Neighbors

These are my neighbors that you will hear me talk alot about. The first 2 pics are Rawand. She is 5 and as her pictures show she is quite the actress. Next is Raghand. She is 10 and very shy. Last is Rand. She is 12 and does a large part of the translating for her Mom and I!

Obervations II

There are many funny taxi stories I could share, but this one is something that you most likely would not see in the US. I was walking to the store the other day and I saw a taxi pull over and the driver got out. I thought he had stopped to do his afternnoon prayer because I see this quite often. As I passed by I looked over and he had stopped to use the bathroom! Needless to say I was shocked and later learned this happens often. I could see if it was in the countryside, but not in the middle of a city neighborhood!

On my way back from the store I heard a goat. This is not a sound I have heard in my area. There is a small patch of land and gypsies had set-up tents and are living there. I was amazed because I walk to the shopping areas 2-3 times a week and apparently they move in and out quickly. Above are pictures of the gypsy tents.

More Observations...

The Mecca Mall here is bigger than any shopping mall you will find in Dallas. For those of you that worry about my safety, no need. They check car trunks, bags and you go through metal detectors before going into a mall. Well, sometimes they check bags and walk through the detectors. Most people walk around the metal detectors :).

One thing to get used to here is that people smoke anywhere (they don't have non-smoking sections). The taxi drivers are particullary bad about this and I get home with my clothes smelling like smoke. This would not bother me so much if it wasn't such a hassle to wash and dry clothes! The other day my taxi driver stopped for gas, then he stopped for coffee and then for cigarettes. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to get home.

In this culture, the men walk hand in hand and kiss to say hello. I was at Mecca Mall on a Thursday evening, which is their Friday night. The mall was more packed than Stonebriar or Northpark at Christmas. It was weird seeing all the young men walking around arm in arm and hand in hand and the young women doing the same. I guess kids hang out at the malls no matter what country they live in!

I broke all the rules!!

Well, after all the training I have had regarding talking to the taxi drivers in this culture, I broke that rule today. My taxi driver ask where I was from, if I was married, etc. In my defense, his English was hard to understand and he was an older man. Also, I know that they can tell that I am no spring chicken. All that to say, my guard was down and I answered his questions. The jist of one of his questions was would I marry a Jordanian and go back to America. Without even thinking, I said "inshallah" (if God wills it)...in my mind meaning "no". Well, I guess it had a different meaning to him and he now wants me to come to his house for dinner and meet his 4 sons that are engineers! The situations that I find myself in sometimes are like the I Love Lucy show :).

One thing I have learned about myself is that even though I had lots of training and intellectually I understand the culture, I am still me. I still have the southern belle instinct to be nice, polite and smile at everyone. I've realized this will not be changed overnight!

Petra

Erika, Iris and I went to Petra last weekend. The weather was beautiful, but the scenery was majestic.

New Experiences

I have to say that my first 2 1/2 weeks living in Jordan have been easier than I could have imagined. Sometimes I forget I'm not in the States. However, there are a few reminders...

Learning how to use a butane gas stove without blowing myself up. When I say butane, it is literally the butane tank that goes on a gas grill at home. Of course it is hidden in a lovely cabinet next to the stove. I still have not used the oven because I can not find matches or a lighter at the store to light the oven.

Speaking of butane, there are trucks that come through the neighborhoods everday to change out empty tanks. To let us know they are here, they play music. One truck in my neighborhood plays "When the Saints Come Marching In". I wonder if he is a Christian and if not, does he know what the song means??

I went with Iris to the hair salon the other day. Only men cut, color, etc. women's hair and there are no unisex places. I find this ironic sense so many women cover their heads for modesty. They come into the salon, take off their scarfs and are coiffed by men. By the way, each function has a different person that performs that function. One guy colors, the next washes, another cuts and yet another blows it dry. I find this system in every occupation. I guess it keeps people employed!

One thing I am learning is the importance of planning. It is true that everything takes longer to accomplish. Part of the reason is communication and part is not knowing where to go for what, but it is mostly culture. Take laundry for example. You have to plan on when you are going to wash your jeans because it takes several days for them to dry. Of course this will probably change in the summer when it is 100 degrees outside.

