Fowler Family

Update on Life

2011-01-13T13:25:00.005-07:00

So... I haven't blogged in two and a half years. That's bad. I have an amazing family and life that I would love to share with you. Especially if you are my family and I see you like once a year :)

I have this amazing daughter, Elizabeth who is growing by leaps and bounds every day. She is brilliant like her Dad. She is constantly walking around with her finger pointing to her head and trying to say "think, think, think".

She was born December 12, 2009 and is the most amazing blessing in our lives. I was working part time in the mornings when she was born until this last August when I was laid off. And luckily, thanks to Josh; I have been able to be a stay at home mom since then. It's the best thing in the whole world. We wake up at 10ish in the morning then Elizabeth and I love getting dressed. She loves helping with jewelry and makeup. Then she takes my brushes for my makeup and does her face and/or hair. Then we share breakfast and hang out until Dad comes home for lunch. Then more hanging out and playing like crazy along with a nap. Then Dad is home for the evening. We love playing dress up and reading books. But most of all Elizabeth loves music and dancing. She is just the best thing ever and makes for an amazing life!

Josh is working 8-5 right now and waiting to hear back from graduate schools. He applied to two schools that offer the best program for linguistics. So we will find out in March if that is an option this year. And if not we will try again next year. But he is planning to get his PhD in Arabic and Linguists and have the goal of a professorship somewhere but just see what happens along the way. You never know how your life can change from day to day. And boy is he ready for a change. Other then that he teaches the four year-old kids at church and is a read-a-holic. He has been going through a book a day right now. If you do www.goodreads.com add him as your friend and you will see the stack of books he is always reading. That's the only way I can keep up with the amount he goes through.

It's a great life and honestly we are ridiculously happy. Other then needing to get Josh's schooling moving along we are in a wonderful place and are so happy.

Flying Home

2008-08-14T03:35:00.001-06:00

Hey guys! We are loosing internet today as we pack up our apartment. We are so bummed to leave!!!! I think I might cry when we leave. But we are flying out on Saturday and will be back in the states on Monday. After a lovely trip to Egypt again. Yeah see you all in the states.

Ode to my Old Man

2008-08-09T15:01:00.002-06:00

Today is my Old Man's birthday his name is Michael Jackson and I want to tell you how amazing he is and show you some fun pictures of him. My father is nothing short of perfect. He raised us six kids with my Mom and he works harder then anyone I know. He has worked his entire life just trying to provide for us. He has not always had it easy but he has always been there for us and been the best Dad anyone could ask for. I don't know how to describe my father. He is... loving, amazing, kind, compassionate, the hardest worker, the best father, and my hero.

Here are some fun pictures of him on a camel, cooking, using the computer, and doing the BBQ.

I love you Dad!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Baptism

2008-08-08T05:20:00.004-06:00

So... today after our church block there was a double baptism. We attended and Josh got to say the opening prayer. It was so wonderful as Jordan is not a country where there is missionaries. Except couple missionaries under humanitarian services only. So it was wonderful. The font is outside in the back yard of the church house. President Cook who is here with his wife on a mission baptized both of the brothers. He is the guy in the middle picture. Anyway it was a lovely afternoon.

Also... on the water front we got back to the apartment and jumped up on our water tank. Still empty so we talked to a family outside and they too didn't get water last Friday or today either nobody did. And the mother told us it's a high water season so the company won't come give us water. She called the boaab (manager/guard/door man) for us because he wasn't here and asked if he can get a private company to get us water. We have tried this before it doesn't work. So we may have no water for the rest of the time. And as we are all going on day 8 of no showers it will be lovely. No washing anything; ourselves, hands, dishes, apartment, flushing; Well lets just call it what it is we live in an outhouse right now. Fun fun.. Yeah for Jordan :)

Water

2008-08-06T02:53:00.002-06:00

Hey! So if you care it's day two of no water again. I am not sure why we are great little water savers. But we have a problem with the water truck forgetting to come once a week or filling up some tanks and not others. It's tricky, stinky, not fun, and well you can imagine 6 people in one house. No running water for toilets, dishes, bathing. It gets lovely :) Yeah for no water....

Jerash

2008-07-29T14:27:00.005-06:00

So we went to Jerash the other day to see the Roman town. We really had fun here are some pics.

We went to their show where there was Roman everything and here is some fighting of the peasants ...

Racing...

Josh with the winner...

Soldiers defending their flag keeper...

Josh with soldiers...

All of us at the show...

Captain man...

Marching...

Fighting...

The town was huge here is Brekke and Phil...

Me exploring again...

It was a very long day and the longest bus ride there so this is all us after the long day. And it was hot! Waiting for the next micro bus to come along with enough seats going the direction we were going.

