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11/27/06
Well I don’t know if all this show of military force on the streets and in the air is because the president is coming. but I was talking with my friends and they said that if the president came up to them, they would shake his hand not out of respect but out of fear of what their government would do to them. I thought that was interesting. They also cleared out Ramadan. They took all of the street vendors away and now ragadon runs a lot smoother. Someone told me that the police just clear them out ever once in a while just to clear it out. I give it till morning and I bet the first ones will be out there again. I wonder about the guys I would get coffee from. I hope they are still there. They let me have a cup for half price. I wonder about something else. When foreign dignitaries come to visit the King, they put the visiting country’s flag all over the place with the Jordanian flag too. I wonder if they will put up the American flag. But, Mr. Bush, if you want one of the best shwarmas while you’re here, just go to 2nd circle and get a beef shwarma. Now that would be a wild public appearance: the president eating at a local stand.

11/24/06
Well I got to use my new grill to make steaks. We had some friends over and Roomy was a bit scared that it wouldn’t work but I proved him wrong. They turned out great and that is what I did for a real Thanksgiving. Then today I went for a great party with a bunch of other Americans. We did my family tradition of a Blessing Jar. (You write something you are thankful for, put it in the jar, then take turns picking one out, reading it and try to guess who wrote.) It was fun. Then we watched the Lions and the Dolphins play and since two Texas Tech guys were on the Dolphins I rooted for them. There were a few Texas guys on the Lions so the other Texans rooted for them. And what do you know– the Dolphins won. Go Tech. After that we watched a movie “Mst3000 Manos Hands of Fate.” Let’s just say it isn’t the best comedy. At least now I have seen one and understand the jokes. After that we played trivial pursuit and had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it I think not just for the food or what we did but because we all understood each other and there were no odd cultural faux pas. It was just a comfortable setting with people easy to relate to. I just really like being with people.

11/21/06
Well now that I have an actual home, I am proud to say I am using it. I have had friends over, and I have cooked a few times– not just bachelor meals like noodles. For instance, today I stuffed bell peppers with meat potatoes and onions and served it with pinto beans, hot sauce and roasted green chiles. It was great. I hope to do more and have more people over.

I am also moving up in this world. I was privileged enough to serve on our recent Board of Review. I was honored by this and hope to be a great example for the boys. The only problem is I don’t remember what questions were asked me from my Boards of Review for my own advancement.

11/14/06
Well I am not sure about where I’m living when wire nuts are considered technology. I went into a couple of electrical stores and finally a guy said to me, “Listen. Wire nuts are technology; we don’t need them when tape works. Why would we use that technology?” I guess that’s all you can expect from a place where you sit in class in lawn chairs.
I also made hot sauce today but not with a blender–with a cheese grater. And don’t tell my roommate; after I was done I found half of my finger nail rubbed away.

11/13/06
Well I guess I should say something about the election seeing as it was or is going to be a turning point in my country’s history and it will affect me here were I live. It is a great thing being a Democrat here in this part of the world. Everyone loves me because I am not “with” Bush. He is a Republican and a funny thing is they love Clinton and Carter. They have the best reputations here. I just wonder what is going to happen when a Democrat gets elected. What am I going to say? Another thing they say is, “We love the American people but we hate the government.” I don’t think they understand that our government is a representation of us. We voted them in. The decisions they make mean the consequences fall on our heads and the glory of the man is just a representation of us. Yeah, history might just refer to a person but it was the people who put him in power. So when they say that, I just sit back and say “ok” and give that head nod. But anyway enough of this political stuff.

The house is coming along quite nicely, and I built my self a propane grill. It is great. At first I had way to much gas going to it; like a flame thrower. Then I got some things that just let a little gas go out, and now it is working great. I just want to go and buy some meat, meat and more meat.

