Jordan Day 3, June 14

Our bus drivers got lost on the way to the site, so I got to see the not-so-thriving metropolis of Madaba this AM. Of course, at 4:30 nobody was awake, so it was a quiet trip. Amanda helped start the day with a bit of Tai Chi. I later learned that Amanda doesn't actually know Tai Chi. But she faked it well.





Young Hwa enjoyed the dawn (my Day 3) while wrapped in her kephia, a typical male headdress, and Dustin was taught by Aleph how to wrap his kephia. Dustin is the one in white, just in case you couldn't tell.

Scottie and I cleared about 80 goofahs (those handy rubber baskets) full of dirt today. My arms and back ache. But we found a butt! It’s the butt of an animal, a tail, and a broken off leg, hollow body, no head. Sad looking decapitated piece of pottery, but a nice find. Scottie was happy to make many butt jokes this evening once the piece was identified. Many big rocks were shifted today from ancient (well really old) wall collapses. Dustin has educated our field helpers in the art of grunting. Before hauling the rocks, they all now hit knuckles together, grunt and flex. It’s like watching cavemen.

Field C, the field next to us, found the head of a figurine. Very cool figure of a lady with long hair and a headdress. Apparently a very rare find of a Moabite goddess figurine. Our dig director has only ever seen one before, and that one was in a picture.

Falafel sandwiches for second breakfast, and melon. Lots of melon, which is wonderful to eat just as the heat is starting to build. And I still love falafel and hummus. This is the view from where we eat breakfast. Olive groves and houses.

At pottery washing the gang decided to sing show tunes. Stephanie, Shawn and Scottie enchanted us with everything from Phantom to Fiddler. They have an amazing repertoire. We should hire them out. They take requests, just not the request to shush.

And today another compliment “Yenniffer, you good woman.” And then “Yenniffer, you smart.” WOW! I think I have a following. And a proper gender assignment.

Tomorrow is Friday, which my muscles are glad for. And Sabbath will find us loaded on a bus headed north. I get to see the Sea of Galilee! And Jerash! Dinner is calling and then bed. I do miss my bed. This one is like a brick with some foam on top. And a thin layer of foam at that…

On to Day 4!

Jordan Day 2 June 13

Today was Cecilia’s birthday and she joined us at field D. She usually is at the hotel sorting and tagging all of the finds, but this day was an exception. Not a cloud in the sky today, which made for a lovely hot day. Lots of dirt to move today. We cut into balks (dividing piles of dirt in each field, about 1 meter wide) and found some spiffy stuff. Found a complete handle to a pot. Found some painted pieces. But the major haul for the day….an egg. Yep. Hard boiled, buried about 6 inches below surface, and was probably sorely missed by the person who brought it years ago for breakfast. Sadly we discarded it, as it "does not have any historical value".

Shawn performed a lovely dance for Cecilia today. Dustin somehow managed to capture the entire thing on video. I believe he has posted it to YouTube under “The dancing archeologist”. We laughed for hours over that one. Shawn fears for his seminary career now, but the world will have laughter!

We also had camels, Cecelia’s favorite animal, come visit the site today. See? Cecilia loves camels.

Received an interesting compliment today. As I was hauling goofahs full of dirt to sift, one of our helpers, a local guy, about 18, from the tribe whose land we are nearest, said “Yenniffer, you good man.” Made my day that one! A) to be told I am good at this is great, since it is all so new B) to be told I am a man in riotous and C) to hear this from a young Jordanian man is highly complimentary and hilarious.

Instead of sticking around for dinner, after pottery washing Amanda, Dustin, Cecilia and I headed into the city center. Found a watch that had Arabic numerals on the face. Now I can’t tell the time in another script. Drat! We ate dinner in town and we meandered the streets like hooligans. Well watched hooligans. I guess foreigners are rare in the part of the city we went to, as we were watched at every turn. Even at dinner. I imagine it must be what animals in a zoo feel like. I think I may boycott zoos from now on…The smell of the city reminds me of Rome in the summer. Diesel, dirt and cooking food. We got ‘home’ in time to sleep and I woke up at 1 AM. I still can’t seem to sleep through the night here…

On to Day 3!

Jordan Day 1, June12

Arrived about 7:30 PM last night. The airport here in Amman is very yellow. Yellow signs, yellow glass windows, yellow lighting. Yellow. And crowded. And hot. You have to buy a visa before entering the country. $15. Not bad after the 12.5 hour plane trip. ( I sat next to Ahamad, a 53 year old Jordanian man with four kids and one wife, who hates blacks because one killed his brother in New Orleans. I have his number in case 'i have a problem and need any help')

Got to the hotel and went to bed. Didn't sleep much and 3:45 AM comes very, VERY early when you don't sleep. But the red dawn was nice to watch.

But the first day on on the dig was fantastic. I am in field D of the dig (there are 6 different fields or holes people are digging in), and we have a structure in the field that we are excavating. Speculations are that we are diggin' up a home, or perhaps a granery. We have found alot of pottery pieces, and before i arrived a shard with writing was found(a HUGE discovery in the field of archeology), as well as a small painted statue of a horse or bull (take your pick I guess!)


