The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

Kiterunner was somewhat of an impulse purchase and impulse read; I had seen it “around” on store shelves, bestseller lists, and had recently noticed it on an Advanced Placement English reading list. So, my curiosity got the best of me when I noticed a lone copy left on the Middle East display table of a new, local bookstore. It’s not as if I needed another book to read right now (see sidebar) but as I thumbed through it I could tell it would be a quick read, and though I don’t read many recently published novels these days, I did want to know what all the acclaim was about. How easily I forget The DiVinci Code.

With over 2000 reader reviews logged at Amazon, The Kite Runner hardly needs another one, but I'll go ahead and add my two cents, mostly because I'm not very good at reviewing books and need some practice.

Reading the coming of age story of Amir, a privledged Afghani living in Kabul inthe 1970s, was not without pleasure. Hosseini writes as an insider and I enjoyed reading descriptions based on childhood memories of his homeland. I also felt like a bit of an insider myself as I found I was able to understand most of the Farsi transliterations, being closely related to Arabic and the Eastern themes of shame and honor, amongs others, were not hard for me to relate to. Additionally, a significant part of the novel is set in Fremont, California, the city I lived in from 1975-1978; the author's mention of Lake Elizabeth, Washington Boulevard, Ohlone Junior College and the San Jose Flea Market sent me waxing nostalgic.

The Literary Review says of Hosseini and The KiteRunner: "His description of Amir's relationship with Hassan is beautifully nuanced, and the moment of Amir's ultimate betrayal is genuinely shocking." Now this is a comment I can agree with. Though meant to be an endorsing comment, as it is in the back of the book, and while I have other positive and negative things to say about this book, the shocking moment of ultimate betrayal is the where the book lost it charm for me--though I admittedly read to the end.

As I said, I don't read many current bestsellers so perhaps this sort of graphic description of the violation of a child is not unusual. It was heartbreaking to read but even more heartbreaking, to me, was the thought that young people are encouraged to read this book. I know these kinds of things and worse happen in our fallen world every day, but I can't believe that reading about them in this way does anything to develop the moral imagination of our youth. Or, of mine.

As for the rest of the book, the beginning, other than the betrayal, was an enjoyable enough read, though not great literature, to be sure, however by the last half of the book the plot had become predictable and implausible. Many reviewers mention, in some way, the theme of redemption--unfortunately the protaganist is his own redeemer and he is not quite up to the task.

First Rain

Though it's not the first day of fall it finally feels like fall; after six plus months of clear blue skies and nary a drop of precipitation, last night the lightening bolted, the thunder clapped, and the rain poured forth. The children (even the teenagers!) went running through the house with smiles on their faces, opening windows and shutters so as to enjoy the full effect of the cool, blustery weather. Tayta (youngest daughter) remarked that she was enjoying the smell of...wet dust. Well, we do have a lot of dust accumulated here, and it is wet.

So now begins the days of sweaters, soups and homemade bread, getting back into the garden to work, and olive harvest. They are welcome days.

October Mottoes (from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady):

'A Good October and a good blast, to blow the hog, acorn and mast.'

'In October dung your field , and your land it's wealth shall yield.'

~October clouds enjoyed just before sunset~

Sweet~

I know, lots of pictures lately but this one was too sweet to skip. These are two of four kittens being raised around our yard. We have lots of strays in our neighborhood and their presence is only encouraged by two open dumpsters sitting on the vacant lot across from our house. It is unusual to see a litter of kittens of this age so healthy and clean, still being cared for by their mother. Someday soon they'll join the ranks of the "dumpster cats" but for now, they're awfully cute.

