Week 2: Exploring the Sites.

By God's grace, I've made it through another week! Thank you all for your prayers. There haven't been many changes since the last update, but I did have some time to embark on a few adventures.

Masjid al-Husseini
Two friends and I dropped by the al-Husseini mosque last Thursday. It's an old mosque that's been around for a while, and it's not very big either. The reason why it's a landmark is because of the street shopping around the area--mostly selling clothes, linens, shoes, and other dressing accessories. There are also a few flavored sugar cane juice stalls on the corners, which I haven't tried out yet. I mainly went to purchase a keffiyah (scarf) for my hiking trip, which you can see me sporting in the facebook photos. Red-checkered means Jordanian/bedouin, whereas black-checkered means Palestinian. We were daring and went to a random restaurant called Cairo Restaurant in one of the shoppie alleys.

Wadi Kerek
Wadi means canyon or valley in Arabic. Jordan is littered with them. The most famous of which is Wadi Rum, which I'll be visiting next weekend with the CIEE program. Daniel's host-brother recommended a group called Pro Hikers, who we went with to Wadi Kerek. We left at 7am on Friday and didn't get back till around 11:30pm. It was called a "hiking trip," but ended up being river tracing; most of our time was spent with our feet in the stream that ran through the wadi. We skewered and cooked kebabs for lunch and had a campfire at night along with some shai (tea) and kahua (coffee). There were a few waterfalls throughout the canyon where we took shower pit-stops. It was good to finally take my feet out of my wet boots after the end of the day!

Playing Cards with the Salaams
I finally got the opportunity to play some cards with my host-parents. The game is a Jordanian game that's played with two decks of cards mixed together and with rules similar to solitaire, but with wild cards and a point system. At the beginning I was doing very well. Umm Salaam tried to teach me an Arabic saying, which amounted to people [me] begging, but then getting "first-class." I didn't completely understand what the exact translation was, but it amounted to a mix of beginner's luck and being pretentious by winning while still a beginner. Had a few good laughs with them; it was a good night.

Peer Language Tutor
We had an event on Saturday at a "summer camp" complex where we got to meet our peer language tutors. It was a bit disorganized, so I ended up not being assigned one. Luckily, one of the Jordanian students just grabbed me and said that I was going to be his partner! His name is Isma'il, and he's studying English and Spanish as the Faculty of Foreign Languages. He turned 19 years old this year, so he's in his second year out of a four-year degree. He was really friendly and kept on wanting to take photos with me using his phone camera. I ended up essentially with two language tutors, because his friend, Mussab, decided to hang out with us as well. We're supposed to hang out with our peer tutors for a minimum of 3 hours a week, so I'm hoping we'll be able to set up a regular time for meeting up--most likely over lunch--sometime soon. I got both their numbers at the ice-breaker event.

Prayer Requests:

• Alex and I are going to be reading the Bible together once a week. We'll be working through the book of Ephesians, which will correspond with the sermon series on Ephesians that will be starting up in two weeks at AIC. Pray that our time together would be glorifying to God.
• There was a group of CIEE students that attended AIC this past week; Alex and I were surprised to see so many show up. I finally met Seunagh and Philip, two Georgetown students who are involved in IV. They're thinking about starting a Bible Study for CIEE students, so you can pray that that would be successful if God wills.
• Pray for my time with Isma'il, and with Mussab too. Pray that I would have wisdom in how I talk about Jesus.
• Continued prayer for good Christian fellowship. It continues to be a burden to have non-Christians be my primary group of friends, while at the same time trying to not be associated with what they say and do.

Week 1: Learning the Ropes.

Marhaba shabaab!

The week has flown by rather quickly and that could either mean that I’m having a good time or that it won’t be too long before I’m back with you all in DC! Or it could be both—best of scenarios. A quick rundown of what I’ve been up to this week before getting into more meaty updates…

Monday: Arrived, went to the hotel for dinner, met some new friends at an outing to a shisha café.

Tuesday: Basic orientation about Jordan and went to the Dead Sea for a few hours floating around and applying odd mud substances to our bodies…supposedly to exfoliate ourselves.

Wednesday: University orientation, which included a 3-hour Arabic placement exam, an oral interview, and campus tour. Afterwards, a few friends and I took a stroll down Rainbow Street, which is a popular spot downtown with lots of wi-fi and nicer shops.

