and Mt. Nebo. Madaba has the oldest map of the Holy Land and Mt. Nebo is where Moses looked upon the Holy Land before he died. From Mt. Nebo we could see the West Bank, the Dead Sea and Jericho to the west in Israel and Amman to the north. This is also a great place to view the sunset.

 We were sad to see Mr. & Mrs. Horchak go, we had a great time with them and wished they could have stayed longer. But soon afterwards Eva and I headed out to see Jerusalem and Tel'aviv. It wasn't to much of an adventure getting to Jerusalem and our hostel was cozy enough. We had a great time in the Old City of Jerusalem, so much history and culture! And after your taken for a fool a few times by merchants you learn a thing or two about haggling… There are some great places to see in this world but there are few like the Old City of Jerusalem. With it's jungle of roads, alleys and covered markets. It's tightly packed vendors selling silk and cashmere scarves, boxes inlaid with mother of pearl, jewelry, antiques, and ancient artifacts. Just walking through the streets is an adventure in itself.

After three days in the old city we then went to Tel'aviv which is on the Israeli coast 45 minutes away from Jerusalem. In Tel'aviv we met up with Kurt and Jennifer Hoyer (Kurt works at the U.S. Embassy in Tel'aviv) and had a great time with them. They took us to the beach at Caesarea for a light picnic with some of their friends and despite it being January the weather was fairly nice. Caesarea was the dream of King Harod the "great", it was one of the largest ports on the Mediterranean and what makes it so amazing is that there was no natural port there… so he built one. Most of the construction was like most fortified ports of the time with walls, towers and a light house. The really innovative thing was the use of volcanic ash, he would fill a barge with the ash then float it out to sea and sink it. when exposed to salt water the ash would become like cement which could then be built upon.

Later we went to the Hoyers home for dinner and an evening of conversation, they were very gracious hosts and offered there spare bed to us which we gratefully accepted (it was much better than the bed at the hostel). Although we were only able to spend a day or so with the Hoyers it was a great time and we had a lot of fun. The next day we had to head home to Amman and that included a bus ride with some Israeli soldiers, a taxi to the Old City, and then another taxi to the Jordanian border, an over priced exit fee then another taxi back to our apartment. Since then our winter break has ended so we're back to work at the YMWA and we've had our second snow in Amman!

Joshua-

Polka Dots and Fairy Tales

I’ve been asked by many Jordanians if this is my first time to Jordan, and I reply that it is not, but it is my first time living here.  Then the other person will nod, understanding that coming to Jordan as a tourist is much different than living here.  It was partly that experience of travelling to Jordan in 2008 that made me consider returning for a full school year with the Jordan Project. 

After I was accepted to volunteer with the project, I learned that I would be teaching at the Amman Baccalaureate School (ABS) in the Kindergarten (KG).  Having taught Kindergarten for the past four years, I was eager to see what the KG at ABS would be like.  I have learned that no matter where you are in the world, kids are kids!  They are excited about learning and are eager to ask questions and love to have fun.  The teachers have all been so welcoming and I am enjoying getting to know them better, as well as learning from each other while we plan lessons and discuss curriculum and other educational topics.  The teachers, of course, love to have fun too.  We recently all dressed up for the 100^th Day of School (I colored 100 polka dots on my shirt!) and for our current unit of study, Once Upon a Time, which focuses on literature, elements in a story, and different ways to express stories.  Each classroom was a different fairy tale theme and the teachers decorated the rooms and wore costumes according to the story we were telling that day. 

But ABS is only one part of Jordan.  Recently, Stella and I had the opportunity to visit another part of Amman – an all-girls school at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) refugee camp.  We were given a tour of the school and were able to sit in on one of the English Writing classes.  The girls were all so eager to learn and participate, so attentive, and very respectful.  I remember going in to one classroom during our tour and the girls would all encourage each other by clapping when someone spoke their English sentences correctly in front of the class (and the visitors).  The girls would smile at us when we would come in to the room and they all, including the teachers, made us feel so welcome.  It was clear that the girls appreciated and were grateful for the education they were receiving.

We are a little over half-way through our journey here in Jordan, and I am sure there will be many more exciting opportunities along the way! 

Until next time,

Jessica