Bird ID

Our feathered friend, this time with a name, thanks to a friend who ID'ed it for me. Turns out it isn't a migratory bird but is indigenous to the region:

~ Nectarina Osea~
Palestine Sunbird

Fall Lily

~Urginea maritima~
"Sea Squill"

Having received no precipitation since around April, the arid landscape of soil, rocks and dehydrated flora now presents itself in variegated shades of tan. The fall-blooming white Squill, whose thick, waxy green foliage has long ago dried up, is barely discernible against this neutral backdrop but I was on the look out for it since I had observed it blooming in a particular vacant lot last fall. I hadn't planned to take a night shot but since the vacant lot is in a busy neighborhood, I decided that 'iftar (the time of fast-breaking during Ramadan) would be an opportune time to take my pictures--no one would be outside to notice a goofy foreign woman traipsing around a vacant lot taking pictures of weeds.

Winged Migration

I heard a lovely but unfamiliar bird song from the open back bedroom window this morning; when I peeked out I saw this beautiful bird flitting amidst the grape leaves. Ran to my bedroom. Grabbed the camera. Ran softly through the house and into the backyard. One of the many stray cats which roam our yard had already arrived on the scene--and I don't think he came to admire the beauty of this aviary specimen! Now, here is where my inexpensive telephoto lens comes in handy. The bird stayed around for another 10 seconds or so and was gone. Later in the day, Younger son reported sighting a very small bright yellow bird but unfortunately by the time he got outside with the camera, it was gone.

I'm sorely lacking in my bird identification skills (I really just need to buy the $30 field guide) but Dear Husband says that based on its beak it may be a bee-eater. That makes sense, especially since the bird was flitting amidst the grape vines and the few over-ripe grapes that are left hanging have been attracting bees.

Winter is coming (though you'd never guess it by the still-hot temperatures), which means millions of birds are migrating from Europe to Africa; approximately five million migratory birds fly over Jordan, Israel, and Palestine annually. Though most do not make their path over Amman, we are sometimes fortunate to observe a few of these migrating wonders. Once, while waiting in traffic I saw a flock of pelicans fly overhead!

Meanwhile, inside the house, we are enjoying the wonders of David Attenborough's nature dvds. Fascinating! All of his series are brilliant and not to be missed. Really.



The Life of Birds David Attenborough

Summer Softball Redux

Though we've now moved on to fall soccer, fond memories of summer softball were rekindled by my good friend's article which appeared in the lastest issue of the English language magazine Luxury. The first part of the article will give you a good idea of how the softball league came about and why my guys value and enjoy their participation in it. I'll intersperse a few pictures I took for the article.

"Ramadan is a time for remembering those less fortunate, identifying with their poverty and their pain. But a diverse and creative group of Jordanians and expatriates have found a way to make the generous giving of zakat a ball."


"The Amman Softball League (ASL), a league for adults held by the Amman Little League Association (ALLA), has been partnering with a Jordanian charity called Gift of Life Amman (GOLA) to raise money to provide underprivileged Jordanian and Iraqi children with life-saving heart surgery. In just over a year's time, GOLA has helped save the lives of 14 children.

Since its first season in 2005, ASL has raised more than JD 10,000 for ALLA and GOLA. Hemude Sartawi, Softball Coordinator for the past three seasons said, 'We wanted to find a worthy cause to support, and who can say no to dying babies? We hope that those we help today will grow up healthy and will themselves become volunteers someday.'


In a perfect blend of synergy and serendipity, the first Softball Coordinator, Brent Faulkner, was a police trainer with the Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC). One of the Jordanian employees had a baby boy, Adam, who need prohibitively expensive heart surgery. Through several fund-raising events, including the Winter 2007 ASL season, Adam's surgery costs were covered and a new passion for helping at-risk babies was born in the hearts of softball players. Nearly two years prior to that, it was JIPTC, by fielding two of the original six ASL teams, which ensured the successful launching of the league.

Some may be surprised that the favorite sport of rural mid-America is actively growing in Jordan. 'It all started in these bleachers,' explained Hemude, 'when my wife Brooke and I were coaching a little league (baseball) team and talking to Brent, who also coached. We were thinking, why do the kids get to have all the fun?....Within a couple of weeks, Brent had everything set and had signed up six teams and over 100 players. It was a huge success.'