Thursday: Homestay orientation and finally moved into our homestays. Umm Salam made some hardcore dinner, which was egg-plants stuffed with rice, spices, and beef.

Friday: Spent all day at home with the homestay parents. They’re grandparents in their 70s that love watching TV (a Jordanian family pastime) and playing cards.

Saturday: Spent the morning and lunch with the homestay parents then went out with Alex (GW student in homestay with me) to the Husseini Mosque where there’s a market. After that we went to the Amman International Church for their weekly service.

Sunday: First day of school where I spent 3 hours in Arabic class. Went back home for lunch and then came back out again to TAGKS, which is a free internet/computer center for UJ students.

Homestay Parents

My homestay parents, as I mentioned, are an older couple who are Jordanian Palestinians. They’re Muslims, but it doesn’t look like they practice because they never pray. The moment they wake up in the morning, the TV is on—either on the al-Manar news channel (which they called the Truth Channel, covering Palestinian-Israeli issues) or Syrian Drama. Most Jordanian families keep the TV on all day and sometimes aren’t actually watching it, but simply try to talk over the loud volume. The most interesting show I’ve seen so far is this nightly poetry competition where contestants improvise poems according to a certain style of Arabic poetry that is sung. Umm Salaam loves it and always makes sounds of contentment when a contestant does well. Abu Salaam is hard of hearing, so the volume is usually increased when needed. The word for "delicious" is "zaki." When we complimented her the first night saying the food was zaki, she replied, "Everything that I make is zaki." Very true! I'm definitely going to be gaining weight this semester.

Getting Around Amman

People take taxis everywhere in Jordan and they’re not hard to find. You sit in the front seat as not to offend the driver and are generally pretty friendly if you speak to them in Arabic. This morning, however, our driver tried to jip us of some cash. His meter was broken and he asked for a fixed rate of 10JD (0.7JD = 1USD) for the trip, which should only be 1JD. When we told him we wanted to get off, he slyly remarked that he was merely joking with us. Then the most bizarre thing happened: right before we got to the University campus, he pulled to the side of the road and started talking into his cellphone. Eventually we realized that his voice was coming out of the radio! He had called the radio station hoping that his new wife (or at least that’s what I made out him saying) was listening to the same station. A good morning.

Amman International Church

I heard about the church through two separate sources with affiliations with CHBC members. It meets in the Baptist School in West Amman (the wealthier part of the city) on Saturday nights. Alex and I attended the Sunday (or should we say Saturday) School, which was moving through 1 Kings chapter by chapter. The service starts at 6pm and the pastor, Rick Schupp, preaches expositionally. This past week he spoke on Jehoshophat and his dependence and trust in God in spite of the circumstances—placing the Levites in front of his army. They have a very large youth group—maybe 1/3 of the congregation looked like teenagers—and seemed to have several ministries going on. I’ll be visiting again next week, and possibly visiting another church in the area that might be closer to my homestay. Churches in Amman meet anytime between Thursday night and Sunday morning, without any standard day. We sang A Mighty Fortress during the offertory—yes! Weirdest thing was Pastor Rick explaining the geography of the passage and realizing that all the people groups (Moabites, Amorites, and Edomites) resided in present-day Jordan! Reality check!

Reading Update

One cannot do without reading updates! I’ve been reading Les Miserables on my Kindle since I started my flight to Jordan and still haven’t finished. It’s hefty, but incredible--I can't get over how beautifully the story is woven. I can definitely see myself bawling at the end of the novel. I’ve had lots of time to work through chunks of John because of a lot of free time at the homestay (who don’t have internet access at the house). Spurgeon’s Mornings and Evenings devotional supplement has also been a great blessing, thanks to the generous Matt Merker.

Prayer Requests

• Good Christian fellowship. It’s been taxing not having those good Christian friendships back in DC on a regular basis, and so it’s been wearying to not have anyone to talk to who’s on the same page. At the same time, pray that this would not be a hindrance to me being diligent building friendships with non-Christians. I’m hoping to meet with someone from AIC sometime this week for coffee.
• That I find favor in the eyes of my homestay parents.

I’m not very used to travel-blogging, so if there is anything that I’m forgetting to update on and you think most people would be interested, feel free to email me and let me know. I hear Kaia Dickinson is attempting to be more consistent in her blogging this semester in the UAE…we’ll see how that goes. If anything, the awesome photos make up for the inconsistent updates. I'll be posting photos on Facebook soon.

