Resurrection

It seems that my blog suffered was suffering from maltreatment and neglect at the hands of its owner. Unable to coop with the crushing feelings of abandonment and despair, it gave up the ghost and passed into the abyss of forgotten blogs…Now, I have come to revive its poor, broken spirit and try to breathe life into it once again.

Yeah, so anyway, I’ve obviously not been writing much on my blog for the last few months. So what have I been doing? Well, actually I’ve been really busy both inside and outside Lebanon. The last time I wrote I mentioned my first trip to Egypt. After I came back I was busy in Lebanon, mostly between doing things in Beirut, up at the orphanage, as well as going to the south a few days a week.

Things were moving along well, when one day I went to renew my visa…Here in Lebanon they only give you one month when you first arrive to the country, after that you have to apply for a 2 month extension. In order to take the extension you have to give them your passport for a week and then they return it to you with the renewed visa. Anyway, after the one week they still did not have the visa finished…then two weeks, then a month, then 6 six weeks. Each time I asked they told me “its still in procedures”. Eventually I went to the head office and they told me I had to leave Lebanon within one week, and that I was not allowed to come back as a tourist. So, I backed up my bags (actually only one bag, cause I hate travelling with extra luggage), and booked tickets to go back to Egypt and from there to Jordan. In my absence the pastor of the church here would start working on my papers to bring me back to Lebanon.

The two weeks in Egypt was fruitful. It was nice to see the people that I met there last time, and they were happy to see me. Egypt has a very friendly culture. Their food, however, was not so friendly. I got really sick for 2 days and wasn’t able to move around. Like last time we spent most of the time visiting villages and doing home meetings, in addition to a 2 day training conference. I managed to see the pyramids this time, only because they are right next to the main road heading in/out of Cairo (last time I took the train, so I didn’t see them). I didn’t stop, so I didn’t get any pictures, but I got a good impression of their size and majesty…pretty cool.Pic. 1: An ancient Roman Fort built out of black basalt. It was later used my Lawrence of Arabia as a staging area to raid caravans...Just one of the cool things to see in Jordan.

After Egypt I went to Jordan, and planned to stay there until I received word that I had been cleared to return to Lebanon. I really like Jordan. Partly because I lived there for 15 months, so I know the country, and especially Amman really well, but more so I think it is because Jordan has some semblance of law and order. There is a certain amount of peace of mind knowing that the law is, for the most part, upheld and respected. I have a lot of respect for kind Abdallah and his late father, for turning Jordan into a stable, secure, and safe place. Don’t get me wrong, Jordan still has many problems and has an uphill battle, but there is legitimate progress being made. I was very fortunate to stay with an old friend, Dylan, during my time in Jordan. We first met during a summer Arabic program in Wisconsin, after which we both moved to Jordan (for different reasons). He stayed there for a year and then went to Syria to study Arabic more, and I moved Lebanon. He just finished his first year of law school and was back in Jordan for a summer internship with the UNRWA. We have done a lot of hiking and camping trips together, and this trip we continued the tradition. We did one big hike: 30 miles through Wadi Mujib (The valley of Arnon in the Old Testament – the border of Moab and Ammon in the OT). It was a grueling hike through very rocky, rough terrain and scorching heat and humidity, but we made it. We did it in two days…I can’t imagine spending 40 years out there! The other hikes we did were one day trips up in northern Jordan. We walked the Jabbok river and saw the site where it is believed that Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord.

Pic. 2: The entrance to Wadi Mujib (Arnon). There is a perennial spring in the valley floor, but it is not as big as it used to be because it is dammed for agricultural purposes. Nevertheless this is the 3rd or 4th largest water source in Jordan...Water, One of Jordan's biggest challenges

Pic. 3: The gorge of Wadi Mujib where it narrows down and drains into the Dead Sea. The gorge is awesome, but we couldn't go down cause you need repelling gear.

Overall I spent one month in Jordan. The first two weeks were a nice break, but after that I started to get a little antsy about going back to Lebanon. I changed my plane ticket 7 times I think (all without any additional charge…props to Royal Jordanian airlines), each time postponing a couple days in the expectation that my Visa would come soon. Eventually, in God’s timing, my friend called me and said, “are you ready for this?”…by that time I was very ready. I called RJ and got the next available flight to Lebanon. Amazingly, there was no problems upon arriving to Lebanon. I got my entry visa quickly, my friend picked me up from the airport, my apartment was just like I left it (I guess people can’t steal anything if you don’t own anything).

Pic 4: The Zarqa (Jabbok) River. The 2nd largest source of water in Jordan. Also the only place you can fresh-water fish and turtles.

So, there it is. One more adventure in the story that is my life in the Middle East. The strange thing is that I think I am actually getting used to living this way. I just expect that there will always be some degree of instability and chaos in my life.

I will try harder to make consistent updates on the blog, but I can’t make any promises. Things seem to get busier every day.

Take care everyone and God bless