Terrifying...

This was the inspiring decoration in the dome of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.


I tell you, this would be more than enough to keep me awake during services.

I Clean, I Swear...

I made dinner tonight and it got a little messy.  When I went to wipe down the counters afterwards, I felt a little bit like Snow White, cleaning up after the Seven Dwarves (except, sadly, without the woodland creatures, unless mosquitos count).


I promise - I *just* wiped these counters down...

Distraction...

I am finally done unpacking - behold my magnificent box fort!

  

But I did get a tiny bit distracted along the way.  In addition to spending time "researching" the shopping scene in Amman, watching the first season of Third Rock from the Sun, first two season of Mad Men, and Serenity and Firefly (I unpacked during "commercial" breaks, I swear!), and re-reading North and South, I also put together these two gems.  

I have to admit, they made me a little homesick.

Hmmm....

Maybe this is why my internet is struggling?

And pretty little maids, all in a row...

The two empty gardening plots to the left and right of my front door have been beckoning for the last three weeks.  Since I would do pretty much anything to avoid unpacking the last few boxes, I decided today was the day to find something prettier than dirt to fill them.

After trips to two different garden stores, it became apparent that there is not much variety in what is available.  I picked out dianthus in pinks, whites, reds, and some multi-colored daisies.  I also picked up basil, mint and zatar, a Middle Eastern staple that can be translated as either basil, oregano, thyme or savory.  I'm pretty sure its not basil?

Here are some before, during and after pictures:

Really, Sam Raimi??

So, it's late here.  I'm mindlessly watching TV, while pretending to unpack.  I turned on the movie channel and a very strange science fiction-type film was showing.

Very unhelpfully, the Armed Forces Network cable does not give you the title of what you're watching.  So I googled the following description of what was on the screen:

"time travel to medieval times with chainsaw, gun and missing hand"

Bless the Google logarithms.

The first thing that popped up was the Wikipedia entry for Ashley J. "Ash" Williams, the protagonist in the Evil Dead horror series created by Sam Raimi.  I was watching Army of Darkness, the third film in the series, in which Ash is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home, using only his trusty "boomstick" and the chainsaw that has replaced his right hand.

I guess its the part of me that's a sucker for a good (read: terrible) B-movie but I stayed up until 2:30 A.M. to finish watching.  In case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure its available on Netflix's Watch Instantly.

Sherry, I hardly knew ye...

I bought this little beaut, a 1999 Jeep Cherokee, the day I arrived in Amman:

I told a colleague about the planned purchase a few weeks before I left D.C.  He laughed and said "oh - you mean a Jeep SHerokee?"  Ah, those Middle Easterners and their wacky pronunciation.


Sherry is a very particular car.  If he were a sentient being, he'd have a high-pitched and patronizing tone of voice ("If you want the radio to turn off when you remove the key, of course you should stop listening to it at least two and a half minutes before you actually stop the car).  Despite his quirks, I've grown to love Sherry.  He has been performing his duties admirably, keeping me safe from the insane local drivers.


Yesterday, I took Sherry to have a burnt out tail light fixed.  When the mechanic brought the car back, he delivered some bad news.  In addition to the burnt out light, he discovered the following issues:


-- the brakes are bad
-- the rotors need to be turned
-- the power steering column needs replacing
-- the engine and transmission are leaking
-- the shocks and suspension are both shot
-- the horn needs to be replaced
-- the differential is slipping


To be honest, I have no idea what most of that even means.  But I do know its pretty bad (the mechanic offered to take the car and get the oil-covered engine cleaned off so I could try and sell it before the buyer discovered it was leaking).


There are no other reasonably priced cars available at the moment.  What to do?  Sell?  Fix?  What to dooo?

Terrifying...

This was the inspiring mural decorating the dome of Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  


I tell you, fear of meeting this fate would be more than enough to keep me awake during church services.

Petra

I spent this yesterday hiking through Petra.  We hiked down to the "Treasury", up to the "High Place of Sacrifice", past several Nabatean and Greek tombs, and through the main drag of ancient Petra.  I decided to sit out the donkey ride up to the "Monastery" and missed the crash my buddies were involved in (luckily on a flat stretch so no injuries).  We finished the afternoon with delicious ice cream at the Movenpick resort.

Sadly, I did not find Indiana Jones, the Holy Grail or a single penitent man.  However, I did find Captain Jack Sparrow and Che Guevara.  I also got invited to a bedouin wedding, offered an "air-conditioned" taxi ride, and propositioned by several camel wranglers.  Apparently "oooh baby" is universally utilized...and universally creepy.  Cousins - is it street harassment if there is no "street"?

See below for a glimpse of an incredible and beautiful corner of this country.  You are all invited to come and visit!