Day Four: Last Day of Orientation

Internet here is a lot more difficult than I was expecting--the servers have a low capacity for several users. I've been having problems accessing my email and needing to wait a couple of minutes for each page to load. The university campus will have wireless at the library and at certain student wi-fi hot spots, but I'm not sure if it will also be as slow as the hotel wi-fi that I've been using.

The last three days have gone my incredibly fast. Monday night, I arrived at the hotel around 7:00pm, where I was able to purchase a cheap cellphone and a pre-paid 5JD (Jordanian dollar) card. 5JDs last about a week of texting and calling. I bumped into Alex Fischer and Daniel Magalotti at dinner. After dinner I met a bunch of new folks that Daniel and Alex already knew, and we went out for some shisha.

Fun fact: Alex Fischer and I are roommates in the hotel and will also be homestay roommates. Must be providence. For those of you who don't know, I knew Alex since his freshman year (he's a junior this year) in InterVarsity where he was in the freshmen bible study that Sammy and I led. After UCF disaffiliated, we kind of lost contact, although I would see him once on the streets at GW. Please pray that my interactions with him would be fruitful and that we might grow one another up in Christ these next few months.

The second day, we went to the Dead Sea! Awesome! Although the sand was uber hot, the sea was amazing. Of course it was also problematic since if water got into your eyes, you couldn't really wipe away the water with your hands since they're also wet with super-salty water. At the bottom of the sea (shallow areas) were some really fascinating salt rocks that were pretty big. They also dredged up some mud from the sea that apparently helps ex-foliate your skin.

The third day, we did the University of Jordan orientation. All students took a 3-hour Arabic placement test and a 10 minute oral proficiency interview with our potential instructors. Interestingly, during the Arabic interview, I told my instructor that I was Christian and she said she was one as well. We didn't continue talking about it too much since the interview was rather short. We also did health and safety orientation that day as well. Proselytizing is illegal, not only by Jordanian law, but also by CIEE (study abroad program) guidelines. Pray for wisdom.

Today, last day of orientation, I will be doing some homestay orientation. At the end of today, our host parents will be picking us up from the hotel. I've received some information about them in my welcome packet: they're a retired couple who love to play cards and are Muslims. We got a photograph of them in the packet as well--they look awesome! Pray that I would make a first good impression and that I would find favor with them.

Day 1: Schipol Amsterdam

So, I have some time to kill between flights. I flew from Detroit on a 6-hour flight across the Atlantic to the Netherlands, from which I will take another plane to Amman (Queen Alia Int'l Airport). I slept most of the flight to Schipol because my movie console was having technical dfificulties; and while I was awake I read some Les Misrables on my Kindle--looks like it's going to be a fantastic, yet depressing, book. Also did some skimming through my Lonely Planet's guide to Jordan, which I neglected to open until now. Definite to-dos: 1) visit the Dead Sea and do some floating action, 2) climb Mt. Nebo and survey the Promise Land, just like Moses did!

For lunch in Schipol airport, I had a salmon sandwich. Yes...I know, sandwiches. Can't seem to escape them. Interestingly, their "sandwiches" are all open-faced, so only one slice of bread. Despite the lack of more carbs, the sandwich was awesome; at least as awesome as sandwiches can get. I'll be arriving in Amman at 6:20pm, from which a CIEE staff will take me (and I'm guessing other students arriving) to al-Manar Hotel. The rest of the night will be free for me to hopefully pick up a cellphone package and relax a little before orientation starts tomorrow. Daniel Magalotti arrived yesterday, a day early, so I'll most likely try to hunt him down. I've only got 4 minutes left on my internet here, so I'm checking out! Ma'asalama!

Last day before Jordan.

As the days wind down, I feel that I'm having a more excited outlook on my upcoming trip. I've been burdened as of late with feelings of homesickness just thinking about leaving the district for an extended period of time, even if it is only 3 months--about the same length as the summer break.

With my last day in DC, I'll be busy packing my bags. I've already stored most of my things in a closet at the batcave; all that is left is moving the bed into Justin's room and pack the clothes that I need. I realized how many electronic chargers I have to bring: laptop, iPod, Kindle, camera. We've been told to pack relatively light--a suggestion I'm hoping to follow.

