People

In the two weeks that I haven't posted, a lot can happen.

A certain Language Arts essay about an event in my life and the emotions that came with it can be submitted.

A certain Dad can come for a visit and leave again.

And a certain family over here in Jordan, then reunited can open all their Christmas presents, for what is Christmas if not celebrated with the ones you love?

I think that Languae Arts paper has wiped all of the words right out of my head, so I'm sorry for the neglected blog post.

And I think my Dad visiting hasn't left me much time for actually thinking through a post, and finding the time to write it.

But besides that there's really not much to write about right now anyways.

We have seven more months left here in Jordan, which means that I think of Colorado more often... The life we're going to have there, the people we're going to meet, my school, our house, and even the people we're leaving behind. Everyday at school I talk to my friends, sometimes about their next posts, sometimes about mine, and sometimes just about nothing at all. But it gets harder and harder to find something to talk about, becasue so many things lead to leaving. And leaving leads to never seeing each other again.

I mean isn't that the main reason everyone's so scared of moving? And leaving? And starting over? It's never the place, it's never the fear of what's going to be there when you arrive. It's who. Are they going to be nice? Are they going to the best friends I've ever had? Or am I going to be that new girl that comes from the Middle East and no one wants to bother with getting to know because it's to much of a hassle.

Well it's a hassle getting to know them too. Getting to see how they live, and what they like, and what they've done their whole entire lives. And sometimes the whole entire first year of living somewhere is exhausting because you're trying so hard to make sure that you have friends. It's easy over here with an embassy and an international school. Everyone has done this their whole lives. They understand what it's like to feel alone. They understand what it feels like to know that no one in the world knows what you're going through. Because the truth is we can explain it to them, and write it out for them, and tell them as many times as we want. But they will never understand. We've all seen different things, and met different people that have changed us in so many different ways. We all know what it's like to be different.

Moving around in America... Well it's scarier. I'm not going to speak for everyone, but in my experience the people that I've met have lived in one place their whole lives. They all listen to the same type of music. They all wear the same brands of clothes. They all have literally been best friends for life. And I'm the new girl. That person that shows up and changes everything. That was in elementary school. Now I'm older. Now we're all older, and it's even harder.

But then what about those people that you leave? Well half of the people here that I know are leaving too. They're going off to their branches of the world. And the people that are staying will be gone in a few years too. I'll never see any of them again.

Heck, I'll never see any of this again. Because places change right along with the seasons, and if I ever come back to visit Jordan, everything will be different.

I'm scared.

I'm scared for the people in Colorado, and I go over a million scenarios in my head every day of what they could be like. They're a mystery to me, and they will be for the next seven months.

And I'm scared that I'll lose touch with the amazing people I've met here.

I wish I could just pick up the embassy and drop it in Colorado, that way I could adjust right along with everyone else. And I won't be alone.

People are the cause for everything. They can make you laugh and cry. They can make pick you up and bring you down. They can make a place worth being, and a day worth living.

They can determine whether or not moving is worth it.

Luckily for me, it usually is.

But that doesn't make it any easier.

Gingerbread and 60 Degree Weather

It's December third now, correct? That means we're just 22 days away from Christmas, and 28 days away from 2012. At our house we have the Christmas tree up, and a few presents from family under it. Our stockings are actually over the fireplace, which has candles in it for when the electricity goes off. Christmas parties and ginerbread houses are being planned, skiing stuff is coming in boxes for our trip, and advent calendars are being opened everyday.

And yet it doesn't feel like Christmas.

I know, I know. I say this about every holiday. But it's true. Maybe it's the 60 degree weather or our missing family member, but it really doesn't feel like the jolly holiday that everyone loves.

Oh, and also, our teachers seem to be giving us more homeowrk, so it's not like when I get home from school I have time to daydream about gumdrops and "Santa".

In Florida, we'd be hauling in our Christmas tree and going down to the beach in just sweatshirts and jeans.

In New Jersey, we'd be shoveling snow and preparing for the Nutcracker ballet I was in every year.

In Virginia, I'd be outside until way past it got dark, having snowball fights and sliding around on the thin layer of ice over the sidewalks with my friends. Each day finding new sledding hills and drinking hot chocolate together.

Here, we're getting out our fake Christmas tree from the storage shed and trying not to dress to warmly. Anything more than a sweatshirt, and you're toast.

And in Colorado? Who knows. At least my dad will be back and there will be snow again.

Christmas feels like it's way more than 22 days away. It feels like it's months away. But maybe that will change with the weather.

And maybe the weather will change, and the temperature will drop.

Maybe.

Israel

At our house you never know when a fire alarm is going to go off. Or maybe I can just never tell. Which is ironic since is happens so often. Like today for instance. Colin and I are staying home from school and we had pizza rolls in the oven when the fire alarm started blaring. Our dog, who is terrified of it started shivering and whining so our housekeeper took him out while I turned off the oven, opened all the windows, and waved a towel around. Then all was normal. These episodes are kind of alarming since when there's actually a fire we'll probably not know because we're so used to the alarms.

Oh wait. Why'd we stay home? Well we were in Israel with a bunch of other families, seeing all the religious sites and touring around. My mom likes to joke about how a big weekend trip for her was going to an amusement park. I guess overseas that just doesn't cut it. We toured around our neighbor country with other embassy families. I think we walked at least ten miles in all. At first the trip was great, we saw so many things and had so much fun, then the second day Colin got a fever, and by the third day he was throwing up every hour. We don't know if it was a virus, or a fever, or just motion sickness from riding around in our big tour bus for three days, but he was miserable, my mom was miserable, and I was pretty much the only one from the whole family touring.

In fact we have some pictures of just me in front of some amazing places. While all the other families stood together and got people to take their picture, I was all alone in ours. I'm sure in a couple years when we go back and look at the pictures it'll be pretty funny.

"Oh hey! There's Hannah on a boat in the Sea of Galilee!"

But at the moment it was pretty darn sad. My dad's gone, and my mom's taking care of my sick brother on the vacation that she was so so so so excited to go on.

So that's why my brother's staying home. I'm staying home becasue the border crossing from Jordan to Israel is such a lengthy, tiring process that we didn't get back in Jordan until eleven o'clock. And we didn't go to bed until twelve. Plus, who knows if I caught the horrible possible virus my brother got. No signs of it yet, but I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping that it passed us.

We went form this,

 to this in three days.

It Rained

I must be some kind of fortune teller.

Or maybe I jinxed it.

Or maybe I'm just amazing at writing posts and mentioning something that then happens the day after.

While I explore into this talent I have just discovered, I will tell you how exactly it developed. In my last post I said, and I quote: "How many times has it rained here?

Zero. We need rain."

Well guess what, it rained last night and this morning. Of course I'm on break and slept in so I didn't get to see it. But I saw the wet streets and water droplets on the windows.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it didn't flood the streets like last years, but the rainy season just started, we've got four more months to go. And then it will be hot and dry again.

I gotta give it to Jordan, although the country needs way more water, the weather is amazing, and in the summer you'll never have to rebook an outdoor party because of rain. You might have to because of dust and sand storms, but it's not like those happen all the time.

I love winter over here, it gets just cold enough that you need a heavy sweatshirt, hat, and scarf. So you feel all cozy and warm. And then the air is so crisp. Well, it's actually normal, the dust's just gone so it feels more clear.

I've made up my mind. I think I just jinxed it.

I have jinxed the weather. Now be amazed since this will probably never happen again.

Oh well, it still rained.

Baking Therapy

Okay, okay. I know I wrote a new post yesterday. But something's happened between now and from when I hit submit.

My mom went a little crazy.

See? She put on an apron!

But who can blame her? Her husband left for Iraq and her daughter got blue hair extensions and went to a school dance all in 24 hours. 

