Killer Bug.

This week, London learned how to repeat the words we ask her to say. So far, we have mom, dad, cat, and nana. Her little voice is so angelic. I could listen to her for the rest of eternity and it would still make me smile!

London and I are buddies. We spend our days reading stories, watching Sesame Street, building with blocks, cooking delicious meals for dad, and reading more stories. When Kyle gets home from school, we go on walks to the bakery for fresh, hot bread, or to the market, for the most amazing fruit I've ever tasted. Let me tell you- food that isn't genetically modified, grown out of season, and picked before it's ripe, tastes fabulous! The baggers at the grocery store, the bakers, and the owner of the fruit stand always welcome us with bright, toothless smiles. I'm starting to feel surprisingly comfortable in this strange country.  I've almost mastered looking down at all times, and I hardly open my mouth in public anymore. 

What happens to London everywhere we go.

On Saturday, Kyle and I took London to the Bird Park. It is what it sounds like- the outer border is a pathway lined with cages of exotic birds like chickens, pigeons, and ducks. Oh, and they did have a few peacocks and one monkey! The center is a playground: sandbox, swings, slides, etc. Whoever thought of the Bird Park obviously had too much hooka that day. Still, the Bird Park was wonderful, not just because London had the time of her life, but because it was full of women and children. It was like I was back home in Orem, Utah, where every human is a woman in her late teens with small children. Granted, I was in a combination zoo/playground, but even small glimpses of my version of normal make me happy!

My favorite day YET was Sunday when the wives went back to the orphanage. This time, I spent the majority of the visit with a very bright teenage girl who needed help with her English homework. I don't know how to describe it really, other than to say that we really connected. She was learning words like "scowl" and "wince" and "enthusiastically", so naturally, I had to act out each of the words. The girl laughed and laughed, saying, "I really like you! You are so fun! Today, I was so sad, and I thought, 'I will never laugh', but you make everything better." I nearly cried right in front of her. We spent the rest of the afternoon giggling and telling stories about our very different lives. When it was time to leave, she hugged me tight and kissed both my cheeks. I don't know if I will get to help her again, but at least for that day, I knew I had made a difference for someone- and nothing feels better than that!

This morning, I opened the sliding-glass door in London's room to let in some fresh air. I came back into London's room about 4 minutes later to find a....c....co....c.... cockroach, and not a little cockroach, a cockroach that was about 5 inches long, making its way between the metal gate and sliding-glass door. I slammed the sliding-glass door and let out the scream of a 7 year-old girl. London laughed at me as I continued screaming, ran into the kitchen, and grabbed the Raid, which Kyle instructed me to "use when I'm not home." That's all great in theory--spray the bug. The bug dies. You can sleep at night--but then there's the  minor problem of being brave enough to open the door that is protecting you from the killer bug. So instead, I decided to call Kyle and have him come home from school to spray the bug for me. I realized that was actually slightly crazy, and knocked on my trusty neighbor's door instead. Long story short, the bug got away and is currently somewhere in our backyard, and I am never opening a door or window again.

We've reached a milestone, people.

London had just woken up from her nap, and I was doing my daily routine of fixing her hair, when I came to the realization that her gorgeous red curls could possibly be long enough to put into pigtails. I honestly have never seen anything more adorable in my life.

Winning the Lottery

Three weeks with only three outfits and Kyle and I had given up all hope that our luggage would be found. We realized we could survive in a foreign country without anything I painstakingly packed and organized-- I was sufficiently humbled. Then, on Thursday, Kyle got called out of class because the Italian airline we will never fly again (remember that meal?) had found our bag! The conversation went something like this..."Yes, you have bag? Black? Columbia jacket? Pool pipes? Italians are lazy. I send bag."

Here it is. In all its glory. A whole bag of men's American Apparel t-shirts and linen pants! Opening our bag was better than winning the lottery... five times. 

We spent the whole afternoon filling up our drawers and making our beds with all the luxuries we had been missing.

We decided against a field trip this weekend, because the embassy sent out a letter warning against possible protests in Amman. Sunday was our first chance to volunteer at the Catholic orphanage, and through an unlikely chain of events, Kyle was asked to come with the wives. Having him there was fabulous for several million reasons, one being that he served as the translator for both the nuns and the children.


Kyle and I took over English lessons for the 4-6 year-olds, who don't actually know any English. We taught them how to say phrases like, "My name is... " and "I am __ years old" and "I am from Jordan". Then we switched to learning colors. They enthusiastically repeated black as"blat" pink as "bint". Their favorite color was blue, which became "bloooooooooooooooo". We played head, shoulders, knees and toes, and the girls, whose hair has all been cut off, took turns trying to braid mine. I wanted to adopt a four-year-old girl who fell in love with Kyle and tried her hardest not to smile back at him as she played ring-around-the-rosie. The children are sweet and beautiful. I want to go back there every day, but once a week is all the nuns will allow. 

