exfoliation is never a pretty process

They say the salty mud from the Dead Sea does wonders for one's skin. I couldn't miss such an opportunity as this! Oh, and that's the Dead Sea behind me. And, across the sea is the shore of Israel. 

a hot hike

Crusin' up a mountain with The Word. Here we are headed up to the top of the mountain where John the Baptist was beheaded. I thought it appropriate to bring my Bible and read the story, but this time I'd be able to have just a smidge more perspective. 

tents are the next big thing

Linda, Peter, and I taking a break in a "souvenier tent" after a desert castle tour. 

hot weather + uncomfortable seat = worst place for a nap, ever

Definitely didn't see this picture coming. 

"this one looks so life-like"

Jordan is a land of ample photo oportunities. Case in point: Nathan Cozart pretending to be a bunny statue in a nook of a castle wall. 

recorded live

I'm not incredibly musically-inclined, but I think I could pick up this instrument in no time at all. It had one string and was played like a viola, sort of. Just before this picture was taken I snapped another picture of him on his cell phone. The abundance of cell phones in Jordan amazed me. The musicality of this instrument did not amaze me, however. 

just my size

A fun little doorway in a fun little hunting lodge in the desert. 

a sopapilla, Jordanian style

This bread is called "puri." Two words: saturated fat. Oh, but was it delicious. 

fun with pita

Hey, if you're not going to eat it, you might as well play with it. 

"every rose has its thorn..."

Spiritual Lesson from flowers in Jordan: everything pretty has hidden thorns. Look out for these so that their beauty can be fully enjoyed, even if that means from afar.

calcium-rich

...the "zir"...the Jordanian version of the water cooler. Water was hauled from the town spring to a cistern at the building where we stayed. Then, the water we drank was boiled and put in these ceramic pots. "The latent heat of evaporization," (a catch phrase that never got old, or true) cooled the water. We dipped the coffee cup into the zir and filled our water bottles. In other words-- grimy, sunscreened hands went in and out of this water, bugs floated in it, and calcium collected in it. Yummy. 

a lovely layover

Did I mention we had a nine-hour layover in Paris on the way to Jordan? Oh. Well, we did. We caught the metro from the airport, breezed past the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, across the Seine River, then back on the metro to the airport, with plenty of time to spare. 

not for the weak-stomached

We're enjoying a lovely meal of "mansif," served on a large plate, on the floor. Eating with one's hands was how all the cool kids ate, so we fell right in line. We have towels over our laps to catch the falling pieces of goat and rice and weird yellow sauce. 

a mother, foremost

This is my bedouin friend with her youngest baby girl. I'll never forget their faces. 

diving in

This hole is a probe Esther my digging mate dug in her square. It was alsmost as deep as I am tall. She uncovered lots of pottery that helped us date the church area and understand better the uses of the area over the centuries. 

camel breath

The classic "I'm in the desert and I rode a camel" picture.  

graffiti

 

Jordanians

This couple was touring the same castle ruins I was. Both are dressed in conservative Muslim clothing. The man's headscarf is the national Jordanian pattern. 

on the dig site

I'm uncovering the famous "storage pot" here. It was under the wall that ran through my square. When I started excavating, the dirt was filled up to the surface line in this photo. I spent about two weeks on this square.  

waiting for the bus

An artistic endeavor with mirrors and public transprotation... 

kiddos

Crazy-cute kids I met at a road-side cafe. My camera might have been the first they ever had contact with, hence the confusion of what to do when one points at you. 

shaneena

The bedouin lady used this sack made of goat skin to churn butter. Here we are in their tent. We had just finished digging for the day and stopped in for some goat's milk and pita. The goat's milk is called "shaneena," and I affectionatly called it "shanay-nay." It actually didn't taste as bad as my face is saying in this picture. 

a picture

Ok, ok. Here's a picture of me in Jordan. There is a desert behind me. Not sure which desert, but most of the time there was some sort of desert behind me. More coming soon! 

CABLE CAR!!!