Why softball when football (soccer) is obviously the number one sport of choice in Jordan? Tom Manning, coach of the Eagles team and current ALLA Baseball Commissioner weighs in. 'Softball provides a strong sense of community, said Tom. 'Amman , with its fast growth, really lacks gathering places for community to be built, especially recreational places. Softball also levels the playing field, where people of different ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds--even some with polarized political ideologies--can build in-depth relationships.'

...As further evidence of the popularity of softball in Jordan, barely 10% of the inaugural season's players were locals. Two years later, the league continues to grow and now boasts a Jordanian majority.

...In the spirit of year-round 'zakat (alms giving) of the heart,' Amman Softball isn't just about fun and games. It's also about individual investment in bringing growth and progress to Jordan, from a small baby with heart disease to anywhere else help is needed."


And now, just one month into the soccer season, dear husband has confirmed rumors of the inception of yet another league: winter baseball. Given that they play on dirt/clay fields, I can hardly wait to see the laundry generated by those games. Let's just say I only buy black sports socks for the males in my family.

Miss Potter....and friends

You won't find many movie reviews on this blog for the simple reason that I do not care much for movie watching--one of my biggest shortcomings, according to my dear children. And the movies I do watch are almost never of the cutting edge, just released variety. (My 15yo son cringed when he saw that I had begun a blog post inspired by my recent viewing of Miss Potter so I'm going to out him here: he watched it with me.)

As one who has long loved the writings and illustrations of Beatrix Potter, I was biased to like this film and I was not disappointed. The cast of characters, featuring Renee Zwelleger as Miss Potter and Ewan McGregor as Norman Warne, were wonderfully cast and charmingly portrayed. The story of Beatrix Potter's life is a warm, enchanting tale, though not without the taint of pain and sadness. And though I am quite a sop when it comes to watching movies, I didn't cry...until the credits began to roll at the end. My family looked at me in bewilderment so I tried to explain: Memories of all the hours I had spent enjoying The Tale of Peter Rabbit and all his woodland cohorts with my dear children had come flooding back to me.

Which makes me realize this post really isn't a review of the film Miss Potter, but rather a reminiscence of the beauty of her writing and illustrations, particularly as I enjoyed them with my dear children when they were young.

A biographer of scholar C.S. Lewis writes of how the transcendent beauty of Potter's illustrations, particularly in the work of Squirrel Nutkin was a formative influence in Lewis's life, one which sparked in him the feeling of desire. While I can't recall such a specific defining impact in my own life I do remember being drawn to the design of the small slate colored books and to the magical stories and beautiful watercolor illustrations they contained. Simply. Beautiful. And, Potter's lovely British turns of phrase was and is music to my ears.

When I was a young adult my interest in Potter's children stories was renewed when I purchased two binding-damaged collections of her works from the campus bookstore where I worked. I didn't have spare cash for much of anything in those days but I bought these two books and taped up the bindings. These are the books which I read to my children and which l sit on our bookshelf still, taped bindings intact.

To further indulge my love of Peter and his friends, I decorated my first-born's nursery with a Peter Rabbit and friends theme, complete with a large cross-stitched quilt (still hanging). We've a Beatrix Potter music box, cups, and dishes besides.

After I had explained to my family what memories had brought forth the tears my 15yo son remarked with a grin, "Now Mom is going to get out all the Beatrix Potter books and read them to us at lunch time." Well, what a good idea! It is said a really good children's story is one that can be enjoyed by adults as well as children, and the tales of Beatrix Potter fit that bill as far as I'm concerned. Why it wasn't until I was an adult that had the joy of laughing at the antics Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca when Tom Thumb tried to carve a plaster ham, or the silliness of Jemima Puddle Duck when she let a foxy gentleman help her find a place to hatch her eggs, or the predicament of Tom Kitten when he nearly ended up as the middle of a pudding, or ... And who can drink a cup of chamomile tea without thinking of Peter Rabbit's mischief and subsequent illness for which he was sent to bed without the bread and milk and blackberries which Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail enjoyed.

