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.