It will be strange not to have to take buses and taxi's everywhere because we are so used to it here. Anyway it was fun just wanted to show you some pics. Yeah Jerash

Petra

2008-07-14T13:28:00.025-06:00

Hey Y'all so we just got back from our weekend at Petra and we have tons of photos to share with y'all. Sorry Josh and I keep switching who writes so hopefully you can figure it out. Also Josh took a bunch of pics of me when I didn't know it so sorry some of them look stupid. Here is a few outside our hotel window. a few pics....

And this is the group going into the entrance of Petra. We came all together in the morning we had to meet for breakfast at 5:30am to be there early but it's nice to beat the sun. So we started out at the gate together and they bought our tickets and then we were all let go to do the Petra thing and get back whenever we were done.

Here is us all past the gate and how obviously we are in the dessert.

Even just walking to the entrance of Petra is amazing of all the things you start to see..

Our husbands exploring the caves and they actually found some tombs...

We walked the entire way but there were many people who wanted you to ride their animals; donkeys, camels, etc...

Entering into the walk down between the rocks to get to Petra. It was amazing to see the rock formations and if you see on the left and right of these pics below that they had a water system going into Petra at the bottom of the rocks. Like a ditch thing built into the rocks. The rocks had amazing color...

more caves...

First glimpse of the Treasury...

Treasury... Anyone seen Indiana Jones? This is in it...

View from Treasury steps...

alot of the Treasury is still underground you can kind of see a bit of it.

homes....

You never see dogs in Jordan but here is one and yes he is breathing we checked :)

graves....

This is the spot you climb up to the high place you can see people starting to climb it here. We went later so we will show you more pics below....

Home....

Amphitheater... seats 8,000? maybe I think that's what I heard....

Josh exploring caves....

You would not believe the steps that we walked that day there were millions everywhere...

a cat (random)....

amazing rock color in a tomb....

exploring the tombs....

I am so fast I was flying down the mountain :)

Josh and I thought this rock was so funny....

A lot of the steps where bigger then me and I had to jump

more steps :)

On our way to the Monastery...

Cutest little boy was herding these goats...

So funny... modern garage by old world garage :) ....

Okay trail to the Monastery... It was like death... There are apparently 800 steps but it took us so long because it's back and forth and back and forth and tons and tons of steps. We all had to stop some times because it was so hard....

Josh loves this pic of me looking at those last 100 steps ... It was a hot day I can't help it it was hard

But SO WORTH EVERY STEP... THIS IS THE MONASTERY....

Josh actually climbed up it even though he wasn't supposed to and even a Bedouin came and told him "if you don't come down in two minutes the police will come and pick you" we laughed and he got down but he loved it up there. scary...

After I climbed up the stairs I saw people and animals lying in the sand everywhere and thought gross! but the moment I sat down I knew why it was so nice and cold so yes I am that yellow puddle down there. And Josh is taking pics from the top of the monastery...

Josh with his feet over the edge.

the very top...

getting down....

Camel mountain... do you see it?

more tombs....

So I have been reading 'Married to a Bedouin' by Marguerite van Geldermalsen and I am about half way through it and she lives at Petra so I found her stand and she was on holiday but I met her son Rommi who was running the stand. And he signed my book. It was kinda fun....

Time for the high place....

Every one's legs were like J-ello but it was so worth the hike for the view.

Our hotel we took a pic later that night.

The shop beside the hotel had these strawberry ice creams we loved....

And we spent the rest of the evening on our balcany watching the village. It was so lovely. The government doesn't allow people to live in Petra so they live in a village the government made for them and just work and go to Petra every day... I think that's what we are looking at...

Josh taking pics of me on the bus ride home. Longest ride of my life....

We stopped at a market half way back home and we thought it was so funny they were selling crack :) Language differences makes everything funny

So... that was our weekend it was wonderful and such a good workout. But we are happy to be back to our home in Amman. It's such a funny feeling to feel like we are home in Amman but it's true. Yeah for Petra!!

