And now to explain the change...
Not long after I wrote the previous blog entry on the travelblog site, I received a message from a guy claiming to be some government official's son, saying he loved my blog, loved reading it, and that I knew more about his country than he did. I thought nothing of it, it read like any other spam message I've received in the past. Last Thursday, however, Bethany and I were waiting around the corner from our apartment for our pizza to be ready when a young Arab male approached us and identified us both by name. I was prepared to deny it and loudly shame him for bothering us when he identified himself as the sender of the aforementioned message and said he knew us both by name and from my pictures. He left after an awkward minute, and I called my parents in shock, not quite sure what to do about it. In the end, we decided it was best to get in contact with people at the embassy who had contacts with the police and to delete my old blog, replacing it with a new and secure one. We haven't seen or heard from the guy since that weekend. I know that this blog site will be somewhat more difficult to access, and requires you to sign is as a member of the blog, but this is not an adventure I wish to repeat. There's no need to freak out - I know, sounds ridiculous, but we do have the situation under control, and we have spoken with the appropriate authorities. So thank you for your patience and understanding.
Let me begin with saying how much I love being able to do things again! First of all, football nights are back on. And I will take this moment to congratulate the Eagles for their wonderful game this past Sunday - GO EAGLES! Second, since the school year has officially begun, youth activities have begun at church, so I'm helping the youth praise team from time to time, as well as co-leading a small group of 10th grade girls.
Because of Ramadan, choir isn't in full swing yet, but we're already doing some way cool pieces - like If Ye Love Me by Tallis, and My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord, a spiritual arr. by Moses Hogan. I can't wait to do the latter as a full choir.
Ramadan. It will be officially over by the end of this weekend. And on top of that, King Abdullah II has declared the entire week following the end of Ramadan as a national holiday. I'm really starting to like this guy. So we have a 10 day vacation. Since I don't have school on Thursdays, my vacation started today. WOOT!
School is tough. But it's a challenge that I am currently relishing, especially because I can actually work at it now. Classical grammar is a pain in the neck, but I'm getting there. And while it's still taking me a while to be able to speak fluidly, I love being able to understand so much more. It's really exciting.
I am beginning to love my gym membership. Ok, so I don't like working out, or running on the treadmill, but it's something fun to do with Bethany, and we have a hot tub in the changing room. As well as 2 indoor pools - one of which has Dead Sea minerals in it. It's so much fun soaking in the hot tub after a long day or a tough work out. I still prefer ultimate frisbee. Which we're working on.
Coming up - we leave for a weekend of hiking in the south tomorrow morning, random day trips, more football, a crash course in classical grammar for my upcoming test, more college apps, and my baptism.
No comments:
Post a Comment