Frumpy frump frump

I have returned from Jordan, but unfortunately our internet priveliges have been limited so I can't do good posts with pictures and all of that jazz. So i'm going to hold off on posting about Jordan because it needs pictures to explain how amazing and beautiful it was!

So for now I will vent a little bit and perhaps at the end I will tell you the list of things I have going in my journal about funny things in Jerusalem/random things I do not want to forget.

First off. Middle Eastern food. Getting so old! What I would give for some Taco Bell or even a can of pringles, anything! One day in Jordan we went to a restaurant for lunch and it was really nice, they made the pitas on the spot and you could watch them, but I sat there while everyone else dug into the pita and hummus and the questionable give-you-sickness salad, and I almost wanted to cry. And then when they brought out the veal and lamb kabobs (what's with the fascination of eating baby animals here??) I was finished. I just ate pita, imagining that there was refried beans and chips and salsa on the table in front of me. But when we went to the Amman branch for a meeting with the district president they made us chocolate chip cookies and gave us OREOS. HIGHLIGHT OF MY MONTH!

Next venting thing: my clothes! Believe it or not, wearing the same seven shirts over and over again has worn on me. I dread getting dressed in the morning. Oh wow, I'm afraid I'm sounding like a snob, but it's so true. I promise I'm not THAT vain, I have made it almost four months without really complaining. And to blow dry and straighten my hair....to curl it! Ah, what joy that will bring me.

It's funny because I think back to when I packed (and Tom and my mom can both confirm that this is true) I think I about lost my mind. For some reason I thought that I'd be perfectly fine with three pairs of pants and seven shirts for four months. And I definitely didn't need a blow drier or straightener (even though I'm glad I didn't bring one, it'll make me appreciate them so much more when I get home!) Oh, and not to mention for some reason I went crazy and thought that I couldn't bring my real razor so I brought ten disposables. Haven't had a good shave in a very long time. Cut myself every time.

But, this is all very worth it, because I love Jerusalem. And I love Jerusalem for these reasons, which most likely won't make sense to anyone else but when I look back on this later I will smile and laugh and have good memories.

- Ashura, ashura, ashura! which means ten, ten, ten! They always yell it in the Old City markets
- "Yella!!!" which means "hurry it up!"
- "For you, Mormon, I give you good price" which is what pretty much every merchant says to us.
- "Oh, Mormons, we love you! All the way to Jerusalem!" sung by a merchant in the Old City to the tune of "O, come all ye Faithful"
- "You are the most beautiful virgins!" said by the same merchant who sings to us
- "Thank you very cluth" said to me by an Israeli police officer after I told him thank you for letting me through a barrier on Good Friday. I wanted to tell him that the usual response is "you're welcome".
- Huka. Huka is a pipe/machine type thing that people in the middle east smoke with. It is so so bad for you, worse than cigerettes, but I LOVE the smell! I can smell huka from a mile away.
- Whenever a cell phone goes off I still automatically think it's a student's phone and I get nervous for them unti I realize that none of us have cell phones!
- In Jerusalem when you hear a gunshot or something like that you just keep doing whatever you were doing and pay no attention to it. Where in the United States if you were to hear a gun shot you'd baricade yourself in your house and call 911.
- In Jerusalem it's totally acceptable to hiss and meow at the stray cats.

Here is a short list of things that I have thought of. But there are so so many more and I always carry around my journal in case I think of something else that I don't ever want to forget.

So there you go. My scattered thoughts on Jerusalem and such until I get wireless to update you on Jordan. I hope everyone's doing well and is ready for me to come home soon!!