SUJordan

We are back!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:01:00 +0000

After our 6 hour flight from Amman, we had a very nice visit in England. Luke's father and youth pastor, Nicholas, met us at the airport. Luke had a different flight several hours later, so they took us to Runnymeade where the Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215. (If you don't remember your history, the Magna Carta was the first statement of human rights and the limiting of a king's power.) When Luke arrived they picked us up an drove us to Luke's village, Mayfield, East Sussex.
The picture was taken at Runnymeade. If you haven't noticed, I shaved my beard off a couple of weeks ago.
Mayfield is very quaint. Luke's family fed us a very traditional English meal of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, and several desserts, and then sent us home with several hospitable families from his home church. We left Luke in England Friday as his father Adrienne drove us to the Heathrow airport.
The flight was long, almost 12 hours, but the choice of movies made the time pass faster. Jackson's brother met us in the airport and drove us through heavy traffic back to Stockton. Jackson's mother met us with yummy homemade eggrolls and chow mein. We drove from there back to Redding and arrived around 10:30 PM.
When we woke up at 6:30 AM, Micah and Claire had already left for Washing state.
The whole 6 week trip was a real blessing to all of us and to our friends working in Jordan. Thanks for praying and keeping in touch. We will probably send more updates as we reflect back on the trip.
Grace and peace,
Michael

One More Day

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:27:00 +0000

It has been a few days since I posted; we've been busy teaching and finishing things up. I think we are all more comfortable teaching now. The class preparation was easier this week. We have had special events, too.

Sunday one of our host couples took all of us to a very nice Arabic restaurant. We ate outside under a Bedouin tent and were served the best food we've had here. It started with hummus, babaganoush and other dips. Shortly afterward we were served kebob meats. It was very delicious.

Monday we had our last lunch at our hosts.Today we had a team debriefing for three hours at the Center. We had communion, shared with each other about the trip, and worked on resolving some tensions on the team. We went downstairs to our last mensef meal and more debriefing with another team that has been teaching at the Center. It was a good day.

Every night some of the team hs been going out visiting and spending time with students from the Center. The last two weeks have definitely been the richest in terms of building relationships. Now we are in the "good bye" phase, collecting e-mails and calling for the last time. We will all miss Jordan when we leave. Pray for us as we seek to bring closure with our relationships here, both with workers and with our students. It is going to be very hard for some of us.

Tonight Kim made chili for chilidogs. We are having a party tomorrow night for the last half of class. We wanted to serve something American to try, in a small way, to repay our friends for their hospitality.

Also pray for each of us as we re thinking about the future. I know Kim and I are praying about returning here next summer, and so are two of our teamates. Ask God to make the way clear for us.

I may not get another chance to post. Our plane is scheduled to leave Amman a little after 9 AM Thursday. We have 20+ hour layover in London. Luke's church will be taking us in for the night. Then we arrive in Sacramento on Friday afternoon. We should arrive back in Redding in the evening. We look forward to seeing many of you in person soon.

Grace and peace,
Michael

Petra

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:31:00 +0000

PETRA!
Yesterday we visited Petra, the hidden rose-colored city carved into sandstone. Click on the title link to see a slideshow. There are 63 pictures with captions. You can speed it up, slow it down, or turn off the captions. Petra is truely amazing! Today, we are recovering. As usual our students have dates to visit and hang out with friends they have met here. Here is the link to the slideshow
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mhuster55/Petra.
Here are some links to Petra sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra
http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/MiddleEast/Jordan/Petra/index.html http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/petra/1.html.
Michael
P.S. Kim reviewed this post and said I don't have any mistakes today! She is embarrassed about many of the posts

