the holiday wrap-up part three: the nature reserve and the resurrected squat toilet

And then there was Easter. Dave spent most of this week at the National Youth Games. He is on the committee that works with the Higher Council for Youth, and will help plan for next year’s event and transition. Hopefully he can post pictures later. 

During this time, Anne planned a two-day hike in the nearby Dana (pronounced “Donna”) Nature Reserve which turned into a painful but gorgeous one-day hike, extremely fun overnight camping, and long but beautiful, sometimes frightening (curving mountains without seat belts) three hour ride back to civilization. Apparently the hiking boots were a tad too small and the pack too heavy. Thank you, Andrea for taping my feet! Anne went home with lots of bruises and gross blisters. Was it worth it? Heck yeah! Just wish those expensive boots could have made it to another volunteer instead of one flying out the back of the truck, lost to a wadi forever. 

{dana village}

{we ♥ dann + andrea}

{the women}

{we walked down into the wadi/valley}

{lookin’ shebtastic- shebob means unmarried man*}

*two of them are married but i just like to say shebtastic!

{rocky + beautiful}

{ comin’ around the mountain- just sunny, not grumpy. yet}

{gorgeous weather}

{about an hour or so later}

{crazy millipede thingy why do you need so many legs?}

{goats keepin it real}

{nature lookin good}

{huge spider lookin scary}

{first spot of fuchsia oleanders}

{oasis}

{my dogs were barkin- notice how far back i am}

{caves!}

{amazing tree}

{GORP rock}

{wandering along}

{oleander bonanza}

{don’t know what this is but i like it}

{oleander + goat looking pretendy}

{camel smiling even tho his feet are tied}

{dropped off outside reserve so we can camp}

{rocks}

{jesus sky}

{a very peace corps photo*}

*the kid's dad came over to tell us that we might not want to set up our tents on the grave sites... one which was a too-good-to-be-true step down bathroom. hindsight 20/20. i apologize.

{hoping it rains after we set up our tents}

{d.i.y. tent}

{drizzly coffee}

{rainy dinner}

{the morning from my tent}

{the tent- one of our most loved wedding gifts}

{those who will go on hiking}

It was hard to take pictures from the car but we were down around the Petra area and it was gorgeous. There were a bunch of tall cedars and many hawks perched on top of them. I fell in love with hawks in San Francisco. They would hang out on top of eucalyptus trees and street poles in the panhandle.

{my truck buddy}

{along the road}

The easter bunny sent us a package via Austin (thank you, easter bunny!) and on Easter Monday, as Dave entered our bathroom, he was treated to some more magic... or was it something more?! There are several biblical sites in Jordan. We will always remember this day and The Resurrected Squat Toilet.

{is it a sign?}

{what does it mean? its so intense}

Thanks for checking in on us! We hope to post more, and more often. Time is a little funny here. Come visit! 

the holiday wrap-up part two: the dead sea

Maybe before... definitely around Christmas, we were treated to an inexpensive trip to the lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea. I’m not going to lie. We went to a public area and therefore, there was quite a bit of trash and glass. If you come on a planned tour, you will pay to go to a clean area or stay at a resort that has cleaned-up, private beaches. While it is wonderful that these resorts clean up the area, they also use much of the limited water resources, as well as exploit the famous Dead Sea minerals... what to do? what to do? As in most developing countries, anti-littering and waste management is an emerging issue. Recycling is extremely rare. But we looked beyond to the salty fun of the sea. We floated without any effort, smothered ourselves with healing mud, and stepped over old Pepsi bottles so we could rinse off in a waterfall. 

{newer but typical village bus}

{pretty certain we scared our jolly driver}

{the royal silhouette}

{getting closer}

{clapping and dancing like true jordanians}

{greetings loved ones}

{our photographers- pete and kate}

{and future neighbors on the commune}

{wardrobe change in the bushes}

{just floatin’ not even trying}

{peace corps jordan representin’}

{cracking ourselves up}

{with two of our faves}

{the view while floating}

{locals getting in on the fun}

{trying to swim but floating over to mud pots}

{challenging to walk since water is so dense}

{i wanna know where the muds at}

{jackpot}

{one of our language + cultural teachers}

{all we want is peace and mud}

{lowest place on earth}

{it’s not magic, it's an illusion}

{worn out host}

{one of many coca-cola baptism super markets}

{stopping in amman for photoshoot}

{2010 is so last year, we know}

{the red + green was a happy coincidence}

{jawad- supposedly the best bakery in amman}