It's snowing!!

Or at least it was. It snowed enough for it to coat the ground for about half an hour, and then it melted. It was fun to watch though. We're hoping it will snow enough at least once while we're here so we can build a snowman.

We had a lot of fun in Aqaba. It was colder than we hoped, but not as cold as in Amman. We were still able to snorkel a bit the first day we were there, the second day it was really windy. It was nice just not having a schedule, although our every day life is pretty laidback anyway. And the food was great! Our last night there we went to a seafood restaurant. Jason had some decent fish and I ordered a calamari stew, and it was soooo good. It's probably the first thing I've eaten since becoming pregnant that I really enjoyed. The hotel also had a decent breakfast each morning, which was really nice. The only downside to our trip was coming home. Our bus ride back to Amman was not comfortable at all!

We want to see pictures of everyone's Christmas celebration! We had a very short one of our own; I'll try to put up pictures soon.

My belly popped!

Well, it didn't explode, but it's finally popped out enough that you can tell that I'm pregnant and not just thick around the middle. I didn't even realize this because since it's winter I've been wearing sweaters and such. Today I wore a tighter shirt and I could totally tell!



We've been having these very nasty looking bugs in our place. They seriously look dangerous, so I looked them up online. They are called house centipedes and look like this (about 2 inches long)->

Apparently they rarely bite and if they do it's like a bee sting. The sites I went on say they are very beneficial and not to kill them, but there is no way I'm letting those things stay in our house!! I don't care how beneficial they are, they are disgusting!! Whatsthatbug.com says they are the most common asked about bug, but I have never seen one before. Do they exist in Arizona? Has anyone else ever seen one?

In other news, Ellie is becoming my clone. She is such a little mother to all her toys. Today I saw her lick her finger and wipe off her baby's face! I didn't realize I did that so much! She is always giving her babies a "dider(diaper) change" and today she picked up something fragile and said "Don't touch that, gentle." Every time she goes into the kitchen she warns herself "hot, doooon't touch" while pointing to the stove. And whenever she thinks about climbing up on the table she says "Ellie be a good girl, noooo table" Whenever we get into a taxi now she starts saying "Yameen, shamel" Which means "right, left." I guess she's picked up on us giving directions to the driver. Maybe she can take over someday soon! :)

Packages!!

I picked up three packages at the post office today. Thanks grandparents!! Ellie is LOVING everything we received. She has all her clothes in a pile; it took a lot of talking to convince her that she didn't want to wear everything at once. So, she is only wearing: a shirt, tights, undies, pants, one of my new bras, a huge shirt of mine, and her new hot-pink tennies. I would say she is wearing at least 8 different shades of pink. She immediately introduced her new baby doll to her old one, and they are very good friends now (poor doggie has been abandoned). I am currently listening to a Christmas cd and eating goldfish crackers (yea!!).

I had quite an ordeal at the post office; including a lot of tears. I don't know if it was because I got three packages at once, but I was told that because the combined "worth" of the packages was $400, I had to pay 160JD to customs. That's over $220! I told him that was too much, so he said, ok, I'll reduce it to 75JD. I told the man that I couldn't pay that, so he sent me to the manager. I went to the manager, said I didn't have that money, but he just sent me to the cashier (maybe he thought I could pay with credit card?). So, I took the outside stairs, and stood there bawling for about 10 minutes. I was just so frustrated and discouraged after being so excited to get the packages. I'm sure the pregnancy hormones played a part as well! Finally, I was able to pull myself together (I thought) enough to go back to the manager and explain that I couldn't pay that much. As I started talking, I burst into tears again. I don't know if he took pity on me, or if he just wanted to get rid of me, but he asked "How much do you have?" I told him I had 50JD, and he said, ok, 41JD. So he led me somewhere else, and all the men in this room know me from picking up previous packages. They were all like, "Don't cry, what's wrong?" By this time I was kind of hyperventilating (mom knows how I cry!), but I was trying to stop. These guys were all so nice to me, and one of them found out that I live in the same neighborhood as him, so he said "Ok, 27JD." By this time, I was so embarrased to be dragged all over the post office crying. I ended up paying about $45 instead of the original $220. It was definitely worth getting all the fun stuff! I don't know what the rules are when sending packages, but if people could put a VERY LOW estimate on the worth, that would probably help. I know the estimates on these packages were right-on, because we receive a lot of nice things. I guess if this happens again, I'll just turn on the tears again :)

Christmas pictures

All is well

So, not much going on here. I'm still sick, Jason's still going to classes, and Ellie's still very cute. Jason's been playing basketball and soccer with some classmates after school on Thursdays, which is very fun for him. I've been doing pretty well at keeping my food down, but I don't eat very much. I can't wait until this part is done so I can eat like a pregnant woman!!

Ellie is very particular about how she does things now. She knows each routine and everything has to go exactly that way. For example, every morning she must have cereal with milk in a certain bowl with a certain spoon. She must push up her sleeves, wear her bib, and have baby and doggie "watch me eat." After the cereal is gone, I have to help her get all the milk. At night, when she goes to bed, she has to put on her "night-night jacket" (footie pajamas), get a drink, get a hug and kiss from me, have her doggie and binkies, and then Jason reads her a couple stories. She also makes her opinion well-known. Very often I'll be singing a little song under my breath and Ellie will say "Mommy, no sing." I didn't think I was that bad! But, she is still very sweet. Today I told her I couldn't do something because my tummy hurt and she looked at me for a second and then started kissing my tummy (that's what we do to all her owies). It was so cute!

