We're In a "Dustard" for Thanksgiving, but the gypsies are moving

Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013--From Tom:

So the bubble burst! Yesterday I walked under sunny blue skies in 70 degree temperatures. Perfect! This morning Ronna said, "You won't like what you see." I looked out and it was white. I wondered if it was snow or maybe fog. I turned out to be a dust, maybe mixed with fog. Anyway, it's windy, much cooler and hard to see far because of the dust. The weather report describes it as "widespread dust" We combine the fog, dust and dehydrated blizzard to be a "Dustard".

It is predicted that these dust storms occur in the Spring for several days and cause literally a whiteout. With my asthma it may be challenging. So far I haven't been affected. But we may need to kick on the heat.

Dust storm from our roof

Olive Harvest--

They tell us they needed some rain to prepare the olive trees for harvest. We had a small, 15 minute rain storm a few weeks ago, so Mariam and her family gathered to pick the olives. I wondered how they did it and joined to help. They also hired local Bedouin boys since it is such a large job. It was interesting to see how the boys interacted and bargained for their pay. They were fun and tried their meager English on me as well as giving me directions.

Tom harvesting olives with Lani, the domestic helper from Sri Lanka. She's worth a lot more than me. 

They have about 80 olive trees which are harvested by pulling on the branches, like pulling off a  sleeve. The branches are not strong so it's not easy to get to them. They spread a large cloth or tarp below for the olives to fall into. Then they gather them into an enclosure on the patio. It's a lot of work. I only did a few hours and was bushed.

The olive pit with the our Bedouin olive pickers

Moving Time: 

Yesterday during my walk through the olive orchards I noticed that some of the gypsy or Bedouin families were in the process of folding their large tent and packing it in a truck. When I saw them, they had packed the tent fabric and were now taking down the metal framework. All were in head scarves and working in good teamwork, like they had done this many times. We understand that they move down closer to the Dead Sea when it starts to get cooler here. So we are now seeing temperatures near 45-50 at night and they have no heaters. The Dead Sea is below sea level so it is quite a bit warmer there. They survive on their goats and sheep. We really don't yet understand their story but plan on investigating. We have heard many versions. The most likely is that they originally lived in Palestine, now Israel. They are thus, refugees. Some think they have money but it sure doesn't look like it. The children go off to school but mostly we see them staying by themselves and living in squalid dirty conditions. It's still a mystery. Anyway, they are moving to their summer home. 

Our Bedouin or gypsy neighbors folding their tent and preparing to move down to the Dead Sea where it's warmer.

Our little church Branch: 

Last Sunday was the last for our students from BYU who are here to study Arabic. They are mostly young couples but there are a few singles. They are very involved and talented and will be missed until a new batch comes next year. So we are down to about 20 or so. The choir director sent us an email suggesting that all of us will sing in the choir. I then asked who will hear us. Ronna volunteered. It will be interesting. 

Thanksgiving: 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the home of one of the members of the Branch Presidency, who is also an Embassy worker in IT. They have a beautiful home and were able to feed and seat about 80 in their living room and dining room. It was great sitting on the porch in 70 degree sun after about 3 helpings of everything. We even had Jordanian Gendarmes with machine guns guarding us. 

Thanksgiving at the Leishman Residence--seating about 80 in the living room. Housing provided by the Embassy