Quick Update

2008-07-09T14:07:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone, we just wanted to put up a quick update on a couple of the events that have happened in the last few weeks, that unfortunately, we do not have any pictures of.
First, just after we got back from Israel, Patrick and I went to a graduation party for Ibrahim, one of our friends we hang out with most every day, who was graduating in Nursing. It was pretty crazy, as there were hundreds of people at the university for the graduations, and after the actual ceremony, the families and friends of the various graduates started gathering around their particular graduate, and would carry them on their shoulders out of the University, chanting and singing and shouting. We followed Ibrahim's crowd up to the main gates of the university, where some speakers had been set up blaring Arab music and they all started dancing, as they continued their singing and chanting and shouting. The classic Arab dance is called the Dibka, and it is basically where all of the young Arab guys get into a big circle and start dancing in a circle doing various moves with their feet and bodies. Every once in a while someone will be in the middle, usually holding the graduate on their shoulders, and do a little dance there as well. They tried to have Patrick and me join in with their dancing, and we would go in their little circle, and try to copy their foot movements, but I'm sure we looked pretty ridiculous among all those Arabs. Also, they would throw the new graduates into the air, sometimes getting as much as 9-10 feet of air. There were a few close calls that we saw where people almost weren't caught. The other interesting thing that happened was when one guy pulled out a gun and fired a few rounds off into the sky. We didn't realize at first, but it turned out to just be blanks they had fired. We left after an hour or so, but the party continued on for several hours afterwards. All in all it was a very interesting experience.
The next event that happened was our 4th of July party. Obviously this holiday is not celebrated in Jordan, but we got together with the other married couples from our group at one of their apartments, and all ate hamburgers and hung out for a while. It was pretty low key, but it was nice to just relax together for a little while.
Other than these events, our lives have pretty much been following a standard routine. I get up sometime between 7-10 depending on how much homework I have to do, which I do in the mornings before class. Class starts at 1, and goes for 2 hours on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 3 hours on Monday and Wednesday. After class I hang out on campus with Patrick and all of our friends from Tafailah for 2 hours or so. After that I come home and work on any homework I have left and then finish the day watching T.V. and relaxing until bedtime, usually sometime between 11 and 1.
Ashley, on the other hand, wakes up in the morning whenever she wants to, since her work schedule is completely flexible. She then spends the day doing a mixture of crafts, work, cleaning, shopping, watching T.V., working out, going to an Arabic class, and playing computer games. Since she can work whenever she wants, she has a fair amount of flexibility in what she does each day.
Also, we have an apartment tradition now where we all get together on Sunday night and watch American Gladiators, our favorite T.V. show that is on over here. Though it is kind of funny that one of the insights into American culture that Arabs get when they watch T.V. here is American Gladiators. Though the Arabs assure us that they know it is not representative of America, because they have seen our movies also.
Now we are looking forward to our next group trip, where we are going to visit Petra this weekend, so we will hopefully have an update about that trip soon, as well as one about the trip we just took yesterday to the Fact International newspaper, or الحقيقة الدولية (Al-haqiiqa Al-dawliia) in Arabic, which was quite interesting.

Israel Trip

2008-06-22T14:20:00.012-06:00

This is going to be a long post, as we just got back from our trip to Israel and have lots of pictures and things to write about. The first site we visited was Qumran just on the other side of the border (which took about 3 hours to cross because three of our group were detained by Israeli security because they had visited unapproved countries). This is the area were the dead sea scrolls were discovered in caves by a local bedouin, some of the caves and the valley are pictured below.

After that we drove down along the coast of the dead sea down south to Masadda, one of the fortress built by Herod on the top of a hill. This area was one of the last Jewish strongholds when the Romans came and sacked Jerusalem and overran Israel. The fortress can be seen on top of the hill in this picture:

Next we drove back north along the Dead Sea until we got to Jericho. Pictured below is the traditional site of the Mount of Temptation where Jesus was tempted by Satan. In the city we also saw a tel (an archaeological phenomenon where cities continue to build on top of the ruins of the old city leaving traceable layers behind, and forming a man made hill), which was the first of many. In this particular one there was the base of an old watch tower which some Archaeologists believe is the oldest structure in the world.

Next we drove in the Jerusalem and went to drop off our things at the hotel before walking through the old city to go see the Wailing Wall. One of the entrances to the old city, Damascus Gate, is in the picture below. Since it was Friday night, which is when the Jewish sabbath begins, the wall was filled with hundreds of Jews who came to pray and welcome the Sabbath with songs of praise to God. We got to stay and watch them, but pictures were not allowed at this time.

The picture below here is the view out of our hotel window, right at the BYU Jerusalem center, known as the Mormon University in Jerusalem.

The next day was Saturday, which is when we attended Church at the Jerusalem Center. Before that though, we went to a couple of sites. The first was the traditional site of the beginning of the Palm Sunday triumphal march of Jesus into the City of Jerusalem. The church built here had murals all over the walls depicting different scenes from the New Testament. Below is Ashley standing in front of one of those murals.

In the back of the church was a park area with some old tombs that had been discovered. They were mostly used as places to through garbage now, but the entrance to one of them is below:

On the other side of the park we were able to see the wall the Israel has been building dividing Israel from the Palestinian territories. This wall is a very important issue currently in the politics of the region, and so our professors wanted us to be able to see it.

Next we want to the Pater Nostra church, which is the traditional site where Jesus taught his disciples the Our Father prayer. Below is Ashley walking down the stairs towards the church which is decorated with displays of the Our Father prayer in a large number of the world's languages.

