An Eventful Few Weeks

Alright, so a lot has happened since our last post…

On the work side of things, we have had several visitors come through the school.  One group was the model UN, a group of international teenagers, which came in as a service project to help out in most of the classrooms and do some painting of the outside walls.  After the service portion of the project was over, they brought in a clown and a DJ to entertain the students.  Not much got done, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  The next set of visitors we had was HRH Princes Sarvath, along with some guests that she was hosting from the US and the UK.  It was a stressful but rewarding day.  Amber was talking with one of the visitors, who encouraged her to go back to school and get her masters in occupational therapy.  We’ll see how far that idea goes in the future.

Next up was the Charity Dinner for the YMWA.  The décor for the dinner was amazing, and the table decorations, ambiance, and atmosphere were perfect for the charitable evening.  Once guests started to arrive, we were asked to assist in selling raffle tickets.  We sold all the tickets we were given, meeting and speaking with many of the guests in attendance.  We were even granted an audience with HRH Prince Hassan and Princess Sarvath.  We were able to take a few photos and have a quick conversation with Prince Hassan, where he recapped a story of Princess Sarvath with a former student from the YMWA.  We also met their daughter Princess Rahma, who is now the acting head of the board for the Center.  The meal was finally served at 10pm and (Oh man!) it was definitely worth the wait.  Well, most of it anyway: the first course had shrimp, which we didn’t eat, but there was also salmon in an amazing sauce and very tasty vegetables.  The next course was a mushroom risotto that was also very tasty (Amber picked out her mushrooms and then ate it).  The main course, the best of them all, was a fillet cut of US beef, with herb crusted mashed potatoes, and grilled vegetables.  It was one of the most tender and delicious steaks we have ever had.  Lastly, desert was mocha-flavored ice cream with chocolate mouse.  It was all really nice, even if the impatient waiters had a hard time waiting until you were done to take your plate/drink.

During the Charity Dinner, we were invited to a Polo game the following day, the proceeds for which were to go to flood victims in Pakistan.  The school sent a driver to take us out to the game, and we got an early start, but got a bit lost on the way, making it there just in time.  It turned out, however, that our timing couldn’t have been better: as we were about to go through the entrance gate the guards told us to wait a minute because the royal motorcade was arriving, and when the prince and princess drove through, they stopped, rolled down their window, and asked us if we were having problems getting in!  After that, the guards were all smiles!  The game itself was a bit slow, but still quite impressive – beautiful and well-trained horses and quick, accurate players – and definitely worth going to, even if only to say we’ve been.

Also, this past Tuesday was Election Day here in Jordan, so everyone got the day off work to vote for members of parliament.  We, of course, took full advantage of a free day, renting a car and taking Stella with us back out to Madaba.  Once there, we met up with our friend from school and two of his friends, and then drove to a place outside the city called Umm Ar Rasas.  This ancient Roman town was destroyed by an earthquake sometime after the Byzantine period, and is home to the largest mosaic in Jordan.  After returning to Madaba, we purchased our own mosaic – a replica of one found in Khirbet al-Mafjar (just outside Jericho), hand-made by our friend, and commissioned just for us – which now decorates the sideboard in our dining room.  It is beautiful, sturdy, and personal, which makes it a perfect, life-long reminder of our time here.