One negative, one positive

So, today I've decided that if I say something negative, I should always follow it with something positive. A better way to look at things, if you will. For example:

- Ellie, you got paint all over the table, the plate, yourself, and my pants! Oh look, some ended up on the ornament, good job baby!

- Jason, our checking account is dying a slow death. Luckily, all our payments are directly taken out, so we don't have to watch!

- This "morning sickness" is leaving me with nothing to eat besides saltines, popcorn, and sometimes refried beans. But, I have finally lost those pesky 15 lbs. leftover from being pregnant with Ellie!

- We aren't able to be with family during the holidays, but people are sending us fun packages!!

It's December! :)

So, I don't know if people have heard or noticed the new ticker at the top of the page, but...we're expecting another baby! I'm due June 25th, and we'll be back in plenty of time to have the baby in Havasu. I found a doctor I really like here, and she has an ultrasound machine in her office, so I saw the tiny little heart flickering. I have been super-sick for about a month, but I've felt a little better the last couple days. I can't wait until I can eat more than orange juice and saltines! But, all this yuckiness will be worth it. Yea for more Tatums!!

Ellie and I have been working hard at decorating the house with Christmas crafts. When we're finished, I'll post a picture. We're painting, gluing, glittering, and even cutting. Ellie has some new plastic scissors, and she opens and closes them pretty well. She just can't quite get the paper in there by herself. But, we'll practice!

We've decided to travel down to the Red Sea for Christmas, Jason has a day off and we're making a long weekend out of it. It should be a lot of fun and relaxing, snorkeling and swimming at the beach. It's a four hour bus ride to the bottom of Jordan, so it's not too bad of a trip. So, even if we can't be with family, we should have some fun!

New best friends

Ellie has learned how to "smile" for the camara. That goofy grin isn't mine, right? It must be Jason's :) Ellie now does everything with her baby or her doggie. She sleeps with her doggie and sometimes brings him out to play. Her baby (which we took the voice box out of!) gets fed and gets drinks from Ellie. It's a little sad that she doesn't have human playmates yet, so she has to create her own. Hey, at least she has imagination!!

Our new favorite treat is popcorn that we make on the stove. Ellie loves the "noisy popcorn" and laughs as it pops. I don't butter it, so it is a healthy and fun snack.

On Thursday (tomorrow) the Fulbright office is having a Thanksgiving potluck. I can't wait to eat turkey!! It won't be the same as being with all of you, but at least we are able to celebrate (that means stuff ourselves)! We're going to start making Christmas decorations soon; Ellie and I went out yesterday to collect pinecones.

Stomach flu :(

Things are okay with us; Jason just got over the stomach flu. He was totally out of it for a couple days, but we're hoping that Ellie and I didn't catch it. If we don't have any symptoms yet, and he's been over it for a day, we shouldn't get it, right??? I really hope not; Ellie barfing is the worst. I hope Jason doesn't catch anything else from his classmates! It's kind of funny; Jason stayed home from school yesterday to recuperate, but it turned out that it was a holiday and there were no classes anyway. I'm trying to explain to him that now he can stay home today too since he was willing to miss a day, but he's not convinced. Oh well.

We had a major plumbing problem last week, a flood! Not just any flood, but a flood of sewer water. Some pipes or something were blocked and whenever we used a lot of water it would seep up out of the drain in the floor of our "laundry room." I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but we hadn't met our landlords yet because they've been out of the country. Well, they returned last week, and I guess their water is connected to ours, so when they used their water, our office completely flooded. Luckily they are really nice and took care of it right away, but I was left to clean up the disaster area. (Well, I left a little for Jason.) It was disgusting, but at least it shouldn't happen again.

I wasn't able to sign up for the next session of Arabic classes, so I guess I'll have to wait until January. Oh well, it saves us some money, and it's nice to be home at night.

Ellie loves to watch this (and I admit, I do too. I'm a little embarrassed)

Backstreet Boys singing with Elmo

Ellie coloring

"I wuv you"

Tonight after Ellie took her bath, she ran excitedly over to me (completely naked of course), hugged me really tight around the neck, and said very clearly "I wuv you!" Oh my gosh!! Jason and I just stared at each other, shocked. Of course, I got all teary eyed and was like "Did she just say I love you?" I am so surprised, this is definitely the first time she has said this, and usually I say to her "Mommy loves Ellie," not "I love you." We couldn't get her to say it again, but hopefully she will pleasantly surprise us again soon!

Squitos, squitos

Ramadan is over! We just finished out the holiday celebrated after Ramadan, it is kind of like their Christmas (giving gifts, seeing family, etc.) Jason had a break from school, but we decided not to go to Petra. Ellie's been kind of sick, and we just wanted to rest at home. We've been pretty creative in inventing games for us to play in the house. Ellie loves to hide from us (running away and hiding in a corner when we ask her to come) so we introduced her to the game of hide and seek. After having her hide with Jason the first time, we realized that she is too little to hide, so she was a seeker with one of us each time. It was really funny for us to hide in very obvious places and watch her find us.

It has been getting cold here!! The temperature drops pretty low at night and it's rained a couple of times recently. We are excited to see snow here, but also nervous about getting around town with the snow. Since the city is built over many extreme hills, I'm worried about cars slipping all over the road. We are hoping that the cold will kill the mosquitos that keep sneaking into our house. I routinely check Ellie's room and our bedroom before going to sleep each night; I must say I am a little obsessed with killing each little bloodsucker. Is it bad when your toddler walks around the house banging on things and slapping the walls saying "squitos, squitos?" I wonder where she picked that up :)

Small video of Ellie, cute, but trial run so not good quality

Video of nephew Bryson... so cute!