When it's too hot to turn on the oven

As this dear friend had to await the return of her writing muse, so I feel as if I have been awaiting the return of my cooking muse. (Yes, I know there is no mythological cooking muse, but I've never had a writing muse, so I thought, "why not a cooking muse?") The temperatures have been so high for the past few weeks that I've turned on my oven hardly at all--baking daughter has taken to checking the extended forecast on the internet so that she may request permission to bake cookies--and the times I have turned it on, I've regretted it. Limited stovetop cooking and creative energies directed towards beginning the new school year have taken their toll on my culinary offerings.

This afternoon, faced with a neglected pantry and just one hour to prepare dinner, I resorted to what almost never works: I picked up a large cookbook that I've been wanting to cook from and looked for a new recipe to try. Amazingly, I found one! I was lacking a few essential fresh vegetables to I headed to the local vegetable stand, which had everything on my list. So, I give you this recipe, acclaimed by all in this household and prepared in one hour, from searching the cookbook to table, including the trip to the vegetable stand.

My inspiration, though not my law:

Cilantro Rice with Chicken
from The Best of Cooking Light with some variations on the main theme

Rice:
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups quartered shitake mushroom caps ( I could only find white mushrooms and not quite 2 cups at that. Also I'd recommend cutting them smaller than quarters unless your children have mature tastes and like chunks of mushrooms in their food.)
1/3 cup chopped green onion bottoms
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed (I used three and chopped them finely)
2 cups uncooked long-grain rice (I used 2 1/2 cups basmati)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
About 1 3/4 pounds (just under a kilo) of boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups chicken broth (I used 3 3/4 since I slightly increased the rice)

Sauce:
2 cups loosely packed cilantro leaves
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops
1-2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt (or less if your broth is salted)
1 garlic clove, peeled

Topping:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (I used small grape tomatoes and threw them in whole)
2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops

Optional extra addition:
2 cans of drained chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, which my mom called them when I was growing up)

Note: I've changed this from a bake-in-the-oven to a stovetop recipe.

1. To prepare rice, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy bottom pan. Add mushrooms, green onion bottoms, ginger piece, and chopped garlic, and cook 5 minutes stirring frequently. Stir in rice, cumin, and chicken. Cook a couple minutes more. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Let simmer on very low heat until the rice is cooked, about 20. Add drained chickpeas and let sit an additional 10 minutes..

2. To prepare sauce, place cilantro leaves and the next five ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Stir into rice mixture. Discard ginger piece.

3. To prepare the topping, toss the olive oil with the tomatoes and chopped green onion tops. Place the rice mixture in a large bowl, and spoon the tomato topping over the rice. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.

Desired condiment as suggested by my family:

Yogurt and Cucumber Salad
( I didn't make this tonight but instead served plain yogurt)

~ an approximate recipe~

Ingredients:
about five or six cups of plain yogurt
several cucumbers, peeled, seeded (if necessary), and finely chopped
salt to taste
chopped mint, fresh or dry, to taste
1 cloves chopped garlic

Mix all ingredients together.

Enjoy!

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site X~Tell Heshbon

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site I~ Tell Al'Umeiri
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site II~ Ataroth
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site III~Machaerus
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site IV~ Khirbet Iskander
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site V~Dibon
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VI~Aroer
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VII~Um Ar Rasas, Burj Sa'man
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VIII~St. Stephen's Church and Kestron Mefaa
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site IX~Tell Mudayna--Jahaz

Finally, the final installment. The rock fatigue was serious at this point in the tour however with only one more stop planned for the day, we pressed on to the modern town of Hisban, a quiet agricultural town, on the outskirts of which is located the large tell of Heshbon.

Returning once again to the Old Testament passages, Deuteronomy 2 and Numbers 21, we find mention of:

"... Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon..."
"Heshbon...city of Sihon, the king of the Ammorites..."

And Solomon writes of his beloved (Song of Solomon 7:4)

"Your eyes are pools in Heshbon..."