Next we went to church at the Jerusalem center, which is located on the Mount of Olives overlooking the old town. The picture below shows part of the view out of the huge windows the make up the entire wall of the chapel behind the pulpit. In this picture the gold domed building is the Dome of the Rock, which is an Islamic site where Mohamed is supposed to have ascended into heaven. According to Jewish tradition this is the same spot where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, and this is also the location where Herod's temple in Jerusalem was located. The smaller gray dome is the Al-Aqsa mosque. Together these two buildings make up the third most holy site in all of Islam.

Pictured below is Ashley and me sitting in the Biblical garden which is outside the Jerusalem Center. Here they have attempted to gather as many of the plants mentioned in the Bible as possible, as well as examples of olive presses and other biblical things.

The next site we visited was the Garden Tomb and Golgotha, the site that some of our Church leaders believe is the area where Jesus was buried. The picture below is Golgotha, see if you can make out the skull in the hillside that may be the reason the place was named "the skull". The other picture shows the tomb itself. According to the guides here, if this was the site were Jesus was crucified, it would have been done at ground level at the base of this hill which is just outside the Damascus gate. The main trade route going from Jerusalem to Damascus would have passed right by this site so that everyone traveling would see the executions taking place here.

The next morning we went to the southern side of the Old City. Here we went through an archaeological park just outside the city walls. In the picture below I am standing next to stones that would have been used in the temple, but were pushed off the temple mount by Roman soldiers.

After this site, we entered the old city by a bridge leading up to the temple mount. On the way out we overlooked the Wailing wall and were able to take some pictures since it was not the Sabbath. Even still, there was a decent crowd gathered to pray at the wall.

Once on the temple mount we were able to see the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque up close, though any one who is not Muslim is not allowed to enter either of these buildings.

Next we left the temple mount and went back to the Wailing Wall where the entrance to the Western Wall tunnel is located. This tunnel goes all the way down the length of this wall of the Temple Mount, and has a lot of interest for Archaeologists, though most of that significance was lost on us, as we just had fun going through an old tunnel. You will also notice in the picture below that I was required to wear a Yamaca, this is a requirement anytime men enter holy Jewish sites and part of this tunnel passes by what is traditional believed to be the closest point to the Holy of Holies of the Temple.

Next we went to the Pool of Bethesda, which is pictured below. This is the pool where Jesus healed the crippled man who had been waiting hoping to enter the pool as the water stirred, because this was believed to have healing powers.

Next we visited the Church of the Flagellation, which is the traditional site where Jesus was whipped, and crowned with a crown of thorns. On the ceiling of the church you can see a crown of thorns painted, though our picture is a little blurry because of the dim light.

Next we walked from this church along the traditional path the Jesus walked carrying his cross to the traditional site of Golgotha and the burial of Christ (different than the Garden Tomb and the other Golgotha that I wrote about above). Along the way were plaques marking each of the ten Catholic stations of the cross. I don't know all of these sites, but each one is marked by a roman numeral and usually a church along the walk through the old city, though we did not go into any of these churches. Below is a picture of the path through the old city, in the background on the right side, just next to the red and white umbrella, you can see a small dark circle, which is one of the markers of the stations of the cross.

At the end of the walk we entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional site of Jesus' death and burial. In the picture below is a shrine which has been built over the area where Jesus is believed to have been buried. This is a huge church, and several different Christian sects own pieces of it, which have sometimes been dug down into the ground, or are located on the roof. It is an incredible building with all sorts of decoration.

Next we walked to a spot where we could get on the roof of an area of the market in the Old City. From here we could look out over the old city, and even see the Dome of the Rock again. Below you can see Ashley standing on the roof area.

On the way back we walked through the Old City markets, and did a little bit of souvenir shopping as well. We were able to visit one shop in the Christian quarter owned by a man by the name of Shabban, who has been catering to LDS tourists for many years now, and always has the best prices on anything you could want from the old city. In the picture below our are roommates doing some shopping as well.

The first stop the next day was the Dominus Flevit Church, which is the traditional site where Jesus wept. The building itself is supposed to be shaped like a tear drop. Below is Ashley in front of the Church.

Next we walked down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane. Below you can see Ashley and me standing in front of the site. The garden area was smaller than we expected, but at least for me this was my favorite of the spiritual sites that we visited. All of the sites were very commercialized and the typical pilgrimages of Christians other than those of our church to these sites can be very off-putting for LDS people visiting these sites. In addition, most of them are probably not the actual sites, and it is completely different than we are used to in visiting other sacred sites such as Carthage and the Sacred Grove, as there is little to no presence of the Spirit in these sites anymore. However, this area I was able to feel a connection to the Savior, and it helped deepen my appreciation for the Atonement which was wrought for us, if not here exactly, than in a site somewhere nearby, that would have been similar.

Next we went across town to the site of David's original city of Jerusalem, which is now entirely outside of the the old city walls. Here we were able to crawl through Hezekiah's tunnel, which was dug by King Hezekiah to protect the water source outside of the city. The tunnel was filled with water, getting nearly waist deep at parts, and it was quite long, so it was fun to walk through.