Posted By:Tara

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Everyone see Ellie's little age chart on the top of the page?

The iftar (dinner with Fulbright people) was fun. None of the VIP's showed up, but it was good food and a night out without Ellie. There was a huge buffet including appetizers, main course, and dessert. It was nice to get dressed up and head out for the night. The best part is that Ellie loved being with Alex and Kendra. She didn't mind at all that we were gone! Ellie has started to call me "mom" a lot. I have no idea where it came from, except maybe from one of her books. Isn't she too young to be calling me "mom?" Every time she does, I repeat whatever she said with "mommy" instead of "mom." I don't want her to give up on "mommy" so soon! Pretty soon she'll be calling me "Kirsten."

My first session of Arabic classes are now over. We had to take an oral test last night to prove to the teacher if we are ready for the next level. I was surprised to realize that I knew every single word she tested me on. I guess all my practice with taxi drivers and Ellie's preschool teachers is paying off. The next session doesn't begin for a couple weeks, so I have a break for now. Jason also has a break soon, for 5 days or so, so we are thinking about going to visit Petra. This is an ancient city from 6th century B.C. created by Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe. They carved many of their buildings into the surrounding sandstone, so they are supposed to be very beautiful. It is the number one tourist destination in Jordan, so we figured we better go while we are here! It will be nice to see something besides Amman.

The little chatterbox

Well, Ellie went back to school. And she seems to enjoy it more each day. She has gone three days so far, and the last day she was not upset at all when I came to pick her up. This was definitely a good decision, even though she already has a runny nose. Hopefully she will not catch anything too serious from the other kids. She has a new favorite word; it is "beautiful." Ellie walks around saying "Ellie bee-uful" all day, every once in a while throwing in "mommy bee-uful" or "picture bee-uful." The last time she was painting I said her picture was beautiful, and she grasped that word quickly. She has two other "word games" that she likes to play. One is pointing out who owns what around the house/taxi/street. It goes like this: "Mommy's chair" (point), "Daddy's chair" (point), "his seatbelt" (point to the taxi driver). She makes sure she has everything covered before she will stop. The other game is naming who she knows and saying whether they are a boy or a girl. "Mommy girl, Daddy boy, Ellie girl," etc. Then there is the occasional "Daddy girl...noooo, Daddy boy." As you can probably tell, she really likes to talk.

There are 9 days left of Ramadan. Tomorrow Jason and I are going to an "Iftar," which is the big party-type meal when they break their fast. This one is hosted by the Fulbright office and held at a really nice restaurant in town. Some very important people will be there, including His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal
and the American ambassador to Jordan. I am excited to be able to go and will let you all know what it is like.

School Days

The entire family goes to school now. Ellie started today at a nearby nursery. I dropped her off while I went grocery shopping, so it was a short trial visit. She went quite willingly, didn't care when I kissed her goodbye. However, once I returned she saw me and her little lower lip started to quiver and she burst into tears. They said she did cry while I was gone, but I'm sure that will get better with time. We'll see if she goes willingly tomorrow :) The school is within walking distance (about 20-25 minutes) but when I return home after picking her up, I will take a taxi because it is all uphill. Jason is good with the hills, but I have some trouble pushing Ellie's stroller up the steep ones. It is only 50 JD (about $75) a month for Ellie's school, which is extremely cheap. Even though she won't even be attending half of the time, it is still worth it for that price.

I have about one week left of my arabic classes, but the plan is to take the next level after that (and the next one after that). Jason was paid $50 today to take an arabic test from the US Department of Defense. All of the students in his classes who spoke English fluently were given this opportunity. There is the possibility of more tests in the future. They told him that the tests were trial Arabic placement exams, but I think they are looking for future employees! Wouldn't that be funny. I hope the government doesn't hunt me down for posting this :)

Update on packages

We have received a couple of letters so far (thanks Autumn!), and we have one package waiting for us at the parcel post office. I need to clarify the address for anyone planning on sending us a package.

No one in Amman gets regular mail sent to their house. Everyone has a post office box that they pick mail up at, and if they have a package they get a slip saying to go pick it up at the parcel office. Only places like UPS, FEDEX, etc. bring mail directly to houses. So, any mail through the regular post office needs to go to this address:

Jason and Kirsten Tatum
c/o Fulbright
PO Box 850215
Amman 11185, Jordan

Please put both of our names so either of us can pick it up. Thanks!

(be sure to read the posting under this one, it is new as well)

Friends!

Ellie and I have been looking at nurseries in our neighborhood, so that Ellie can make some friends. I've just gone in a couple and let Ellie play for a little bit; both times she did not want to leave! In the first one I put her down, she walked right over to some kids and started playing, and she didn't look back at me once. I could have left her and she wouldn't have cared! Thankfully they are extremely cheap here, no more than $100 a month, so hopefully we'll find a good one that Ellie can go to a couple of hours a day. She will love it!

The Thompsons came over today and played cards with Jason and I. It was so good to hang out with them! Ellie always talks about them ("nra" and "Alec") so she was excited to see them too. We played spades (which Jason and I won in a close race to the finish) and golf, which Kendra dominated.