Every Burp Helps

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:10:00 +0000

Wow! Luke, Katie, Kim, and I got a great sense of Jordanian hospitality tonight. Everyone on the team has had nights like this. At 6:00 we met two students at the Center. The two students are both well-placed professionals meaning they are in management. First, we went to a well-known (at least to Jordanians) hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Abu Musbah in the old town Amman. We were treated to "arroz", meat (lamb) & spices in a roasted pita. It was amazingly delicious. During the meal we had good casual conversation.
From there our friends took us to Al Quds (The Jerusalem) Restaurant for the dessert they usually eat called kishck alfariah. It is a milk based thick pudding with pistaschios & almonds covering the top. Again, a great treat with more talking.
After a while we got up to get coffee at a coffee shop. It turned out to be the oldest coffee shop in Amman, dating from 1924. To get in we went down an alley, through a narrow door, and up a flight of narrow stairs. We had Arabic coffee and tea. The sunset call to prayer came during the meal. Our friends took turns going to the mosque to pray. Kim and Katie were the only two women in the place.
We walked around downtown. Most of the street shops were open and bustling. We stopped in a gold shop long enough for Kim to pick out a nice 22 caret gold ring. We also stopped in an upscale watch shop that one of our friends worked in the parent company of. It was hot in the store, and we eventually headed out for a fruit shop. Luke, Katie, and I had what were basically smoothies that were very filling. During this visit the night call to prayer came, and again our friends took turns going to prayer. By now it was about 10:00 PM. The second one back from prayer pushed "passing fruit"(?) on us, and we were all completely stuffed! When we found out that they intended to take us to a dessert shop for knaffa, we had to polite decline.
After walking a bit more, we returned to the car, said goodbye to one friend and the other took us for a ride to where he worked. At this point it was about 10:30 PM and the neighborhood where his office is was packed with pedestrians! He drove us to a shopping center parking lot that had set up a huge playground with inflatable slides. He said, "Today (meaning Thursday) is Children's Day." So, especially during the summer, families stay out very late, talking, walking, eating, and bringing the children to playgrounds. Very different from the US!
When we finally got back to the apartment, we found we were the first group back. We were still all uncomfortably full. I let out a burp and said, "Every burp helps" to general laughter.
The rest of the team came in over the next half hour. We all had great times talking to the students we have met who have befriended us.
Well, it's 1:00 AM, and we leave at 7:00 for Petra.
Grace and peace,
Michael

The Week is Finished - One Week Left!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:47:00 +0000

I think we all agree that the second session is going faster than the first. I think it is probably because we know the students better and we are more comfortable teaching. Every night some of us are going out with students. Meanwhile, we are all very concious that our time in Jordan is running short. One week from now we will be on the airplane from Amman to London!
Tonight most of us are going out with people we have met. Tomorrow we are leaving at 7:00 AM for our trip to Petra!
Thank for praying for us,
Michael

Second Session, First Day

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:41:00 +0000

Yesterday we taught the first class of the second two week session. Two TESOL students from the US have joined our teaching team. Katie & Heather will be teaching other classes for their practicum. Kim is their supervisor. We debriefed afterward, and the first day went well. Micah is teaching the Beginner 1 class with Heather assisting. Jackson, who taught with him in the first session, moved up to co-teach with Claire in the Beginner 2 class. Kim and I are teaching the Intermediate, and Luke is teaching the Advanced with Katie assisting.
We now have both a man and woman in each class which we already seen payoff. When Kim and my class went to break, the only woman in the class stayed behind and talked to Kim. About half of the students continued from the first session, so we have plenty of ongoing relationships. In fact, one of Claire's students is already arranging another picnic for this weekend!
We planned our Petra trip for Friday with Waleed, so that allows us to schedule other appointments for the weekend. It is hard to communicate how friendly and hospitable the Jordanians are. All of us on the team love meeting, socializing, and talking to our students and acquaintances.
Michael

Friday in Jordn

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:31:00 +0000

Morning

First, Friday mornings are very quiet since it is the holy day for Islam. The main prayer is the afternoon prayer time at the mosques, so everyone sleeps in late. Here is a picture you would never see in the US.

We rented a van and driver for 10 JD (about $14) each for a trip to Madaba, Mount Nebo, Jesus' Baptismal site, and the Dead Sea. Waleed our driver was a great driver and host for us. We arrived at Madaba to visit the church of Saint George, a Greek Orthodox church, to see the historical mosaics. We arrived early, so we had to wait two ours until the services were over to visit the church. We walked around the town and did some souvenir shopping and had another delicious hummus & falafel meal.

The church was beautiful inside with amazing recent mosaics and the ancient mosaic map of the Holy Land. I was excited to make out the Greek for Bethlehem.

From there we visited Mt Nemo, the traditional site of Moses' death overlooking the promised land. Here the whole team is. It has a beautiful view of the the Jordan river valley. Next we went to the baptismal site of Jesus at the Jordan river. Now it is only about 15 feet across! By the time we got down to the Dead sea it was blazing! We stopped at a beach resort with a beautiful pool (and showers.) "Swimming" in the Dead Sea was truly an amazing experience.

