It's the little things...

i'll miss. The camel crossing as we return to camp after a long work day. The once a week shai tea and arbut meetings with the Azasme tribe when we sneak away during siesta. Now it is time to pack up and head home. I will continue to blog my travels on here as frequently as I can. In 24 hours I will be stopping in New York, where I will be reintroduced to American culture/lifestyle. This should be interesting. Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this experience. It has been rewarding and has given me a new perspective on life as a whole. I will leave one last blog, when I return to California and reflect on my last two months in the desert. Ma'salama

Mice, Rainstorms and Special finds

This week was very eventful/stressful. After returning from Amman we had a small uninvited visitor who was roaming in our tent. I wouldn't stop standing on my cot in horror. We found another scarab at site W (Tuesday), which equals Awesome. We experienced our first flash flood in the Wadi and had to leave site early to finish our work day at the lab. And I learned how to make site top plans all week. Anyways, Wednesday I was screening in the a.m. at site and found an oval shaped copper earing, it was so delicate. Nat Geo came the last two days and filmed although I don't think I was in it, booo. I am still learning my Arabic from my bff Ouda, who told me this week that 'Ali America Jordan sad'. I thought it was adorable. Okay so finishing off our last weekend trip here in Aqaba, our home away from home. Partied at an apartment suite in the Movenpick and karaoked with everyone at the Golden Tullip. We now prep for a 9 day work week, which involves completing a newly started excavation of a building and packing up everything at camp/lab. I might need a couple Red Bulls. Bye Everyone. I will finish up one last blog before my departure from Amman. Ma'salama

We Saw, We Ate, We Shopped

Today we woke up early and got started on our new adventure, conquering downtown Amman. Last night we gorged ourselves with nachos, margaritas and fries, oh American style cooking. So we worked some of it off by visiting the Citadel and seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls. Pretty cool. We shopped downtown, very good deals, and now made our way back to ACOR prepping for departure soon. My body is exhausted, but I am loading up on city goodies to get me through another week. Next week Aqaba, for the Scorpio's birthday. This should be interesting. Until then, Ma'salama

Thank you!!!

Jorge and Tu for the package, I just received it my first day in Amman and I was sooo happy I ate half the candy goods already. They starve me here :(. Thank you two for thinking about me and I am sending out a postcard tomorrow. Miss you guys.

Idiom mafi shogal- today no work

So this last week we got hit with food poisoning from our cooks, 9 people were absent from site, it was rough. I fought with it and was out for half day, but recovered thank God. 'Cause no food intake in the desert is deadly.

We got the figurine dated that we found the previous week, it is from 3rd intermediate period. It is one of the Egyptian gods, Pytykos(sp?), similar to Bes.

I made good friends with the bedouin from the Azasme tribe at site, mostly Ouda- we have choppy convos in Arabic and sand picture drawings. I found I have a sense of humor even with the language barrier. I've been learning animals names this week. By the end of the trip I hope to advance to a child's level of Arabic, inshallah.

Oh! Also, there were two helicopters that went over site this week freaked me out, but I guess that's King Abdullah, so I waved like all the bedouin did. The Israeli army also decided to do some artillery practice in the Wadi I forgot how close we were to Israel until I heard the loud booms, scary. I think that is about it, two more weeks left. I wish I could tell you they are going to fly, but chances are I will be drained, because the pressure is on to finish excavation. This is gonna be rough. Miss you. Ma'salama

Day 3 Petra

Finishing up our Petra weekend, I finally got the dirt out of my ears and my hair back to life..wish this feeling could last longer.
Today we went off the beaten path of tourists on a mission to find some Roman temple. The trail involved climbing and weaving through the sandstone maize, which looked like a Gaudi dream. After our wandering adventure me and ash stopped for one last meal at the Movenpick, pina colada and a burger..it feels weird to live in Jordan deprived of all American culture, cuisine and lifestyle. Being at the Movenpick makes me enjoy a little civilization with a capital C.
I am not looking forward to being back at camp and the routine. We have like 3 weeks left and people are getting a little crazy, it's hard not to when we are around the same people, the sandstorms and the routine makes everyone cranky. But there are times where we snap out of this mode, such as watching the sunrise at site or watching the sunset on the rooftop of the lab or seeing 47 camels herded through the wadi and now I can add the Petra sights. Everything is so different here, I am starting to babel Arabic in my sleep. Next week is Amman, I can't wait for shopping and more real food.

Past week, aka Halloween

Hope everyone's last week was Awesome! Halloween actually was entertaining, it was our 2nd day into the work week and my crazy tent mate Ash, made decorations to our tent very Halloweenie. One of the guys from camp saved a watermelon from the day off and carved an Indiana Jones silhouette as a pumpkin design. I'm upset I didn't take a picture, but nothing too exciting happened. The weather at camp is changing we are now wearing beanies to site and we found a small woman figurine that is still being dated. Moving on to the 2nd month here in Jordan, days are blurring together.

Okay so I'll leave you with this hillarious story..My guy friends from the adjacent site Area R learn Arabic daily from the
bedouin, they are in my mind fluent in Arabic, because of their extensive vocabulary and vulgar slang. I never bother asking what they are talking about unless another kid throws a rock at me and a cuss word might come in handy. So that's the backstory...the other day we had a huge sandstorm during our siesta time at camp and a baby kitten snuck in to their tent (the boys). I hate cats and often make jokes with the other hungry campers of cooking them if I found one. But this kitten was adorable, white blue eyes and so helpless. We argued with each other about keeping it or letting it go. Then Johnny the sentimental one gave it a name, the first sign of ownership..Zebe...Kam fed it and called it Optimus Prime..Zebe sounded cuter to me. So I silently agreed. They only kept the kitten for a day and was forced to let it go. The next day at site my supervisor who loves to gossip was telling the story of the boys and the kitten on our site. I chimed in and commented "oh my pet kitten Zebe", everyone bursts out into laughter. Zebe means my penis in arabic. FML. Thank god the bedouin weren't around or I'd get some serious strange looks. This story has now circled the camp and a good story among the staff. Moral of the story don't trust the boys and their arabic. Have a good week.

Quais Katir-very good

Greetings from Petra, I am so exhausted, had a blast last night met the clan at the bar and today we hiked through Petra - seeing most of the monuments. Petra is a city carved out of the surrounding sandstone mountainous rock. Their is detailed architecture high and low..hidden tombs and caves. I rode a horse and a camel throughout the day...I decided to splurge. Our big hike was to the Monastery, a rough hour hike dodging the donkeys and bedouin salesman. It was worth it to see the flawless Monastery that was seen in Transformers 2. We had snacks for lunch, so now I am looking forward to a big buffet at the Movenpick. We have one more day here, I plan to see more hikes tomorrow and take more pictures. I miss everyone, Have a great day. Ma' salam