I could take this time to reflect on time and it's passing. You already know that time passes at a constant rate but our perceptions of it are not as linear.
What you really want to hear is what I have been up to. This may take a while, so I will break it up into three parts: Jordan and Egypt highlights, Salalah, Another Day in the Life of Lydia.
Back in early April I visited Jordan and Egypt. I went to Jerash, Petra, Amman, Cairo and Luxor.
It was great to hang out with the Marczaks and Emily. I be"held" the Giza pyramids and finally rode a camel.
I had mixed feelings about Egypt. I am glad I went, but it wasn't the most pleasant place to visit. And then again, I should not complain about seeing Karnak Temple, Hapshipsut's Temple, or The Valley of the Kings. Oh and a mummy. Actually I will complain about seeing the mummies at the Egypt Museum. That was creepy. Scientifically speaking, it was fascinating to see the pause in the decaying process. Emotionally and psychologically speaking, why did I pay did see a corpse? Pictures weren't allowed, so you will have to go there yourself. I should have bought more post cards.
In Luxor we, Emily, her friend Alexis and I, went for a hot air balloon ride. I was more entertained by landing than the ride. Not because I am afraid of heights or only having wicker bewteen me and air or having fire burning at my back while in 100+ degree heat; but the process of landing was unexpected. Supposedly the hot air balloon companies pay farmers to land on their property. 
The ground crew followed on the road untill the ride was over. Then getting a signal from the pilot they drove towards us and started to run guessing where we would land. The captain then threw the ropes overboard and the ground crew helped guide the basket to the preferred landing spot. Then once on the ground, the crew picks each passenger up out of the basket. You don't have the option to just jump out yourself.
I love Jordan! You can touch the Roman ruins at Jerash. The red poppies
bloomed amid the green foliage and gray stones. As I walked down the main road of the ancient city I tried to imagine being a citizen of the ancient city, but was frequently brought back to my own time with the new city of Jerash just to my right.
Back in Amman, I stayed with Mike and Suzanne and their two daughters. We went to Chili's, McDonalds, the mall and church. It was like we were back in Roseville, only the traffic was horrendous and the roads were more confusing and there were sheep in the Marczaks' back yard
. I tried to drive there, it lasted 5 minutes.See the sheep?
I took an overnight trip to Petra and wandered up, around and through the carved out tombs and treasury.
Have you seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? In the movie Indiana and crew finally find the place where the Holy Grail has been stored. They ride through a canyon which only looks like a canyon. 
Actually it is the Siq at Petra and it is a gorge. I learned that a canyon is formed by water erosion, while a gorge is formed by the rock being split by an earthquake. The Nabians carved Petra out of the sandstone. The Siq leads to the treasury. The guide I hired could lead me to the trail that went around and down into Petra, but only knew a little about the history of Petra. This area of Jordan is beautiful. The rock has many colors. The carvings are spectacular.Not far from Petra is little Petra. Now this is what I gathered while there. I could be wrong, but I believe that Petra was the metropolitan area and little Petra was the suburb. Before you reach the Siq, there are various caves where people lived. The Treasury is in Petra along with tombs and the market place. Above this area are the High Places of Sacrifice. I tried to get my tour guide to tell me what God they worshiped with sacrifices, but he didn't know. Again, a better field guide. Also above the city of Petra is the Temple. Then if you continued walking past the tombs you would eventually end up at little Petra with the dwellings. Now I say eventually because it is just my understanding of the place.
Although my guide couldn't tell me everything I wanted to know about Petra, he was a local, so he invited me to a bbq with his family in Little Petra. This was an amazing cultural experience. His mom and his aunts taught me some local slang. I ate bbq chicken liver and enjoyed it! Only himself and his uncle knew English and my Arabic is limited. I believe that there was some discussion of marriage at some point. Not that I was involved in that conversation, but towards the end of the night, I ended up sitting in between the father and the mother with the uncle asking me what I do, where I work, etc. According to Mike, this could have quickly changed into a marriage proposal. Who knew? Not me! Don't worry, I didn't accept! At least I don't think I did...
One of the last days in Jordan, I went to the Dead Sea.
Wow! Now when I was imagining the Dead Sea, I thought, "okay I will go, I am here, I can't miss it. That would be a shame, but I probably will get bored. I don't have to stay that long. Just a quick dip and a picture." Well three hours passed and I wasn't ready to go! 
Can anyone really capture the experience of buoyancy? I will play my Math Teacher card here and say, I can't! That's why pictures are great. All I can say is, you have to go! I think I floated for at least two hours. The water is a perfect temperature and even though the salt left a greasy film on my skin I was in heaven. I could have floated happily till dinner time!In the next entry I will share my third trip to Salalah, a beautiful city in South Oman. But you may have to wait a couple days. It is time for bed!
