Holidays with Family (and some cute babies!)

We just got back from the States in which we were able to celebrate a whole seasons worth of holidays in just two weeks!  We didn't get to see everybody we wanted to, and we'll still wish we were there on Christmas, but it is good to be back in our place.

Our first stop this trip was Connecticut where we celebrated a wedding (again), a first birthday and Thanksgiving.  As if this didn't keep us busy enough we also squeezed in some delicious Mexican food made with lots of love by our friend Jenny, a stop at the local watering hole the night before Thanksgiving to see the variety of locals, and a nice long walk in the woods.  We had so much fun playing with our nephew Atlas...or more so...following him around as he crawled and walked and explored the whole house.

I think after our many trips crossing time zones we've almost figured out how to beat the jet lag:  NyQuil and Red Bull.  I know - not the healthiest, but I don't think the body was made for time travel and when you only have a few days, you can't waste the best hours sleeping.  Oh..and baking at 630am.  If you can't sleep, might as well do something fun! I had a great time making him these really cute Sesame Street cupcakes...I won't tell you how long they took.  But if you'd like some - forget it.  This was probably a one time shot and only one other person in the world (right now) will ever get anything close to this.

The theme of the trip seemed to be babies!  In addition to Atlas, Paul's friend had a baby just days before we landed.  He was so small and looked just like his dad!  I admired him upstairs for a bit while his dad had band practice in the basement.  Live show!  It was pretty cool.

The next..and prettiest..baby was Allison Marie.  She has got to be the cutest little girl I've ever seen! (and she happens to look like me! :) )  Alli turned 5 weeks old while we were there and greeted me with a dirty diaper.  We met our niece during the second half of our trip in California where we spent a few days with my brother and sister-in-law.

When colleagues asked how my trip was I couldn't say fast enough: "Great! I met my niece! She is so cute!  She smiled at me!!!"  This is monumental because she is just starting to smile and I had played with her the night before.  In the morning as soon as she saw me she smiled. :)  Did I mention how adorable she is?

Besides the baby, I also got to see my entire immediate family in California!  My mom, dad, Paul and I cooked up a storm in the kitchen! They cooked, I poured flour all over the counter every hour and used up all of the butter.  Shawn and I read so many books to Alli and he was awesome just holding her and playing with her during tummy time.  Amy and I went to yoga.  That was the coolest yoga studio I've been to and blows anything I've seen in Israel so far out of the water.  It was really fun and I can't wait to go again next time I'm in Cali!  Dusty made some amazing waffles and gave us all a tour of the USS Midway.  We also snuck in a walk around the block, a trip to the zoo, and a few trips to the grocery store (the Salvation Army woman outside of the store made quite a pretty pen during my many mini-trips).

It was a super fun trip!  I wish we'd have had more time to hit up more locations and see more people.  On the bright side, we'll be back in March!

Jordan Part Three: A Lemon Scotch

A lemon scotch - it's a drink.  You've probably never heard of it.  It is the English translation of the Arabic translation of whiskey sour.  Let me start at the beginning.

One of my favorite and most interesting things to write about is cultural difference. You learn quite a lot in the first few hours and days within a new culture and my trip to Jordan to see Dusty was no exception.

As I noted in Part One of the Jordan "chapter," I was greeted with smiles as soon as I crossed into Jordan. I stopped in at the tourists information/police office before heading into to town to make sure I didn't get ripped off, or do something dangerous and stupid, or end up in Saudi Arabia. While we technically live in the Middle East, Israel (and Tel Aviv in particular) is nothing like its neighbors. (Exageration - it is clearly much like Jordan than Alaska is like Jordan, but Alaska and Israel are probably more similar than Jordan and Israel...but I digress!)

Where to start....the Middle East is not homogeneous.  If you read our post from Egypt on womens' clothing (see photo on the left) you would see that there are variations in the level of conservativeness within the Muslim communities in the Middle East (in addition to the other large communities that are other religions). Within some of the most conservative sects women are almost completely covered in black except for their eyes and must be accomapied by a male family member when leaving the house (our friend here refers to them as ninjas).  Dusty had alertered me that the women he had seen in Aqaba (which weren't many) all had their heads covered.  So you can see that a young white woman, traveling by herself, without her head covered might draw some attention. But I'd learned my lesson in Egypt and came prepared to try not to offend the locals by wearing conservative tops, pants and having my scarf ready to wrap around my head. I don't mind covering up because then I don't get as many stares, I look like a smart and informed Westerner and I secretly feel like Jasmin from the movie Aladin when she sneaks out to the market! 

