Blood Suckers and Babies

I am very, very much ready to come home. For a myriad of reason which I will now share:
"Why?" might you ask, "Is Lauren showing us a picture of her bed covered in blood spots?"
Because of these guys! Bed Bugs! Disgusting, I know. They live in my bed, come out at night, and suck my blood. There is no way to get rid of them. Yes I looked in to every possible method. I also tried sleeping on the couch, lo and behold, they live in the couch as well. Everyday I wake up with blood spots on my clothes/sheets, and itchy bites all over my body. I'll spare you the details/pictures on that one. 
Blood suckers of another type, Arabs. I really hoped before coming here I'd be able to say "Arabs are just like us! They are so misunderstood! They are all great people!" But, In my experience, they are not. These are our arab "friends." Friends that lie to us, talk crap about us when they think we don't understand, and are completely rude. I've had enough. I'm ready to return to "my people".  Gosh I love America and Americans. 

Lest you think I am completely negative, let me share a good news minute (relief society reference.) I have a niece! This is the darling Molly McNulty. I can't wait to get home and meet her and hold her. As soon as I have de-bed-bugged myself that is. Lovely. 

Its just like Transformers, except better.

It was really funny to see Transformers 2 here because the whole audience actually stood up and clapped and got so excited at the part of the movie that takes place in Petra. Jordan doesn't make it into a lot of movies, okay? Haha. This weekend we got to go on a little adventure to actually see Petra, home of the Primes. 
Me and Angie in front of the Treasury, the most famous building in Petra. 

This is the Monastery, which is actually bigger and cooler than the Treasury - yet less well known. That may have something to do with the grueling hour long hike to get to it under the blaring Middle Eastern sun, but thats just my hypothesis...

This is how you could find me most of the weekend. Hiding in the shade reading. I had a really good book, Freakanomics, I highly recommend it. 
After sleeping (except not really because it was so hot) in bedioun tents, the next day we went on a four wheeling excursion across the desert in really ghetto old Toyotas. It was rad. 
So you know that I'm not entirely lazy and actually did other things than just read, I climbed this sand dune. Proof. In other news, Dan and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first niece. And the end of this summer, so we can actually - you know - live together in the same country. We hear thats what married people do. 

AMERICA! Wadi Mujib. Cheetah Shoes!

Its been a long time since I’ve posted. Not much has been going on here, just the normal daily routine. But here’s some highlights of the last month or so…

The Cheetah Sandals Were Absolutely Necessary

If nothing else this trip has humbled me. Arabs find things totally inoffensive that are seriously offensive to a Westerner. A few weeks ago an Arab girl told me to my face that my friend Nettie is a lot prettier than me. My self confidence here is off the charts.

 But there is a quick way to restore one’s self confidence: Buy things! That’s where the cheetah sandals come in to play. After an especially humbling day. Angie and I went to Carrefour (a French Walmart) that is incidentally hooked into a mall. And there was Aldo’s. And there was my cheetah shoes. And I bought them, and felt better than I had in a long time. So now when I’m out and about and being mocked, I simply look at my feet, and everything is better.

 

4^th of July!: I used to think that living abroad was so glamorous, that anything is cooler than boring old America. I have totally changed my mind. Nothing is better than America! We are so lucky to live where we do. Especially when I look at all the rights and opportunities that I enjoy as woman in America compared to the oppression a lot of women here face, I feel really blessed. I love the USA. We Americans here had a nice little halal (no pork) bbq, sang patriotic songs, and basically just missed home. Angie and I made this beautiful Americana cheesecake. 
Wadi Mujib: I’ve seen a lot of really cool things in the Middle East, but Wadu Mujib was the most FUN thing I’ve done here. We got 10 people together and chartered a van. We went to Wadi Mujab, a big slot canyon that empties into the dead sea, right along the Israeli border. It was gorgeous! Seriously prettier than all the slot canyons I’ve seen in Utah. And, it was filled with water! The entire time we were wading, and then some parts swimming… And then some parts it was so narrow and swift we had to hold on to ropes. I felt like I was drowning and kind of panicked at some parts, and other parts I’d get pulled so hard by the current that one of the bigger guys would have to pull me. It was crazy! At the end there was a gorgeous waterfall, and then the way back all the steep scary hard parts became slides, and jumps to get down. It was awesome.