Off and away

Well I guess I am officially over due to make a post…

Things have been kind of hectic here for the last couple of weeks. Of course at work, since I am leaving, my professor wants to get as much out of me as possible. I was working extra to try and get a research article published. It looks like it will get published, which will be very nice since I am one of the authors of the article, which is a big deal as a physicist. I actually have two research articles that are ‘In Press’, which means they are waiting to be published in a scientific journal. As soon as they go through I will post the link or the name of the Journal, so that you can all see just how much of a nerd I am…

I am on track to move to Lebanon in a couple days. I still haven’t really done anything to prepare for it, at least physically. I prefer to make the move kinda spontaneously, that way I don’t have to think about it. It can be kind of difficult to think about moving to a whole new country, leaving all the friends and contacts that I have made in Jordan. Oh well, I guess that is kind of the nature of the work and the life I’ve chosen to live. I have tried to arrange a place to live in Lebanon, and my friends tell me there are a couple of options that I can look at when I arrive. I am not too worried about it. Everything I own fits in two backpacks, so I can stay in hostels for….probably the rest of my life if I had to.

The other news, which is kind of depressing and very annoying, is over a week ago my back and leg started really hurting. It is only my left leg, and it feels like it is on fire whenever I sit down or stand up or walk. I had an inclination that it was sciatica, and after reading some more on the web I am 95% sure it is either a pinched or inflamed nerve. I don’t how long it is supposed to last. If it is inflamed it should go down. The real problem is me…I am too stubborn to just rest. If a friend calls and asks to go play squash I can’t say no…although today I did refrain from playing basketball. If I have to refrain from all sports or working out for 3 or 4 weeks I think I might go just completely insane.

I have tried making a video about Jordan, but windows movie maker keeps freezing up. It has done this a lot. I definitely don’t recommend that software. It is weak, inconsistent, and untrustworthy. For those Mac users out there, this is your place to boast…Mac has incomparibly better base video software than windows. I will keep trying to make something to commemorate Jordan.

By the way it is supposed to snow here tomorrow. Everyone tells me they are SURE it will snow, cause the TV says so. I tell them no way. It is too warm and the conditions aren’t right. I think my Alaskan intuition is more accurate than the news forecaster…at least when it comes to snow. I guess we’ll see in a few hours.

Well that is my random update for the week.

A few pictures

I don't really have anything great to report. I am anxiously awaiting wedding news...also my baby sister (who consequently is no longer a baby, since she herself has one, who herself is growing up very quickly) has a birthday tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!! and CONGRATULATIONS JASON AND JOANNA!!!

Nothing has really changed here. Still studying arabic, trying to win the nobel prize in physics, and make as many friends as I can. Eventually I need to start thinking about moving to Lebanon, which makes me sad because I don't like thinking about leaving my friends here in Jordan and restarting my social life...but so is life...
Last weekend I finally got out of Amman. First time in like 6 weeks. I have a book with various historical and geological sites in Jordan, and most of the time the book gives the GPS co-ordinates. There is a system of caves in northern Jordan, that almost nobody knows about. So, I got a few guys together and made a day trip out of it. It was AMAZING. The caves are in the jordanian mountains, which this time of year are just starting to fill up with blooming wild flowers of all colors as well as the apple and apricot blossoms on the trees. It almost feels like you are in a different country. It is very pretty up there in the spring. Anyway, we walked through the mountains for about 3 kilos to find the cave (using the GPS). We spent about 3 hours in the cave. There are tons of cracks, crevices, and caverns to explore. There were bats all over the place too...so COOOL. The caves are believed to have been used throughout history for people escaping persecution. Probably used by Christians during the time of the Romans. Overall, it was one of the nicest trips I've done in Jordan. Plus we had a great group of guys. Here are a few pictures.

The Bat Cave!

my little friend

The Guysa blooming apricot tree

wenak ya ghayib?

That means...well actually it doesn't really translate now that I think about it, but approximately it means, 'where have you been, you've been absent'
Anyway, no real excuse for the absence, just been busy with work, study, and life in Jordan. Also, a few friends came over from Lebanon for a few days so I was busy with them.
I don't even have any kind of exciting news to share, or news that I feel free to share anyway. Life is going pretty normal, or as normal as life might be able to be for an alaskan living in the middle east. I actually met another alaskan a few days ago. She is a girl who just started studying Arabic at the University of Jordan. She is from Eagle River. It felt pretty strange to meet a fellow alaskan here...it also felt oddly comforting. I don't understand why there seems to be a connection just cause we grew up in the same state, but honestly I felt like just that single point made us instant friends. I mean, it is not like I know her any more than any one else in this world...nevertheless, there it is. I don't think I like the idea of preferential treatment based on a person's homeland, seeing how that is the cause of so much struggle and strife in this part of the world....anyway, I guess I am rambling.
By the way, 27 feels much older than 26 (and sounds much older too). Maybe it is because I realize how old I am, and how little of my life goals I have completed. I mean, I still haven't stopped world hunger, saved the whales or the rainforest, issued in world peace, traveled to Mars, eaten one of every animal on the planet, invented the perpetual motion machine, sufficiently explained ALL of Zeno's paradoxes (though I've solved the majority of them), or write a book longer than Tolstoy (of course none of those are really my goals, except the eating one of every animal, that one is real).

OK, I am done with my tirade of random comments. Til next time