We went to Petra. There were donkeys, camels and, unfortunately, no red pandas. I’m very disappointed in the lack of red pandas. <in the desert> Though there was a very big staircase 950 steps <the step count varies from 850-950>. On the way to Petra we saw many, many Ibex and there was a baby one. This is immensely cute. We saw some random building and Maggie insisted on taking a picture in front of it. Then we went through…
Last weekend, we had the opportunity to participate in that most Palestinian of traditions — olive picking! Our friends from the kid’s school invited us to their family village about 30 minutes outside of town for the adventure. His family has about 800 olive trees in the hills surrounding the village, so they’ve been picking for a few weeks now. I can’t tell you what a special moment that was for me to be in the orchards with our families….
The Sid Meiers fans among you will recognize the image above as one of the title screens from Civ V (Civ VI’s release is only a week away, but sadly, my Macbook is too old to run it — it’s upgrade time, I think). It’s one of those magical places that conjures up images of adventure and romance. And it’s now a UNESCO site and one of the 7 new wonders of the world. Before we dive in, here’s my…
I realized I didn’t have an adblocker in Chrome, but after seeing this commercial over the past couple of days, I don’t think I’ll install one. This is from our local cell phone company. The commercials here are much more narrative driven, I think. Lots of symbolism packed into 54 seconds…
As promised to some of my students, here is a video of me speaking Arabic. I am reading off my homework sentences for all to hear. My homework for this evening is practicing reading some conversations, but honestly I am terrible at reading Arabic script so I skipped videoing that one! Give me a few more weeks! For those of you wondering if I am forgetting my Spanish. No. I actually keep tossing Spanish words in accidentally when I forget…
One of the highlights of the trip so far has been all the Palestinian meals I’ve eaten in the homes of our new friends. There’s nothing like home cooking; even when the flavor profiles are completely different from our own, things taste so much better when you know they were cooked with love. One of my favorite dishes so far has been Maqluba, which means “upside down.” This dish consists of rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, spices and chicken. You cook everything…
We saw a motorcycle show. (If any of you know how really hypnotize someone tell me in the comments I mean it) We had a exciting time. 4ufggfdjdhgd. (sorry problem with the keys) In Bethlehem (see maggie’s post) a stunt man was taking photos and there was a crowd after 2 minutes. That guy cannot go anywhere without a crowd following him. The stunts he did were standing up on the motorcycle. I think I saw him do a handstand…
So today despite the name Will can’t talk about anything in his blog, because I am going to talk about anything! So on Saturday we went to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. And there was a little candle to help Jesus and there was also a poor box. People put money in it so they could help poor people. Then we got to touch where Jesus was born and it was super fun. Then once we were done…
Let’s take a moment and write a little post for those who will go after me. (Like on their #fulbrightteach in January!) Currently for international flights each passenger gets one 62″ suitcase. Which means you add length+width+height and the result is 62″ or less. Suitcases can be 50 lbs. You may have additional weight for extra fees or a second bag for about $100. That means that space is at a premium. In our family, our plan was to bring…
The kids started their 3rd week of school today. There were a few minor things they had to adjust to: the “weekend” is Friday and Sunday, they wear uniforms, and they have to carry their lunch every day. Surprisingly though, I was completely wrong about who would adjust better. To begin with, Maggie was by far the most excited about starting a new school. She had been telling people for months how she was going to learn Arabic and make…