Claire is throwing a farewell party for, which I'm looking forward to. It'll be wonderful to see everyone one last time and in the same place. Claire is a blessing. She won't let me help plan it in anyway, knowing my controlling tendencies! After the party, which is scheduled to end at 6pm, I'll most likely go with the flow and see where people end up. There's a planned trip to Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner and Kramer's for dessert.

I've been telling everyone that I'm leaving Sunday morning. This is a lie. I discovered that I'm actually departing Sunday afternoon, which means I'll be able to attend church on Sunday. I was not looking forward to sitting in the airport while CHBC was gathered and worshiping together, so I'm thankful for this last opportunity to gather with those saints before I head out. I'll be eating lunch around the Hill and then heading over to the airport straight from there.

Heaven, a world of charity/love.

"Is not what we have heard of the happy state of that country, and the many delights that are in it, enough to make us thirst after it, and to cause us, with the greatest earnestness and steadfastness of resolution, to press toward it, and spend our whole lives in travelling in the way that leads thither?" - Jonathan Edwards, Charity and its Fruits, p. 363.

True grace in the heart.

Some questions posed by Jonathan Edwards in Charity and its Fruits:

• Has your supposed grace such influence as to render those things in which you have failed of holy practice, loathsome, grievous, and humbling to you?
• Do you carry about with you, habitually, a dread of sin?
• Are you sensible to the beauty and pleasantness of the ways of holy practice?
• Do you find that you do particularly esteem and delight in those practices that may, by way of eminence, be called Christian practices, in distinction from mere worldly morality?
• do you hunger and thirst after a holy practice?
• Do you make a business of endeavoring to live holily, and as God would have you, in all respects?

Transitioning to study abroad mode.

As most of you know, I'll be heading out to Jordan a week from yesterday--Sept. 12th. This blog will slowly transition out of how its usual routine of book reviews, quotes, thoughts on sermons, with "general updates" tagged onto each post; and instead, I'll be posting less regularly with longer posts updating how things have been going. And I've never actually noticed it until today, but the font size is rather small on this blog. Let me know if you would prefer it larger.

I'm not exactly sure what my schedule will look like while I'm in Jordan, but I'll at least be posting weekly updates. I was originally going to send out a weekly email to those who requested to be updated, but I thought it better just to direct them to this blog.

If you would like to contact me while I'm abroad, I'm on gchat (kendrick.kuo@gmail.com) and Skype (kendrickkuo). Also, with the wonders of Google, they now offer free GoogleCalls from anywhere in the world into the US; so if you want to schedule a call, you can email me.

Opposite of a selfish spirit.

"Such was Christ's love to us, that he was pleased, in some respects, to look on us as himself. By his love to us, if we will but accept his love, he has so espoused us, and united his heart to us, that he is pleased to speak of us and regards us as himself. His elect were, from all eternity, dear to him as the apple of his eye. He looked upon them so much as himself, that he regarded their concerns as his, and their interests as his own; and he has even made their guilt as his, by a gracious assumption of it to himself, that it might be looked upon as his own, through that divine imputation in virtue of which we are treated as innocent, while he suffers for them."

- Jonathan Edwards, Charity and its Fruits (1852), p. 178-9.

What's the key to healthy Christian growth in godliness?

What's the key to Christian growth in godliness? Here's some answers. For a full compiled list of quotes, I pick and chose from a blog post on Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology.

Douglas Moo:

"The constant, disciplined practice of reminding ourselves who we are in Christ."

Ray Ortlund:

"Applying the interruptive ‘But now’ of Romans 3:21 to my heart moment by moment."

Tom Schreiner:

"The key to growth is trust in God, and faith comes from hearing God’s word."

Justin Taylor:

"The key to healthy growth in godliness is to seek and to enjoy fellowship with the Father, in union with Christ, through the power of the Spirit, in accordance with the Word, with the body of Christ."

Jared Wilson:

"As pat as the answer may sound, the key to healthy Christian growth in godliness is submissive study of the Scriptures."

General Updates:

• I'm afraid I haven't been able to update too much recently, just with things getting busy as I prepare to go to Jordan. I'll most likely figure out a schedule for blog-posting once I get to Jordan, mostly likely just once a week as a recap of the last seven days; this is mainly because of the limited access to the internet I will have there.
• I have decided on the reading material I'll be bringing with me to Jordan: Bible, Kindle, and Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Lloyd-Jones. Worth re-reading, and it's a good to use as a devotional to supplement my quiet times.