Green lemonade

Madaba, Jordan
Friday, May 31, 2013

My favorite restaurant drink here in Jordan is mint lemonade. This particular glass of the stuff turned out to be a startling color--I think they pureed the leaves. Cold, not too sweet, and lemon minty. Perfect.

(New revelation: "mint green" turns out to be a bit of a misnomer I think...)

Colored eggs

Madaba, Jordan
Thursday, May 30, 2013

Last geometry project of the year--albeit a mini-project:: Euclidean eggs. We tried the 3-radii and 4-radii (pictured here) eggs. Lots of geometry fun...

Pink and worthy of Dr. Zeuss

Madada, Jordan
Friday, May 24, 2013

Out early this morning when I fell to inspecting more flowering trees here on campus. These ones have a heavenly scent--the bees were thronging--and really quite a Dr. Zeussian air to them.

The trees glowed blue...

Madaba, Jordan
Thursday, May 23, 2013

Tonight was prom night: the trees glowed blue and the clock tower lavender...and the moon rose romantically in the dark, warm sky. Surely a memorable evening for everyone.

A riot of purple (and yellow)

Madaba, Jordan

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Went out for a walk early this morning and was struck (again) by the profusion of purple flowers in the "wilder" parts of campus. I know they are a weed, but the purple morning glories are lovely and EVERYwhere. Some fantastical thistles are also blooming this time of year, and the "dandelions" here are fearsomely protected by an army of thorns...

Dandelions on steroids?

Spring fruit season!

Jordanian apricots

Madaba, Jordan
Saturday, May 18, 2013

You may imagine that Jordan is a land of olives and figs (and it is!), but now that spring is well underway and summer is almost here, we have discovered many spring fruit surprises. Pictured here are delicious local apricots. Yesterday it was fresh loquats picked from a friend's tree. The strawberries here in Jordan are also a wonderful and plentiful treat. And tonight Frank picked up a lovely melon and a bag of local cherries. Heaven...

Geo-me-try

Madaba, Jordan
Saturday, May 11, 2013

This weekend I finally had a chance to sew together the quilt squares that my geometry students made some weeks ago. It turned out to be quite a fun assortment of patterns, I think.

"and may the Crows decide..."

Madaba, Jordan
Thursday, May 9, 2013

Today was Penny Arcade day in Algebra class. My students devised their own simple games of chance, and we played them in class with popcorn and carnival music. A good lesson, I think, in what's "fair" in a game. Two of my favorites were a pirate-themed game and "Celeb Spin"...

  

All the world's a stage

Can you guess?

Madaba, Jordan
Sunday, May 5, 2013

A presented this to me and aked me to guess what it was...

...a magician behind a curtain, with his magic wand and cat...

Origami rings

Madaba, Jordan
Thursday, May 2, 2013

Earlier this week, a friend e-mailed me with pictures of origami rings she'd found on the internet. A challenge! I ended up making a bunch. A loves her new "jewelry"--complete with glitter glue jewels...