Canyon Life

I got back from the Middle East a week ago. I was blessed enough to be asked back this year to do another camp. It was a little different, I got to plan and oversee the whole program, and then create teams to man all the stations. It was insanely fun. It took months of preparation. Lot's of meetings and research, creating a camp that would translate well into Arabic. It's just like the camp we do here, but on a smaller and less formal scale. Because you never know what you are going to get when you travel thousands of miles to a foreign country to set up a big event. Plans change. Locations change. Help changes. There are translation issues. Two hundred more people than you estimated for show up. All kinds of nonsense! You have to be ready to roll with the punches. And we were ready. This camp was fantastic. It worked out so well, like it was meant to have that many people the whole time. That's because God already knew, and God had a plan. He made sure we had all the resources we needed, the people we needed, the location ready, and every other tiny detail figured out. There were some sketchy moments, some scary times, and my patience was tested many times. But as I look back, I can't believe how awesome this trip was. And I hope our sister church there sees much fruit from the work we did. 

Of course, we worked hard, so we played hard too! We got to visit some fun places, Mount Nebo, Bethany, Madaba, the Citadel, and a wonder of the world, Petra. We had dinner with many families, they cooked traditional dishes for us, showed us how to dance. Much Turkish and Arabic coffee was consumed. No wonder I never slept! Neighbors dropped of numerous baked goods filled with dates and spiced with cardamom. Cardamom is in everything. Semolina is prevalent in their sweets. Flat bread is a staple. I also discovered that crispy little chickpeas make a great snack, and zataar toasted on flat bread with olive is better than pepperoni pizza. Jordanian food is fresh, simple, and delicious. 

My husband once again, was awesome enough to hold down the fort, and I would often stay awake til 2am to talk with him. Then when I woke up, he'd be going to bed so I could say goodnight. He took the kids camping at the beach with lots of our church family for the fourth of July. He's a great support to me, and if the opportunity to go again arises, he had better go with me. 18 hours in a plane really isn't that bad.... if you have good earplugs and one of those weird travel pillows. Those things made the difference this year! 

Here's some highlights from the trip, totally out of order, because I am lazy.

This right here is a Bedouin tent. Bedouins have their own society within a society. They are nomads. They farm, sell, barter, raise livestock, do odd jobs. They make a lot of the souvenir knives you find in the little shops. This one was camped right outside the mall, and he had some sweet baby camels. 

This was night two of camp I think. Standing room only. We had over 330 kids registered at this point. I was ready for 150. Oops. The first night we went through two days worth of craft supplies!

This was a day trip to the Citadel in downtown Amman. Home of the Archaeological Museum of Amman and the Temple of Hercules. And a great view. You don't know how big the city is until you see from up here. This is a great photo of our STM group this year.

Another day trip to Madaba. This is Diana, she's a sweet girl I met last year. Her dad, Samer, is a tour guide. He towed us around to all the sights and he knows lots of history. Madaba has a church that houses the oldest mosaic in the world.

Fireworks the last night of camp. Funny story about that, but I can't tell you about it. Ha!

This right here was one of my favorite life moments, a first glimpse of the Treasury at Petra. Think Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail. Oh my word. I had goosebumps. You can't know til you see it in person. It's a little over a mile hike to this point, through a pathway lined with tall rock walls like you see here. It's beyond awesome. And the whole park is huge! It's a city, many many buildings. Many tombs. Takes a few days to tour it all. Also in the vicinity, and you can hike three hours straight up to get to it, the memorial tomb of Aaron, brother of Moses. He was said to have been buried on Mount Hor, but who knows how accurate that is. We didn't have time to hike there.

The Jabbok River, where Jacob wrestled with God. It's dirty.

The ancient city of Jerash. We were here last year. Still one of my favorite sights.

These are some of the kids from camp, most of these girls were here last year. So fun to see them again!

The mosaic at Madaba. It pictures the Exodus. Madaba is an old city, it was mentioned numerous times in the bible. Lots of Jordan is mentioned in the bible. Says wikipedia about this mosaic: The Madaba Mosaic Map is an index map of the region, dating from the 6th century, preserved in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of Saint George. With two million pieces of colored stone, the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns in Palestine and the Nile Delta. The mosaic contains the earliest extant representation of Byzantine Jerusalem, labeled the "Holy City." The map provides important details as to its 6th-century landmarks, with the cardo, or central colonnaded street and the Holy Sepulchre clearly visible. This map is one key in developing scholarly knowledge about the physical layout of Jerusalem after its destruction and rebuilding in 70 AD.

This was really awesome to see, it's huge, this picture is but one little area of the map.

Oh my. Favorite night out right here. We went to Abu Omar's for dinner. He taught us the traditional way to be served and drink Arabic coffee. It was confusing. I'll show you sometime. Then he served us mansef, the traditional dish or Jordan. IT WAS SO GOOD. It's made with yogurt from Kerak, very hard to find and expensive (and comes hard, in the shape of a huge egg), lamb, almonds, rice, and parsley. I cannot describe. But we did get to bring some of that yogurt home. It has a shelf life of a few years. Yes, its weird.

The Treasury at Petra. First major building you see as you come to the beginning of the city. Awe struck. You aren't allowed to go in any more, but I am ok with that. I have found that if there's a cave or open tomb like this one any where in Jordan, people use it as a bathroom. Sucks. But it's true. And yes, I did bring a tiny Holy Grail, and I did strike a pose with it. I'm not posting it here.

This was the day we left Orange County from church. Great team. Great time. These people worked so hard, and I love every one of them. It's so fun to spend two weeks with people you only know a little and are then able to create lifetime bonds and memories.

I still can't put too much detail into why we do this camp, but you can message me if you want to know. One of the biggest things I take away from going is the history. The history of the people, the land, the culture. It's such a conundrum to me. Boggles my mind. You can ask me about that if you want too. I wish I could just write it all out here, but sometimes things just can't work that way.