CABLE CAR!!!
Originally uploaded by Jennifer R.

so, i've been thinking lately....

"When we last saw our main character she was sneaking up on a big milestone. Let's rejoin her, a few weeks later, and uncover what she has been up to..."

Oh, hi there. Surprise! Don't be alarmed, this is just a blog post. This kind of stuff happens all the time, for punctual people at least. It is high time this ol' blog of mine got a makeover. And that makeover shall come in the form of a POST. It needs something a with a retro flavor, a throw-back to the good ol days when posting on one's blog was at the top of one's to-do list. Have a listen, then:

So...I graduated from JBU. I wish that deserved an exclamation point. Alas, I have not received my diploma, and when I do I will be sure to edit and add that exclamation point. I have not received my diploma because the fine institution of JBU has not received all of my course work. I am completing 6 more credit hours within the first six weeks of summer. Yes, that is a lot of work, you are correct. I am independently studying classes entitled "New Testament Book Study and Hermeneutics: The Book of Revelation" and "Foundation and Practice of the Christian Life." The former is difficult, the latter is not. These classes involve me reading too much and writing more. Hopefully, I'll have that diploma in the mail by the middle of June. That is, if I don't lose an eye or something.

Reading and writing all day long wouldn't be so bad if I were home all day long. Over the past few weeks I have done quite a bit of traveling. Namely, I went to CALIFORNIA!!! (That does deserve an exlamation point, to the third degree). First stop: Pt. Loma Nazarene University for the graduation of the class of 2006. I vicariously graduated in the Greek alongside my comrades with whom I began this crazy, 4-year search of knowledge and/or wisdom. It was lovely to see everyone, I only wish I could have stayed longer (or arrived earlier).

Next stop: Auburn, California!!! (necessary exclamaiton points, indeed). Auburn is home to Andrew J. Cox and family, my most favorite Californians. Drew, the dasing, young intellect that he is, escorted me all around Northern California. Well, technically his parents did the escorting. I did some pre-emptive allergic conditioning, and the cat hair didn't seem to be any problem. Experiencing "family" with the Cox family was very refreshing.

That about catches us all up to speed, I suppose. My most recent endeavors include playing in the rainstorm this afternoon and catching up on life with a Turk named Ian. I'm off to Orlando, FL this weekend for a week-long orientation and training with PIONEERS, my future mission agency. Then, watch me go....I'm off to Jordan for the summer. I'll be digging up treasure. Seriously. A group of rag-tag archaeologists and I will be excavating a Byzantine-era church site around Abila, Jordan. If you are reading this and have any idea where I can get a hand-pick, I would greatly appreciate your input.

Just a few things that have been swimming with my brain lately:

--Magnolia trees remind me of recess on the wooden playground at Thomas Jefferson Elementary. I suppose it is just the smell of them, or maybe their waxy leaves, but when I run under one I'm thrown back to times when blisters on hands meant you were totally awesome on the monkey bars and scraped up knees meant you were chasing coodie-infested boys for 25 minutes after lunch.

--Of course concrete is easier to maintain than natural trails, but why waste the concrete? People have been walking on plain earth for all of history. And for most of history, those people were probably walking barefooted. Walk barefooted.

--God has a receiver AND a mouthpiece. Use both.

saturday...saturday...what did I do saturday?

Ok, ok...so I graduated from college. Big deal. What? Do you expect pictures or something? Commin' right up.

GNC art

This is the "art" I created for Invisible Children. IC plans to combine all artwork created at the Global Night Commute (maybe 55,000+ pictures!) into one "scrapbook," then use that for fundraising, and possibly as a gift to the children in Uganda. We were asked to include a picture of ourselves on the art. Part of my job that night was to collect all of the art. I must say, each piece was beautiful representation of the heart...hearts that desire PEACE in UGANDA.  

night falls on the gym floor...or the parking lot.

The lights went out in the gym around 11pm. Most of the people decided to stay in the gym overnight, but some (including me) decided to brave the rain and cold, outside in the parking lot of CCF.