I attempted my first baking trial, and it turned out well. Our gas oven only has two settings, heat on top or heat on bottom. You can't designate what temperature you want, so I was pretty skeptical about baking with it. But, I made some (healthy) oatmeal/date/banana cookies that tasted really good. They were so good that I doubled the recipe today to snack on while we played cards, and they are already gone! We have been eating a lot of dates here, since they are plentiful and not too expensive. They are one of Ellie's favorite snacks.

I will try to post more often; I have received hints to do so, or else people think something happened to us :) It's just hard to think of what to write when we don't really do too much!

One month down...

It's hard for us to believe we have been here for a month already. Only eight more to go :) We are enjoying our time here, but this is definitely not a permanent move! Although there are many American things here (we had Popeye's chicken for dinner last night), we miss being in America. We truly are lucky to have all that we do!

Our Arabic-learning is going well. Of course Jason already had it mostly down, but I am proud of my mini-conversations that I have with shopkeepers, taxi drivers, etc. And once in a while I can teach Jason a word that he doesn't know. I'm really enjoying getting to know my classmates as well. One girl in my class picks me up and takes me home, which is awesome, since I don't have to hunt down taxis and hope they know where my class meets. Jason has been taking the bus to his classes, which is very cheap and easy, but I am wary of taking the bus by myself (as a foreign woman), especially since my class is at night. Also, I have to leave for my class right when the fasting ends for the day, so the streets are almost completely empty. Everyone is eating! I wouldn't be able to find a taxi or bus if I wanted to.

We need to find Ellie some friends. I really think she is getting lonely and too attached to us. Last night she had trouble sleeping, so I had to sleep in her bed with her. Hopefully we can find some kids soon! She sees some once a week when we meet with some American friends, but it would be nice to find kids her age that she can play with. There's only so much painting and reading books with mommy and daddy that a toddler can take!

We started a water delivery service yesterday, and it is great! They deliver 19 liter bottles (like the 5 gallon ones) once a week. Jason drinks more water than anyone I have ever lived with (even Nichole!) so we were having to buy a ton of 1.5 liter bottles a week. It was getting too difficult to go to the store that often and lug them home, not to mention the empty bottles filling the dumps. This way is easier and actually cheaper, so it works out really well.

Ellie's masterpiece

Here is Ellie enjoying her new favorite activity, painting! She calls it "colors." Mindy, we put that blow-up bath to good use as a multi-purpose mess container. She also uses it sometimes to eat in. If you look closely, you can see that she is also wearing a swim diaper that she put on herself. Actually, I helped pull it up after she waddled out with it around her ankles. We put this picture up on the fridge, and she is so proud of seeing her "pitchure" every day.

School Days

There have been 3 days of school so far. Jason says his classes are going well. He has three teachers that switch off; one of them okay and the others not so good. Hopefully he will be placed with a conversation partner soon that will help solidify what he is learning in class. He goes to school 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. My class is also going well. There are about 14 people, 5 of us Americans. I only have it 4 days a week, 2 hours a day. That is nice, but the class time isn't. I have class 7:30pm - 9:30pm, which means I don't get to bed until about 10:30 or 11:00pm. That may not sound too late, but when Ellie wakes up between 6-7am, it feels late. Although, I can handle it now that Ellie sleeps consistantly through the night. It only took over a year!

The Islamic holiday Ramadan is coming up very soon. It is supposed to start around September 24th. For those of you who don't know about it, it is a month-long holiday celebrating when the first verses of the Quran were "revealed." The fast is from dawn to sunset each day of Ramadan. The fast involves refraining from food, drink, and (for married people) sexual relations during the daylight hours. We obviously won't be fasting during this month, but it means that we shouldn't eat or drink during the day in public. Since we have our own apartment, this should be fairly easy, but things will be very different here. Businesses have different hours, restaurants close, and there are celebrations every night to break the fast. I'm not exactly sure what it will be like in our neighborhood, but we live literally across the street from a mosque, so we have had problems before with noise coming from their celebrations during the night. Our friends have also mentioned the possibility of someone coming through the neighborhood before dawn each morning, waking up everyone so they can eat before the sun comes up. Hopefully that will not be the case! I am focusing a lot on the inconviences for us, but also be in prayer for all the muslims here. Part of the fasting is in order to please Allah and seek his mercy; if only they knew that God does not require good works or sacrifice in order to obtain His mercy; it is freely given. Pray that perhaps Jason and I can share this with Muslims we come in contact with. A good website for those who are interested in Christians praying for Muslims during Ramadan is http://www.30-days.net/.

Bugs, Those Thugs

Question: How do you kill a line of ants crawling from your bedroom window to your kitchen, all without bug spray? Answer: You stomp them out! Jason and I had quite a time on waking up this morning, trying to kill all the little critters. It required a quick foot and some furniture moving, but we got the job done. Ellie was upset at all the noise and commotion, until Jason made a tap dance routine out of it. She found that hilarious.

An update on sending us packages. We have heard word that sending packages to Jordan from the US is a little pricey. Honestly, there is nothing we really need right now, so no one really needs to send us any packages. But, for those who insist, here is some advice. United States Postal Service (regular mail) is apparently cheaper than UPS, DhL, etc. Don't send us diapers or wipes, they weigh too much and it is better for us to just buy them here, even with the extra price difference. It just costs too much to ship them. Also, books can be heavy, so don't worry about those. There are books at the Fulbright office that I borrow and read, and we found a sesame street website with online books on it that Ellie likes. We revised our "wish list" to things that are lighter and more wanted.

