Conspicuous Absence

Upon reading my last posting, "The Year in Review", Sara commented to me: "That was a great post, but, uh, didn't we go to Jordan?" To which I responded, "Of course, but since Jordan was our favorite trip of the year, I assumed it warranted it's own blog posting." The fact is I just overlooked the folder of Jordan pictures - oops. But the trip we took to Jordan was certainly one of our all-time favorite Middle East excursions. Here are some of the highlights:



Sara and I started our trip exploring the ancient city of Petra. To get to Petra, one must walk down a steep, narrow canyon. At the end of the canyon, the walls part, dramatically revealing the main gate to the city. I don't say this very often, but it truly was breath-taking. To see something that had been carved into sandstone centuries ago in the earliest days of civilization is an awe-inspiring experience. That said, I understand that visiting the ruins of ancient civilizations is far more exciting than looking at the pictures - but I get a "nerdtastic" sensation from sharing the pics. Below you will see an image of the canyon and another of the city gate.

On the way down from visiting the monastery on the far edge of the city, Sara and I encountered a boy and his goats. Sara held a goat, as you can see. What you cannot see is the sensation of pure joy in which she basked at the prospect of holding a genuine Jordanian goat.

One of the many fascinating features of the desert landscape of Jordan is the deep red color of the sand. After Petra, Sara and I traveled to Wadi Rum, where we were given opportunity to take in the vastness of the desert scenery. The red sands of Wadi Rum evoke images of Lawrence of Arabia, Indiana Jones, and a dying culture of nomadic bedouins. It's a place that simply emotes, and one cannot help but be pulled in by rhythm of the desert. (Do you think National Geographic will be calling me any time soon?)

The desert and sands of Wadi Rum behind us, Sara and I journeyed north to Amman and the surrounding area. On the way we toured an old crusader castle and sat back as the desert landscape lulled us to sleep in the car - which was fine, because we actually had our own personal driver for this trip. Saleh, our driver and tour guide, gave us some great insights into Jordanian culture - and he was just a cool guy to hang out with. Pictured below are me and Saleh eating lunch together in a fabulous Lebanese restaurant.


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While in Amman, Sara and I were priveleged to visit two sites of Roman ruins. Above is a shot of Sara exploring the ruins on the Citadel, a strategic hill overlooking the city of Amman.

After Amman, it was on to the Dead Sea, where we covered ourselves in mud and partook of the "healing powers" of this mineral-rich pool of water located at the lowest point on earth. On the left is a photo of the sun setting over the sea, with Israel visible in the distance.

Jordan is a fabulous place with a much different feeling from the "Gulf". Traveling there gave Sara and me a different outlook on the Middle East in general - and, you know, the food was great! I have found a new love of olives and babganoush since visiting Jordan. And I will leave you with this thought: "One of the best parts about traveling is the food." - Unofficial travel philosophy of Mike and Sara

Hellllooooooo!

So, exactly how long does one have to leave a blog unattended before people give up on it? I suppose I am soon to know the answer to that question. Perhaps a better title for this blog entry would be "The Year(s) in Review". As many of you already know, last year Sara and I finished our contract in Bahrain and accepted jobs at the International School of Manila in the Philippines. I think it would be fair to say that things ended on a positive note for us in Bahrain, and we were very thankful for the time we had there and the great people we met along the way.

This past year was pretty exciting. We were privileged with a visit from our good friend, Steve, who can now lay claim to the fact that he has seen the infamous, world-renowned "Tree of Life"! (Steve, please forgive me for putting this picture up, but it really sums us up on so many levels.)

After travelling with Steve from Bahrain to Dubai for the weekend, Steve boarded a flight to New York (direct!) while Sara and I headed off to Germany and Switzerland for the October holiday. Our plan was to rent a car in Dusseldorf, then take a road trip around Germany, ending up in Zurich, Switzerland where we would return the car and fly back to Bahrain. And the trip was pretty much awesome! Sara quickly fell in love with our gutless Skoda, and quickly learned (re-learned?) how to drive a five speed - look out Autobahn, here we come!