This week, London has mastered the "L" sound. She wanders from room to room mumbling "Wula, wula, wula, wula" with her pointy tongue sticking out of her mouth.  We've also been working on her animal sounds, but the only sound she's learned how to make so far is the growl. It doesn't matter which animal I point at; she growls... "London, what sound does a pig make?" "Aghkkkkk." "London, what sound does a bird make?" "Aghkkkkk". At the embassy today, she started chasing a kitten, and she growled at the poor thing all the way. 

We'll keep working on it.

The Barber.

Originally, this post was going to be entirely about my little angel, London, and all the adorable things she does all day long... A sort of "I know this is the reason you read my blog anyway, family" post. But then today was actually pretty eventful, so now it will have to include both!

The day began early for us...8:30. We went to see Roman ruins that the Jordanians artfully "restored."There is an old Roman amphitheater and a row of columns. After our short visit to the amphitheater museum, we went to the ruins of a citadel on top of a hill in Amman. One of the best aspects of the citadel was the outstanding view of the entire city. I was impressed!

We got home at noon, London took a nap, and we finally cleaned out the front bathroom that I was too overwhelmed/terrified to touch. Now to the good part.

We were running low on fruit (which might as well be the end of the world for me) and planned to walk down to our favorite market to pick some up. Kyle was in desperate need of a hair-cut, so I suggested we stop at a barber on the way. My entire life, every time we went to Mexico, my dad stopped at the barber to get a real man's shave. He talked about it weeks before and days after as the most wonderful thing on the planet. So I told Kyle I would be disappointed if his haircut didn't include one of those fancy shave jobs. I was not disappointed.

We actually forgot the camera on this one, which is in some ways better because you can create your own picture of my macho husband in a Jordanian barber shop. First, a normal haircut. Next, the barber gets out a string and starts threading my husband's eyebrows. After the threading, a shave. After the shave, a facial. Like a real, several step, you are about to have glowing skin, facial. It was hilarious! And for the hour-long comedy special, 7 JD, roughly $10. 
When we walked out, I asked him how it felt. His response, "That freaking hurt!" To be fair, the barber did accidentally butcher his cheek/neck. Poor pampered husband. His skin was so silky smooth I nearly broke 29 Jordanian laws and kissed him in the street on the way to the market. 

A view from downtown.

Now to talk about the new things London started doing...

Knocking. I'm pretty sure we can credit this one to Uncle Noah. She knocks all the time now. If she's hungry, she knocks on the refrigerator door. If she's up from her nap, she knocks on her bedroom door until I come get her. If she wants to play outside, she knocks on the sliding glass door until I open it for her. The tapping of her baby knock might be my new favorite sound, except for the other adorable sounds she makes.

Singing with the Call To Prayer. Five times a day, load speakers from tall towers all over the city play the Call To Prayer. London thinks the musical Arabic prayer is the whooping Indian noise and enthusiastically joins in.

Copying mom. She follows every single step I take. If I'm cooking dinner, she is holding the spoon too. When I reach in to feel the shower water, she reaches in with me. We even got her her own miniature broom and dustpan so she can "sweep" with me. The only time she isn't either in my arms or has both her arms wrapped tight around my legs-- is when she is sleeping.

Talking on her cell phone. Everything is a cell phone. Shoes. Batteries. Boxes of raisins. Water bottles. Her pocket-mirror. The TV remote. My hairspray. The computer mouse. My glasses case.  You name it. She puts it up to her ear and has a conversation with it. She also hands the object to you so you can talk on it too.

Look, Papa! She already loves museums.

My Big Animal Book. It's hard enough to keep London from adopting one of the stray kittens outside our building, but now, she has been gifted a book that makes her love animals even more. This book has everything: farm animals, zoo animals, pets, baby animals; all for London's reading pleasure. She points at the animals over and over and over, making me repeat the sounds they all make. Every animal noise makes her laugh and point again. Seriously, Dad, this girl needs a puppy.

Our First Field Trip

Yesterday was our first field trip out of the city. We rode a snazzy charter bus and a tour guide was included!

Having driven back and forth from Utah to San Diego about 13,000 times, I was surprised at how similar the landscapes here are to the desert back home. One thing we don't have are nomads living in tents with their goats and sheep. That stretch from Fillmore to Cedar City would be much more entertaining if we passed a few gypsies here and there.

First, we went to Mount Nebo. My favorite stop was the River Jordan, which I refuse to call the Jordan River because that's not what the Bible calls it. We will never know exactly where Christ was baptized, but we do know where the Byzantines claim he was baptized, and I was perfectly happy with that. Some people put their feet in, and the odor emanating from their feet was enough to send me back toward the sitting area. London was pretty upset with me for not letting her swim in the green, murky, oasis. The best parts were the mosaics depicting the baptism. The images are so beautiful and I felt this sudden peace reflecting on the Savior. 

Our final stop was the Dead Sea, which is named perfectly. It feels like you're swimming in oil. Instead of sand, the beach is solid salt! Kyle went for a nice little dip while me and London exfoliated our feet walking on the shoreline.

After a full day in the scorching heat of the Middle East, we were exhausted! We all took showers way too long for the amount of water they give us, put on our pajamas and crawled into bed.