DVD's ( Jason requests any TV show seasons, like Lost or 24. Ellie is really into Elmo right now)
Hidden Valley ranch packets
Chili packets
pasta sauce packets
Instant grits packets
Oatmeal (for baking)
Plain cheerios
Cream of wheat, malt o meal
Pictures of you, Ellie loves to look at them and point out everyone (Nikki is now Kikki)

Any food can just be put into ziplock bags or something to make them lighter. Also, we don't have a lot of room to bring things back to us, so keep that in mind. Most of Ellie's clothes and toys will be donated somewhere when we leave.

Our little girl

Everything here is going well. Jason his placement test today and tomorrow he'll find out what level class he'll be in. He starts class on Sunday. Guess what? I'm taking Arabic classes also. Mine start Sunday night and they are at a cultural center in Amman. The difference in ours, other than I'm a beginner and he is not, is that my classes will be the spoken Jordanian dialect of Arabic and his is Modern Standard (or written). I am excited to start.

Ellie is really growing up fast. I counted today and she knows over 100 words! Some words, like drink, she only says the last syllable of, but most words, like backpack, she says perfectly. She also says quite a few phrases, like "Ellie do it" and "climb up." Yesterday our friends Alex and Kendra Thompson came over and Ellie kept telling Kendra "sit down" because she wanted Kendra to read her a book. Gram, you said you miss reading to her, boy we wish you were here to take our place! Her hunger for knowledge is insatiable. She points to EVERYTHING and says "that" (what's that?). She will not stop saying it until you tell her the name of whatever she is pointing at. She also is officially weaned, having not nursed at all for 4 days. That didn't stop her, however, from grabbing my chest and saying "Milk" over and over in front of our friends. She really enjoys her mattress bed, especially since she can just walk right out of her room whenever she feels like it. That is very annoying when we are trying to put her to bed, but very cute when she walks out after her nap, or when she walks into our bedroom in the morning.

We love and miss everyone; thanks for all the emails and comments!

Today we had a couple of unexpected and uninvited guests to our apartment. This morning I was opening the curtains in our bedroom when something fell from above me and landed on the windowsill. I always wondered if I would be one of those screaming girls when a mouse ran across the floor, or if I would calmly take care of it. Now I know. I didn't so much scream as squeal and jump onto the bed. Jason came running and I was so startled that I couldn't even explain what was wrong. Finally I was able to tell him that a lizard had fallen onto the windowsill. Of course he was unphased by it, actually a little excited because it was a gecko. Immediately after I had seen what it was I laughed at myself, but it is just a little frightening to have something alive fall from above.

Tonight as I was fixing Ellie's bed, I found another visitor. Since we opted not to bring our heavy and awkward playpen, Ellie sleeps on a full size mattress on the floor of her room, with many blankets around the edges to keep her from rolling away. I picked up one of those blankets and a centipede crawled under the rug. I yelled for Jason (our knight in shining armor once again) and he shooed us out of the room while he dealt with the beast. Thanks to all of you who are praying for our safety, because Ellie very easily could have been bitten last night or even tonight, and you all know how dangerous they can been for babies. I've been hunting for mosquitos in our rooms every night before bedtime, now I know to check the ground as well for other creepy-crawlies.

Ellie is enjoying learning to dress herself. She walks around the house with mismatched shoes, or even just one shoe, and lately she has taken to putting on my underwear (clean ones of course). Here is a picture of her latest

Hooray!!

Jason's suitcase finally showed up! We were beginning to think it had disappeared completely. We can't pick it up until Sunday (it's the weekend now), but at least we know it is back. Jason will be glad to have his comfy tennies, clean socks, and more than three shirts.

So, a lot of people have asked about sending care packages, so we've thought of some things that could be sent.

Ellie: goldfish ("doldish") crackers, cheerios, books (any children's books, she loves to read them....over, and over, and over), diapers size 4, wipes

Jason: "can't think of anything" too bad, guess he's missing out

Kirsten: fiction books, sauce mixes (like alfredo sauce, taco seasoning, etc.), granola bars

That's all we can think of for now. Keep the comments coming, we like to hear from everyone!

Pictures

Left - Our place in Amman. Our apartment is on the right downstairs. You can't see our door, it's under the stairs.

Below - The view from outside our front yard

Home Sweet Home

I wanted to share the things about living here that are different than in America. Just different, not necessarily bad or good. People who have traveled to foreign countries can probably relate to a lot of these.

- the apartment doesn't have air conditioning, but the weather is nice enough that opening windows in the morning and evening does the trick.

- We have no idea what the name of the street we live on is (neither does anyone else), we have to give directions by nearby landmarks

- We can't throw toilet paper into the toilet, there is a wastebasket nearby for that

- We turn on the hot water for about an hour a day to take showers, wash dishes, etc.

- We live right behind the neighborhood mosque, so the call to prayer sounds like it is coming from our living room. It's not bad really except at 4:45am, but we'll get used to it.

- our stove runs off of a gas cylinder that has to be changed when it runs out. A truck blaring tinkling music drives by every day (kind of like the ice cream truck) that you can buy new ones from.

Those are the ones I can think of for now. We all are still getting adjusted, Ellie is starting to sleep better, in longer stretches. Jason's suitcase STILL hasn't arrived yet, so that is very difficult on him. I am okay, cooking meals is my challenge right now. I tried to make my semi-famous homemade spaghetti sauce last night and it turned out more like chili (different ingredients here). Oh well, it was good if not a little weird on pasta. Jason and Ellie gobbled it up still. I'll just have to learn to make new dishes :)

Getting Settled

Before I go into details, just let me tell everyone who has heard about the shooting in Amman, we are fine. We heard that a man just started shooting random people downtown and one person has died, others injured. It was just a random crazy guy, so no one get worried (okay, mom?).