A friend with us doesn't swim and is deathly afraid of water. Waleed coaxed, cajoled, teased and dragged her into water a little more than knee deep. Kim and Waleed took her arms and told her to sit down. She floated with her head well out of the water and with forearms and lower legs all in the air! Waleed and Kim floated her out and kept trying to get her to relax. The funniest moment was when Waleed holding her said, "Look, I'm floating too." Sure enough, when she looked over his feet were sticking out of the water.

The Picnic

We got back to Amman around 4:00 PM, and got ready for the picnic Claire's students wanted to have. Except for Luke, who went to a wedding, we all met at Second Circle and took taxis and a car to a forest park in Marj Al Hamam. it was a fun hangout time. We taught them the game Samurai, which is a fast gesturing game. Everyone was laughing hysterically. We mostly just talked. Later we ate chicken. Talked more. We had a really good time with a lot of conversation.

Friday night in the summer is a major outdoor picnic time. While driving around we saw groups all along the highways picnicing and hanging out.

Michael

Slide Show

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:52:00 +0000

Try this link to see a slide show of our work project.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhuster55/WorkProjectJuly2008/photo#s5221097555502020946
Michael

Our Work Project

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Just imagine looping the following video clip for 6 hours.

Michael

Sunday In Marj Al Hamman

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:25:00 +0000

Hello Friends,

We went to eat Sunday dinner with some of the workers here. They have had us over every Sunday for lunch. Each Sunday our friends taught us something about working here in Jordan. This Sunday a local Alliance pastor was at lunch, and he shared about his ministry and vision for his church at Marj Al-Hamman. It was exciting for us to see a pastor with a great vision for his church.
After lunch, several of us went shopping for old clothes to wear for our painting project today (Monday,) Then all of us except Claire worshipped at the Marj Al-Hamman church. Afterward we were invited for tea downstairs at the pastor's house. After an hour or so, a falafel and hummus meal (with fool, beans, and babagnoush) was served around a table, There were no plates, everyone tore off pieces of pita bead, flat bread, or raised bread and scooped whatever they wanted into the bread. It was a very nice late night meal.
Meanwhile Claire met with some other English teachers and went to a female student's house. She had an amazing time.
Painting
Today was our first day painting. It was a very Jordanian experience. They are not as linear and task oriented as we are. We are helping the people we met in Marj do a service project at one of the government schools. It is a boys' school. The rooms are very bare, and the walls were a mess. We completely finished two large classrooms and have two others prepped for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Kim and Claire went visiting with one of the workers here and had a good time.
Tomorrow we are all going a'painting!
Michael

Escape to Aqaba

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:37:00 +0000

Hi friends!
We were blessed with a trip to Aqaba, the Jordanian seaport on the Red Sea. It is absolutely gorgeous there! (But very hot. more than 105 F.) Some friends met us there and we went to a big bbq on the beach in the evening. Click on the title and the link should take you to a slide show with captions. We were able to relax, but also to meet other Americans who are teaching English like we are. The trip was a real blessing to us, even if we were gone only 40 hours.
We got a cultural experience on the bus ride back. The busses were uncomfortable anyway, but about two hours into the ride back, a commotion arose in the back of the bus. Apparently a smoking stop was overdue, but we were running late, so the bus driver kept going. There was chanting from the back, the concessions woman went back to quiet things and was apparently jeered. This all took place in Arabic, so I am guessing. As soon as the woman returned to the front about 12 men lit up simultaneously. The bus driver came on the intercom, but that seemed to just add to the noise. Finally, he pulled over, everyone except us piled out of the bus and smoked. There was another commotion right before we got back. But everyone survived.
Thanks for praying for us!
Michael

Update - A Week of Teaching

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:21:00 +0000

Yesterday we finished the second week of teaching and the last week of the first ssession. All of us felt much more comfortable with our classes this week. We had a lot of opportunities to meet with students outside of class. On Sunday all of the Simpson students went out to a coffeeshop with a couple of students to watch the EuroCup football (soccer) final. They had a great time hanging out, even if the shop had a "fog of smoke" hanging inside.

I ended my class yesterday by thanking my class for how much they have taught me! They genuinely appreciate that I want to learn about their culture and help Americans understand Arabic culture.