Next we took a bus down to Bethlehem, where we stopped for lunch, which we ate at a site called "Shepherds Fields" which is similar to the area where the shepherds saw the star announcing Jesus' birth.

After lunch we went the the Church of the Nativity, which is the traditional site where Jesus was born. In the picture below the star is the site that has been chosen as the exact spot where Jesus was born.

The next day was our free day in Jerusalem. During the first part of the day we went with our roommates to a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem so that Phil and Brekke could find a Jewish hat to buy as a souvenir for her mother. In the area even the street signs had pictures of men dressed up in traditional Orthodox Jewish outfits, as you can see in the picture below.

After that we went back to the Old City, and did more shopping and site-seeing, and eventually made it back to the Hotel. Each night while in Jerusalem, we would spend the evenings up on the roof of the hotel which overlooked the Temple Mount. Below are our roommates, I'm not sure if Ashley has introduced them yet or not, though I think she has, but in case not, in order of closest to camera and ending with the farthest away these are Brekke and Phil Houpt, and then Meara and Patrick Glazebrook.

One of the nights, there was a small pickup game of soccer going on just next door to the hotel. We were watching from the hotel roof when the evening call to prayer rang out. When this happened, all of the players lined up along the side of the field in order to pray. You can see part of the line in the picture below.

The next day we left Jerusalem. We drove out the west side of the town and headed somewhat Northwest towards the Mediterranean coast. Along the way we stopped briefly in Haifa to take a picture of the Bahai world headquarters. Bahai is a smallish religion of about 5-6 million followers throughout that world, which believes in several prophets, or messengers from God such as Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, the Buddha, Krishner, Jesus and Muhammad, as well as Ba and Bahá'u'lláh, (this section has been edited thanks to a correction from a reader of this blog) and that is persecuted in the Middle East, and you can see the temple below.

Then we continued up the coast to the town of Akko, where we were able to go into the ruins of an old Crusader Castle. We also went through a couple of tunnels again, which were used to evacuate pilgrims from the city when Salah ad-Din lead the Muslim armies that eventually repelled the crusaders from Israel and Jerusalem. Below is the first area of the castle that we entered.

The last tunnel brought us out right at the edge of the Mediterranean coast, where we were able to put our feet in the water. Below is a picture of me standing in the Mediterranean. We also got to climb around on an old wall that went along the coast for a few minutes before leaving Akko.

Our next stop was Megiddo, another Tel which is the site of an ancient city in the Valley of Jezreel, also known as the Valley of Armageddon where the final battle of Armageddon is supposed to take place before the second coming. In the picture below are the ruins of an ancient altar in the city. Here we also walked through some tunnels connecting the city to a water source outside the old walls, though this time there was no water in the tunnel.

After this we went into Nazareth, where we spent the next two nights. Here we stayed at a Convent which was built on top of ruins which have been excavated. As part of our stay, one of the nuns in the convent took us on a tour of the ruins, which they think may have been the house of Joseph, the father of Jesus. Here there are ruins of an old Crusader Church, built on top of a Byzantine church, which is itself built on top of the ruins of an old house. In the picture below the nun is pointing out one of the details of the ruins.

Here in Nazareth we continued the tradition of sitting on the roof of the hotel and looking out over the city. In the picture below you can see the hill behind our hotel at night.

The next day first thing in the morning we went to the Church of the Annunciation, the traditional site where the Angel told Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus. This church was decorated with murals of Mary that had been sent from various countries around the world. In the picture below you can see a couple of those murals. Next we went next door to the Church of St. Joseph's Carpentry, which is the traditional site of Joseph's carpentry shop, and then we walked up the hill to the Synagogue Church, which is the traditional site where Jesus taught in the Synagogue and read the scripture proclaiming himself to be the Savior, after which the congregation became angry and wanted to throw him off the cliff and stone him.

Next we went to Nazareth village, which is a small site where a recreation of what the town may have been like in the time of Jesus has been set up. Here we saw a man leading a donkey pulling a threshing board to separate the wheat from the chaff, and an ancient wine press. We also saw some people dressed as shepherds, like the little girl in the picture below. In addition, there was a man showing what the work of a carpenter in that time may have been like, and a lady showing how weaving was done.

After this we left Nazareth and drove up to the most northwest portion of Israel, the Golan Heights, which is right on the border with Lebanon and Syria. Here there was an ancient Roman Shrine built to honor the God Pan, located at the site of one of the three springs which merge to form the Jordan river. This is another important political site because the region itself, the Golan Heights, are contested with Syria, and these waters are very important in coming to any sort of peace agreement in the region, as water is an important resource in the middle east. Additionally, it is also at the base of Mount Hermon, which some scholars believe was the mount of transfiguration of Jesus. This is also the site where Peter bore his testimony of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. In the picture below, Ashley and I are standing at the base of a waterfall just a little was down from the springs.