Iris taught me to look down when I walk. Not only because it is inappropriate to look men in the eye, but because the streets and sidewalks are so uneven it is easy to fall. It also helps because then you don't notice when people are staring at you! Something else that I find interesting is that women are generally not out and about much. I go walking everyday to figure where things are. I hardly ever see women. I find this particularly interesting at the grocery store. In the States more women do the food shopping, here you see the me doing the shopping.

Many people have asked about fast food restuarants. They have McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Hardee's, KFC & Popeye's chicken (very popular because they deliver), Starbucks and Applebee's. I ate at Applebee's today to get my beef fix!

My Neighborhood in Jordan

Views from the rooftop

CTown grocery store/mall

Markets, bakery, pharmacy one block from my apartment

Apartment Living in Jordan

TV room...minus the TV :)/Office

Master bedroom

Kitchen

Hallway

Formal Living Area

Dining Room

My apartment building

Saying Goodbye at DFW Airport

My First Week in Jordan

Iris has been an amazing blessing. I stayed with her the first week and she drove me all over the place to get my phones and showing me around the city. We even did a sightseeing tour one day to Jesus' Baptismal sight, Dead Sea and Mount Nebo. I don't know what I would have done without her.

My apartment is very nice and clean. However, there was a lot of dust since it had been closed up for 4 months. There was also an intense mothball smell! The weather has been sunny this week so I was able to open the windows to air out the place. I was also able to put the bed linens on the line to get the smell out. When I say, "put on the line", that means going to the roof of my building and hanging my clothes out to dry or air. I tell ya, it has been a long time since I hung clothes on a clothesline! The good thing is that there is a great view from the roof!

I met my neighbors on Wednesday. Leila is the Mom, Waleed the Dad and they have 3 beautiful daughters, Rand, Rawand, Raghand. Leila invited me to lunch, so I went over and we had malfuf. It is cabbage stuffed with meat and rice. It was delicious. Rand is 12 and she was able to translate some for her mom and me. Rawand is 5 and very dramatic. She was a parrot and repeated my English words. She would have me repeat Arabic words after her and believe me, she let me know if I got it wrong! Raghand is 10 and very shy. Every once in a while she would translate something for her mom and I knew she was in the background listening to our every word. My neighbors accross the hall are Hikem and Julianna. He is an attorney and she teaches school. They have a little boy that is about 5 and girl about 3. Julianna speaks English and has been a huge help. I'm Auntie Colleen, which I love!

I already have a telephone, cell phone (called mobIle here) and DSL. Iris is amazed at how fast things are happening! Progress! I Live in walking distance to Amman Mall which houses a CTown grocery store (and a McDonald's! ). I've gone out walking and found the post office, bank, pharmacy, bakery and produce stands. My neighborhood is very conservative and I have seen a lot of veiled women. I didn't see that on my former trips here.

I heard there was a new Carrefour that opened in a new mall. I took my first taxi ride today and was able to get to and from Carrefour....huge accomplishment! Carrefour is a French store like WalMart or Target. It is really BIG! I was going to buy a TV, but that was a little overwhelming, so I decided to wait until my next trip there. It has been pretty nice not having a TV. I've read a lot and watch movies on my DVD player (thanks Terry!!). The new mall is called City Mall and is 3 stories. I saw signs for The Body Shop and Foot Locker, so I guess it will have American stores there.

I'm posting pics on my next post!

Camels in Texas???

The pictures speak for themselves...

Carriage Ride

Kelly & Treg took me on a carriage ride in Plano, TX to see the Christmas lights. Fun!

Christmas 2006

The holidays were bittersweet. I enjoyed the time with family and friends, but it was always in the back of my mind that I would not see them for at least 2 years.