There is a lot of smoking in Jordan. I think I will receive about 10 years worth of California standard second-hand smoke exposure before I return to the US. Taxi drivers sometimes smoke, bus drivers, I have even seen cooks preparing food smoking in the kitchen.

One of the reasons we are here is to get to know Jordanians, and now all of us are flooded with invitations. Claire connected with her class so well, that most of her class is going to chip in money, rent a bus, and take all of us up north to Umm Qays (link) for an all day picnic on Friday, July 11th. We are excited about this. I've lost track of all of the invitations the team has accepted. Kim and I are going to meet with two students next week, and with an astronomy professor on Tuesday evening. Kim and Claire are going out with a worker here and a student this evening at 6. So the days and especially the evenings are getting very busy.

Aqaba & Customer Service

(I don't even notice that 'q' isn't followed by 'u' anymore!) I went down to the bus station to buy tickets on Tuesday. Micah & walked in and the man at the desk did not seem to interested in talking to us. When I asked to buy tickets to Aqaba, he said they don't go to Aqaba. This confused me since one of the workers here told me they did. He wasn't very friendly, so we left.

I was told that sometimes the customer service is bad here in Jordan, so we went across the street to an office. My observtion is that here if you keep asking people you can eventually find anything. So I asked about tickets to Aqaba, even though this office clearly wasn't a transportation company. Everyone joined in and told us the bus office we just left DID got to Aqaba, and even told us the price, $6 JD (about $9 US). So I went back over. This time a different man was also at the desk, and he said they went to Aqaba, and started to sell me the tickets. Meanwhile, the first man was arguing with him. Go figure! Anyway, I couldn't buy the tickets because I needed all of the passports. (Apparently, when you travel outside the Amman area, you may need passports because of checkpoints.) I went back yesterday and bought the tickets without a problem. The first man did come out of the back and give me a dirty look, though.

So, tomorrow morning we leave for Aqaba, the beautiful beach town on the Red Sea. We will also get to visit a community center at Aqaba that teaches English, and does other educational work in the community.

Two last notes: we are trying to Americanize Luke. Here he is last night trying to look American. I say, good try, old chap! Now, if we can break Luke of saying "Cheerio!" we'll be making progress. ;^) Also, yesterday was my birthday (35, but I think I'm dyslexic.) Here is my birthday brownie at Fuddruckers.

Grace and peace,

Michael

Visiting, Jerash, and Ajlun

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 06:28:00 +0000

Visiting

We were able enjoy some Arab hospitality this weekend. First, on Thursday night Jackson and I took up Raid's offer to call him anytime, and wwe met him downtown, and he took us on a walking tour of the downtown. He is very nice. He kept saying, "Next time we will..." We talked as we walked and ate knafa, a super sweet, traditional dessert. It was humbling to realize that Raid gave up watching EuroCup soccer to spend the evening with us.

On Friday, the whole team went down to the souf (market) Al Abali, the largest market in Amman. It was like a three block long garage sale. Then we did a lot of walking through the downtown, ending with a meal at Hashem's, one of the best-known falafel & hummus places. In the evening the guys went out with a couple of students, saw a movie, and hung out for several hours. So I am thankful we are getting to know some of our students and see the cultural first-hand.

Jerash

We atarted early, 7:15 AM, for a visit to two great archaeological site near Amman: Jerash and Ajlun. Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Mideast. Our friend Akef drove four people and three of us, Kim, Jackson, and I, took the bus. First Akef arranged a taxi to take us to the bus station, then he met us there and then met us there to make sure we got on the right bus. The taxi ride was about 10 minutes and cost $3 JD (I think we were over charged), and the one hour+ bus ride cost $0.75 each. The bus had cramped seat, was hot, and smokers, but it is the way most Jordanians would travel.

Akef dropped us off at Jerash at 9:00 AM and said he thought it would take four hours. I thought to myself, "How could we spend four hours at a ruins?" Once I saw the site, I was amazed. The enclosed site stretched for a mile, I think, and was full of collumnades, and huge ruins. We saw a hippodrome (track for horse & chariot racing), two ampitheaters, three large arches, at least six churched, an multiple Roman temples, and a bath. It really was spectacular!

I've included several pictures, and more are at this link. After visiting the ruins, we ate a Jordanian meal and headed for the castle of Ajlun.