11/8/06
Well, today was a fun but unproductive day. I went to class and had a lot to do including study, when a friend invited me to watch some aggressive driving–like if somebody is shooting at you how to get away and things like that. So we watched the class do a backwards 180, and then they took me for a ride. We did a few little spins and it just reminded me of what we use to do in the gravel parking lot at school. They wanted me to do it, but for some reason I felt like I shouldn’t. So I just rode. I asked there about getting a scooter and found out the first thing I must do is get a resident’s visa instead of just a tourist’s. Then no problem; I can get one easily. Well it took much longer to watch all this, and finally I convinced them to let me leave. They said they would drop me off at the new coffee bar where I’m working. They took me as far as 5th circle and then said, “Oh, grab this bus. It will take you right to it.” Well, it didn’t. If I had just jumped in a cab I would have made it on time, but the bus took us somewhere I have never been. When we finally got off we had to walk about 15 min so needless to say I was late and might as well not have shown up, but I wanted to meet another friend and go back home. It took us one hour to get a cab just to get home. That’s how long we would have waited at the bus station anyway. So by the time my friends left I went to bed and didn’t get much accomplished today but did get to go on a joy ride.

11/6/06
I was walking to school the other day and saw a funny thing. The schools pick their kids up in vans (buses too but mostly vans). They just drive around the neighborhood, open the back hatch door and the kids just jump in the back. You should see it go up a hill and all the kids hanging on for dear life.

I also went to try and buy a hammer drill. I didn’t want to buy a cheap one that might not last. So I decided to go with a brand name like a DeWalt. I had worked with a DeWalt in Mexico and loved it. I also worked with a Makita but knew they were expensive. I decided to visit a store that had a lot of things like that. It was out in East Amman which was just a bus ride away. I had a 2×4 with me about a meter long and I noticed as I walked along, people didn’t give me as much smack as they do when I’m walking all by my lonesome with my backpack really standing out like a foreigner. So I just walked all the way. Anyway I tried a few stores with no battery powered ones. Cords are so restricting here. Finally I find a store that doesn’t have what I want but is willing to tell me the price. They said they could have it tomorrow and asked what I wanted to pay. It ended up being priced at 170 denares. That’s like 250 dollars. Whoa! So I asked how much for the cord. 120 dollars. Okay, maybe, but not DeWalt, I said. He also had a Black and Decker for 150 dollars and 90 dollars. That was a little better. Maybe. Feeling luck is with me, I asked, “How much for the Makita?” 500 dollars. Wow. I don’t even want to know the price on a Makita with a cord. Then I pointed at a green generic brand you would never trust. 20 dollars. With a cord? 9 dollars. I looked at him kindly and said, “Well I am going to have to think about this one.” They didn’t have any deals like buy a drill and a saw with other things. So that stinks. I was wanting to buy a drill and a saw for the prices they were giving me for one.

I found some cheaper Dr. Pepper there, but it was bottled in the UK. So I am suspicious it won’t be as good.

11/3/06
Well today was a great day. I went with the Boy Scouts on a day hike and all of the families were invited. It was nice. We went to a wadi which is a valley. This one had hot springs and usually there is water in it. So we walked about half way to the Dead Sea, about 4 miles and 4 miles back to the cars. Where we went was a water fall and man is that thing strong or what? I never knew the power of falling water. It makes sense, now that I think about it, because some of the original factories ran on hydropower, if I am not mistaken. Any way the hike was beautiful. There were ferns and moss growing everywhere. It was a lot like the hike to the box canyon at Camp Haynes, but with date palm trees. About half of the time it was like the narrows south of my home town. It was beautiful. We got done and the cars were where the hot springs started. It was odd. You could feel the water getting warmer and warmer the closer we walked up river to the hot springs. It was interesting. Jordan built a lot of touristy stuff around the hot springs hoping to bring more people, but after 2000 and the intafada, it never recovered. They built around the hot springs and made it nice but the problem now is the shabab, or young hoodlums, who have taken over. As you might imagine, it is not in the best shape now. At one time I am sure it was very nice but now the young guys just sit around all of these ruins or hot springs hanging out smoking seasha and drinking tea and littering. It was interesting today too because I got caught up in a discussion on economics. The person I was talking with said we don’t need to bring tractors here, “it would only make the rich richer and the poor would not have anything to do.” But, I countered, if you brought a tractor here then you would have extra guys with time on their hands. They could do upkeep on the hot springs. That would encourage more tourists, which would bring more money which would help the economy. Well I guess it depends on how you look at it. Whether you have faith in mankind that it will try to work hard and better himself versus whether you think all men are just bad at heart and once he receives a handout he won’t do any thing. I can see what they mean. I just hope mankind will try to better himself. If not– then what are we doing?