Snow, Part Two. Now With Tanks! Uhhhh, APCs. Really Big Cars? You Be The Judge.

The weather forecasters were half right. Apparently the Dead 2 Red route ended up relatively clear, which is good, because I'd guess that a majority of the runners opted to risk it and stay in the race, despite the scary forecasts, prompting Embassy-wide jokes and debates about which group was more manly - the "I'm smart enough to know not to risk this" folks, or the "I'm so tough a little flash flood warning doesn't scare me" group. Either way, I understand that by now everyone has finished safely, which is good. I'm sure I'll get teased next week for pulling my son out of the race, but I still think it was the right decision to make for my child.

So the forecasts for the southern part of Jordan were wrong. But the weather in the northern part of the country, where we are, is pretty much as predicted. Snow, and ice, and hail, and all sorts of craziness. Today, though, is fabulous, at least if you're a kid. It has been snowing on and off all day, and it is sticking. We had four sleepover guests last night (yes, we're that crazy), and all of the kids spent some time outside in the snow this morning. Even the boab got in on the action: Reda was up on the roof clearing off the snow and tossing snowballs down at the kids.

At one point during the morning, a tank drove past. (Full disclosure: I am told by my friend T that her husband said it was an "armored vehicle", not a tank, to which I say - there's no difference! It looked tank-y, therefore, it was obviously a tank. Duh.) Apparently the police are using these armored-vehicle-tank-like contraptions to change their guard staff today instead of the usual buses. Reasonable enough - but it was definitely a "never in the States" sort of view. I didn't catch a photo of my changing of the guards, but T sent me hers. Tell me: if you saw this driving down your street in Northern Virginia one weekend morning, would you stop and stare?



And here, for the grandparents, are some gratuitous grandkid shots. Enjoy your day, everyone!