Travel to Petra & Little Petra

This morning I woke before the sun was out to the "call to prayer" (they use some sort of amplifying system that carries very far and sounds like it's right by you). Here Muslims pray 5 times a day and they start half an hour before sunrise. We celebrated Utah's New Year at 9 am! But we forgot that Google time isn't correct here- they have a Daylight Savings Time, so we celebrated an hour early, but we celebrated nonetheless! Eating the Tanoor bread for breakfast, we discovered why they make it fresh every day- it had turned really salty! So interesting! We got ready and packed up and went shopping on Rainbow Street. We took some American candy and shared it with a few of the kids we saw. The girls also ate some- Happy New Year! The market was so fun- so many things to see! Fruits, vegetables, fresh bread, spices piled high, nuts in barrels, clothing, and China made toys (that we had to keep steering Emma away from). The spices smelled so fresh and wonderful. Addy and I

got a traditional head scarf, Clara got a pretty little wooden box, and Emma got a ceramic box and a jewel bag to protect it in. We also got some more kleenex's, because we have exhausted our supply. We zoomed home and ate our leftovers quickly and while we were finishing our driver came. He was 10 minutes early and keen to throw us in the van as fast as possible and get on the road. I felt a little like a mule as the backpack on my back was being pushed in, but we finally all made it in. 3 hours to our hotel in Petra. But we decided to stop at Little Petra before heading to our hotel since it was on the way (after much angst with our driver; but at least he rolled up his window and kept it up when Peter asked). It got so foggy outside it was hard to see very far in front of us. We made it to Little Petra and it was really cold and windy, blowing sand up in our faces and anywhere else it could manage. We persevered and enjoyed climbing on and around Little Petra. Thank goodness the fog hadn't descended there yet. We talked with a Bedouin (native to the area) and Peter bought some coins from him, while Leesie and I climbed up to one of the highest point together. She is such a great climber!! On the drive into Petra we got to see some Bedouin camps and the city they relocated the Bedouin to in 1985. That was super intriguing because of the book I read: "Married to a Bedouin".

Everyone was very happy to land on beds at the hotel. Not to mention in front of Paw Patrol. :D Peter ran out to find some dinner, and cold medicine for me. What would we do without him? He's such a sweetheart. We had a delicious dinner and fell into bed.

Theme for today: Kindness Begins With Me.

Favorite things:
Emma: My favorite thing was climbing.
Clara: My favorite thing was climbing in Little Petra.

Leesie: My favorite thing was climbing rocks in Little Petra!
Addy: My favorite thing was exploring caves in Little Petra and drawing me and Leesie's dream house in the car.
Kathy: My favorite thing was walking the market and seeing Little Petra (bigger than I thought)!
Peter: My favorite thing was Little Petra exceeded my expectation. Had I been super determined I would have gotten Leesie and I on top of the treasury. It was cool in there!

Miracles:
- We got to see Little Petra despite the weather (and the fog on the way there)!
- Peter didn't pay the 500 dinars the Bedouin wanted for the coins. Thank goodness!