On to better news. We found an apartment! It is near the university where Jason will be studying, though not within easy walking distance. It is two bedrooms and very spacious. We are just happy to have one so soon. The Fulbright office had a bunch of apartments researched, and they've been taking us around to see them the past couple days. Without them it would have been much more difficult!

Back to not so good news. I forgot to mention that one of our suitcases, Jason's to be exact, was lost on our way over. We have not received it yet, but supposedly it should be coming. He has been living on two pairs of clothing, and luckily his toiletries were in another suitcase. Also, Ellie is not adjusting as well as our trip to Egypt. It has been a lot harder to get her sleep schedule back to normal, which makes her cranky during the day. Hopefully in our apartment she will adjust.

For those who requested it, here is our address. It is not the one to our apartment because we can't receive mail here, but this is to the Fulbright office where we will be contacted if we receive any.

PO Box 850215
Amman 11185, Jordan

If anyone sends through a courier, like UPS, FedEx, etc., use this address:

19, Al-Mahdi Bin Barakah Street
Shmeisani
Amman 11185, Jordan

We're Here!

After long hours of traveling, we have arrived in Amman. We are staying at a nice hotel; it is a Howard Johnson. Amman looks nicer than Cairo so far, and the Fulbright office said they have an apartment in mind for us. So, on Sunday we'll start orientation and learn everything we need to know :) Some exciting news for us is that a couple that we know from U of A and Glorietta will also be in Amman while we're here. They are also studying Arabic at the same university as Jason. We'll have friends! I'll update more when we get a chance.

We're in Tucson!

We just arrived in Tucson last night, to see family/friends and get winter clothes out of storage. Kyle's first birthday party was this morning, and it was a lot of fun. Ellie's face lit up when she first saw Kyle, and it was neat to see him walking around. I won the "guess how many cheerios are in the bottle" game. :) Jason and I just went to our storage unit to get clothes and various other things out. Since it is jam-packed with stuff, we ended up just grabbing what we could get at, so not everything we wanted was obtainable. Luckily a lot of our clothes were in the front. We'll just have to buy whatever else we need.

We'll be here until Tuesday, and hopefully we can see everyone!

Trip to Tucson

Plans have changed, we will be coming up to Tucson the weekend of the 26th instead. Which means, we can go to Kyle's first birthday party! Also, we are flying out of Phoenix, so it means less driving for us, since we will not be returning to Havasu. So, we hope to see everyone then :)

Disneyland pics

Ellie with her Mickey Mouse glasses
Bryson (What a smile!)
Cousins on the carousel

Pictures from Egypt!!

Us at the pyramids
Ellie eating an ice cream cone ON the ice cream cart
Our friends from the drink store next to the hotel

The Happiest Place on Earth

We arrived in Phoenix safely on Saturday; only to leave on Sunday to go to Disneyland. What a culture change!! Although exhausting (hello jet lag!), it was a lot of fun. It was quality family time, especially with the Porters; Jason finally met our nephew Bryson (or Isis as Ellie calls him). We'll be in Arizona for 3 weeks more!

Here We Come!

We leave in the morning to fly back to Arizona. The last week has really flown by. The hotel staff is really sad to see Ellie go (they don't really care about Jason and I). This place has become like our home and although we are very ready to return to the US, we are a little sad to leave. Our life here has been very relaxed, no real responsibilities, besides Jason showing up for class. Jason and I play cards together every night since we don't have a television, and that has been a nice change. But, we are ready to see our friends and family.

We are planning on coming to Tucson around August 19th (so Nichole, don't come to Havasu that weekend). Hopefully we can see everyone then. Email me or post a comment if you want to be included in the tour :)

The top 10 ways you know you are in Cairo

10. Everyone else in the restaurant is smoking, but no one is drinking alcohal

9. You enter a shop to buy a pair of shoes, and you end up sitting and drinking their cup of tea

8. You start hording small bills as you need them for taxi fares ("Sorry, no change. I'll just take your 20.")

7. Your teacher tells you that a favorite sport in Cairo is "Chasing after the bus"

6. Every taxi that comes across you walking down the street stops and honks until you wave them away

5. Every building has about 25 satelite dishes on the roof

4. People follow you down the street trying to sell you cherries/mint/limes/kleenex/flowers

3. Crossing the street is like a game of frogger

2. You tell time by the calls to prayer (oh, there he goes... time for Ellie to go to bed!)

1. It is almost 100 degrees out and everyone is wearing long sleeves and pants!

A Little Parrot

I forgot how much toddlers really soak in so quickly. And how they repeat EVERYTHING they hear. Ellie repeats almost everything we say to her. Sometimes it will be right on the money, like "mouse" and "Bible." Other times it will be totally off the wall, like saying "myrefsh" for "camel." The coolest word she can say now is "spiky," which she learned from one of the hotel staff since her hair sticks straight up when she wakes up. Yesterday she dropped a book off the bed and Jason said "I'll get it," and she repeated clearly "I'll get it." Amazing!

Yesterday afternoon we had lunch with several of Jason's classmates from U of A. It was really fun to be with a bunch of Americans for a while. It seems that all of them are world travelers, so we learned a bit about a lot of places. I guess students in area studies are able to travel for school a lot more. It's neat for me to be able to travel to all these places as well, but not have to take the classes!