So, for therapy she decided to bake food. Most moms would go to a salon and get their nails done and call it nail therapy, but not her. She baked food.

Which is a miracle in itself since we don't bake food. If I want cookies or brownies, I make them myself. We don't even bake food for holidays, we throw parties and let people bring us deserts.

But yesterday, some strange bell in my mom's head went off and she got out recipe books and googled food conversions and went to grocery stores.

It started with pumpkin pie.

And then two pumpkin pies.

And then cookies.

And then frosted cookies.

And then bread,

brownies,

pretzels,

and pumpkin cheesecake.

 And meanwhile poor Ike scavenged around waiting for something to fall on the floor.

 We had to bring in another table to hold everything.

But frankly? My mom can do the baking therapy as many times as she wants. It benefits me anyways. She cooks, I eat. Everyone is happy.

And now we have deserts ready for Thanksgiving. I hope it's okay to put pumpkin pie in the freezer for a month.

Field Trip Trouble

Some of you may have hard about the unrest over here right now. Just might have glimpsed it on the news. Well there's stuff like that here too, in Jordan, it's not as bad as Egypt and Syria, but it's not a once in a lifetime thing. So now that that's settled, let me tell you a story.

There once was a girl named Hannah in seventh grade who had a field trip to one of the old crusader castles in Jordan. All of the middle school was going on field trips that day in fact, and they were all so excited. The sixth grade was going over to our friend the Dead Sea, and the eigth grade was going on a trip to another crusader castle, farther north than the seventh grader's castle. So the day before the field trip came and as Hannah was eating dinner, her mom got a text. It said something along the lines of this:

Due to the protests, road blockings, riots, and unrest in the ______ Castle area, the seventh grade field trip will be postponed to a later date. We are sorry for the inconvienence but the student's safety is our top priority, have a good day.

Okay, I'm done being narrator now, I don't know what the text said, something along the lines of that I bet but anyways, yeah. Our field trip was canceled becasue of protests and road blocks and danger.

Now there's a lot of crazy reasons for why field trips get canceled, maybe the weather was bad, there was a freak tornado, the whole class got sick, the place shut down for revamping, I don't know.

But for the most memorable field trip canceling, I bet I win the prize.

Old Dogs and Their Stories

Patton.

I've mentioned him before. Like here for instance.

He's dead.

Just like that.

I learned today at dinner. I cried. That was four hours ago. I think I might start crying again from writing this. But I have to. It's important.

We got him when I was one and we lived in Englnad, we got to choose him from the whole litter of English Bull Terriers. We chose him because I liked him the best and he was the calmest one there. We figured he'd stay that way. We were wrong.

He was rambunctions. He was wild. He was crazy. He was the best dog in the whole wide world, and he's in half of our photos, and all of our videos. Whether he's barking or knocking something off the table. He was family, he was ours forever.

Then we moved to Florida, Patton played in our backyard, caught tennis balls, chased after frisebees. He loved the frisbee. He went to the beach with us, and parks and lakes and playgrounds. Then we left and went to New Jersey.

He learned what snow was. He chased us down sledding hills, kicked snow on us, jumped up on sleds with us and then hopped off when we were going the fastest, tumbling in the snow and sneezing. He ran Colin and I over multiple times when we were trying to walk in the snow drifts, he caught more tennis balls, ran after more frisbees.

He finally learned to 'sit' and 'stay'.

I taught him 'lie down'.

That was as far as his trianing got.

He came with us to Virginia, where he got arthritis in his two front paws and an enlarged heart, we learned we were moving to Jordan. He couldn't come with us. He would've died on the plane, they said.

We took him to New Jersey, where he stayed with a lady that took him in for us. We e-mailed, but not nearly often enough, just enough to know that he was doing pretty okay, just enough for us to hope that he'd last until next summer, when we could see him.

Well, he didn't.

He's gone, just like all those houses that I still remember how to walk through with my eyes closed, except he wasn't a house.

He was our dog. He was our family.

When we move, we'll go to New Jersey, but not to pick him up, to pick up his toys, which I will keep forever.

Or maybe longer.

He's baried there, in her backyard, and I'll put a flower on it, maybe put his favorite dog treat on it, or paint a stone with a poem or something and rest it on his grave.

I'll do it all, even if I am a lousy poet, just for him. Because he deserves it.

I don't know exactly why I wrote this post. I guess I wanted to put it all down somewhere where people can see it, so they can know a little bit about him too, not enough to make them love him, or want to see him, just enough to let them know that he was here. That he was with us through it all. All of it up until now.

But he's still here, in a way, from his dog hair that's buried in our old blankets, stuffed in the back of closets, to his pictures and videos.

I'll see him this summer still, not in the way I imagined, but I'll see his toys and his crate again, and I'll see that chair that he used to always sleep in, once we get it out of storage, unless we've gotten rid of it already, I think we have actually. He ripped that thing to shreds from jumping on it so many times. But he liked it.

Patton. I'll miss him. Everyday. He never got to meet Ike. For some reason, it seems very important that he should've met him. I think I'm going to be saying that a lot.

Good bye Patton. We loved you. The people that got to meet you loved you. Everyone loved your stubborn, crazy self.

Rest In Peace, buddy.

Awards and Homecomings

Today there was an award ceremony at my school, where teachers nominate kids for doing a good job and stuff. When we walked into the MPR I saw my mom, dad, and brother sitting in the back with other parents. I've been to these things before, I knew what this meant.

This meant that I won an award.

This also meant that my dad was home.

I ran over and hugged him, tears coming to my eyes at the surprise, I wasn't aware that people were watching, I was only aware of my dad being there.

In the end my friends were asking me why I was hugging my dad, and I had to reply that I hadn't seen him in two and a half months because he had been in Iraq. Some of them were pretty shocked, others were smiling and gasping, "That's so exciting!"

Yeah, it is.

He's here. He's staying. For a while at least.

He's home.

October?

It's already October. Which means that we move in seven months.

Seven months.

But right now, Colin's sick. He's been sick for a week now, off and on with the stomach bug and the cough and the fever. I was sick for two days, in which I could barely talk, but I'm fine now. I don't know how he does it. I wish I could stay home from school this long. Dances and events and halloween partys and concerts are being planned at school, and visits from Dad, ski trips, and orthodontist appointments are being planend at home.

My third and fimal Halloween in Jordan is coming, and I'm really going to miss it when we leave, we don't go to other people's houses trick-or-treating, but instead we go to the embassy, where the offices are decorated and haunted houses are created.

The leaves aren't changing colors.

But it's getting colder, you can feel it when you go outside in the morning, clouds are appearing, hopefully we get the first rain of the season soon.

October's here. October means pumpkins and bats and ghosts. Here it means rain and cooler weather.

Halloween's coming. Rain is coming. More school-work is coming.

Boo!

October's here.

So, We Got Our Next Post

Denver.

Denver, Colorado.

You know that place that we visit every summer? Where my uncle and baby cousin live? That place in AMERICA?

Yeah. There.

Denver.

Next summer along with all the other moving families, we'll fly out of Jordan for the last time and go to...

Denver.

Where there's fields with real grass, mountains, Walmarts, Targets, lakes, parks, dog parks, lacrosse, and family.

Denver.

Where I'll be able to see my old friends that I actually met over here, where my dog, Ike, will have a yard to run around in. Where I'll be in the U.S.A for two years.

And you know what else? My old dog, Patton, gets to come too. Yup, we're going to go to New Jersey and pick him up.

And I'm happy that we're going to America, that we got a good post, that we're getting Patton back, but at the same time I'm sort of conflicted.

Now that I'll be living in America again, I'm not really going to be a foreign service kid anymore am I? I mean, my dad's job is still the same, we just got the America post, which means we won't be overseas.