Our team is great. My friends Amanda, Dustin, Scottie and Shawn are all on my field. It's good times. We have rapping, dancing, singing and lots and LOTS of sarcasm. I fit right in! Shawn demonstrates the art of pointing to a wall here.

We eat breakfast at 4 AM, hit the road, dig till 9:30, eat second breakfast (yep, like hobbits!) and then dig until 12:45 when the desert tries to roast us alive, so we pack up and head home. In the PM we clean pottery for two hours, eat lunch and take naps. Many people are complaining about the falafel and pita and hummus and insist I will be sick of it in a week, but I fail to believe them.
My job on site is mostly sifting dirt and sand. I get to find lots of pottery and beads and bones which is fun. All the lifting of the goofahs (rubber buckets) is a real workout (don't worry Mom, I'm watching out for my arm!), but anyone who wants to arm wrestle when I get home....

Field D looks like this. Before dawn, Day 1. Scottie is in the picture, setting signs for official dig pictures.

On for day 2!

Provoking, Passionate, Pensive

He loved her with such passion. He risked his job, his career and ultimately his life to be with her. His mind was filled with thoughts of her and he found himself wanting to be by her side constantly.

She loved him back. She wanted to ride to the end of the world by his side. She wanted to see him reach high and be all that he dreamed of being.

And ultimately they died together. Held in each others arms in a dark tomb, they are sealed under the sand of Egypt to die together.

Had the pleasure of seeing 'Aida' - a musical by Elton John and Tim Rice stolen ruthlessly from the annals of Verdi history. It was awesome! And I am so thrilled to know that my roommie Stacy loves music and drags me into it:) The power of the music and lyrics to draw emotion and make the mind dwell on deeper issues is amazing!





And it made me think of another love story. A deeper issue in life.

It is a thought, the deep issue, of the God who loves me so much that He thinks about me all the time. He wants to be with me constantly. He risked His job, His heavenly career, to be here on earth. He is captivated by me and He ultimately died for me and was buried beneath the sands of Israel. (Great thing though, He didn't stay there!)


Do I love Him that way? Do I think if Him? Do I want to spend time with Him? Is He the one that makes my world go round? Would I die for Him?

What the hammer?

I just got news that my friend's dad was attacked by a man with hammer. At first I thought it was a joke...who attacks someone with hammer?

So Dad is in the hospital with fractured skull, broken nose, broken hand.

What happened? He hired a man to help him out, someone down on his luck, in need of money who, when he wasn't working, was asked to do something else and attacked viciously. He hit him repeatedly, locked him in closet and threatened to kill him should he tell anyone.

It's an insane world where a tool is used to harm, where the person helping you has become an enemy, where your house is no longer safe.

In other news, my professor was attacked on campus, in his office. By my friend of some time. You think you know people... The prof. was punched, knocked to the floor and almost strangled to death, but was rescued when the noise of the fight were answered by his wife and secretary. Go girls!

Sad when hands are used to do harm rather than help. The worst part of humanity is its inhumanity.

And now Virginia Tech. has lost 33 people with a death toll climbing. All because of a madman with a gun. People now fear guns more than madmen.

God have mercy on us all.

I am glad this world is not forever. I am glad I have a God who is bigger than pain, than rage, than anger, than hurt, than violence. He is bigger than death.

Which makes me wonder... do you know my God?

Do you know He is better than the best good, stronger than your pain, filled with love more than the oceans are filled with water?

Do you know my God?

The God who is too big to be described? The one who cries with every tear and cheers with every joy?

Get to know Him. He is too good to miss. He is Truth. He is my Life. He is the Way I choose to live.

Beantown: No beans, but lots of town

So for my Spring Break, I got to race to Boston. It's a bit of a drive from here, with additional hours if you get lost in Canada like we did (dern Canada. That's right Michaela! Hater-ade!).
But having Stacy on the trip made it fun and enjoyable!

So here is some photographic evidence of the week. Fun in a photo. Amazing!

Day 1:
We arrived to a freezing cold East Coast. Thus the pictures in our snow suits.















Here is Plymouth Rock. Very much a rock, not quite the massive cliff Stacy and I hoped it would be. And I wonder...did it come with the 1620 stamped in it? This is my wondering face. An Indian. He was huge! Great posture and very imposing. He was looking over the bay out toward Cape Cod. He will be looking for a very long time I should think.

Puteri and Joseph

My dear friends got married. What joy! What bliss! All pictures of the ceremony and wedding party turned out dark for me, so here are some of the good ones I did get.


Wedding Day Side Note:
This keeps happening and I am going to be the lone third wheel left in existence on this planet!


This is Joseph, the groom. Lovely huh? Er... Manly huh? Yep! He's great and Puteri is wonderfully in love with him. I think that makes him double lucky!






The bride and groom cutting the cake. Puteri and Jospeh. Happily Ever After begins with Chocolate! I wish a lifetime of joy, love and happiness to these two!

My favorite man of the entire day. Vann. Cute enough to keep around for years. His sisters and brother were there and it was great to catch up. How quickly we grow! Them up and up, me out and out!














My favorite bag lady of the evening. KJ had to race out to the store during the reception to grab some fogotten supplies. What a get up! Give her a hand for this one! Love you KJ!