The contents of this truck brought us the closest thing to clean by providing us with water ever week. Here the truck is filling the cisterns on the roof of our bathroom building. When the cisterns ran dry we had to, somehow, get another truck to bring us water, for a pretty penny. The worst day of the week to run out of water was Friday, the holy day. The water hole is closed on Friday and the trucks don't run. Friday's were usually the days I stayed dirty. 
Monday, August 21
weekly water truck visit
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.
a sopapilla, Jordanian style
This bread is called "puri." Two words: saturated fat. Oh, but was it delicious.
"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.
Tuesday, August 15
a mother, foremost
This is my bedouin friend with her youngest baby girl. I'll never forget their faces.
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. 
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.
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