We packed in a surprising amount of tourism in Germany - from the wine country, to the castles on the Rhine, to the little quaint villages. Good people, good beer, good fondue - Germany is my kind of place.

Lest you think Sara and I did nothing but travel, I will take this moment to say that after Germany/Switzerland, we returned to work until Christmas time. Then it was off to the sun, sand, and cities of Southeast Asia (this was before we knew we would be working in Manila, of course). We spent Christmas in Singapore, which is now perhaps Sara's favorite city in the world - and for good reason! They know how to celebrate. From there, we went on to the Indonesian island of Bali for some relaxation and soul-searching. Because once our time in Bali was finished, we were off to Bangkok for a job fair (the outcome of which you now already know).
Left: Orchard Road Christmas lights in Singapore

Right: Hiking in Bali

Well, many long plane flights, a few water-borne intestinal illnesses, and two brand-new teaching contracts later - Sara and I found ourselves back in Bahrain for the last few months of our stint in the Middle East. Realizing that we had precious few more days to spend with our friends in Bahrain, Sara and I opted for a long weekend trip to Dubai with our good friend Catherine.

By Way of explanation, I should mention that Sara loves to go to Starbucks at every country that we visit!

And here we are partaking in the goodness of a Dubai Starbucks.

Well, after the trip to Dubai there were only a few short weeks of school left. For Sara, one of the highlights of these weeks was training with Australian national team olympic hopeful, Lachlan - the brother of one of our friends and colleagues - the infamous Murray.

Can you guess which one is the best runner? I'll give you a hint - it's not the guy in black standing on the far left. This photo was actually taken at the Bahrain National Stadium, which we were able to use because of a gracious friend at the Bahrain Road Runners. Thanks guys!

The year in Bahrain finished with a great visit to Bahrain's wildlife park, which was surprisingly nice given its relatively low profile and seeming lack of funding. The highlight, of course, was visiting the park with our wonderful friend Mary Ann.

As great as our time in Bahrain was, Sara and I were grateful to be back on "home soil" by the end of June, the same month that we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Sara and I both agreed that our fifth year of marriage was one of the most challenging and rewarding years we have yet faced. And as all you relationship veterans out there know, it is those blessed trials and triumphs that make marriage so great - truly an expression of grace.

Summer of '08 was brief but fabulous. We had to report to our new positions by the 26th of July. But we packed in a full summer. The holiday included a visit to Seattle to see my thoroughly concussed brother (feeling better yet, Dan?). Dan had met the business end of a soccer ball shortly before seeing us. There was also a visit from Chris, flying to Spokane from Philadelphia to spend some time with us. Chris was able to be in Spokane to celebrate Sara's 30th birthday - which was a blast! We had a huge party that was attended by friends and family from all stages of life. Thanks to everyone who could make it - it was a memorable day for Sara and for me. The summer also included a couple rounds of golf, a hair-raising (if I had any hair) backpacking trip with Cory (I now know what it feels like to be inside a thunder/lightning storm), and lots of great time with the Kopps, Winthers, and Overbys.

So, before I wax on any further, I should wrap this thing up. Sara and I are sitting right now on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building smack in the middle of Metro Manila. We have started our new jobs at ISM, and we are looking forward to a great year. The school is great, the students we have are top-notch, and we have a lot to be thankful for. The only thing we want now is to see some of you come visit us! This is an open invitation to all family and friends: you're welcome any time to visit - we have spare bedrooms and bathrooms (5, bathrooms actually) enough to accomodate you - and we won't even make you stay in the maid's quarters (not making that up - there really are maid's quarters in our place). So come visit - but if you can't do that now, at least post a comment so that I know you're out there. And watch the blog for further entries. I will do a better job updating this time (I hope).