I've told you all of this so that you can fully appreciate this story:

If my traveling solo without a head cover wasn't enough to offend the locals, my presence in a bar (Gasp!)and the audacity to order my own drink would (oh the promiscuity!). Not only does the Middle East lack to wonderful drinking culture of Germany (in that it is controlled and tasty and cultural), but Muslims don't drink alcohol. This translates into more than just a bar of only tourists.  Because there aren't locals in the bars they are less busy. Because they aren't busy, the bartenders make fewer drinks. Becuase they make fewer drinks, they aren't so good at it. Thus, my general rule is to stick to beer which may be watered down but it won't be vinegar like the local wine and it won't be an overpriced softdrink with a splash of alcohol.  But as long as I was breaking so many cultural rules just by being there - I figured I may as well go ahead and take my chances with a mixed drink.

"Can you make a whiskey sour?" This was a question, not my order. Are you CAPABLE? Do you know HOW? The eager bartender smiled and rushed around the bar consulting with his colleagues. "Yes!" was the enthusiastic reply 5 minutes later. The poor guy confused Jim Beam and Johnny Walker, mixeing one part scotch with one part lemon juice.  I don't know the recipe - but it involves whiskey, not scotch and I'm prety sure it is more than lemon juice or they'd call it a whiskey lemon.  He did shake it up and serve it over ice.  :)

The bar staff all watched as I took the first sip. Mmmm! According to my Flavor Bible (thanks Greg!) our perception of taste is equal parts a.) chemical reactions to flavors, b.) temerapture and c.) the emotional environment (think of Thanksgiving dinner - as long as the food is hot and you are with family you will remember it as being a great meal).  I don't know if it really tasted refreshing and great, or if the genuine effort by the staff to make us feel welcome and fact that I was having a drink with my big brother compensated for the taste.  Either way - I made the bartenders day when I ordered another and I was more than happy to sip a lemon scotch if it meant more time with my brother!

Jordan Part Two:

“Are you with the USS Debuque?” “Yes ma’am, we are.” “Is the doctor here?” “No, he isn’t. Are you hurt? I can get you help.” I was so anxious I could barely say the next line! “I’m his sister.” The anticipation had been mounting, I had made it to Aqaba and I would hug Dusty any minute!

One of the highlights of my trip to Aqaba was getting to see my brother in his environment.  Not that I didn’t think my big brother was awesome before, but man! You could tell by the way everyone talked to him that they really respect and look up to Dusty – well most of them have to because he is pretty much a big deal on that ship.

The ship is striking (I don’t mean beautiful).  Dusty’s room is TINY!!! And he shares it with 2 other guys – what’s worse: it is a room for 6! Most everything is metal painted gray with white or red markings.  The “stairs” are more like ladders and the whole thing is a maze.  But the ship does have some really cool aspects which I got to experience firsthand – like the Capitan’s chair, the helicopter, the hummer ambulance and officers' dining room!  (I didn’t actually drive, fly or rescue…but I did eat!)

I could recount every detail of those two days if you would like; I cherished every moment for each one was worth more than I can say. 

Jordan Part One: I'd Cross the Desert

In preparation for the long drive I did what I usually do:  make myself a mixed CD of my favorite songs which I will listen to approximately 10 times; 5 times on the way there, 2 times on the way home.  The Bird and the Bee (a band my friend Nick introduced me to) was featured on this trip. “Across the sea, the mountains, the desert / And if you need me, just call me.”  And then I smiled:  over the Ocean, through the mountains (and craters), across the desert, over the border and around the sea…I was on my way to see my big brother!  I did all of that, and I’d do it again!

Dusty is a doctor in the Navy and I couldn’t be more proud of him! He was deployed with the Marines in May and though his ship’s route has been unknown to the general public for security reasons, I had had my fingers crossed that he’d be heading my way.  After training foreign militaries and rescuing a German vessel, the ship pulled into the port of Aqaba, Jordan on the Red Sea.  For a month Dusty was sooo close! At one point he went to Mt. Nebo (where Moses saw the promise land) and could see Jerusalem in the distance…I was in Jerusalem that day.  How frustrating!

But now I was on my way to Aqaba and I was only hours away from seeing Dusty! I arrived at the Israel-Jordan border and parked my car in the gravel parking lot. After showing my passport to authorities I left Israel and walked about 50 yards in between two tall fences.  The Jordanians greeted me with smiles and quickly sent me on my way to South Beach where I checked into my hotel about 2 kilometers from Dusty’s ship.  I was like a kid on Christmas Eve that night, counting down the hours until I would see my brother.