The capital city of Sihon's Ammorite kingdom, Heshbon was conquered by the wandering Israelites during the time of Moses. It is believed the tribes of Gad and Rueben settled in this area and that Heshbon later fell under Moabite rule.

Heshbon site map

From antiquity, Tell Hesbon has been occupied by many peoples. Eventually abandoned by the Moabites, it was re-fortified in the 2nd century under Roman rule and was an important ecclesiastical center from the 4th century until the time of the Umayyad takeover. It was later occupied by the Abbasid's (8th century) and then, the Mamluks (14th century).

Byzantine Church

Mamluk period Governer's Residence

For a more complete description of the Heshbon site, check out this virtual tour.

And the kids are still smiling! They've never known many traditional playgrounds but have instead grown up climbing around the ancient ruins of Jordan.

Centaurea procurrens

This one-day whirlwind trip combined with the writing of these blog posts have greatly increased my understanding and appreciation of biblical history and the incredible wealth of archaeological history present in Jordan. Imagine what we could have seen in two days! An interesting aside: a friend of ours who has extensively studied biblical geography tells us that most of the recorded words of Jesus were spoken on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

Faith, Culture, and Art

Forbes has an interesting article on the changing way in which evangelical Christians are interacting with culture, particularly in the visual arts. As the mom of an aspiring professional musician (Oldest Daughter) and a visual artist/philosopher type (13 y.o. son) I am especially interested in this topic on which I have done some but not nearly enough thinking. Rookmaaker's book (Rookmaaker is referenced in the article), Modern Art and the Death of a Culture has been on the top of my "to read books" for too long now, and I was, in fact, hoping to read it with Oldest Daughter before she heads off to college next year.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Back from Thailand~

This was my first trip to Thailand, my first trip to Southeast Asia, and the farthest east I've ever ventured. Though I was primarily conferencing, within the confines of an air-conditioned hotel, we played the tourists one day and below are some of the pictures that I took.

Crossing a swinging bridge on our way to see the elephants

One of the elephants wading into the river for bath time

We fed the elephants, watched them bathe, watched them work, watched them paint a picture, and then we rode them through the jungle and a river. The elephants of Thailand are Asian elephants (of course) and they are smaller, but smarter than African elephants--according to our guide.

Thai child from the hill country in traditional dress

Oldest Daughter, enjoying a raft ride on the river

Rafting down the river

Thai orchid farm(notice that the roots are free-hanging)

A few interesting facts about Thailand:

It was the only country in mainland Southeast Asia not colonized by Britain or France. I found this out when a friend inquired about the relatively low level of English spoken by Thais.

The King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej as ruled Thailand for 60 years, making him the longest serving head of state in the world. While we were in Thailand the country was anticipating the celebration of the beloved Queen's birthday. Thus, the hotel had a sort of flower covered shrine erected in the lobby.

The Thais believe in luck and think that is lucky to synchronize the color of their clothes to the day of the week. Thus, each day of the week is assigned a color. I traveled from Thailand on a Friday and noticed that a lot of middle aged people were wearing yellow shirts. Now, yellow is not the color for Friday but it is the color for Monday, the day on which the Queen was born, so they were wearing it in her honor.

A couple more impressions: the Thai people are quiet and gentle; we were often met with a smile, and a bow and the Thai greeting, "Sawadeeka". The women are beautiful. And I think this must be a karaoke culture. The coffee shops of both hotels I was in featured Thai singers who could do a great Karen Carpenter, among other musical artists. And I noticed that other Thais in the restaurant could sing along. My daughter never guessed that I knew the words to so many songs. Every meal was a walk down memory lane.

Relevant Reads

My latest issue of Touchstone arrived last week; while always a worthy and inspiring read, this particular volume contains a couple of feature articles which were, at least for me, particularly noteworthy.
I found much to agree with in David Mills's "Preaching Without Reaching, the Irrelevance of Relevant Preaching".