So what does this make me? That girl that Moves all the time but only lived overseas twice? Once that she doesn't even remember?

I guess it does. But the thing is, after our two years in Denver are up, we might move overseas again. So what exactly am I? Not a foreign service kid, right? I'm probably just a diplokid. Okay, I'm fine with that.

So now our days will be filled with searching for a house, working out getting Patton back, and just trying to enjoy our last days here.

Dever.

I think I'm still in shock.

Embassy Family

I consider myself to have two families sometimes. There's the blood-related family that I live with, and then my embassy family. You see, the embassy in Jordan is huge, with about 300 families working in it. But it's also a very close community, where everyone knows everyone, and all the kids are friends. It's also kind of like a middle or high school. With the different groups that usually hang out together.  Those kids will all know each other, and the parents will all be friends.

I don't know every single person at the embassy, but I know quite a lot of people. If someone usually goes to the pool or the restaurant, I'll know their name. It's kind of interesting actually, how connections are made over here. You could know someone from another post, from school, from work, from training. In the foreign service, it really is a small world. Even though we're living all over it.

I especially know my parents very close friends and their kids. They're like my second family. And the kids in this "group" have all different age ranges. But somehow all of us clicked together. The parents from work and stuff, but what really amazes me is how us kids did.

We range from 3 to 12 years old. There's Sa, from a differnt blog post, who's three years younger then me, but really mature for her age. We really are like sisters, and then her brother and his friend. His little brother who's one of my brother's best friends, and then even more.

We've been to the Dead Sea and Red Sea together, we've been to practcally every embassy event together. All of us really could pass as siblings, if we didn't look so different. (We probably could pass anyway, Sa and I have convinced people that we were sisters before.) And then there's everyone else at the embassy, who I also know, even if not as close.

So during the year, it's like coming to a big house when I go to the embassy, escept for the summer.

In summer, people leave. They move on to other countries, other adventures, and new people take their place. Now when I walk through the embassy, I don't know half the people, and it's kind of confusing at first, when you realize that you haven't seen someone in a while, until you learn that they're gone.

But by winter break, I'll adjust, I'll know for sure who's gone, and who's here, I'll know everyone again.

We really are like a family. A diverse, odd, smart, and very, very interesting one.

Ramadan Kareem! Or... رمادن كاريم

Okay, so my spelling in Arabic isn't to great. But if you sound it out, it actually reads Ramadan kareem. At least how I think it sounds...

Anyways. It's Ramadan, the Holy Month where Muslims fast from sun-up to sun-down. And it's the middle of summer. And it's hot. And I don't have a clue how they do it and stay so happy at the same time. But they do, and once the Call to Prayer rings through Amman as the sun goes down, they have a feast, eating and drinking to make up to all the food they refused during the day.

So, our Embassy has guards all the way around the perimeter, and they have to work while that Call to Prayer is going off. So, how're they goiong to get their meals?

Well, we bring them to them.

The embassy restaurant makes tons of meals, provides water, eating utensils, juice, pita bread, and yogurt, and then the office my dad used to work in delivers all the meals to the guards. And guess what? They allow others to help them.

So my my mom, me, brother, two friends and their mom, plus another family of kids and their mom piled into the two giant cars to deliver all the food. My friends and I were in the juice, water, and yogurt car. And it took us quite a while to fill up those cups of juice, so we decided to race the other car without them knowing. The second we arrived at one guard posts, we all jumped from the car, gathered up the desired number of supplies and ran to hand them out, shouting 'Ramadan Kareem!', before jumping back into the car, always in a different order. We were also in the fun car, with two of my dad's colleagues driving and joking around, and us screaming out the lyrics to "Smelly Cat" You know that song from Friends? That Phoebe sings? Yup, that one.

But then it ended up as a race against the sun. We were almost finished when the Call to Prayer went off, causing us to go even faster to hand out those long desired meals. In the end, it took us forty five minutes to give every guard on duty a Mini Ramadan Feast.

So, did we win our mini race? No. But in our defence, the other car was made up of my mom, brother, twins, their brother, two Embassy guys, and another mom. So we were outnumbered.

But it was still fun, and now I've got Smelly Cat stuck in my head.

Wish you were here Dad, you would've loved it. Come home safe. <3

Construction II

Remember this? Well now it's four stories tall and very loud. With the cranes and cement mixers going by and all. I would get a picture, I tried even, but it didn't work to well with the bars across our windows. I'm sorry, but those thing sure are convenient, especially when my brother and I open the windows and want to stand on the rather large ledge. They make sure we don't fall off. Thank you metal bars.


But I hate seeing the construction over there. As the building gets taller, I can't see over it. I can't see other cars and people that are about to turn the corner either. It makes our view pretty... dull.


And it means another small view of my world, just got even smaller.

Squirrel?

When we went to Wisconsin this summer, our parents took us to the Milwauke Zoo, which is famous for its chimpanzees that we didn't see.

There's something you need to know about here. We see donkeys, camels, and horses all the time. Whether you're on your way to the Dead Sea, or still in Amman. They could crossing the street, resting in vacant lots, or giving people rides. But there aren't any rodents. You want to know why?

Cats.

There are so many cats here that you can't go one day whithout seeing at least five. Sometimes they get onto the school grounds, there are several that live at the embassy, and they are ALWAYS in dumpsters or fields or roads, anywhere you go, there will be at least one cat. I guarentee it. So what do they do? They eat all of our squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rats, and any other rodent that once lived here. A squirrel, here, is about as rare as a camel in the states.

So, my brother has been here for two years, through the ages five and six. Very vital learning years, no?

Anyways, we were at the elephant exhibit at the zoo, and a chipmunk ran right by our feet. A little girl exclaimed: "Look, a chipmunk!" And my brther leaned over, and said very matter-of-factly:

"No, I'm pretty sure that's a squirrel."

Well, We're Back. Dad's Not.

So, we got back to Jordan, when? Like a week ago? Anyways, we've all been very jetlagged, tired, and busy, so I finally got around to posting this today.

So, Jordan. It hasn't changed. I've magically grown taller than most most of my friends, but the embassy's the same, our house is the same, and school? I don't know, I'm not going there until I have to. And, we have an embassy family living in the apartment below us, which is going to be great, because who doesn't like living near other Americans while they're overseas? I know I do.

And, my dad left yesterday. For Iraq. And, surprisingly, I'm doing okay. It's funny, if you think of it like he's just on a work trip for a couple days and is coming home soon, it doesn't hit you. Oh, he's coming back soon, he's in Europe, in a nice hotel, meeting with the president, right?

Wrong. But I like to think of it that way. It seems more... happy.

So when a couple days goes by and he's not here it's going to hurt.

Especially when I need help with my math homework, or soccer. I'm trying out for the Junior Varsity team this year at school, and though I'm pretty sure I'll make it, last year my dad would always practice with me, drill me, and tell how to become better. He's not going to do that this year. Unless we Skype on the soccer field at school.

So, here I am in Amman, doing alright. Except for the pain in my gut that I can't walk down the street to a Seven-11, or a Wal-Mart, or any restaurant at all. I took so much for granted when I lived there. The pond across the street from our house, where we would walk and play with our old dog, friends that lived just down the street so we would go knock on people's doors whenever you wanted to play. Hardwood floors! Okay, I know lots of homes back in the states don't have these, but my old ones did. Here all of our floors are marble. And marble is very unforgiving when you trip and fall on it.

But, only one more year of this, and we get to leave. Heck, we could leave now! Because we're aloud to live in America while my dad's in Iraq. But we're going to stay here, closer to him, and closer to what right now is the closest thing I can call home.

Becasue it's not home, and it never will be.

But, no matter, I have to change all of this next year. Might as well call it home while we're here.

