Marhaba! Kayfhalak?I know its been sooo long! Last Thursday was my last day of clinicals which means I havent been to campus which also means I havent had internet for the past week. I've had a pretty fun week so lets do a quick recap...
-Friday (5-22) after church we were invited to dinner at the Ambassadors house! Steve Beecroft is the ambassador here in Jordan and he happens to be Mormon. It was really fun and the place was beautiful. Nothing super special happened besides that...
-sat. the student council at the University of Jordan wanted to take us touring for the day. It turned out to be a lot more touring then any of us really wanted... The trip was supposed to be just to Umm Quass (the spot where Christ cast the demons from the man into the swine...) which is way up north right on the border. But they kind of held us hostage for the whole day. We stopped in Irbid and they drove us all over playing really loud Arabic music and clapping (the student council was about 4 boys...) and then they stopped at this river pulled out a hooka and had a picnic. We kept saying we needed to get back but they were just so excited to show us around... ALL day! We were all pretty tired and kind of annoyed but by the end we just had to laugh when they would stop at one more place...
It was really windy...Dr Jehad was worried about me so she held onto my skirt!
The dead sea is in the distance
-sunday. We left for our week of touring with Elaine (our instructor). First we drove to some random old city which I know nothing about but there was some really cool mosaics...
Then we drove through Wadi Mujib which is the grand canyon of jordan. Ive never actually seen the grand canyon but this place was BEAUTIFUL!! I think we might go back there this week to hike some waterfalls.
Next we stopped at Karak. Karak castle is a really cool old crusader castle. It was so huge and incredible. I got lost in all the different rooms and passageways. I really did get lost... it was scary. We've seen quite a few castles on this trip but this one was my favorite.
ok, this looks a little freaky, btu we thought the random sunbeams were AMAZING!
After Karak we stopped at a Mosque. First I have to tell you about Waleed. Waleed was our driver/tour guide. Hes a friend of Elaines and he drove us all over in a van this last week. We were asking him questions about Islam and so he stopped at a Mosque and showed us around. It was really cool.
Before we got to our hotel in Petra we stopped at the site where Moses smote the rock and water came out... It was a really random spot and I dont really know how they know its the actual site but....
Anyway, we ended in the city of Petra at a semi nice hotel.view from the hotel
the BOY who worked there serving us drinks...
-monday. All day in Petra. Petra is one of the seven world wonders. It is incredible. It was a really long hot day of walking but it was so worth it.
Indiana Jones
After a long walk we finally made it....
At the end of the day we decided to go to a turkish bath to relax after lots of walking. Turkish baths are really popular in Jordan. I have to say I'm not a fan... yah...thats all I'm gonna say.
-tuesday. We drove to Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is a big desert. The Bedouin (native Jordanians who live in the desert) villages are all over Wadi Rum and they host tour groups to come stay in their camps. So first they took us for a tour of the desert. We sat in the back of a four wheel drive pick up and drove all over. It was so beautiful. We drove over sand dunes and hiked up mountains. The funnest thing was running down a really huge steep sand dune. It was like skiing on the sand. So fun. We watched the sun set over the desert before we drove back to the camp. They made us dinner (cooked in the ground) and then played music while we danced around the campfire. They taught us fun Bedouin dancing and the music was really fun! After the dancing some of us stood out under the stars with Walleed. Walleed loves the desert and he dressed up in the traditional Bedouin clothes while we were there. He told us about how the Bedouins would travel at night and use the stars to guide them. Then he sang some cool Arabic lullabies and prayers. He asked us to sing for him so we sang a few primary songs and hymns. He loved them and asked if he could have a cd of the songs. It was so cool. That night we slept in a tent made out of camel hair... I loved it.
Our campsite
That night we had a party with lots of dancing
Waleed dressed up in his Jordanian clothes
wednesday- we woke up to watch the sunrise. The coolest part was that we rode camels out to a spot to watch the sunrise. camels are pretty dirty animals... I was a little afraid because I got the ornery one. Everyone got on their camels and I was standing there waiting while the guide yelled at my camel and the camel hissed back at him. He wouldn’t get down on his stomach for me to climb on. The guy kept telling me to get on but I was too afraid... "yella, yella (come on come on) Karen" haha, finally the camel laid down and I jumped on. you literally have to hang on for dear life when they stand up because its like a 5 step process.
I know my face doesnt look that close, but that was SO scary!!
On our wasy out of Wadi Rum, Walleed got us each a gift
After breakfast we left Wadi Rum and drove down to the red sea. Aqaba is a little town that borders the red sea, The Sinai peninsula is on the other side. We were only stopping there for a few hours so we took a glass bottom boat around. The water is so incredible. The coral reefs below are gorgeous and you dont even need the glass bottom boat to see stuff because the water is so clear. We didnt bring our swim suits because it was just a quick stop but I was dieing not going in. I hadnt been close to the ocean in so long and I wanted to jump in soo bad. Elaine finally was like Karen, you cant come here and not jump in, you need to get in the water, So they drove the little boat over to the shore and everyone got out to dip their feet in the water, I really wanted to swim but I couldnt convince anyone to get in with me. The next thing I know Elaine grabs my hand and says "I dont usually go in the ocean, but you are swimming in the red sea" and we started walking into the water. So we all wound up swimming in the red sea...in our clothes... it was amazing. Afterwards we boated around and dried out on the bow of the boat.
After our short trip at the red sea we drove up to the dead sea. For some reason I thought the red sea was dirty and gross....its amazing. It was so beautiful and we were staying at a 5 star resort which was incredible. Normal toilets and good food and comfortable beds. It was so nice. It was seriously gorgeous.
The Dead Sea
hotel pool
random guy who served great lemonade our of whatever that thing is...
BEST food of my life!
-thursday. We woke up and walked down to float in the red sea. It was the coolest thing. I sat and read the newspaper and bobbed around like a buoy. Then we covered ourselves in the mud and had our own little spa treatment. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the resort before we drove back to Amman. It was an amazing trip.
Obviously this was a really condensed version. I wish there was time to tell all the random funny stories that happened along the way... but the pictures are pretty amazing too. I cant wait to show them. I have to say I kind of like just living with the people and getting around town better than being a tourist. But it was still pretty fun to see the amazing sites of Jordan. I only have a few more days here and I wont have too much internet access but hopefully I'll have time to write about my random thoughts as the trip comes to an end. I love you and miss you!
love Karen
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