I find it ironic that, as Mills notes, the church can learn from the secular world when it comes to use and precision of language. I've recently heard two explanations of the gospel which stand in stark contrast to each other. One was given by someone who noted that he has labored for a couple of years to put the gospel into simple, understandable language. I.e. no words which had a hint of theological connotation allowed. His explanation was loose, general, and flat. Another brother delivered, as my dear husband refers to it, a "steak sandwich" sermon. Lots of meat. He used robust theological terms like "justification" and "propitiation" and he patiently and illustratively took the time to explain what these words mean. Now, I am all in favor of making the excellent truth of the gospel understandable to the common man but I don't think that language bending is the way that this is best accomplished. I am reminded of the very insightful words of Lilias Trotter, an Englishwoman who lived and worked in Algeria in the late 19th and early 20th century:

When we want a word for humility or hope or holiness, we can only borrow from the classical, dimly to be guessed at by ordinary readers. We write for a people yet unborn spiritually; the words will be understood when the realities for which they stand come to need expression. We have to make a spiritual language against the time it will be wanted. (I. Lilias Trotter, by Blanche A.F. Pigott, [London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott Ltd, n.d.], pp. 129-30)

It is not the question of just giving a Gospel in words that the people can understand, but to give them the germ of a spiritual language in which the things that the Holy Ghost teaches can be expressed. The dearth of this seems in the inverse ratio to the richness of the tongue for all secular purposes. . . . The words for spiritual realities have to be grafted on to the colloquial, waiting for the sap of the new life to weld them in and flow through them. (ibid., p. 137)

Though not online, another very worthy read is Anthony Esolen's "Esther's Guarded Condition". Esolen, through the narrative of the last days of his mother-in-law's life, addresses the medical care issues that loved ones of an ill or dying family member may face in a world of where "common sense and decency have departed."

And then there is the little gem of a meditation by Peter Leithart in the Quodlibet section on what it means to be human...

Great volume.

Eastern Notes

On Monday evening Oldest Daughter joined fellow violin ensemble musicians to perform a few Arabic pieces; I thought you might enjoy hearing some Arabic violin music so I'm posting these clips:

The first piece, "Khawatir" was written by Mohammed Othman Sidiq, who is accompanying on the piano (also the conductor of the Amman Symphony Orchestra). The lead violinist is improvising when he plays his "solo" within the piece. I asked Oldest Daughter what gives Arabic music its distinctive melody. She explained that Middle Eastern music uses quarter tones, as well as the half tones and full tones of traditional Western music. (For the musically uninformed, like myself, a half tone would be the musical distance between a white key, say "F", and a black key, F#, on the piano.)



And, if you enjoyed the first clip and would like to experience more Arabic music, you may enjoy this next piece, performed by one of the Arabic ensembles of the National Music Conservatory. Instruments played, in addition to the violin are, left to right: the oud, the qanuun, and the tabli, raq, and daf (hand drum, flat drum, and tamborine). The piece begins with three+ minute improvisation on the violin and ends with an impressive three instrument percussion improvision.

Summer~

When it is too hot to stop and smell the roses we can at least stop and admire the beauty of the sunflowers, planted by landless "farmers" in a vacant field in our neighborhood.



Younger son remarked that this row of sunflowers, nodding and swaying in the hot breeze, looked like slaves, trodding along with their heads hung low.

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site IX~Tell Mudayna--Jahaz

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site I~ Tell Al'Umeiri
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site II~ Ataroth
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site III~Machaerus
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site IV~ Khirbet Iskander
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site V~Dibon
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VI~Aroer
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VII~Um Ar Rasas, Burj Sa'man
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VIII~St. Stephen's Church and Kestron Mefaa

Well into the afternoon hours, we were all beginning to suffer from what our guide termed "rock fatigue." I would add the adjectives"dust" and "heat". However, our guide looked so genuinely anticipatory about taking us to the next site that we pressed on. What particularly endeared him to the site was the fact that "hardly anyone knows about it!"