Next we went to Tel-Dan, another tel. This time the site is the ancient city of Dan, named after Dan the son of Israel, as it was the land settled by this tribe. It is also the city where Abraham caught up with the Kings who had kidnapped Lot, and took him back. Pictured below is the original gate of the city which is still standing, though it is hard to see because of the restoration work that is being done. This is possibly the same gate that Abraham walked thorough when rescuing Lot.

The next morning we drove to the shore of the Sea of Galilee and boarded a replica of a 1st century boat, which may be similar to the kind of fishing boat used by Jesus' disciples. We rode the boat for about an hour up the western coast of the sea and eventually got off in Capernaum, though we did not stay their long. One of the boats, though not the same one we rode, is below.

As soon as we got off the boat we got on the bus and went to the Church of the Beatitudes, the traditional site where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. Below is a picture of that church.

After this we went to the Church of the Heptapegon (Seven Springs in Greek) which is the traditional site where Jesus laid the bread and fishes before blessing and breaking them and feeding the multitudes. The picture below shows the rock that Jesus used for this purpose, and the mural in front of the rock.

Next we went to the Church of the Primacy of Peter, which is the area where Jesus gave Peter the charge to feed his sheep. It also houses the Mensa Christi, which is the traditional rock upon which Jesus cooked the meal of fish for his disciples after he had resurrected. This rock can be seen in the picture below.

Finally we went back to Capernaum, which is known as the City of Jesus, and is the hometown of Peter. Here there is an archaeological site of the ancient town. In the picture below the circle is probably the site of Peter's home. Around this site there are the ruins of several churches that have been built. This is also the town where many of Jesus' miracles were performed, such as the raising of Jairus' daughter, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, and the healing of the lame man who was lowered down through the roof of a house, along with many others.

After this, we went to our next hotel, which was right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, here we were able to swim in the sea, and in a pool right at the hotel. The next morning was Saturday, so it was time for church again. In the picture below you can see the building where the members of the Galilee branch meet. This church also has windows along the wall behind the pulpit, which over look the Sea of Galilee.

Our final site on the way home to Amman was a quick stop where the Jordan river leaves the Sea of Galilee. Here there is a site where many Christian pilgrims come to be baptized in the River Jordan. In the picture below are some of these people wading in the waters of the river.

EIID MILAAD JOSH!!!

2008-06-07T12:38:00.003-06:00

Today is Josh's 24th Birthday!

So he talked to his family on Skype...

We went bowling with our friends then we went to 'Fudruckers' for an American Treat and watched 'Batman Begins' and had cake and ice cream...

The cake was good....

We got it at a Arab Baker by our flat...

We got chocolate, white chocolate, and fruit all for only 1.500dinar AMAZING!!!

This is us watching the movie and dessert with our friends Patrick & Meara...

and Brekke & Philip...

YEAH FOR JOSH'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Construction Workers

2008-06-04T15:22:00.002-06:00

So our neighbors are construction workers building an add on to the hospital beside us.
This below is outside our window you can see the screen and bars on our window. sorry. And anyway you can see that they have like little push together boxes with a door and window that is where they stay while they work. And then all the re bar on the ground is what they make it from and the sand on the side. From now on out the man who works the re bar machine will fondly be referred to as re bar man as we call him here. And if you can see it the orange sand on the left side and then the bowl thingy above it and you can see the black circle inside that is what they hand put buckets of sand into and buckets of water and then watch it turn and then pull it out into a wheel barrel...

Then with this crane pulley system they pick it up and give it to a guy on top of the roof. where he hand puts it on the bricks and puts spacers then does the next one. I wish you could see it honestly it's such a cool thing how intricate it all is.

This is re bar man they take these long re bar pieces on the left then cut them on the bottom right there and bend them so they look like huge staples and then add to the pile in the middle. Later a guy will come hand pick them up into a wheel barrel and pulley them up to the roof.

Daily Life

2008-06-04T15:15:00.002-06:00

So this is daily life.. Hand washing clothes and hanging them up outside on our patio thingy.

This is me hanging out in the apartment in my baggy clothes. And you can see neck so scandalous!

This is Josh's daily life walking to school with his backpack and newspapers.

Then spending the night translating newspapers and practicing his vocab. Fun fun!
Welcome to daily life....

Date Night

2008-06-04T14:56:00.005-06:00

So... we went to this Taj Mahal/ Chop Sticks restaurant last night. It was Indian/Chinese food. IT was so so so good! It was on the seventh circle so we taxied that way as the three couples.
Meara and Patrick
Josh and Ashley
Philip and Brekke
We had a great time and the garlic nan to die for! Then we walked to the Safeway because it was right there. I swear every person who is not a native was there. It was carzy. And I had to take these pictures look at the meat counters.

