Visit with friends from Jordan

Our friends Cassandra (her husband had to stay behind) and her twins Sean and Ava from Jordan, who now live in Moldova, came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. They arrived in Jordan a year after us and left just a few weeks before we did. We decided to surprise the boys with their visit, and they were surprised. The kids talk periodically online, but when they saw each other in person, they picked up right where they left off a couple years ago, as if no time had passed. The first night we met them at their hotel and walked to dinner and to a nearby park.

The next day, we went to the old city to roam and see the castle. 

Great views of the city from the top and the weather was perfect.

Cassandra and I. She is a very sweet friend and it was nice to see each other and catch up.

We wandered the old city and looked at shops, then ate lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant, that I didn’t get any pictures of.

That afternoon, we went back to our house to let the kids play outside. Everything is in bloom, it’s so pretty!

The next day, the kids came over and we took them to play laser tag. Even Eliza got in on the fun, but she came out early because she said she didn’t know what to do, haha.

The weekend they were visiting was National Children’s Day, which is a big holiday in Turkey. They love children and celebrate them big, especially on this day. Throughout town there were large Turkish flags, pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkey, and celebrations in various parts of the city.

Our neighborhood had festivities during the day and a performance at night. Downtown, they had a big ceremony for the children to perform songs and dances, that the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends. We didn’t attend any festivities, but everyone enjoyed the strong Turkish nationalism on display everywhere we went.

The last time Cassandra saw Eliza, she was about 18 months old, and she has gotten quite big since then :). Eliza enjoyed lots of cuddles with Cassandra and playing with the big kids.

They were staying at the hotel we stayed in this past December for the plumbing renovation, so the kids were happy to go back to the hotel and enjoyed showing their friends the nearby parks.

 It was a quick but fun visit, a nice reunion for the kids, and fun to spend time with Cassandra. We are thankful they were able to come visit and for these types of friendships when living abroad.