We have only two weeks left here. Things are winding down and we are doing things "one last time." I am trying to find Christmas gifts here, but since I already got everyone the typical Egyptian souvenirs, I have to be a little more inventive. If anyone knows what they want, let me know. We can get just about anything here, probably cheaper than in the US.

All we want for Christmas

We have just really realized the full ramifications of being in another country during Christmas. We had been so looking forward to seeing Ellie and her cousin Bryson tearing through the wrapping paper together this year. And although thinking about Christmas in July is a bit odd, we will probably have to leave all our presents for others in Arizona when we leave for Jordan, so we are thinking about shopping now. So, if anyone knows what they would like, feel free to let us know. By the way, if anyone would like to get us an early Christmas present of a nice luggage set, that would be highly appreciated :)

Last night we found the best restaurant. It is called La Bodega, and easily within walking distance of our place. We were surprised to see that it is a really fancy-looking restaurant, with a great selection on the menu. The best part is they have what they call a "set menu." There are three dinner options you can choose from, and for each course there are about 3 options. If that doesn't make sense, let me break it down. We ordered a 4 course "set menu" meal. For starters, we chose tomato soup, then a calamari appetizer, grilled fish w/potatoes in lemon butter for the main course, and finally chocolate mousse for dessert. This was meant for only one person, but we shared it. The lightly battered calamari was the best I have ever had, and everything else was amazing as well. The best part? All of that, not including a drink, but including tax and tip was 65 Egyptian pounds, or less than $12. A four course meal!!! Isn't that amazing? We are definitely spoiling ourselves, because we will not be able to eat like this in the states. We are very sorry Gram that we didn't find this place before you came :(

It seems like we have just settled in here, and already we are making plans for future travel. Jason's Fulbright stuff all has to be in very soon. We are leaving for Jordan in less than 2 months!! We have already decided that no matter how much it costs, we are definitely finding somewhere to live that is more than just one room. 3 people, especially including a rambunctious toddler, in one room is way too much. Ellie and I go to the grocery store maybe twice a day just to escape the four walls.

It may seem that all I talk (or write) about is Ellie, but really all I do every day is spend time with her. I see Jason for lunch and then about 4 hours at night, but we usually watch a movie at night while Ellie's sleeping, so that doesn't leave much time for talking. Plus, the same thing happens every day for Jason and I, but Ellie learns and experiences new things every day. So, if any one is sick of hearing about Ellie, sorry.

Here are all the new words she has learned here. Mommy (instead of mama), cookie, socks, okay (which she says to everything, all the time), Gram (which she says as Meem), and then various animal noises (including for bee, horse, owl). She has also learned some new signs for frog, elephant, and alligator, and she blows kisses. She also runs pretty fast, dances, spins in circles, and walks backwards. And, although I know she can say Mimi, because she makes that sound for Mommy and Gram, she insists on making her sign (sticking out her lower teeth). Sorry mom.

Jason and I have discovered that we aren't really in love with the authentic Egyptian food here, as a lot of it is greasy and fatty, but we love the fact that we can go to a restaurant with good American-type food and eat for less than it costs for McDonalds in the states. Oh, and I bought a pair of pink sneakers the other day, which I wouldn't have bought normally but they are cute and only cost the equivilent of $11. Nichole, you want some for your birthday?

I received pictures today of my nephew Bryson who is over 4 months old. He is adorable, and we are very excited to see him in August (and Tara and Zane of course). Almost every day I have Ellie say the names of everyone in our family, and when she says Bryson, she smiles really big and yesterday she did the sign for baby. So, she knows who he is and is also excited to see him.

The Whirlwind Is Over

Sorry if I have worried anyone with a lack of communication. Jason's grandmother came to visit us here and we have had a whirlwind of adventure for the past week and a half. We visited all of the normal tourist attractions, including mosques, churches, pyramids, restaurants, and a felucca (sailboat) ride on the Nile. Yesterday we even went to Alexandria! Ellie sat and splashed in the Mediterranean Sea. There were only mild waves, but it was kind of scary because a crowd of older kids came over and were all splashing and grabbing at her, like she was a baby doll to play with.

Ellie's burn is pretty much healed. It was pretty bad, with some nasty blisters turning into scabs, but there is only a small pink area left where the scabs came off. Luckily, no infection, even though it is very difficult to keep things clean here, especially toddler hands.

One thing we were worried about with Ellie was her fear of scarf-covered heads of women in the US. Surprisingly, she has done just fine with most of the women here. However, we recently discovered that she is terrified of the women wearing the full covering with only their eyes showing. Jason pointed out that it isn't too weird of a fear, since they kind of look like ninjas. :) Some young girls were trying to talk to Ellie and she screamed, even after they pulled their face coverings off.

Jason's classes are going well, with him adapting to speaking Arabic 5 hours a day. Only five weeks left!

'Cuz you had a bad day...

We (at least Ellie and I) really had a bad day yesterday. First, I dropped our laptop, so half of the screen doesn't work. There is a big crack in it. Anyone know if that is fixable? Secondly, Ellie found a water dispenser at the hotel which unfortunately dispenses hot water as well as cold. I was a split second too late and she burned her hand. I knew something was really wrong when she wouldn't stop crying, even to nurse. It was getting redder and redder, so I told Jason to find us a doctor, which he did. We went to the hospital, Ellie screaming the whole way, where we found out it was pretty much like a really bad sunburn. Water blisters formed, and it looks really bad (red and peeling), but it should be fine. She hasn't complained at all today about it. We have a cream to put on it twice a day. The last catastophe was at night, when Ellie pulled on a decorative scarf on our fridge, pulling down everything on there. Including two heavy drinking glasses that exploded upon impact. Luckily she only got a couple of very small cuts on her feet. How embarrassing to show up at the hospital again! (not to mention, of course, that we were happy that she was safe.)