Ajlun

Ajlun was a castle built by the nephew of Salah al-Din (Saladin), one of the Islamic heros in defending Palestine again the Crusaders. We repeated the Akef & bus relay to the town of Ajlun, and took a taxi up to the castle. It is huge and can be seen for tens of miles since it is on top of a peak. I was thinking, "How could this compete with Jerash?" Well, it was different, and spectaclar in its own right. In contrast to how hot it was in Jerash and on the ride to Ajlun, the breezes and height made for a cool combination. Ajlun is a boy's dream of castle! We spent a couple of hours climbing stairs, looking through arrow slits, in dark interior chambers, and up on the top. The views were spectacular.

The Town of Ajlun

Akef's car was leaking water from the radiator when he dropped us off at the castle. While we were at the castle, he got it fixed in town. When he picked us up, it was leaking again, so we went back to the town. We walked down to the bus station and saw a huge line of people. They were all waiting for busses back to Amman. The town was a very cultural experience. I didn't see any other Westerners. All but a few of the women wore headscarfs. The town was buzzing and the market was very active. Saturday evening is the end of the weekend here in Jordan. Extended families are very close here in Jordan, so many people spend their weekends traveling and visiting families. The huge line was all of the people returning to Amman for the workweek. Later, while I was reflecting on the day, I realized that we were probably the few people of our faith in the entire town.

Thank you for praying for us,
Michael

British versus American

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:12:00 +0000

As you know, Luke is from England and the rest of us are from the USA. Here are two pictures contrasting the clothing and posture of Luke and Micah relaxing in the apartment.

Viewing the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:57:00 +0000

I want to mention that if your e-mail is not getting the pictures, you can go directly to http://sujordan.blogspot.com and see the whole blog.

Food & Money

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:42:00 +0000

Food

I bet you guys are going to think all we do is eat! Well, we do three or four times a day. This is a picture from lunch yesterday. I cooked the meal, but Kim was the brains behind it. It was Chicken with Risoni, Rice, and Chickpeas. The team raved about it. The first picture is our team and Micah N eating in the apartment, the second is a close up of the meal. Jackson thought it was the third best meal he's had here in Jordan.

Money

It is always interesting to compare money from different countries. Here is a picture of some local currency. The bills fortunately does have the amount written in our style on the backside.

We are about to head down to the big market, or souk, at Al 'Adbali. It is huge and it is held only on Fridays.

Michael

Late Night Eating

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Tonight, like most of the other evenings,we taught at the center from 7PM until 9PM and then ate our evening meal. Our "main" meal is around 2PM in the afternoon. So far the families of the full time workers here have served us our afternoon meals. We are very thankful to them for lasgna, chicken divan, chili, meatball sandwiches (today).

This sets us up to be hungry late, after our classes are over. Tonight, the suggestion was we go out for kebob. Our host suggested we ask our students for place. I asked Zaid and Lina, a brother and sister in my advanced class, for a kofta place. Zaid's cousin drove Claire, Lina, and Jackson, and Zaid rode with us in a taxi to the restaurant, and even paid the fare!

The kofta was great! The five of us ate most of a kilo and a half (5 pounds) of mixed chicken & meat, pita, & hummus. Look at Jackson enjoying his food! That dude can eat! When he meets a good meal, he is on fire! Well, we are enjoying the food here in Jordan.

By the way our normal schedule usually starts at 10AM, and we seldom get to bed before midnight.

Grace and peace,
Michael

Getting More Comfortable

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:35:00 +0000

Yesterday the classes went more smoothly for all of us. I told Luke that teaching is a relationship, so the better you get to know your class, the smoother it will run. It is fun watching the relationships develop before class and during break. Jordanians are eager to learn English, so many show up early for class and hang out at the coffee shop. Kim and I have talked the last two days with a man and his neice. They are Orthodox Christians. The young lady is getting engaged in a few weeks and will move to the US soon. Kim has also talked with an other woman who has a doctorate in pyschology and works with the disabled. She invited Kim to come and live with her, but Kim did not take up her offer. I'm thankful for that! ;^) The culture here is very friendly and hospitible. I know Jackson also was invited to someone's place this weekend.

All of the classes used Family Relationships as the theme yesterday. We certainly came up with some BIG cultural differences between Jordanian/Arabic families and families in the US. In my class, Luke and I split the class into two groups after the break for discussion. My group, as it turned out, consisted of 9 batchelors! They range from a mid-twenties restaurant worker to a late thirties manager. The first and last discussion question was "How do families in Jordan differ from families in the US?" The group immediately agreed that families in Jordan are much closer than US families. I pointed out that in the US we value independence and privacy much more than in Jordan. A lot of the discussion was on older parents. I described my own parents transition from owning a house, to renting a house in an independent community with meals, to an apartment in the community. They asked why my parents weren't living with me or one of my sisters. I told them that my parents don't want to live with us. They value their independence and privacy.

