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.