I can see why. We turned, turned, and turned again, through dusty, barren territory. And just when we thought that we were in the middle of a dull-brown nowhere, a tin-roofed shanty town appeared, apparently inhabited by workers who were pumping water out of some underground reservoir. Other than the settlement and some water trucks, evidence of a water source was an oleander-filled valley.
We descended, on foot, through the valley, and then ascended Tell Mudayna, believed to be the site of the ancient Amorite settlement of Jahaz.

But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword...

Numbers 21:23,24

Nerium oleander

Harvest Time

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VIII, St. Stephen's Church and Kestron Mefaa

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site I~ Tell Al'Umeiri
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site II~ Ataroth
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site III~Machaerus
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site IV~ Khirbet Iskander
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site V~Dibon
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VI~Aroer
Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site VII~Um Ar Rasas, Burj Sa'man

Leaving Burj Sa'man, we traveled by car, through a "road" of fine, powder-like dust, to the entrance of St. Stephen's church. The short journey left our vehicles looking like they had just exited a dust car-wash.

Dated at 785 AD, St. Stephen's church, and the mosaic floor for which it is visited, was built after Islam was established in the region.

The center area of the mosaic floor boasts what were once lovely hunting, fishing and pastoral scenes. Unfortunately, the iconoclasts defaced many of the human and animal figures in the mosaic.



Left intact, however, were the frames bordering the center area, depicting the cities of the region. The south row, shown in part below, shows seven Jordanian cities: Kestron Mefaa (Um Ar Rasas), Philadephia (Amman), Madaba (still, Madaba, one of oldest cities mentioned in the Bible and still a thriving city), Esbounta (Hesban), Belemounta (Mai'in), Areopolis (Rabba), and CharachMouba (Kerak). Frames from other parts of the border depict cities of Palestine and Egypt.

From top: Kestron Mefaa (Um Ar Rasas), Philadelphia (Amman), and Madaba

Now mostly ancient rubble with a few intact arches, the ruins at Um Ar' Rasas were once part of the Roman garrison city of Kestron Meffa, city which continued to thrive in the Byzantine and Omayyad periods.

Ruins of Kestron Mefaa

Despite the long day and the warm temperatures, the kids are still smiling.

Encore!

Last Thursday evening we climbed the steep stone steps of Amman's ancient Roman Theater in anticipation of a summer evening filled with beautiful music. We were not disappointed. The combined musicianship of the Amman Symphony Orchestra, musicians from the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Choir of the the Holy Spirit University~Kaslik, Lebanon and prodigious 14-year old pianist Iyad Sughayer of Jordan performing as a soloist provided the appreciative audience with a grand evening of music. The crowd loved Iyad playing Beethoven and they enjoyed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue which followed, but it was Carl Orff's Carmina Burana which brought them to their feet. Below is a clip from the short encore they performed from this piece: "O Fortuna"
(Oldest daugher, probably indiscernable in the picture/video is playing in the first violin section, fourth stand on the inside.)

More Baseball??

No. More. The season, fun and joyous as it was, ended the first Friday in June. But then what, you ask, are those sports-loving guys going to do on a Friday morning? Well, I had some ideas that had to do with getting things done around the house, reading books, a little gardening maybe. Not. Really, I do not begrudge them their SOFTBALL league. It is for charity, after all, and they are having lots of fun. And I am still able to read some books and do a little gardening while they are off at the field--though I will probably go to watch this week's big game against the undefeated team.

Even though this is a co-ed adult league, I'm not playing. Unless our team, the Eagles, is really desperate. As in, one of the two mandatory women players can't make it--which did actually happen for the first game of the season. "Hi Dear, would you mind coming out to the field and playing second base for us so we don't have to forfeit." I actually managed two easy outs at second, though I was criticized for how I held the ball next to my body (I didn't want to drop it!), hit the ball once, and had the dubious honor of striking out, making the last out of the game. Someone had to do it.

Mude Sartawi, organizer of the league, is keeping an entertaining blog if you care to check it out:

Amman Softball League Blog

Scroll down to the July 2nd entry for a shot of my baby Bond and the Eagles team shot.

Go Eagles!