Seven

Today is my brother's birthday. My baby brother. Well, not a baby anymore but, you get the picture. We have a five year age difference from each other and when I was at the hospital to visit him for the first time, I lost my second tooth. Right there in the hallway next to a soda machine. I remember that day because it was special. He was heavy, just like I was. And now he's all bones, same as me. He's stubborn too. He can almost out-argue me, but not yet. He also likes to listen to stories. He actually thinks he lived in England, just because we've told him stories of it, from before he was born.

His favorite sport is soccer, and his favorite cartoon character is Mario. He loves any Mario video game, and begged for them for his birthday. He likes to watch my dad play Call of Duty, and he likes to listen to me sing and play my guitar. He's funny enough to make me laugh when I need it. And annoying enough for me to want to slug him. But I love him. I really do.

Happy Birthday Colin. I hope this year is great for you, even without a dad to play Call of Duty for you.

It's A Small World

So, two days ago I got back from my friend's house. Yes, my friend's house in Colorado. Some of the first people I met in Jordan are from Colorado and they moved back there last year. So, since we were in the area, and our parents are friends, we got to see them! We all stayed the night, and then my parents and brother left so I could spend an extra day with them. We went to the pool, canoed/kayaked (we really couldn't tell the difference), and I even got to meet some of their friends while I told them how everyone was doing in Jordan. It was amazing, and we're going to do it next year too.

Tomorrow we go to Arkansas to visit my mom's side of the family. But honestly, I really don't want to leave Colorado. I love it here. The mountains, forests, deer along the road, it all takes me away from Jordan.

So, good bye Colorado. See you next year.

So, We're In Colorado.

After a fourteen hour flight to Chicago, a night close to the border of Wisconsin, four nights in Wisconsin, and a two hour flight to Denver.

But I've let out some parts.

Our flight was delayed by nine hours, so instead of taking off from Jordan at 10 a.m., we had to drive home, wait, and come back at 7 p.m. And our flight had no layover, so we had to sit for fourteen hours next to some very loud people.

When we (finally) got to Chicago, we drove to a hotel, and fell asleep around four in the morning.

Then, we drove up the border to Milwaukee, my dad's home town, and stayed with my uncle, aunt, and cousin.

They took us to a Brewers game.

But I am the only Rockies fan in my family, so luckily, they didn't play against the Rockies.

Then, we got to go to a NASCAR race.

That's right, a NASCAR race. And it was awesome! It was a road course, so in the end, when the driver's got agressive, there were lots of crashes on the turn we watched from. There were 2 Green and White Checkered Flags. Then, the car that was in the lead ran out of gas, along with several other cars, so it ended up being a race of who had enough gas to finish.

But, we didn't slow down our Wisconsin fun, we went to the Milwaukee Zoo, famous for it's Chimpanzees, witch we forgot to go see. Now aren't we smart?

Then, on our last full day in Wisconsin, I went to a guitar store with my parents to buy me a new guitar, while my brother went to see Cars 2 with my cousin and aunt. I found a guitar, and we went to Best Buy to get me my late Birthday present, a camera, so now I will actually put in pictures with my posts! But, all the America photos will have to wait. Sorry.

And now we're in Colorado, the place I like to think of as home, even though I've never lived here. I'm staying at my uncle and aunt's house along with their one year old Jude. Who I love to pieces.

So, in the past week, I've been to a Target, Wal-Mart, Kohls, Panera Bread, Mc'Donalds, (okay, they have those in Jordan, but still, it's a Mc'Donalds), Taco Bell, Bass Pro Shops, REI, and so many more.

I really love America.

Lunar Eclipse

Well, June 15th wasn't just my birthday, it was the day of a Lunar Eclipse. I don't know if you could see it in America, but it was beautiful. And, I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. I was at my friend's house for an End-of-the-School-Year Party, and didn't bring a camera. Instead, I watched the whole thing with all my friends in a field near her house, with a fire, making S'mores.

S'mores are a treat here. I mean, they're a treat anywhere, but especially here. There's no real camping spots to make your own fire at, and even though you can always see people with their own fires right besides the street, I'm not entirely comfortable with that idea. So we have to wait for that lucky moment when there's actually a good location. And then you have to find the supplies, which is even harder.

You can find Hrshey's chocolate after a couple minutes, and marshmellow's are probably the easiest. But the are no Graham Crackers.

Seriously.

For the two years we've been here we have not been able to find one box of Graham Crackers. The only kind we've found, is the honey flavored ones, at the Grocery Store at the embassy. We've tried making S'mores with them, but it's just not the same, and it doesn't feel right, so instead, we completely change S'mores to a roasted marshmallow and a Diestive Cracker.

I don't know if they have them in the States, maybe they do, but I don't remember seeing them. They're just cookie like things covered on one side with milk chocolate. They're delicious, and with them, I can make Jordan S'mores, what I have un-creativityly named a Digestive Cracker and a roasted marshmallow.

Bon appetite.

There's the recipe for your newest treat.

Another Year.

June 15, 1999 I was born.

And from that time to now, June 15, 2011, I've lived in four different states, three different countries, and nine different houses in all. I've met people that have changed my life in completely different ways. From my crazy, down to Earth friends here, to the beachy, fun friends in Florida. I'm learning Arabic, I already know how to read and write with their alphabet. Every single step that I've taken to get to these places has given me something, and even though I hate it, and want to blow up with the fact that I don't have a "home" I wouldn't trade it.

Ever.

Maybe I'm to stubborn too, or maybe I just don't want to give up being "International" but either way, I wouldn't stop, no matter how hard it gets.

In twelve years, I've gotten to so many places, gained so much, lost almost all of it, and had to say good-bye to many times to count.

In twelve years, I've grown to be the person that I am today. If I had stayed in America, I wouldn't be as outgoing, or accepting as I am. I wouldn't of seen the world.

Twelve years might not be a lot. But with my lifestyle, it is.

It's important.

So another year of this is done, khales, as they say in Arabic. That year's not coming back.

Khales.

Bye-bye 11.

As These Years Go By.

This time two years ago, I was living in a hotel, because our house in America had been sold, and our house in Amman hadn't been assigned yet.

This time last year, I was at the pool of an embassy that I could run through with my eyes closed. I'd been to Petra, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum. I'd ridden camels, and donkeys, and horses.

Now? We're getting ready for the Bidding List to come out, so we can figure out where we're going next.

And in a year? I'll be moving again, just like I have my whole life. Entering a completely different world to follow my dad. Giving up everything that I'd learned and gained to learn even more, and stretch a little further.

And where has it gotten me? Everywhere.

Literally.

And until I graduate from high school, these years will go by, and I'll be in a different position every time, expanding my boundaries, learning to trust, and getting over the fact that life isn't fair. And for me, right when it all feels normal, and safe, you move again. And the feeling's lost.

These years have brought pain, and luxury. They've brought experience, joy, sadness, and difficulty.

But these are the years I won't forget.

Here's to accepting, and growing, and flying through time.

Here's to moving.

Here's to the years that go by, and the ones that are coming.

Here's to living.

June

Well, it's June. June is a big month. School's out, my birthday, our flight back home. Lots and lots of stuff.

Summer will start, and everything here will actually bloom. The grass and flowers will find a way to pop out of the fields and grow up to the sun. It becomes beautiful. The desert sands are brighter, the trees seem higher. If you go to the Dead Sea, it will be hot, but it's amazing.

I will go to the pool everyday. Like we did last year. I will swim, and run, and play. I won't be cooped up inside, I won't be doing homework. I will be the girl that's outside everyday, that you can always count on being there so you won't get lonely.

We will go home. I'll see all my friends, my family. I will go to a park, go to a store, go to a Target! I will meet new people, I'll have to say good-bye to them. I will cry. I will come back to Jordan.