So this is lamb intestine above and I didn't see any this time but most of the time there is lamb head and feet with the hay still in the feet.

And this kinda in order is kidney on the top left and then under it tongue with the throat still on it. Then the next line is lamb hearts then livers and then on the end is sausage. I didn't get a picture of the ones above but it was brain. Yummy.

We walked out and saw this sign it was so funny... had to show you.. no alcoholics can work there :)

Aqaba

2008-05-27T08:37:00.004-06:00

So... we decided as an apartment that we wanted to go south to Aqaba this last weekend. There are three couples here so we took a bus down to the four hour ride. This is Josh on the bus. And stayed at the Crystal Hotel for Friday through Sunday. Because women here wear a full head to toe outfit when they swim it was innapproperate for us to go to the public beaches, so we went to a private beach down south in Aqaba. It was great we went snorkeling in the Gulf of Aqaba which is the red sea. And Josh went scuba diving for an hour. He loved it. Although the salt in the water was really not fun but the sun was amazing. It was 95 degrees all day. We loved every minute of it. Something pretty cool was that we were just 10km from the Saudi Arabia border when we were at the private beach we went to. So you could look out and see Egypt on one side, Saudi Arabia on the other, and the tip of Israel on another side, and we were standing in Jordan. It was a pretty cool thing. This is us watching the sunset. We ate amazing sea food while we were there. Honestly, the best I have ever eaten. And we watched the sun set over the mountains. The second night we went to eat seafood and our meals came whole if you know what I mean. We wish we had a picture of it. Ashley had a whole fish head; tail; skin; everything. Same with a shrimp on her plate; head skin; legs; everything. It was crazy!!!

As you can see the hotel was right by the water, there are 'farms' that were between us and the sea they are these tiny probably four feet by five feet boxes of green herbs. It was a cool thing to see the difference in the farming.

Settling into Flat in Jordan

2008-05-11T06:08:00.002-06:00

So we got to Jordan just fine and we were all stressed about not having a place to stay and when we would find a place because we just had about one day to find something. Because they didn't tell us that the hotel wasn't paid for already. So it was stay in a hotel for 77dollars a night or find a flat. So the five other couples and ourselves when hunting. And we were just striking out with everything. And it was stressfull lets just say that; for everyone in the group. But we just stumbled upon a place and asked if there was anything and it worked out perfect there are three rooms. So three of us couples are sharing it. And it's nice and big; smells a little bit like chicken top of roman in the kitchen constantly. But we got such a good deal. So we have been living there for about a week now. We love it there is no internet and we have to hand wash all our clothing and hang them outside. But we are happy and so happy we are getting on a schedule and settling in. YEAH FOR LIVING IN JORDAN.

Not for Mom's to Read

2008-05-04T04:10:00.002-06:00

So.... this is the part after 9 days in Cairo Eqypt that Mom's should not read. :) During the day we went to the Temple of Luxor Ashley got extreme Sun Stroke and Dehydration. Also she got about 15 bites on the back of her legs along with strange muscle cramps in her feet, sides, and neck. FUN FUN. Also we can't leave the hotel for more then 5 minutes if you know what I mean. And this hotel let me just say that there is more black mold in one room in here then all the world combined anywhere else. And... We leave for Jordan at 5:30am tomorrow morning. Get excited!!!!

Fast Friday

2008-05-04T04:08:00.001-06:00

So on Fast Friday we went to the LDS church which was a little part of America here in Eqypt. It was so fun to quadruple the size of their branch here in Cairo. Josh said the closing prayer and there was a linger longer lunch they did for us after words.

Night Train and Luxor

2008-05-04T03:44:00.003-06:00

Lets just say one word to start off... night train... equals.... DEATH. After that note from Ashley, this time around, after the Mosques, they took us to the train station where we rode a night train to Luxor. The train was not the most pleasant experience. Most of us got sick from the food, the beds were uncomfortable, and the toitlets were clogged with no toilet paper or paper towels or soap. (Though at least you didn't have to tip anyone to use them). In Luxor, we started out by going to see the tombs at the Valley of the Kings. They were kind of fun, with a lot of heiroglyphics and paintings, though it was very hot outside in the desert. Then we went to the temple of a Queen which was cool as well. After that we went to two statues which were kind of in the middle of no where, and then toured a couple of ancient temples which were really cool. They had the same basic layout as the temple of Solomon, with an outer court where everyone was aloud to enter and do their sacrifices, then in inner court just for the priests, and a Holy of Holies (the Arab tour guides even called the inner most room by this name) where only the Pharaoh or High Priest could enter. The first temple, Karnack, was huge with a couple extra shrines inside. The Temple at Luxor was a little smaller, but it had some Roman influence from when Alexander the Great conquered the area and had them add an addition to the inner room with himself carned on the walls in Egyptian style. Afterwards we took another boat ride on the nile, and then the night train back to Cairo.

