Oh how I love flushing toilets.

Fact: The internet is being IMPOSSIBLE. I was going to upload a lot of pictures but it literally is taking a half hour to upload each picture, so I guess I will just talk about random things. Sorry for the lack of visual appeal. /:

So last Sunday I decided to sleep in for the first time while my roommates all got up for breakfast (7 am) and either went into the city or studied. I’m glad I got the rest, but when I woke up at 10 am by myself in the middle of the day… I. HATED. IT. It is incredible how much I learned about myself in that moment. I always thought I liked sleeping in and not having early-morning responsibilities but I’m learning that I kind of really like doing things in the morning and actually getting things done (shocker!). I seriously felt so lame for not getting up at the usual 6:30 and going to the usual 7 am breakfast. It’s crazy that I get up at 6 or 6:30 every morning here!! Often times we’ll be on a field trip and will have done so much and we’ll look at our watches and it’s only 10 and we’re just amazed at how much we’ve already done by then. I love it. Being productive is awesome. And I’m really glad I learned that about myself because it makes me not so terrified to get a big-girl job that requires me to be up early. (Haha. I am so weird.)

Jordan was great, and Petra was AWESOME. We went to Petra on Tuesday and it was seriously the best day ever. It was so refreshing to see something visually appealing! Our field trips are awesome but it’s not like studying abroad in Europe or something… we look at a lot of old rocks here. Haha. Significant, but old, rocks. :) It was so awesome to see something as GRAND and AMAZING as Petra. We saw the treasury first, and that’s where I first rode on a camel!! Just a 10 second ride for a few bucks, but it was awesome. Then we wandered around in our own little groups for a while, and a lot of us did the optional hike up to the monastery. SO GLAD I DID THAT. It was like 40 minutes and there were 800 steps on the way up (I. Was. Dying.), and I did it in Toms (Let’s not talk about the fact that I somehow decided to wear Toms that day. Haha.), but it was soooo worth it. The monastery is like a huger grander version of the treasury and it was INCREDIBLE. I wish we could have stared at it for hours but we had to hurry to lunch. And after lunch, 3 friends and I decided to fork up some more money (10 Jordanian dinars.. so about 15 bucks) to ride camels back to the meeting spot!! SO WORTH IT!! It was about a 15 minute ride and it was sooo fun. You move a lot more on a camel (like, your hips are having a party), and when we were trotting I was pretty sure my earrings were going to rip straight through my ears haha. But it was so awesome and so fun and so cool and SO WORTH IT. Oh Petra. That was such a fun and fulfilling day!!

The rest of Jordan was awesome as well. Staying in 2 different hotels was fun (when are hotels not fun?). It was funny having to remember not to ever get the tap water in our mouths... we used bottled water for everything (brushing teeth, drinking at meals, etc.) to avoid traveler’s diarrhea haha. So funny. Also, I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR FLUSHING TOILETS AND TOILET PAPER AND WATER PRESSURE. Seriously… It’s just hilarious. Having to carry toilet paper on us wherever we go, KNOWING that the toilet probably won’t flush… it’s just so funny. When we got back to Israel we were on cloud 9!!! Just knowing that the bathrooms in the JC wouldn’t give us trouble was like the best feeling ever. Home sweet home. Haha.

Other places we went in Jordan: Mt. Nebo (where Abraham was shown the promised land and where he was translated), Citadel of Amman, Jabbok river (where Jacob wrestled with the angel), Jaresh (So cool! One of the best preserved Roman cities), the Royal Automobile Museum (SO random, but cool… I got pics of Porsches for you dad! ;) also they’re obsessed with the king in Jordan… his face is plastered everywhere, it’s hilarious), and THE JORDAN RIVER (Um, yeah. Just the place where Christ was baptized. What? Okay. Awesome.). It had been so rainy and cold the day we were going to the Jordan River… I was sad that it would be like that when we went… but (as we learned in class), the river is in the “rain shadow” where the rain clouds disappear because the ground is so low, and the clouds only form again up in the hills. So when we went, it was sunny and beautiful and warm enough to take my jacket off. And it was great. ♥ I just wish we could have stayed longer.

I’m sitting in the student lounge up in the loft area, and a bunch of people below me are watching The Best Two Years. :) It’s funny hearing them crack up at everything. There have been and will continue to be SO MANY MISSION CALLS ISSUED HERE!! We had SIX this last week, and four of them were girls. It is CRAZY how many 19-20 yr old girls here are getting their calls this semester. (For those that don’t know, in October the age to serve missions was lowered from 19 to 18 for boys and from 21 to 19 for girls… HUGE change in the church and an extremely exciting time for Latter-day Saints!! Sooo many 19 year old girls are JUMPING on the opportunity to serve missions now.) This last week calls were made to Japan, Romania, Taiwan, Minnesota, the Baltic mission, and FIJI!!! Yeah. It is pretty awesome and we’re all freaking out. There’s a little joke here that all the girls are either planning on serving missions or have a serious boyfriend at home. It’s kind of funny. I feel like this is such a unique semester, but I’m glad to be a part of it.

We already have midterms this week. It makes me sick to think how much I have to study, but it makes me happy knowing that we’re halfway done with like 3 or 4 of our classes!

I’m so glad I decided not to bring my iPhone with me.

I’ve started a “That Awkward Moment When…” section in the back of my little journal that I take everywhere I go (The one you gave me Sadie!! It’s perfect!!). It’s basically the best thing of my life and I can’t wait to share some entries with you.

We watched Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade last night. :) I FINALLY get why people always referenced that when I said I got to go to Petra, haha. We all squealed like school girls when that scene played and I’m already a little sad knowing that I probably won’t ever go back in my life. Crazy, huh? But I guess you really never know. :)

Well… I think I'll go catch the end of The Best Two Years now. I love you guys! And thank you soo much for your comments - they are as good as warm hugs. :)

~Jennie