Next I describe independent living facilities and nursing homes. They were surprised and said in Jordan it would be a horrible shame on the whole family if an elderly parent lived in a nursing home. They would never put a parent in such a facility. It would bring shame on the family. They said it is common for a parent to die at home surrounded by family. At this point I got very emotional as I said "In your country people grow old and die surrounded by family, but in the US people often die alone in a hospital." These men were very sympathetic and comforting to me. It was very bonding for our group.

By the way, the Oasis Coffee Shop is running now. Claire drew up the menu on a blackboard. I've included picture of it.

After class we had a typical late night dinner at Hashem's, the "best hole-in-the-wall restaurant" according to one of our hosts. Some of us took a taxi and the rest rode with Akif. We all loved the food: hummus, falafel & pita with babaganoush and fuul an the side. If you want to try it, grab a taxi and tell them "seventh circle McDonalds." You can either cross the street from there or point for the taxi driver. It is a half block up the busy side street on the right with the red neon lighting around the windows.

Thanks for remembering us in your prayers!

Michael

Our First Day Teaching

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:21:00 +0000

Saturday
Saturday was a preparation day. We spent time going over lesson plans and gathering some things for the classes. There are four levels. Jackson & Micah are teaching the B1, or lowest beginning level, Claire is teaching the B2 level by herself, Kim is teaching the Intermediate level by herself, and Luke and I are teaching the advanced level.

At 6:00 PM we went over to a couple's house two buildings away for a cookout. They are full time workers here. Both are finishing Arabic language study. Arabic is a difficult language to learn, so those who want to work here in Arabic devote their first two years of full time work just to learning the language.

We ate with them and two other couples who work here full time. A Jordanian, MaHer, also joined us. It was late, like after 10:00, before we returned to the apartment. These times are very good for our team because we are getting a very good feel for what it is like to live and work here in Jordan. I also had a discussion with MaHer (This is not a misspelling. The "H" means you heavily aspirate the "h" sound. Arabic has two different "h" sounds!) When he found out I am a physicist, it led to many questions about the Big Bang, string theory, and the like. He is a translator, so he asked questions occasionally about fine points of English grammar and idiom.

Sunday
The first day teaching was a learning experience for all of us. All of us except Kim went through our prepared lesson plans much faster than we anticipated. One of the activities was "Tell about a bad day you had." We anticipated funny stories about a bad day. We got many of those humorous stories, but also some tragic stories. A couple of the groups switched to "Good day" stories.

I think all of us had good conversations in the evening, either before class or during the 20 minute break. Kim had one student tell about his best day as "The day I became a good Muslim". She told us this story during our nighttime debrief. It made us realize that some of these stories can be very similar to our own faith stories. After class the students left very quickly. One car stopped and picked up schwerma for everyone. We met back at the apt. and debriefed for about an hour.

Today we will spend more time planning. We have a better feel for how the classes will go.

Thank for remembering us!
Grace and peace,

Michael

Where in the world is our team?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:13:00 +0000

Click on the title and you'll see the apartment building we are living in. From there you can zoom out and around! Here is a closeup.

The sky is beautiful here. I took the picture below from Kim & I's bedroom at about 5:00 AM this morning. (I still wake up early due to jet lag, I guess.) You can the moon (waxing gibbous, for my astronomy students) about to set and if you click on the picture and zoom you can see the tents of the Bedouin family that grazes sheep and goats in the field behind our apartment.

Enjoy!

Thursday & Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:27:00 +0000

Hi Friends,

THURSDAY

Thursday the main events were a tour of old Amman, and worshipping with the Second Circle Alliance church.

A Jordanian, Akif, has become a friend of our team. Thursday afternoon he gave us a tour of the Roman ruins in the old part of Amman. We took a local bus down to the center of town. Riding the bus was a good cultural experience. We heard in our cultural briefings that the Arab culture honors women, especially if they are "covered" and older people. (By covered they mean with any kind of head scarf. We see some women with most of their faces covered, but most just cover their hair.) At one stop two women in head scarfs and long dresses got on. The "boy" who collects fares pointed at a grey-hired man (not me!) to get up so the women could have the seat. He got up and the women sat down. The chain reaction continued when a younger man got up and gave his seat the the older man. This is a very typical occurance.