I'll be twelve, I'll have more responsibility, more freedom. I won't be the 'sixth grader' anymore.

I'll have fun! I'll live, I'll survive another year in the middle east.

It's June.

June is a good month.

Aquaba

We got back from our little trip to Aquaba on Saturday, and this is the first chance I've had to blog about it. So, here goes...

On Wednesday we took the four hour drive there. And, ironically, all of the embassy families that were going showed up at the same time. So, after going to our rooms and settling in, we all went out to the pool, to enjoy the last rays of sun.
That night, while the adults sat on our hotel room's balcony, all of us kids, all nine of us, escaped and ran around the hotel grounds. It was all outside though, so it wasn't like we were banging on doors and running through hallways. The freedom was fun though, and we all stayed outside until ten.

Then on Thursday, my family took a boat, with two other families to a coral reef, where we all snorkeled, and watched the high schoolers jump off the side of the boat. The water was beautiful, and we saw tons of bright, colorful fish, along with some eel-like animals that we couldn't identify. But it was HOT that day too, and walking from the hotel to the pier and back was torture. So when we jumped into the sea, and the water was cold, it felt perfect. And we stayed in pretty long.

On Friday though, all of the families left except for mine, so my dad took my brother and I tubing. We took a boat out to an island-like pier in the sea, and me and my brother got in the tubes. He stayed in the boat to make sure my brother didn't let go and fling into the sea. Which he almost did, his arms could barley reach the hand els, but as we were walking back to the hotel, he said it was the funnest thing he had ever done, so I guess he didn't realize that he was falling off half the time.

Then on Saturday, it was our time to come home. We took the drive back, which took four and a half hours this time, and made our way back to Amman. But, before our weekend was over, we had to go to the embassy and wish my dad's friend a happy birthday. Then it was back home for homework before school the next day.

I'm still exhausted, but my weekends keep getting busier, I can't wait for when school's out, so we can go home to America and relax.

Phew.

It's A Four Day Weekend...

Tomorrow's Jordan's Independance Day, and Wednesday is Memorial Day for America. Along with the two weekend days, we get four days off school.

A couple months ago, another one of these weekends came, and we went to the Dead Sea with some other embassy families.

This time we chose the Red Sea.

I'll blog all about it when we get back.

Scotland Pictures At Last!

That's right, we got our camera back. If you were looking forward to all of the wonderful photos, then today is your lucky day. If not, then oh well, I'm going to post them anyway.

 A view of the town Doune from on top of Doune Castle.

 I got to play guitar and sing with my cousin Iona.

Oh yeah, we saw lots of castles.

Blair Atholls Castle

Doune Castle

Edinburgh Castle

A Castle on Loch Ness

And more, but I don't want to bore you with a bunch of castles. So the rest of the pictures will be highlights of Scotland.

 The Celtic game

 Mucklecoo!

 Our cousin and my brother.

 The mines underneath the St. Andrews Castle.

A hidden Loch we had to hike a mile to find. But it was worth it!

Scotland was amazing and I have so many photos that I want to put up here. But that's all for now.

Oops, I lied, this is the last picture.

Patton

For as long as I can remember, I've had my dog Patton by my side. He now reigns in New Jersey with a nice lady that volunteered to take him in when we couldn't bring him to Jordan. We heard that the vet care wasn't very good because of the theories they have on dogs, and we needed a good vet, for Patton had arthritis in his front two paws, and an enlarged heart. So when I was told the news, I was in tears. Patton had been with me through every move, and he was one thing that didn't change whenever everything else around me did. But moving him wasn't always easy, there were some set-backs and frustrations when we did. But no matter what, I wouldn't take any of it back, because the journey's were always more fun with him.

When we moved to New Jersey from Florida, we had Patton and two red-eared-sliders. Turtles that had to be kept in water. My dad was in training at D.C. for the slightly altered job, so my mom drove me, my two year old brother, a tank full of water with two turtles swimming around in it, and our huge dog up the Atlantic coast. It took a total of three days, and even though I had no idea what New Jersey would be like, I was relieved to get there.

But Patton wasn't just there for me when I moved he was there to make me laugh.

Whenever my mom was in the kitchen making lunch or dinner, Patton would stand right under her feet, (causing a lot of yelling and tripping) and stared at the ground. Why the ground? Well, he thought that food popped out from it, because when ever my mom dropped something off the counter, the ground was the first place he found it, so everyday, there was my dog, staring at the ground waiting for scraps.

He was the stubbornest dog on the planet, and he was strong too. If he jumped up on my bed, even though he's not allowed on it, I wouldn't even try to push him off, because it was useless, all the muscle he had was way to much for me, and if I managed to get him down, he would just jump right back up again. His stubborness is what I admired about him, we had it in common.

He was also a lap dog, a 60 pound one. He loved jumping up onto our laps, and he squashed me a million times. But the best part was that he wasn't even allowed on the furniture, so you could tell he had dreams, why not?

He also loved cats, but they didn't love him back. I mean, if you were a cat, and an English Bull Terrier completely made of muscle came charging up to you, you'd be pretty freaked out too, but poor Patton never realized that, and he never understood that cats didn't like him, because the next day, he'd be right back at it, trying to befriend them. Even after the ran away or scratched, he never learned his lesson. Stubborn doggy.



What I loved the most about him though, was that he didn't care about who you were, or what you did in the past. He'll love you anyways. I would pull his tail when I was younger, and climb all over him, but he had a huge amount of patience for me, and he never bit or ran away. He just let me do what I wanted.

I miss him so much now, we don't even now if he's still alive, he's old, he'll be 11 in June, and even though I know the day is coming, when he dies, it's going to break me in two. I feel horrible for not being there for him now, when he was always there for me in the past.

<3 Patton

Going Away Parties

Lately Jordan's been quiet. Which is strange, considering a certain person's death recently. You would think that there would be crazier things, more stories, but there's nothing. I have so many stories about Jordan that I need to tell, and there's so many things to write about. But I don't know what. At all. I'm completely stuck. So if you have any ideas, anything you want to hear about just write a comment with your suggestion. I'll keep checking it everyday until you tell me what to write anyways.

But for now you'll just have to be stuck with a story, or a guide list to be exact.

When we move my family likes to have little parties. Just a time where all our friends can come out and be with each other for the last time. Here's some Do's and Don'ts for that.

Don't- Get a giant poster thing that can hang up on your wall for people to sign before you leave, and then leave it there unsupervised.

When we left New Jersey for Virginia we did exactly that, and while my friends and I ran around together some people decided to add some decorations to it. It is now complete with a Christmas Tree, little lines, hearts, unreadable messages and such. And right in the middle there's a boy that signed his name in very big letters. It covers a couple other names. But I would still call it a good idea because it does bring back memories and my friend's personalities are in each of the notes they wrote.

Don't- Throw a small party at a local play place outside of a Potbelly's, and then let all the girls run through Coldstone.

We did this when we moved from Virginia to here. Potbelly's is my favorite restaurant of all time, and it always will be. The party was fun, but there were a few angry adults afterwards.

We had all gone to Coldstone when we finished our dinner. And even though we waited in line, and didn't cut, there were a couple angry adults that would yell at us when we took to long to choose what we wanted.

Sheesh people, give us a break, I'm moving here! It's painful!

Do- Throw a party at a playground right on the beach and get a snow cone machine and have the whole entire first grade come over.

We did this when we moved away from Florida, and even though I was seven, I remember it very well. My friends and I had a ton of fun on the playground, and the parents talked under a shaded pavilion. Everyone got snow cones and went down to the beech. We all took pictures, and ran, and played, and just acted like this was a normal thing, like everything would be the same.

It never is though.

It hurts, especially as you get older. Moving wasn't horrible when I lived it Florida, it wasn't fun, but it wasn't the end of the world. Now it is. I've cried more and more as we move, I've hated the new house months longer.

