A total surprise!

Well it wasn't a surprise for Daniel's parents that we're pregnant, but it was a surprise for us when they came with a suitcase filled with baby shower gifts!  So fun!  So, yes, if you haven't heard, I am 12 weeks pregnant and ready for trimester #2 so I can finally cook for my husband again.  Cooking these days just doesn't sound good to the ol' tummy.  But thankfully eating does.  Most of the time.  OK, well, some of the time.   Things are going well.  We had a check up on Saturday where we got to see the little peanut moving all around - waving, kicking, etc.  Amazing, truly.  I had no idea what to expect during ultrasounds, but wow.  Totally amazing.  

We are very fortunate to have a great doctor who worked in London for 10 years and has been here for a while.  He does ultrasounds at every visit and each visit costs around $25 (and that's before insurance!).  That's why we are planning to have the baby here.  Great doctors, great hospitals, all at a great price.   Some of our colleagues here had a baby recently at the nicest hospital in the city (their room was a suite with a separate receiving room for male visitors, huge flat screen tv's, big windows with great views, two bathrooms) and they ended up having to stay for 5 nights because of some complications.  For five nights (including really good food) they paid a little over two-thousand dollars.  Before insurance.  This kid is going to be cheap!  

The gifts still wrapped rather nicely even after their long trip!

The party - we celebrated with watermelon, fruit spritzers and some sweets.

Daniel's favorite.  Monkeys.

We were so overwhelmed with all the fun things sent from family and friends! 

How would you like this job?

Yes, I do believe there are legs under the inflatable toys.

City Traffic

Driving in the streets of Amman can be hectic.  Especially when your pick-up breaks down in the middle of a donkey delivery.

Our trip to the desert

We took Daniel's parents on an overnight trip to the desert of Wadi Rum.  They took a jeep ride to see all the amazing rock formations and of course, lots of camels.  Then we went back to our camp for the night and had an Arabic dinner of kabobs, veggies, rice, bread, and ice cream!  Later that night, we sat on some chairs by the pool and looked at the most awesome sky we had ever seen.  We sat there for a long time, trying to see how many shooting stars we could see and just being totally amazed at what was above us.  

Wadi Rum at sunset

We could have stayed in a tent...

....but why when you can stay in your own private desert cabin?

You would think this water would be refreshing in the hot desert sun.  But how does it stay so cold??  Brrr!

The spot where we were served an Arabic dinner and had some lively entertainment!

The camp mascot.

The entrance to the desert camp.

Mexican Night

OK, so while we are teaching an English Conversation class, we find out that no one in the class has ever heard of a taco or burrito.  After attempting (and failing) to draw them out on the white board and describe the basic Mexican food staples, I decided that I just had to show them in person.  We planned a big Mexican night at our house with tacos, burritos, salsa, chips and guacamole, the works.  Unfortunately, that was the same day the King and Queen planned their drive through town and most of the streets were blocked off way past dinner time.  Only two of the girls got to come, but it was fun nonetheless.  They were thoroughly amused by the finger foods and wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING.  I'm not sure if they will want to eat Mexican food ever again, but they seemed to enjoy it, at least in front of their host.  

Our very own taco bar!  Sometimes I really miss Taco Bell.  

Pictures on our roof at sunset.

Visitors!

We are so excited to have Daniel's parents in town for two weeks.  We have done a little sight-seeing, a lot of shopping, and a lot of seeing what life is like here for us.  They even came to help us teach an English class one night.  Sunday we will leave to check out the desert and Petra, but for now, here are a few pics of the Roman theater in downtown Amman.

For info on these pics, see post below....

Huge pictures of the King were posted up all over the city before the big day.

This is a group of men performing a traditional Bedouin dance.

The Entourage.

And finally, the Royal couple themselves.  I promise.  Their hands are the the left of the flag.

A Royal Sighting

Daniel's parents arrived last Friday and we've been out and about seeing the sights, eating, and shopping!  But Tuesday was a very special day here in Amman.  It was the 10th anniversary of the King's coronation.  The city was basically shut down, all major roads were closed, and people from all over the Kingdom headed to Amman to get a look at the King and Queen.  They were supposed to drive through the city and hold a speech at a local stadium with an air show.  (We knew about the air show because we'd been hearing and seeing the fighter jets fly RIGHT above our house for a week now - sometimes they fly so low the house seems to shake!) 

Daniel's friend called to see if we were planning to stand on the street and wait for the Royal family to drive by.   We wondered what time it would be and we were told anywhere between 2 and 6:00.  Hmmm, hot weather, big crowds, 4 hours.....well, I passed on the occasion, but Daniel and his parents headed down to meet Daniel's friend.  They moved locations a few times to find the perfect spot for a good view.  The streets were indeed crowded with police, traditional dancers/ performers, school children, political higher ups and even a cute baby camel.  Daniel's mom got to go and take a few pictures of the camel and see it up close, only to find out later that the camel was there to be sacrificed to the King as he drove by.  Yikes!  Of course, we were told that it was an honor to the king....and the camel.  Sure.  

Well, sure enough, right about 6:00 the cars began to move quickly through the streets.  First it was just some military people, then reporters, then more military, and finally, at a speed around 40 mph, the King and Queen rode by standing up in an open-top car.  Daniel was quick to get a picture, but when we looked at the picture later, he saw that he actually only got the King and Queen's hands waving to the crowd.  Most of the picture is of a huge Jordanian flag. Oh well, people said they looked great.  We were just glad that Daniel's parents got to be a part of such a big day on their trip East.

Fun Facts

A few things you might not know about our new city:

1. The local university, University of Jordan, is rather large with over 40,000 students.  Of those students, about 70% are female.  Classes are taught in English and Arabic.  There is only one dormitory.

2.  In the summer months, the city almost doubles in size.  Locals who live and work in the gulf countries come back to this "cooler" area for the summer to stay with family.  This means that the traffic doubles, as these visitors will drive their cars through the desert from Saudi and other places.  It also means that more people are out and about and the chance of getting a taxi becomes slimmer and slimmer. 

3.  We get a firework show every week.  Forget the once a year 4th of July display, fireworks are abundant in our neighborhood.  People will shoot them off for weddings, engagements, and who knows what else.  All we know is that we get a show weekly if not twice a week.  We just have to look out our window to watch the sky light up with fireworks that we sometimes pretend are just for us.  

4.   Where we originally just had the propane truck coming by playing music through the neighborhoods, we now have the propane truck, the watermelon truck, the 'collecting junk' truck, and a few others I haven't spotted yet.  But I've heard them.  They either have a song playing over and over on a loud speaker, or they have a recording of some guy yelling something over and over.  I think even if I knew what they were yelling, it would still be annoying to hear 10 times a day.