UFC!

Okay - so it wasn't the *real* Ultimate Fighting Championship or anywhere close.  But we went to cheer on some of the Few, the Proud, and the Brave as they kicked the trash out of their opponents (there was actual blood spatter going on which was pretty much awesome).

poor guy actually ended up at the hospital

The Plot of a Law and Order Episode...Korean Style

I took the Young Maidens, er Women to a Korean Culture Fest tonight.  They had puppets, dancing, and sung and instrumental musical performances.  Of course, the Jordanian audience talked and took pictures and socialized their way through the whole thing, much to our annoyance. 

My favorite was the story of Granny Miyal.  I will just relay the summary from the program, as it says it best: 

"A granny named Miyal is separated from her husband during a war.  After several decades, they finally meet each other.  When the granny is dancing from the joy of finding her husband, her husband's second wife comes which starts a fight between the two wives.  From this fight, granny Miyal dies."

Granny and her husband, reunited after all those years

but wait...he brought his new young wife

"Who is this?!"

"I will kill her"

and then the husband kills Granny and runs offstage with the new wife

they learned a valuable lesson tonight - never let your husband go to war...

Sadness

I know popcorn cooked on the stove-top is so much tastier/healthier/whatever but it takes so much more effort.  So I have been hoarding our limited supply of microwave popcorn bags.  Imagine my dismay when I left a bag in a few (okay - 30) seconds too long and returned to discover the following:

I never knew that popcorn could create a ball of fire in the center of the bag if left too long unattended.  It is a good thing we dumped it out, to try and see if there were any unburnt pieces.  Otherwise this thing could have raged out of control.

Mt. Nebo and Madaba

Susan, Willy and I headed to Madaba and Mt. Nebo yesterday.  We admired the Biblical Map in Madaba, snuck around the backside of the Archaeological Park for some pictures, and then headed out to Mt. Nebo.  

On the way there, we got sidetracked by a sign for "Moses' Spring".  We turned off the main road and drove.  And drove.  And drove.  And then ran out of road.  At this point we made an executive decision to turn around, fearing we'd run into Kathy Bates.  But not before Willy ferociously barked at a nearby herd of goats, to let them know he'd kill and eat them, if only he wasn't on a leash.

"I will KILL you!"

We finally made it back up to Mt. Nebo where Willy and I waited with some angry guards (we ignored the ticket taker when he tried to stop us from taking Willy in - he sent the tourist police after us) for Susan to take a look around.  She took these amazing photographs of the Jordan River Valley...

Winter Wonderland

Since we don't have much time to enjoy the Christmas decorations before going home, we broke them out as soon as we'd properly cleaned the turkey carcass.  While I set up the tree and hung the ornaments up, Susan put ribbons on all my hajji ornaments and provided input on "black holes" in the tree that needed to be filled.  We had only one minor setback when we burned out an entire string of lights when we plugged them into the Jordanian outlet - oops!  

Willy is a bit upset because we moved the chair he likes to hang out under to set up the tree and Grimsby is horrified (but when isn't he?).  But I'm quite pleased and so excited for the countdown to begin! 

Thanksgiving!!

Yesterday (and today) was a time of delicious feasting.  Thanks to recipes from friends and family, Susan and I were able to brine and roast a turkey, make garlic mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, rolls, and cranberry sauce plus (Ocean Spray with some added deliciousness).  

We took it all over to a friend's house and ate as much as our little stomachs could hold.  Had I known how good everything would be, I would have engaged in stomach stretching training for the past few weeks, to prepare.  It has been 24 hours and I have had no reports of food poisoning from the turkey so I officially declare this Thanksgiving a success!

so grossed out by the whole process of cooking turkey

turns out, if you add enough sugar, carrots are delcious

quite proud of these - my first successful attempt at rolls

someday I'll be grown up enough to be this fancy...until then, glad for friends who are willing to host!

Bowling...

Took this crew bowling tonight.  We put up the rails, for the beginners, which necessitated the development of a new scoring system: Real points vs. Rail points.  

Rail points were determined on a sliding scale - points were entirely discounted if your bowling ball ricocheted off the rails all the way down the lane, pinball style, but counted if the bowling ball merely glided along the rail or briefly glanced off it...after all, it is entirely possible that it would have skirted the gutter without going in under normal non-rail circumstances, right?

Surprisingly, for someone who's previous high score was 27, I scored a 107 (117 in rail points - I had a wicked strike after a ricochet incident). 

Haircuts!

A little bit of foil, some scissoring, and we are newly shorn!

Pork!

I've clearly hit the limit of tolerance, as far as appreciating Middle Eastern cuisine goes. I ate pork products from little stand twice in 36 hours. And I had another bratwurst in the airport in Germany.

Pistachios and Fruit

While wandering through the streets of Prague, I passed a shop that Rachel and I spent some time in when we were here eight months ago. I looked down to find a pistachio shell caught between the cobblestones. I'm pretty sure its been waiting, oh so patiently, all these months, for my return so it could rebuke me for littering.

On a totally unrelated note, I really miss beautiful produce like this - I honestly haven't seen berries since August. Don't worry - I bought three containers and they made it back only slightly squished.

Praha!

I took a quick trip to Prague this weekend.  Maybe it was the grey weather or maybe it was that I'd seen all the big sights and so just wandered around, but I just found myself taking pictures of sad statue after sad statue...

I love that Catherine is standing on her pagan suitor - 13th Century Feminism!

Curses...

There is a great "express" grocery store right near my house.  Its got a fairly decent spread of goods as well as a large selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Since I'm horrible at planning my life out in advance, I find myself stopping by two or three times a week for basics like Diet Coke, bananas and milk.  

The clerks are all very nice and friendly.  Everything was all find and dandy until yesterday when I had the following conversation with the newest checkout clerk:

Clerk: The weather is very nice outside.
Me: Yes, it is very pleasant.
Clerk: It is very romantic weather.
Me (unsure what to respond with): It's a little cold for me.
Clerk (looking directly into my eyes): No, it is hot.  It is very hot.
Me: Nervous laughter as I grab my change and flee.

Time to find a new grocery store.  

Dead Sea!

Saturday I did six loads of laundry, baked two dozen cupcakes, cleaned my bathroom and changed my sheets, did two loads of dishes, cleaned the kitchen, took everyone to Jerash and attended a baptism.

After all that work, we decided to celebrate Veteran's Day on Sunday (thank you to veterans everywhere!) by doing nothing.  We headed down to the "Each" at the Dead Sea Spa Hotel where we braved the wind, waves, strange Ukranians, a stalkerish flock of birds and clouds (why was the sky shiny and bright on the Israeli side and dark and ominous in Jordan?) and relaxed.

Jerash

We packed up the two dogs (we are dog-sitting) and headed to Jerash this morning.  For those who love your history, Jerash or Gerasa was part of the Decapolis and is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Middle East, complete with huge triumphal arched gateways, a hippodrome, temples to Zeus and Artemis, and a colonnaded circular open marketplace.  I actually think parts of it are more impressive than the Forum in Rome.  

Fall suddenly arrived last night and we woke to low 60's, windy weather with threatening rain clouds on the horizon.  Luckily (since we forgot to grab umbrellas), it rained in Jerash right before we arrived which meant we stayed dry and the dogs had so very many muddy puddles to splash through and drink from - a win, win situation.

Some highlights:

monumental entrance - note the foreboding storm clouds

my pretend Greek horse won!

Willy was frantic...

...because Susan climbed up to pose and he couldn't get to her

awwww

an impression of a Greek statue in a yoga class

Dewey and Willy discover a Beetle