In August I had the amazing opportunity to visit friends in Jordan! My dream has always been to go to the Middle East and I was so, so happy when God opened the door for me to spend 3 weeks in Jordan. Our friends that live over there have 3 children and the fourth was born during my time there! That was very exciting for the family. Among other things, I enjoyed helping around the house. We also did some shopping and touring which was a big highlight of the trip! Oh, and the food… let’s just say that I love Middle Eastern food!! It is great to be home with my family although I enjoyed my trip immensely and wanted to stay longer!
My little brother was sad to say goodbye. It was mutual! 
I had a 14 hour flight from Philadelphia to Doha, Qatar. That was just about enough time in one plane!
Here are a few pictures of some of the amazing food we ate! I think my favorite is Mutabal, which is a dip for bread made from eggplant. Being amazing cooks, our neighbors supplied us with so many delicious meals. They were way too generous! If you ever go to Jordan you definitely need to try the popular Kanafeh. It is a pretty good dessert although very interesting!
Today we went to the suk (a shopping place). It was very cool- so many shops and people! It wasn’t at all touristy either, so that’s nice. We got lots of stares, questions, etc. I bought a bunch or souvenirs for my family. One of the coolest shop was the perfume shop where I got perfume for my sisters. You just tell them what kind of scent you want, pick out the bottle you want and then they mix it to make the perfume right there in front of you! We ran into one of ******’s good friends. A 17 year old Muslim guy and he bought slushies for all of us. The fruit and vegetable part of it was cool, very crowded, and loud! I tasted cactus fruit and raw dates. The cactus stuff was pretty good but the dates not really! After that we went to a souvenir shop in the mall. While we were in the mall I got to watch a lady doing henna! We also went to a sweet shop and bought all kinds of good dessert! We then went home and ate a good supper of the neighbor’s delicious food. Great day!
an entry in my traveling journal
While I was there I got to do some touring. That was so exciting! I was at places mentioned in the Bible such as Mt. Nebo, which is the mountain on which Moses died. I also saw the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. It brings the Bible stories to life when you see exactly where they happened! I saw many old roman ruins like amphitheaters, old towns and other impressive structures.
Here are some pictures of daily life which mostly included preparing meals and doing dishes, cleaning, doing laundry, crafting with the children and taking them to the park, holding the baby, trips to get groceries and everyone’s highlight in the evening; going to the roof of our apartment building! The family I stayed with and helped for the 3 weeks I was there is so amazing and I love them a lot! They are most of what made me love my trip as much as I did because they welcomed me in as family, took me so many places, and taught me so much about the culture, history, and language of Jordan. Hopefully I will be able to see them again soon!
Jordan is a Muslim country and the whole experience was kind of a culture shock. It makes me sad to see how much Muslim’s put into the religion, with all their feasts, prayer times and strict rules and yet I know that at the end of their lives they will receive no reward for what they are doing now. Without God all we do is nothing. I didn’t know any Arabic either, so that presented its own set of challenges. Although I am happy because I did come home with a very slight knowledge of Arabic!
Post by Kinza
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