Life Group Lunch

My Life Group prepared a wonderful lunch for me today. The leaders of the group are Jeff & Kronda. Kronda encouraged me to go on my first mission trip! She then suggested to our Mission's pastor that I lead the trip to Jordan in 2001. The rest as they say is history! The pic to the left is me with Kronda's youngest, Karissa. The pic below are the sweet ladies that have encouraged, supported and prayed for me the last 3 years!





Tammy, Gina, Debbie, me, Kronda and Kelly

Coffee & Toffee

Darlene was my roommate on my first mission trip in 1999.

On December 3rd, I hosted a dessert and coffee at my house to say "thank you" to the people in my life that have been supporting spiritually, emotionally, prayerfully and financially.


Dina was the first person to join my ministry team!

Trip to Kansas City

My roommate and I took a road trip to Kansas City in November to see my dear friend Pam. We had a great time!

Colleen & Pam

Colleen & Kelly

Packing, packing and more packing!!!!!!!!!

My roommate was kind and gave me the spare bedroom to store all my stuff while I was deciding what to take with me to Jordan. Here is a picture of the room and you can see why it is so hard to know where to begin! What can I live without?? (all of it I would imagine :)!! I have made some progress in packing, but the room does not look much better!

November Newsletter

• CHRISTAR
  Box 14866, Reading, PA 19612-4866 Tel: 800-755-7955 www.christar.org
  
  November 2, 2006
  
  Catching Up With Colleen
  Colleen McWilliams, 8412 White Sands Dr., Plano, TX 75025
  cmcwilly@gmail.com (please note this new email address)
  972-712-2117
  
  We had a great mission's week at Bent Tree Bible. It was so encouraging to see what God is doing around the world! The theme of the week was "Send Me". After mission's week, I had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Colorado Springs at PILAT (Program in Language Acquisition Training). The time in Colorado carried on the "Send Me" theme. What exactly did this training accomplish? For one thing, it has given me confidence that I will be able to learn Arabic (eventually) and practical ways of approaching this endeavor. Our instructor told us to put the word "yet" at the end of our "I can't" sentences! So now I say, "I can't speak Arabic, yet".
  
  We had the opportunity to see some of the beautiful nature that God made for us to play in. A group of us went to the top of Pikes Peak on the cog rail. We had a great time! We also experienced a blizzard. That was quite the entertainment for those of us from the South!
  
  There are many things I love about the training programs I have attended. The first thing is that you get to meet awesome people, all experiencing the same things in raising support and preparing to move overseas. The Lord provided three new friends that are going to Amman! The other cool thing is the little nuggets of wisdom the Lord provides through incredible, experienced people. They have lived it and know exactly how to minister to us that are about to go. Here are a few things that the Lord taught me during this training:
  
  The Jordanians will not only be getting the gospel, they will be getting Colleen McWilliams and all the quirks and experiences that are a part of me. I need to make sure that I reflect God's glory (2 Cor. 4).
  Seeing Psalm 139 differently – "If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me".
  A new song that goes with the "Send Me" theme – "If You say go, we will go, If You say wait, we will wait, If You say step out on the water, And they say it can’t be done, We’ll fix our eyes on You, And we will come."
  
  
  Update on Ministry Support Team
  
  Daily prayer partners increased from 76 to 81!
  Commitments for monthly financial support increased from 76% to 81 %!
  One-time outgoing expense increased from 95% to over 100%!
  
  PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS PROVISION!
  
  Praise and Prayer Requests
  
  Praise for those that have committed to being a part of my ministry support team! Thank you!
  
  Please pray the Lord will continue to bring other people and churches into my life that would want to be a part of this ministry (specific needs are at least 19 daily prayer partners, additional $430 in monthly support commitments by December in order to leave by January 1st.)
  
  Wisdom and focus in packing and completing paperwork.
  
  As part of this ministry team you are incredibly important to me. Please let me know how I can pray for you!

adding pictures

The Girls at Garden of the Gods PILAT class
Top of Pikes Peak

My first blog!

I'm in Colorado Springs at a training and several of us decided to create blogs for our future travels to different parts of the world. There was a blizzard here last night and tomorrow it is supposed to be 60 degrees. And I thought Texas weather was weird! Here is a pic of Pikes Peak.