Today has been much better.

Sweets for the sweet

I am still amazed at how Ellie is treated here. I thought she was a little spoiled back home, but she is treated like a celebrity here. She runs around with full rein and when I try to stop her, people say, "no, it's okay." Everywhere we go, people give her sweets, like candy bars, cookies, etc. She has mastered the word "cookie." I have even come to expect this, so much so that yesterday when a man randomly asked me if she liked orange juice and if I wanted some, I said sure. So, he goes and gets some, brings it back, and then asks me for money. Oops.

One of the Arabic teachers from U of A, the one that Jason and I had together, is here in Cairo and her son is taking the same classes as Jason. Her husband is Egyptian, so she has a membership at a "club" here in Zamalek (that's the neighborhood we are in). It is somewhat like a country club, but it is huge, more like a college campus. It has everything, swimming, tennis, squash, basketball, restaurants, and even a gigantic children's area. She has given me and Jason guest passes so we can come to it as well. What a relief, to have somewhere fun to take Ellie to.

Home Sweet Home

We finally found a place to stay. It is nothing like we originally wanted, but at least it is somewhere to settle down. After days of fruitless searching (everything is extremely expensive this time of year), we settled on a long-term hotel. So, it is only one room, but it has a bathroom, three beds, and a safe balcony for Ellie to play on. The nice thing about a hotel is we don't have to wash our sheets or towels, they have a small breakfast available each morning, we don't have to pay for utilities, and most importantly, the man at the front desk is a wealth of information. Oh yeah, and since we don't have a kitchen, I'm not expected to cook!

Jason was able to give a huge sigh of relief once we decided to stay here, because he spent countless hours on foot searching. Now we can settle in and relax. Ellie is still getting used to sleeping in the same room as us (Mimi, Papi, and Aunt Nichole know what that means), but she is getting better.

We're here!

After two long days, we are finally in Cairo. Ellie was amazingly good during the traveling, maybe because she was the only one out of the three of us that was able to sleep at all. Jason and I are still exhausted, since we arrived at our hotel around 2:30am last night after not sleeping for many hours. Hopefully tonight we can get a full night's sleep.

The hotel we are staying at until we find an apartment is great. I found a review of it on a traveler's website, and it is perfect for us. It is much cheaper than the American chains here, but very English-friendly. There was a wonderful breakfast buffet this morning with eggs, sausages, breads, yogurt, cereal, and pastries. The manager of the hotel is helping us to find an apartment and is an excellent resource for finding things around the neighborhood.

I am amazed at how all the men here act much differently toward me than last time I was here. Since I have had Ellie strapped to my hip, they don't really pay any attention to me. Almost every single one has cooed and made faces at her, trying to get her to laugh. She is handling the different culture very well, and has not been afraid yet.

Jason begins classes on Sunday, so until then we will just be getting used to the city. I'll keep you all updated!

Ellie's beach portrait
from our trip to LA

One week to go!

It is hard to believe that there is less than one week until we leave for Egypt. We have a nonstop flight from Phoenix to London that is 11 hours long. Eleven hours! The only saving grace is that is begins at 7:30 pm, Ellie's approximate bedtime. We are hoping really hard that she will sleep through most of it. She couldn't last 10 minutes through Jason's sister's graduation; I doubt she would be much fun for that long in such closed quarters. The second flight from London to Cairo seems short in comparison, but it is still five hours. I'm thinking that would be a good naptime. Let's see if Ellie agrees.

So, we found out that we have to be at an in-country orientation for the Fulbright that is September 3-7th. We'll have a little less than a month in between Egypt and Jordan to visit friends and family. The only thing is that Jason's classes in Jordan don't start until the middle of October, so we will have over a month there with no plans. Travel, maybe? I'm not sure what countries we can get into, but there are some really interesting ones around that area.

Jason's Gram is going to be visiting us in Cairo the end of June. We are SO EXCITED about that, so I wanted to open up the invitation to all. If anyone has ever wanted to visit Cairo or Amman, Jordan, now would be a good time to come. You'd have a place to stay and an Arabic-speaking tour guide!

Hello friends and family!

Once again, I am beginning a new blog. Myspace was okay, but some people had problems with it. So, this seems to be the easiest way to post our updates.

Right now we are traveling between all the grandparents, until we take off for Egypt June 12th. Ellie is loving it, as she loves being the center of attention. The only downside for her is she misses her Aunt Nichole and friend Kyle (well, mostly Mindy). She even invented her own sign for Nichole. For those of you who don't know, she uses sign language to communicate, and she knows about 20 signs. We were showing her a family picture and every time we pointed to Nichole she would cross her arms in front of her. We can't figure out yet if she is saying "I Love you", or if it is because Nichole often crosses her arms, or if it is something completely different. Either way, she is one smart cookie.

We have some big news (no, no new baby). Jason was offered the Fulbright award, and after much deliberation, we have accepted it. This means that we will be going to Jordan (the country in the Middle East) this year, from September to June of next year. We'll post more about that later, but we are still planning to go to Wisconsin for Jason's Ph.D., it will just be delayed a year.