Mosque March

2008-05-04T03:26:00.002-06:00

On this day (maybe Wednesday, but our days are a little confused) we went to Islamic Cairo and toured a whole bunch of Mosques. It was pretty fun to learn about the different mosques and see them, some were absolutely huge. We had to either take off our shoes or wear little booties in each one, and in a few of them it was required for the girls to cover their hair. It was a long day with lots of walking, and at the end we went to Khan Al Khalili, which is a huge market with tons of shops crowded into these little narrow streets. While there ee haggled with a shopkeeper to get Ashley an Egyptian style dress, and then had Shwerma at this little hole in the wall (the meat being cooked in the picture above was for our meal). A Shwerma is basically a meat sandwich.

Boat on the Nile

2008-05-04T03:17:00.005-06:00

After the zoo, we went to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which was full of old Sarcophoguses, things from King Tut's tomb, statues, chariots, coffins, and pretty much any other Egyptian artifact you can think of. Josh also went in and looked at the Mummies of about 12 or 13 members of the ancient royal families. After the Musuem, we decided to take a boat ride on the Nile. For 100 Egyptian Pounds (a little less than $20) 7 of us got to ride on the boat for a half an hour. Some of the pictures from the ride are above, including when we saw a local Chilis. One of the couples with us had gone to Chilis in Puerto Rico on their Honeymoon, and wanted to go again here in Cairo, so we decided to go with them, and that is where we had dinner.

Zoo

2008-05-04T02:55:00.004-06:00

So nobody knows which day this was because they have all been running together but one day we went to the Cairo Zoo. Which was fun there was this guy who wouldn't leave us alone and kept trying to be our tour guide. So we finally just stopped fighting it and let him show us around. Which was actually really fun because he got us into a lot of things we couldn't do ourselves. As you can see we fed hippos and elephants and seals, hand fed a black bear. And held a baby lion cub. It was a crazy day but it was a lot of fun.

First Day and a half in Egypt

2008-05-04T00:36:00.003-06:00

Our first day and a half here in Egypt were packed full of things to do. When we arrived they took us straight to our hotel, where we unpacked, and then had the evening free. We had to find our own place to have dinner, and they just pointed us in the direction where we may find some food. We walked to Midan Al Tahrir, which is a big Plaza in Cairo and on the way we crossed the Nile. When we got there we saw KFC and Hardees, but were hoping for something a little more Egyptian. We were walking around looking lost, so a nice Egyptian fellow decided to take us to a good restaurant. On the way thouhg, we happened to pass by his perfume shop, where one of the other couples we were with decided to go in. We went in with them and ended up leaving with about $30 worth of perfume. After that they pointed in the direction where we could find food and let us leave. We had our first Egyptian meal, which was interesting, and then went back to the hotel in a taxi, which is an interesting experience in itself. The next day we went to the big Egyptian spots. First up was the pyramids, which were very large. There were tons of people there intent on selling their postcards, headdresses, and whatever else they had on hand, and they were very persistent. We got to go inside one of the pyramids, which was fun, even if there wasn't really anything to see once we were on the inside, and it was easily 110 degrees inside, with very old, stuffy air and it smelled like death. Afterwards we went by the Sphinx, which was a little smaller then we expected, but still very cool. Next they took us to Sakkara, which is where the original step pyramids were built. These were much older, and smaller, and there were a couple neat temples around them as well. Afterwards we went to an interesting restaurant which we arrived at by walking down a little path past a huge gathering of Egyptians who were all eating, swimming, singing and dancing. Above is a picture of the little girl who was standing outside the mens restroom handing out squares of toilet paper for a tip. There is someone like this outside almost every restroom, and if you don't have money to tip them, then you either don't get to go in the bathroom, or you don't get any toilet paper to use. We finished up the day by going to a little musuem in Memphis, which had various statues on display, and then to a Papyrus factory where we bought a piece of Papytus with the name Fowler written on it in Heiroglyphics. Finally they took as back to the hotel and we were set loose to find our own dinner again.

Graduation

2008-05-04T00:31:00.003-06:00

So we have completed Graduation from BYU for Josh. It was so much fun Elder Bednar spoke at commencement. Our family all came down for it. It was a great time. And so excited to be completed with school. But not yet because the next morning we left for Egypt...

Graduation

2008-04-20T08:44:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to get this blog started. To share with you are adventures. So, Josh is almost done with school at BYU. He finished class on Tuesday and Graduates on this Thursday. We can't wait because that means Saturday we are leaving on a Study Abroad with BYU to Jordan. And most of all that means we are done with going to class. Josh is very excited. YEAH!