Cambodia and Laos

Brian and I spent a little over two weeks in Cambodia and Laos. We stayed in Phnom Phen for 4 nights (Cambodia) and then went to Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Nong Kiow in Laos. We had a really good time and were happy to be back in this region of the world. I had some of the best food of my life in Laos and we could not get over how cheap everything was! A really nice dinner with drinks included was around $12.00 total. Here in Jordan that would cover about 2 crappy Amstel beers. One of my favorite days was in Luang Prabang when we rented bikes and rode around the town looking in little shops for souvenirs and riding along overlooking the Mekong River. We rented a scooter for several days to explore outside of the major towns and Brian took some amazing photos of the people living in small villages. I don't know how he does it, but before I know it Brian is inside some family's house with about 10 children clinging to his side and making everyone laugh. I am not quite as bold and stuck to photos of nature and food. I included a few pictures from the markets. One is of all different types of medicine and I included the couple with fish and meat for my food safety/nutrition friends back home. The very bottom picture is of a "gas station". I couldn't get enough of all the green landscapes and knew I would love Cambodia when we were driving to the hotel the first day and saw community exercise classes in the city parks along the road!

House Hunters International

Long story short, we got invited to be on House Hunters International to talk about our move from Portland to Jordan. They flew us back to the US a few weeks ago to film us in our old house in Portland(we had to get permission from the current owners). Just this past weekend we filmed the Amman portion of the show. We tried our best to make it silly and not super dorky but with the power of editing I feel they could spin it any way they want. The crew was a few guys our age and we had quite a few laughs while filming. Brian's jokes were non-stop and half the time inappropriate but the crew didn't seem to mind (probably because they don't have to edit the show). We were told it would be about 4-6 months before it airs. Brian took this picture while they were interviewing me about an apartment we looked at earlier. I just hope Brian can handle the fact that he is no longer the only famous one in the relationship!!

Proof she made it!

Sorry Jessy, I really didn't think you would make it. I haven't seen my sister in over 2 years (we think, we can't really remember). Jessy stayed for a week and we crammed as much in as possible. Here is a picture Brian took of us relaxing with Dead Sea mud all over us, it makes your skin really soft afterwards.

Dubai on a dime...

Well, maybe a little more than a dime. A bottle of water at the Thai restaurant we ate at cost 80 dimes (8 USD). Though this city is outrageously expensive, we had a great time. It was a short trip to re-new our visas. We had two full days and packed in as much as we could. We were exhausted when we got home.

One whole day was spent in the sun. We got free tickets to the water park from a friend who used to work there. The rides actually went faster than I expected and one was in a pitch black tunnel. Brian said it made him sea sick, but I think he was scared.

The second day we went skiing inside the mall. Yep, the mall. Dubai has an indoor ski slope inside the mall that is open year round. Average summer temperatures are around 110 degrees so it is pretty insane. When we first walked past it I thought it looked cheesy, but it actually was really fun. Brian is writing an article about the ski slopes and the hotel that is attached, so we got to stay at the hotel for free one night. It has 6 chalets that overlook the ski slopes. Once again we had a glimpse into how the rich people live, a two story chalet with marble counters, a kitchen table, a huge bathtub and floor to ceiling windows looking out at the man made mountain. There was even a V.I.P. check-in area.

If you don't know much about Dubai, it is the city of excess. It has the world's tallest building, the world's largest mall and the only 7 star hotel that is on a man made island. It is like Vegas, without the sex and drinking. It is a very clean city and much calmer and more organized than Amman, but I prefer to vacation somewhere where I can hold Brian's hand in the streets and have a meal that doesn't cost a third of my salary.

**All photos compliments of Happy Medium Studios.

A Day in the Life of Ms. Julie

I am now affectionately known as Ms. Julie by 98 fourth grade girls. I have been teaching English for three weeks now but I have to say it seems like I have been there for months. I wake up at 6:30 (ouch) and am out of the house by 7:15. I am very lucky in that my school is a 20 minute walk from home, so I walk the majority of days. My first class starts at 8:10 and the madness doesn't stop until 2. I am responsible for the education of 98 students at drastically different levels. I have everything from students who can hardly speak in full sentences to students who bring in power point presentations about WWII just because they wanted to share what they had learned last night.

The students stay in one classroom and I have to move to teach them. I am teaching reading comprehension, grammar, spelling, handwriting and writing skills. They learn something called joint handwriting which is a combination of print and cursive(It is harder than it sounds). After a day of teaching I usually have a ton of grading to do. This is one of the most time consuming parts of the job because there are so many students. I would say on average I have about 2 hours of grading every night. I do have a co-teacher who helps out tremendously. I could not keep track of all of the students without her. Once I am finished grading papers I walk home and TRY to relax. There is something about teaching that I have noticed, even once I leave school I have a hard time letting it all go. All night I will be thinking about what I have to do the next day, things I could do better, ways to improve the lessons etc. I need to work on separating myself from it because there will always be more I could do.

It is the oldest school in Amman and is known for being one of the most forward thinking schools here. The school is an all girls school and works really hard at teaching the girls that they are smart, independent women who can accomplish anything they want in life(This is not the cultural norm as women are still seen as inferior to men here). It is a small school and I have about 32 students crammed in each classroom. There is no air conditioning and many students have to climb over chairs to get out of their seats. My office is also the teachers lounge so I can forget about having any peace and quiet while working. My students are still at the age that they love to give hugs and want to impress you. I can't walk down the hall without receiving hugs and smiles from my students. That seems to melt away any frustrations I am feeling.

This is the hardest I have ever worked at a job so far. I am not even sure I have ever had a job where I actually worked 40 hours in a week. It feels good being busy and I feel very important. I am mostly looking forward to the pay off at the end of the year when I can see progress in my students learning. Then I feel like it will all be worth it. Inshallah. (God willing).

Rookie Mistake

I have been in Amman since April and have not seen a single rain cloud until today. Every day has been blazing sun and mostly in the 90's. Today there actually were some rain clouds and a slight drizzle, which I have to admit I gladly welcomed for a break in the sunshine and heat. About 15 minutes ago I looked outside and the whole sky was this unusual color as you can see in the picture above. I remarked to Brian how cool it looked and grabbed my camera to take a picture. I figured it was a storm coming in. I sat back down to continue getting ready to teach tomorrow. About 5 minutes ago I looked up and my entire apartment was full of a thick haze that was making me cough. I looked outside and finally realized what was happening, A SAND STORM! I ran to close all the windows and now my house is covered in a thin layer of dusty sand and the rooms are still foggy and making me cough. I just vacuumed and mopped the entire house yesterday and will now have to do it all over again. Even as I type I can feel a layer of grit on the keyboard and my feet are filthy from walking around. Lesson learned!

No Junk Food Allowed!

Starting September 15th I will be the English teacher for 98 4th grade girls at an all girls school down the street from me. They are split into three classes and I teach each class for about an hour and twenty minutes a day. Today at my training I learned that the school has a "No Junk Food Policy" and is quite strict about enforcing it. The students bring their lunches each day and are not allowed to bring any sort of soda or sweets. This includes anything sweet, even a piece of banana bread with chocolate chips in it. There is a canteen students can buy food at but it only sells sandwiches and fresh fruits and veggies. Those of you who have taught at schools in the states or have kids who attend them should understand why this is blog worthy. Pretty impressive I think. It sure would have made my job teaching nutrition the last three years easier if the students hadn't left my class to go be served greasy pizza with ranch dressing, french fries and a cookie from the cafeteria.