Marhaba!

Marhaba!  Greetings from the Hawkes’ Nest in Jordan.  Thought I would write a little more since I am waiting for Alex to get home from the embassy 4^th of July party.  Tonight was the formal party where the ambassador invites all the “who’s who” of Jordan to his home for a cocktail party to celebrate America’s Independence Day.  I attended the same event in Mexico and it was so fun.  You get to meet a lot of interesting people in one night.  Since it is not a formal dinner you can just mingle the whole time.  They did not invite spouses here.  I was very disappointed.  I don’t know if it was a security issue or they just don’t want people only hanging out with their significant other all evening (the diplomats are suppose to use these nights to make contacts, etc).  But some embassy employees don’t enjoy that part of the job!  Can you imagine??  That is my favorite part of living abroad (well, it is a toss-up between that and having household help).  When I attended the 4^th of July party in Mexico I left with more business cards in my purse than a lot of Alex’s co-workers.  One year I made friends with the wife of the owner of Mexico’s largest candy company J.  Too bad we did not like Mexican candy, they put chile in most of it! 

So anyway, I am home sulking Since Alex just called to tell me he was eating delicious food and I could hear the string quartet behind him.  I went to a mall tonight with the kiddies and had pizza and the kids had McDonald’s L.  Can you believe the Happy Meals here are cheaper than the U.S.?  They even had current toys in them.  Then we went to a “play area” across from the food court and for about $4.00 the kids could play for an hour, or $5.00 for two hours.  It had a trampoline, games, ball pit, etc.  They were in heaven.  When I first walked up the lady in charge was asking me info on the kids and writing it down.  I found this a little odd, then when she asked me for my cell phone number I realized that you just drop your kids off and they babysit them while you shop or go to the movies (that VIP theater I mentioned before is right next to this place)!  I looked around and then realized all the ladies playing with the handful of kids there were helpers and not their mothers!  It was gated and seemed pretty secure but I thought I better stay with them.  It was tempting though!  Especially since the employees all spoke English and were especially kind to the little American kiddos.  So I thought next time I will just bring a book and relax for an hour.  People have told me they have lots of “Chuck E. Cheese” type places here.  Jordanians do seem to have a lot of kids, so it is nice to not feel like you stick out with your young ones in tote.

We have church again tomorrow.  The Sabbath here is on Friday.  It is kind of nice cause the city really seems to take a day of rest.  Businesses seem to close and they all go to the mosques.  We went to our Mormon chapel last Friday for the first time.  It is located in a nice part of the city in an old mansion style house that has been converted into a church and residence for one or two missionary couples.  The congregation was about 60 people.  There are several American families and older couples (most of whom work at the embassy), a Sri Lankan family, a women from the Philippines, a couple Jordanian families, and some BYU students here for the summer learning Arabic.  Everyone was very nice and we felt very welcomed.  They have shorter meetings than in the U.S. (two hours instead of three) J.  We were thrilled to learn that, with three little kids it was so much better for them!  The kids had their classes and seemed to enjoy it.  We are very excited to tour the Biblical sites while here.  It was great meeting people last week, a few of the ladies have been very helpful in taking me shopping and to a play group for Colin.  I love how you can always find our church anywhere you go in the world and there are always kind, helpful people to make these moves so much easier.  What a blessing!

The kids had a great week going to the embassy summer camp.  They are each a little sunburned from swimming every day.  Colin and I spend our mornings unpacking and organizing and then we go meet the kids at 12:30 p.m.  A couple times I will meet them earlier and then they can keep swimming.  I did that the other day and Colin was happy to have his chance in the pool.  Now keep in mind that Colin is three and a half and has been potty trained for a while now.  Well he was swimming and all of the sudden (it is always “all of the sudden” with kids and the bathroom, huh?) he needed to go potty.  So I hurried and grabbed his towel and we ran to the bathroom, passing the lifeguard on the way.  Well when I returned to the pool to my surprise they had evacuated the pool because they had “found something” (something small and brown, mind you)!  At the time Colin was the only little guy at the pool so I contemplated this and saw the lifeguard looking at me strangely!!!  Now I promise it was not Colin!  He does not swim so I had been holding him in my arms the whole time in the water.  He has been using the bathroom for quite some time and he is not the type of kid who would do that .  Andrew at that age, you bet, but not Colin.  It must have happened earlier in the day but darned if Colin did not look like the culprit.  So long story short I tried to tell the lifeguard it wasn’t my son, but I don’t think (no, I know) he didn’t believe me.  The pool has been closed since while they deep cleaned.  It only took me a week to make my mark!!!!  Ahhh!