Right now, Jordan feels like home, the embassy practically is my home. But next year, this feeling is going to be gone. I'm going to be sad, The realization that we're movingg again is going to hit me, and I already know that it's going to hit me hard.

The Ikea Entertainer

I once won five dollars at an Ikea store in New Jersey. I was playing Musical Chairs.

It was my first trip to Ikea, and I didn't think it would be much, but what I thought was going to be a boring grocery store turned into the biggest mix of a furniture store, restaurant, and playground all mixed into one.

It amazed me.

We spent the morning browsing for furniture for our new house. (We had just moved to New Jersey) and my parents got tired pretty fast with me running around, going through the displays, trying out every single one of the beds, or looking at the arrows on the ground until bumping into somebody, and they decided that lunch would calm me down. So we went to the cafeteria inside Ikea and ordered some food.

While we were waiting my dad brought my brother and I to a little enclosed area they had filled with toys that you could buy at the store. There was an entertainer playing with the kids, doing magic tricks, anything to get a kid to beg their parents for a toy. I ignored him and looked around quietly, occasionally picking up a stuffed animal or something, but right as I sat down he announced that there would be a game of musical chairs.

Two kids stood up to play, he asked again, another came up, then he offered five dollars to the winner. Now, my eight-year old mind didn't process sarcasm, and I though he was serious, so I shot out of my seat and lined up for musical chairs.

He turned on a stereo and played music and we walked around in circles, eyeing each other carefully. The music stopped, I fell into a chair. Someone was out. It continued this way for quite a while, until it was only me, and another girl.

He played the music again, and kept it going for a long time, I almost gave up because I wanted the food on my plate across the room, but the music stopped, and I slammed into a chair.

I thought there would be some competition, but when the music stopped, the girl got interested in another toy, and ran off to look at it.

The man smiled. "Good job!" he exclaimed. "You won!"
"Thank you." I replied.

He turned around and played around with the stereo.

"Excuse me," I said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Can I have my money now?"

I know, I know, I shouldn't of asked, but I was eight, give me a break.

"Uhhhh," he looked confused, "Of course." the man pulled out his wallet, got a five dollar bill out and handed it to me.

"Thank you." I said.

Poor guy.

Bring Your Child to Work Day, Embassy Style

I'v been to one Bring Your Child to Work Day before. It was when we lived in Florida and my dad was in the Air Force. I was about seven years old, and that was probably one of the funnest days of my seven-year-old life.

We had driven to the military base where my dad worked and went up to his office. All of the people in the offices nearby had come out to talk to me and bring me candy, saying I was the cutest thing, I would grow up to be just like my dad someday, stuff like that.

I barely listened, I was just looking at all of the stuff they had in their offices, candy dispensers, posters, computers, gas masks hanging on the walls, it looked like the coolest place in the world.

But finally we broke away from all of my dad's colleagues and went to his office. That was probably the best part. He had a dart board and lots of things stashed away that he did in his free time, and one of them was a little golf ball shooter. You hit the ball into the ramp, and it would go around in a U and come right back out on the other side. That was the first thing we did, and I remember it clearly.

We brought it out into the hallway and each got a golf club and took turns trying to hit it into the shooter. But there was a catch, we had to be really quiet because my dad's boss' office was right next door, so we were running all over the place to keep it from hitting walls and especially his door. But when it was my turn to hit it, I hit the golfball pretty hard, it missed the shooter and rammed right into Mr. Boss' door. We grabbed all of the stuff we had brought out, ran into my dad's office, and shut the door.

The rest of the day was spent with visits to the control tower, scanning our hands on a copying machine, and getting sodas from the vending machine. Like I said, it was one of the funnest days in my seven-year-old life.


I went four years without another Bring Your Child to Work Day, with everywhere we moved in those four years, his job changed slighty, and it just wasn't acceptable to bring your kid to work with you.

But now he works at a U.S. Embassy, and their Bring Your Child to Work Day probably beats most others.

We were given demonstrations from a lot of the offices, my dad's office did a protection demonstration, they used me as a VIP and they showed how they ushered people safely in a detail, and what they did in emergencies while they were protecting someone. When they joked about me being Hannah Montana while they were protecting me, one of the office guys ran up and tried to attack me. Getting me to safety consisted of my feet being stepped on by several people, a flip-flop being left behind, and being shoved into a bullet-proof car. All in all it went great!

The other offices did pretty cool things too, but nothing topped my dad's office, it was interactive, real, and really entertaining, especially for the kids that were then assigned to protect me, and try to copy the adults.

I would say second place has to go to the Marines. They let us play video games, where we got to shoot people. The guys in our group loved that.

Bring Your Child to Work Day here was more like a Show Your Kids What Each Office Does Day, but it was really fun, and I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Playing the Easter Bunny

Today the embassy had an Easter Egg Hunt. My mom signed me up to hide the eggs for the different age groups, and I agreed because my friend was doing it too. We started off with the 0-3 year olds, just scattering the eggs around the ground and in the bushes. There were around seven trash bags full of eggs that we had to hide for some 1 years olds, I sure hope they found them, otherwise someone would've had a lot of cleaning up to do.

The fun part didn't come until we hid the 4-7 year olds eggs though. Along with the seven bags of eggs we got to hide five "Golden Eggs." If they were found, then whoever found one got a chocolate bunny. I am proud to announce that no one found one of mine, until the whole thing was over and we gave away hints to the last few stragglers.


As kids were waiting we applied Easter tattoos to their hands, and while we were finishing up with the tattoos, everyone else hunted for their candy-filled eggs, and of course those special "Golden Eggs."

But when we finished cleaning up, there was more work to do. We had to go around making sure that each kid had ten eggs tops, and if anyone couldn't find any, we would search around and give them one. How's that for good service?

When the Egg Hunt was finally over and my friend left, I gained up with my other friends and we had the delicious brunch, but of course, I could only eat half of it, because my braces hurt when I bit something, but it was a beautiful, warm day and we stayed at the embassy long after everyone had left. Then we all went to one of our friend's houses and jumped on the trampoline, played Wii, and just had a good time.

When you live so far away from home, it's these days that you live for. Ones where everything's some what normal, and there's nothing out of the ordinary. But not only that, holidays like Christmas or Easter aren't as exciting. When you're walking you don't see houses decorated and shops full of discounts and toys, it's all normal. Christmas crept up on me like a snake, I didn't even know that is was coming up until we put up our Christmas tree, and evan then, it didn't seem real.

Easter's done that same thing. Tomorrow's Easter, and I didn't know that until yesterday. I don't know if it's living this far overseas, or just getting older, but holidays are different now.

Anyways, Happy Easter everyone. I'll try to blog about it tomorrow.

Braces Hurt

For months we've been going to the dentist, planning out my braces treatment. The day we got them was the 20th of April. Yesterday. The whole process took about 30 minutes. We got home and they didn't hurt. I went to bed and they didn't hurt. I woke up. There, right in the time of when I was half awake and half asleep, they throbbed. It felt like my teeth were slowly being pulled. That woke me right up.

I went to school with my mom saying "You can come home if it hurts to much. Just call me." But no, I'm stubborn. I wasn't going to let these metal wires on my teeth stop me from doing anything. I was going to rise above and prove to myself that I could do it.

It wasn't very hard, except for when I was taking a quiz or trying to concentrate, they didn't bother me. For lunch I sucked on spoonfuls of peanut butter and yogurt. If someone offered gum, I said no, and put my mind on something else. I love gum. It was hard, but right there were my braces stubbornly saying "Do I hurt yet?" or "Come on, take a piece, you know you want to."
But I didn't, and my first full day of braces is almost complete.

Oh yeah, I haven't even gotten the bottom ones yet. I get those three days before my birthday.

