When in Jordan!

Well now that my passport contains it's new exiting and re-entering Israel stamps (instead of entering and exiting Jordan stamps) I feel the need to verify the fact that I did indeed go to Jordan! Jordan was an absolutely amazing and fascinating experience. We had delicious food (better than Turkey food- the country not the bird), saw amazing sites (some equal to that of Turkey but also some better), and walked around the capital Amman (no where near as cool as Istanbul).

So onto specifics. We left Monday the 24th (happy birthday Olivia!). We started the trip with a visit to Mt. Nebo- where some believe Moses was buried. Then we went to this mosaic shop that hires people with handicaps that can still use their hands to make mosaics. After the shop and lunch we headed off to the Madaba mosaic map at St. George's church. Then we drove to the mountain where some believe John the Baptist was beheaded. It was a bit of a hike but it had a beautiful view of the dead sea. We finally made the final drive to our hotel which was actually an old village that had been renovated. It was one of the coolest hotels I have ever been to.

Tuesday was by far my favorite- we went to PETRA! It is absolutely amazing. No words can describe it. There were a ton of Bedouins selling necklaces and postcards and offering horse/camel/donkey rides. There were lots of adorable little kids walking around selling rocks and necklaces too. We spent most of the morning/afternoon walking around and hiking through Petra. There was so much to do. It was most definitely a long and tiring day but totally worth it. That night we walked around the capital of Jordan- Amman. Honestly there wasn't much to do but it was fun walk around the city and we got delicious ice cream.

Wednesday we went to the King Abdullah Mosque. It was very traditional and the girls were given black robes to wear over our clothes. After the mosque we went to the old city of Philadelphia and the museum there. After we went to Jerash and saw a Gladiator show but more importantly we saw the ruins of the ancient city there and the temple of Artemis. It was awesome! After Jerash we went to the car museum that houses all the royal cars. They had a ton of old Rolls Royce's and other really cool cars. We spent the night walking around the streets of Amman and getting ice cream- again.

Today we loaded the bus and drove to the Roman Theater. It was basically a really steep Ephesus. It was really cool- just like Ephesus. Then we drove to the River Jordan before we left Jordan and came back to the JC. It was a quick but very fun trip and definitely a fun break from classes before finals for our term classes here.

Pictures to come!