The Roman ampitheater is an amazing bowl rising up the side of a hill. The seats and steps are all marble, slick in some places, replaced in others. When we were there they were preparing for a concert that eveneing, so lights, sound equipment, orchestra chairs, and a grand piano were all arranged throughout the ampitheater. How many 2000 year old venues do know of in the United States that are still being used?

We taxied up to the top of the hill where some columns are standing on top of a massive limestone wall. Later we were told that people believe that this wall was the site of Uriah dying in battle when King David wanted to take Bathsheba as his wife.

In the museum at the top there were artifacts from the stone age to the Ottomans. The highlight for us was seeing close up fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls!

In the eveing we attended the main service of the Second Circle Alliance church. They were sending off an Iraqi family that had been members of the church for 8 years. They were emigrating to the US - Virginia. After the service, we talked with church members before heading out for pizza and home.

FRIDAY

Yesterday the big event was an afternoon picnic in the hills east of Amman and hearing the story of a precious brother who has suffered for his faith. It was very moving and made me realize how easy things are for us in the US.

Earlier we went shopping at the City Mall. Since it was Friday, the holy day for the people here, all of the shops were closed except for the giant French store Carrefore. It was a great experience.

TODAY

Today we need to spend time getting ready for teaching. We will split up our team among the four classes andgo over lesson plans. Please pray specifically that those of us who haven't before will be prepared and confident as we face our students tomorrow.

Grace and peace,

Michael

Center Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:14:00 +0000

At the center last night Claire, Jackson, Micah, and Luke continued doing oral assessments to place students. The classes are all full. We will teach 7:00 - 9:00 PM (19:00 - 21:00 as they say here) . We will teach two levels of beginner levels, an intermediate level, and an advanced level. The lower levels have 15 students, and the advanced class has 18 students. We haven't decided yet who will teach which level. Two classes will have one instructor and two will have two of us teaching. Please pray as we decide how to split up the classes. Since the classes are conversational, large classes make it hard to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak.

Also, I (Michael) have an additional task. Another college student, Micah N, is doing a business internship for his degee program at University of Wisconsin. He is setting up a coffee shop in the center that will be open during class hours from 4:30 - 9:00 PM, Sunday through Wednesday. He needs help with the coffee, and I am the only person on our Simpson team who really likes coffee! Bummer ;^) So I spent part of the evening with Micah N getting the espresso machine to work, and other coffee-related tasks.

Kim spent most of the evening working on lesson plans She has a better idea of what the students are like now, so that helps. The picture is Kim workingon her eee Machine in the coffee shop.

All of except Kim had great opportunities to put our cultural orientation into action. Micah, Claire, Luke, and Jackson were more comfortable doing the oral assessments, and got into more significant discussion with students. For me, I was talking to (bothering?) Kim and she pointed out three men sitting on sofas. "Why don't you go down and talk to them?" I was nervous, but said one of those under-my-breath "Help me, Lord" prayers and approached them. Soon the three grew to six (all men, of course) and a fun conversation developed.

After the registration closed, and the students left, our team went outside to visit with some members of the Amman Alliance church. I got choked up when I introduced myself to Pastor Youssef. I had seen this precious man on Alliance videos. For me it was like meeting one of my heros. A faithful pastor in a country that is 98% of another faith.

We taxied back to the Guest House, had a great team debrief led by Jackson, and got to bed at midnight. Several of us popped awake around 3:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep, so we haven't fully overcome the jet lag yet.

Today we are getting a tour of Amman by a Jordanian brother.

We'd love to hear from you!

Grace and peace,

Michael

Our First Day at the Center

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Marhaba,

In our first day at the Center, we met the other team that will be teaching an early class, received orientation and spent two hours doing oral assessment to place students in English classes. We ate dinner at 10 PM at a lebanasnack restaurant. The chicken schwerma sandwich several of us had was great! Today we got another cultural orientation from one of the workers here. It's now 5:00PM and we're about to leave to do additional assessment tonight. There are about 60 students signed up now, many are advanced. That is exciting because we can engage those student deeper in conversation.

Peace and grace,
Michael

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Huster) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:36:00 +0000