Thanks mom, it's going to be a painful introduction to my 12th year of life.

Tucker the Turtle

Today we had to do a writing assignment in Language Arts and it reminded me of a piece I wrote earlier in the year. We had to write about a thing that was precious to us, and I wrote about Tucker the Turtle.

One day, when we lived in Virginia my mom and I went walking through our town. We passed by a road and in the middle of it was a turtle just walking on by. There was a car coming so my mom dashed out on the street and grabbed him. We decided to take the turtle home and show it to my dad and brother before letting it go.

As we were walking back to the house, we would take turns carrying him. Sometimes we would put him down if there was a patch of grass and he would just hobble by next to us. When the road came again we would pick him back up.

When we got home my dad got a bin and we set him down in it, just watching him walk around in circles. My brother announced that he needed a name and we started calling the turtle Tucker.

About 30 minutes later my mom said it was time to let him go, but my brother had become attached and asked if we could keep him. We had just fixed up our backyard and it was full of strawberry, watermelon, tomato, and green bean plants. My mom did a little research on the internet on turtles in Virginia and we learned that Tucker was an Eastern Box Turtle. He lived in habitats just like our backyard and was a peaceful turtle that was easy to care for. After a short discussion with my dad, Tucker was ours.

We brought him around to our fenced in backyard and set him down. I dug a hole in the ground and stuck a shallow flower pot base in it, after just a couple of minutes, Tucker had his own pool.

Every day when I woke up, Tucker would be in our garden eating away at our strawberries, tomatoes, and green beans. Every couple of days we would set down some lettuce or cucumbers for him. But the strawberries were definately his favorite. Tucker had found lots of hiding places under bushes in our backyard, and he was always sunning himself on our patio.

One day though, we were eating dinner on our deck and I looked down at Tucker and saw that he was laying eggs. He was a she, and she was laying little baby turtle eggs in our backyard. My mom did some more research and learned that the eggs wouldn't be born for about a year.

In six months, we were moving.

Somebody was going to move into our house and they were going to be surprised when a bunch of turtle heads pop out of the ground and start eating their garden.

After we learned that Tucker was a girl we tried changing her name. We tried so many things, but in the end we always went back to Tucker, and the name stayed the same.

Six months later I cried and said good bye to Tucker. She had been a great pet, and our plants hadn't had any bugs since she had been there. We left her with lots of lettuce and opened up the gate, but she didn't move, she actually crawled away from the gate and started eating the lettuce.

We stayed in a hotel for a couple days before moving out. When we drove by our old house for the last time, the new owners came out and told us that there was a turtle in their backyard, and she wouldn't leave. We told them Tucker's story, and they said that they would be waiting for the babies. They had a two year old son, and they wanted to keep our turtle.

A day later, I was at the airport waiting for our plane. I don't know what happened to Tucker, but I hope that the baby turtles were born, and she's happy and well. I'm pretty sure I'll never see her again, but I know that we found her on that street for a reason.

We might not of gotten a single strawberry that year, but we got something so much better.

Water

Agua, Maa, it has many names, but us English speakers call it water. The stuff that we use everyday, and Jordan's running out of it. On the 13th all of the 6th graders are going to Azraq. There's a wildlife reserve, as well as a castle there and the teachers are trying to prepare us for it. They decided to do that by having us reseach 'Water Shortage in Jordan' and see what we find.

I found out that water is precious here. Most people in Jordan only get a bucket of it a week. I know that I'm in a desert and it doesn't rain much, but whenever we run out of water, we just call the embassy and they have someone hook a hose to a tank on our roof and fill it with water. Now, I can't help but think that the water we get is being taken away from someone not as fortunate.

Jordan only gets rain for around three months of the year. The rest of the year it's warm and dry, with no clouds in the sky. The rain that we get in the winter, has to last us the whole year, and we didn't get a lot of it this year.

They say that this is going to be a hard summer and we really need to cut down on the water we use, shorter showers, turning off the faucet water while you're brushing your teeth, that kind of stuff.

But there are so many bigger things that need to be done.

The Dead Sea's water level is dropping, so there are pipes leading from nearby springs, into the Dead Sea, to fill it up, but that doesn't seem to be working. All of the pipes have leaks in them, only half of the water actually ends up where it's supposed to go, and the pipes aren't being fixed.

And then there's one thing that's gotten on my nerves since we moved here. We have a boab that lives in a small house inside our garage. He carries up groceries, keeps the building nice, things like that.

He washes all the cars everyday.

No wonder we run out of water all the time, it's being used to wash perfectly clean cars everyday, and it all ends up in the street. No wonder when one day we ran out of water, and the embassy didn't have any more to bring us he stopped washing the cars. All that water was out too.

Just be thankful that you've got as much water as you need right now, and maybe you can cut down on the water you use too.

But it's going to be a long summer here in Jordan.

An American Day

Yesterday was beautiful.

It was sunny and warm, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it felt like summer. Which is coming up fast. The embassy pool opened, and there's only two months of school left. From now on, it's capris (No shorts, it's disrespectful to the culture) and T shirts (No tank tops, also disrespectful) for me.

And amazingly, I felt like I was in America. I went over to some friend's house. We Ripsticked, jumped on a trampoline, and just enjoyed the weather. No one stared at us while we screamed on the trampoline, no one started yelling at us in Arabic, it was peaceful, and unJordan like. It was perfect.

Then school came today and hit me on the head, I have officially decided in my mind that it's summer, and all thinking and homework should be banned. But I have two more months. Two more months of sunshine, and pool, and fun, that I have to miss for school. It's agony. I want them to cut the year short.

Oh please sunshine, wait for me.

The Celtic Game

Tomorrow we leave to go back to Amman. (Awwwwwww.) But honestly, I'm ready to go back. That's the weird feeling you have when you move all the time. No matter where you lived in the world, whenever you leave that place, the place with your friends, house, and school, you want to go back, months after you've left. I'm always glad to get away from Jordan when we go to America for the summer, but I miss it too. When we leave next year, I know I'm going to miss it a lot. Which amazes me since I always want to leave. But enough of this FS feeling stuff, our parents really closed up this trip well.

They took us to a Celtic game.

Football, soccer, I don't care what you call it, it was crazy! There were police everywhere. People brought in drums, were singing songs, dancing, anything to cheer on their team. I've been to baseball games before, (Go Rockies!) and was surprised to see how seriously people took soccer. The whole crowd had these serious looks on their faces, following the ball everywhere it went.

Today we decided to be lazy and just sit around the house, if I walk another step, I think my legs might fall off.

Oh yeah, Celtics won. Woo!

Edinburgh

Today we drove up to Edinburgh for the day. We had typical Scottish weather, rain scattered throughout the day, wind, and sunshine all mixed together. It was great though, everything's blooming, so flowers were all around. We walked from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood palace and back and then went into Edinburgh Castle. It was fun, it's the biggest castle we've been to so far, with lots of history and towers to explore. Colin liked playing near the cannons and pretending he was in the army while my parents and I tried to read the signs and learn about everything. Ah, little brothers.

We ended the day playing at a park right next to the castle. Every time you looked up, there it was, standing on top of it's hill all tall and mighty. It was an amazing sight.

(You know the saying: Pictures will go up when we get home.) 

Mother's Day

Turns out that Scotland has it's own Mother's Day. Just like Jordan and America. Now we have three days just for my mom. I bet she's happy.

Scotland Mother's Day was yesterday. On April 2, Dad and I were at a grocery store buying her a bouquet of flowers and some cards, when she spotted us and walked over to the cash register where we had almost escaped. She saw the huge bouquet of flowers I had in my hand and gasped. "Oops." was all she said for ruining our little surprise. But, she didn't see the cards in my hands, so I slipped them behind my back. Yesterday we presented them to her, and she was a happy mother.