“You could take the hotel service or – if you understand me deeply – you could go outside and get a cab.” I took my delicately frosted pumpkin cookie outside to flag a cab for the $3 ride.  Though it was only 2 kilometers, a lone white female with her head uncovered should not walk along the side of the desert highway. After 5 minutes in the 100 degree sun waiting for a cab, the frosting on Dusty’s cookie and my time with Dusty were melting away. I tried to exchange the cookie for a ride on a tour bus, but the tour guide wasn’t having it.  What was I to do? (I wouldn’t…not in the Middle East…would I?!?)

The small beach was packed with young marines desperately trying to get an internet signal to call their families, talking about how much they missed home.  To the left was Saudi Arabia, to the Right Israel, across the sea Egypt. And sitting there on plastic chairs on a beach in Jordan were two kids from Mansfield, Ohio. It is funny how government orders put the two of us so close together.

Its a Small World Afterall....

At least when you are abroad with the government - then the world seems smaller. We are currently watch the World Cup (Spain vs. Hondurs - half time and I couldn't want Spain to lose more). Usually we don't watch TV unless it is the news - and even then ESPN is not a channel we frequently watch.

But because of the World Cup we are tuned in more. And though we loved AFN before (see our post on the hilarious AFN commercials) - now we really really love them...and ESPN. While the game is not going as Jen would hope, this is the best game ever - because of the commentators and the commercials.

First, the ESPN commentator took a break from babbling about how Spain "deserves" another goal (apparently smacking the Honduran in the face and purposely kicking your free kick early to draw a yellow card on the other team....), anyway - he took a break to give a shout out to the "men and women serving abroad, watching this match on AFN." !!!  That is us!!! (Maybe he said "uniformed" but then it doesn't include us and I'm sure he didn't mean to leave us out.) It was exciting!

THEN!!!  Another great AFN "commercial" came on, updating us on another random U.S. military action around the world. This time it was a lovely little fleet of Marine/Navy ships that made a stop in Peleliu. They talked about the history of the island and showed a few shots of the 3 ships moving across the water. And I'm pretty sure I saw a beautiful shaved head on the deck. :)

This sounds boring...right? NOT WHEN IT IS YOUR BROTHER'S SHIP!!! AFN just featured Dusty's ship!!  Dusty was on TV!! Well..kind of.  Okay - so I didn't see him on the deck (it was a helicopter view) - but it was his ship!!!  Every time they interview a soldier, talk about a naval exercise or the Navy medics (which is surprisingly often) I rhetorically ask why it couldn't be Dusty - and they heard me! I hope they show that commercial again!

Israel is not so far away...

At the wedding reception we had a table with greeting cards and asked our friends and family to fill out a card and write a date on the back. On that date during the next year (this year, our first year away) we would open the card. We have gotten some really lovely messages and we look forward to those days when we get to open another card at breakfast. Last week one envelope read:
TO: Jen & Paul, Far Far Away

But Israel is not so far away. Especially if you have Skype. Now, this might sound like a Skype advertisement but I assure you they are not paying me for this. I wish they were. Every evening as we are making dinner Paul and I check to see who is on Skype. The usual suspects include our parents, Paul's brother, my cousin (though she never answers), my grandparents and 2 or 3 friends. We talk to those people quite often.

Moral of the story: if you miss us you should get on Skype! It makes the Atlantic seem like a puddle. For example: this weekend my mom and I had a one hour sewing lesson/date and my brother gave me a hug all the way from California! I had lunch/dinner with Greg in Brazil, a drink with my dad in Ohio, a chat with Jill in Wisconsin, with the Vaca family in Connecticut, with Alexandria in Florida, and coffee with my grandparents in Wisconsin.

Granted, it would be nice to sit next to my mom for the sewing lesson or actually feel my bother's arms instead of the hard computer monitor; but Skype is leaps and bounds above letters, phone calls or emails. And it is infinitely better than silence.

Assuming we had unlimited vacation time and money this is one example of why it is difficult to physically cross the Atlantic to see everyone: Paul might make it, but I'm not THAT strong of a swimmer. Haha, just kidding. Paul is having one heck of time trying to get home from a bachelor party right now. His "trip" home will end up being about...Sunday at 7pm until Wed at 3am - plus an 8 hour time change. You can do the math. It was not supposed to be this way, but this is how the mother nature, the human body and airlines work. Paul will write about this later and you'll understand what I mean.