Trip: Part 2

Day 3, which totally felt like day 2 since our first day last much longer then 24 hours....but anyways....we learned about the MCC Global Family University Loan program that is administered through Caritas Jordan.   Below are some photos from around Amman, just to help give a feel for what the city is like.

 Amman is built on seven mountains, so everything is up and down and the roads are curvy.  Lots of concrete, which made anything colorful stand out and seem more vibrant than normal.

 We met at the MCC office in Amman to learn about what Caritas is and how the University Loan program works.  Then we split up into two groups and each group met 3 families that participate in the program.

On the left is Nada, who works for MCC Jordan (she's worked for MCC for 21 years and did a great job translating for us) and on the right is Um Aala Hijazedin (which means mother of Aala Hijazedin).

Since Aala couldn't be there we visited with his mother and learned about their life.

 She served us Turkish or Arabic coffee (different places we visited called it one or the other)

and Jordan almonds and chocolate candies.  

 Friday's are Muslim holy days, like Sunday is for Christians, so the kids weren't in school and most businesses were closed.  These friendly faces were playing near our vehicles and were curious about us when they saw our cameras.

 All three of the families we visited were Christian families and they still had lots of Easter decorations displayed around their homes.

  Next we visited Noor Aghabi and her family.  She's wants to become a banker and to help support her family when she graduates from University.

 We were offered hot tea and coffee and more almonds and chocolate at Noor's house, too.

 Our final visit was to meet Amal and Arahim Hijazedin.  She's studying math and he's in his fourth year studying business administration and hopes to work in the business office of a hospital when he graduates.

 Cultural observations: Arabic is fascinating to listen to, children live at home until they get married, hospitality was abundant even when monetary resources were not, being a Christian in a Muslim culture is not easy and a far cry from the reality I live in the US.
We ate a late lunch at the MCC offices, learned from Daryl about the countries in the Middle East that MCC works with: Jordan, Palestine/Israel, Iraq and Iran.  Then we toured King Hussein Car Museum

 Surrounding the car museum was the King Hussein park, which was filled with families and beyond the park was more of the concrete jungle known as Amman.

 Hahahaha, below is Leigh holding down our napkins at the outdoor restaurant we ate supper at that night. Hashem's, a famous local eatery, has indoor seating and a great outdoor space too.  It wasn't windy, but a breeze kept swinging through and making our napkins fly away.

Hashem's is popular with locals because you can get falafel, humus, bread and tea for cheap.

 Below is fuul (fava bean paste) and it was much better than that description or the photo makes it sound/look.

 All these photos of food are making me hungry and thirsty for hot black tea with mint or sage.

The scripture we reflected on that day was Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein."

Oh, and remember the used clothing market outside our hotel?  Well, it from this:

to this:

Apparently, the vendors set up each week for a couple days and tear everything down, just to do the same thing again the following week.