Yesterday we also went to my first distillery. I've been to a ton of vineyards from living in Virginia, but never a distillery, so it was interesting. They walked us around, showed us how everything worked, and gave out whiskey tastings to the parents while Colin and I walked around the gift shop looking at everything.

Our time in Scotland is half way over, I'm going to miss all the grass when we return to the desert.

Happy April Fools

Happy April Fools Day everyone! We didn't do anything here this year, not even my dad, who is the king of pranks. Now if we were in Jordan, I would've been at the pool playing lots of practical jokes on any unfortunate friend that happened to pass my way. But here in Scotland, with only family that I've just met, I didn't celebrate April Fools like we usually do. 

Oh well, maybe when we get back I'll create my own April Fools Day, just to have some fun. You better watch out Jordan!

Anyways, it just doesn't seem like we can go one day without doing something. Something exciting. Like going through an aerial course, or going to a huge cathedral filled with graves, or exploring mines underneath a castle, or going to more castles, and palaces, and other exciting places.

Let me explain.

After we left the last B & B we drove through a little town and ended up at the Ice Factor. The biggest indoor ice climbing center in the world. But it has rock climbing and an aerial course too. An aerial course. That was enough for me to beg my parents to go. We had some spare time on our hands, and they said yes.

The aerial  course was around three stories high and consisted of many ropes, bridges, walls, and other things that tested your balance and strength. I loved every second of it. They clipped you up to a rope that was connected to a sliding pole above your head, so if you fell, you would just dangle in the air. I did everything without falling. Which was quite a feat since it was cold and raining. But that couldn't stop us, I even managed to jump and grab on to the zip line, without slipping. And your reward for doing all this? Being connected to a wooden log-like thing and being pulled up as high as possible (about three stories) and swinging back and forth. It was a lot scarier than it looked.

March 31,

Yesterday we drove into St. Andrews and visited the St. Andrews castle and cathedral. The castle was in ruins but there was one exciting feature to this one that the rest didn't have.

There were mines dug underneath it.

Townspeople in the 17th century (I think...) dug mines under the castle walls because they wanted to blow it up with gun powder. Then people in the castle dug a couter-mine and spoiled the plans.

The coolest part, you were allowed to explore them. I admit it, I was pretty scared, they were dark and narrow, slippery and wet, and there were little signs everywhere that said: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. But my dad and I explored it, and got some pretty cool pictures. (Which I will post when we're back at Amman)

Then we walked around the St. Andrews Cathedral, which was in  ruins too. There were graves all around it though, and we had a little competition to see who could find the oldest grave. Some of them were so old that you couldn't even read the writing on them, but nevertheless, my mom found one dated back to 1782. 

Lastly we went to the Old Course golf course, the place where golf was invented.

April 1,

Today we went to Stirling Castle, it was huge and very pretty, but half of the castle was blocked off for construction and the other half was unopen to the public so there wasn't much to explore.

Tiny Doune Castle is still my favorite.

Castles and Lochs

We've done a lot in the past two days.

Yesterday we set off from Perth and drove up to Inverness. Along the way we stopped at a beautiful church, which we walked around and admired, Blair Atholls Castle, known as the prettiest castle in Scotland. Did you know that the person that owns it is allowed to have their own army? I found that kind of ironic, but sometimes old ways never change. We walked around the forest grounds of the castle, which had some of the oldest and tallest trees in Scotland and we found a really cool park. The swings were as high as the trees and you swung over the edge of a small drop off so it felt like you were going higher than you really were. There were other neat forts in the park that my brother, Colin, enjoyed searching. Oh yeah, Colin and I met our first Mucklecoos. Huge, hairy cows with giant horns on top of their heads.

They were adorable.

When we finished admiring the Mucklecoos we continued on our way through the mountains. We finally made it to Inverness and we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast.

Today

Today we went to Culloden Battlefield. One of the European war battles was fought here and I learned all about it. Mainly from the Jackobites side, but some from the Government side too. Thten we left Inverness and drove up to Loch Ness. I'm sorry to report that we did not see Nessie. Maybe next time folks.

We did see a castle though, it was mainly ruins, but it was right on Loch Ness and it had amazing views. Lastly, we drove through the mountains to another Bed & Breakfast, where I'm writing to you from now.

Tomorrow's going to be busy.

(I'll post all of the pictures when we get back to Jordan)

Chaos

The second we got off our first plane in London and my Dad turned on his phone, we were flooded with texts about protests in Jordan.

Protests.

There have been protests lately, I am aware of that. But now our cute little Jordan is on CNN. Not for very long of course, it's never the top subject for long. But hey! CNN's pretty big!

I am terrified to go back.

I know it's not that bad, but I've seen what happens to these countries. They're blown up, destroyed, all because of protests. I don't want that to happen to Jordan. People I know could be killed. It would be absolute chaos. Chaos = Not good. Not good = A scared Hannah.

But I'm already scared.

Anyways, Scotland is amazing. There's so much green here! A big change from Jordan, which has no green what so ever. At least not a lot. And I love my family here! They're so fun and interesting! I'm staying at my aunt's house. She has a lovely backyard and there's no trees in the middle of the sidewalks! I even have a picture to prove it!

(I'll post the picture later)

So far, we've been to Doune Castle. It's beautiful and very interesting to learn about. Tomorrow we're going to Loch Ness. We're going to do a drive and visit some more castles.

I'll post more as soon as I can.

Scotland

I am so excited.

Tomorrow my family's going to Scotland! We have family there and I'm finally going to meet them. We won't be back in Amman for two weeks. I'm going to try to blog whenever I can, but most likely I'll only get to when we get back.

Please be patient with me. I promise I'll upload tons of photos when we get back.

Until then,
Hannah

Security

I might've questioned my security here once or twice...

Maybe.

But I have good reasons too.

First off, the event that sticks out in my mind every time I look across the street.
The riot.
Yes, there was a riot in front of my house a couple months ago. You see, they had elections for some... I don't know, something that had to do with the government. They held the polls at local schools. Well one of those local schools is just down the street from where I'm typing right now.
Oh goody.
I was sitting on my couch when I heard yelling and glass breaking, I walked over to our window that overlooks the street and right before my eyes were people throwing rocks at each other and smashing car windows. Our boab was right there, sitting on the curb, watching it all. I called to my dad who was on the phone, obviously trying to work something out with somebody from work and he opened our balcony door. He stepped outside and motioned for me to follow. Is he crazy? I thought One of those rocks might hit me! Those people are probably dangerous. So while he was outside, watching it all, I peeped over the side of the couch to look out the window. Finally though, my curiosity out won me and I stepped onto the balcony. Together we sat there for a couple minutes.

Those were some of the most disturbing moments of my life.

I watched people yell at each other, throw rocks, smash windows. I watched people limp away, clutching their heads and arms. Then my dad stood up. "I'm going to move the car." he said simply.
"You're going down there?" I asked, completely shocked.
"Hannah," he said. "The car's going to be ruined if I don't."
I just nodded. While he walked calmly outside, I clutched Ike and watched his every move very carefully. The guard stopped him and tried to talk to him, he nodded his head and got in the car and slowly drove it into our garage.

All in all, it went better than I expected.

He came back upstairs and we sat on the balcony, watching the riot until the police showed up and every one scattered.

But I forgot the best part, it started back up again, right when I was about to go to my friend's house. Well, I'm stubborn, and still wanted to go, so we went down to the garage and drove down the street slowly, with me ducking my head below the windows.

We made it out that day, without any conflict and all was fine in the end.

But that event still haunts me about what could happen if Jordan ends up like Egypt or Libya. And so I'm thankful for the guard that has to stand outside 24/7 for us.

Thank you very much.