Visitors!

After telling everyone who wants to come see us, or anyone who is simply passing through that they can stay with us, someone took us up on our offer: this past weekend, we hosted our first official guests!  After hoping the directions we gave them to our apartment were good enough, two young ladies from America (one on her way back from Australia) and one young man form Australia, arrived on the evening of Friday, October 22, just in time for dinner.  They were grateful to have beds to sleep in and a washing machine for their laundry, and we were grateful to see some new faces and hear native English-speakers.

The guy from Australia, Antoine, had to catch a flight first thing on Saturday morning, but the gals, Heather and Sophia, stayed. We spent a nice, relaxing Sabbath, where the girls increased our church attendance by 50%.  That evening, we were all invited to our neighbor’s apartment for a potluck and meet-and-greet for ABS faculty (and UYC volunteers).  It was fun, and we had some amazing lamb, among other things.  After that was over, the six of us (volunteers and guests) went back to our apartment and played a card game called Dutch Blitz.  It was pretty intense, and since we figured out that the two of us are terrible at it, we let the girls finish up without us.

We were really hoping to show our guests around a bit, so we talked to our boss, and she graciously let us have Sunday off work in order to spend the day doing just that.  First thing Sunday morning we rented a car!  It was our first car rental in Jordan, and Darren’s first time driving in a foreign country.  It was a great experience, if a little intimidating.   

We spent most of the day in Jerash, which is just a short drive away.  When we were done there, we had an amazing lunch just outside the park, and then started our drive toward the border with Israel, the girls’ next destination.  On the way to the border we drove past Ajlun castle, which was nice to see from a distance, and will surely be nicer close up when we go back to explore at some point.  The country drive was breathtaking – mountainous and tree-covered near Ajlun, turning into desert and canyons, then giving way to the low, fertile Jordan river valley.  We dropped the girls off at the King Hussain Bridge (or as close to it as we could get), so they could make their way into Jerusalem, and then we drove home.

Looking at Ajlun Castle

Also, we were not able to rent the car for only one day, but for two days minimum, so we drove to work on Monday, and to Madaba afterwards.  One of the staff members at the school lives there, so he showed us how to get there.  He also showed us his mosaic workshop, and then took us on a tour of Madaba, which we enjoyed very much.  It turns out that Madaba has a lot more to offer than we originally thought: lots of cool mosaics, an archaeological park, and a school for mosaic production and restoration.  Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so pictures will have to wait…

New Content on Our Blog

We are pleased to announce the following new content on our blog:

• Related Sites widget on our sidebar, linking to the official UYC Jordan Project 2010 blog and to Amanda Hendee's personal blog
• Photo Gallery tab, opening a page filled with lots of our best photos
• Marathon tab, opening a page where you can follow our progress as we train for the Dead Sea marathon in April

Enjoy!

Feast Highlights - Touring Jordan

Just two weeks after the start of school, we already had to take time off of work for the fall holy days.  We were delighted to have the Ericksons and the Registers for the Day of Atonement, and even more so to have 120 people from all over the world celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles with us in Jordan.

After starting off from Amman, Jerash was our first stop.  Jerash, a city of the ancient Decapolis, is the largest and most well-preserved Roman city in Jordan.  It was very awe inspiring to walk through the remains of a city that is over 2000 years old, yet still so intact – the gates still standing, the streets straight, the forum whole, and the theater still functioning. We wished we had more time to explore, so we will have to go back to this site before we go home to the States.

After that was the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea is a very unique place: the water is so heavy with minerals and salt it feels almost like baby oil on your skin, and you float with no effort.  However, it is hard to completely relax while you are floating in the Dead Sea, because you are constantly worried about the water getting into your eyes.  Unfortunately, this happened to Amber; fortunately, they place a lifeguard on the beach, with a big bottle of fresh water, who will gladly rinse out your eyes.  If you ever get the chance, you should go and give it a try (minus the water in the eyes, of course).

Next up was Pella, another city of the Decapolis.  Darren really liked this location because it wasn’t as touristy, and they just let you wander around the ruins.  It was well over 100 degrees that day and Amber was battling dehydration, so she sat in the shade and watched him explore the ruins.  This is also a place we would like to visit again, to go explore and rummage around the ruins some more.

Our fourth stop was the grandest of them all – Petra was simply amazing!  We only had a few hours to explore, but we could have easily spent a week in Petra.  It was so amazing that it’s hard to put into words.  It’s almost like a miniature Grand Canyon, but with enormous monuments built right into the stone: beautiful variations of color and constantly shifting geography inlaid with hauntingly empty yet amazingly complex architecture.  Since pictures are worth a thousand words, we will let them explain further.  We also rode camels while we were in Petra – enjoyable, but not at all like riding a horse.

That night we went to Aqaba, where we stayed at a beautiful hotel.  We were so impressed with it that we skipped the tour of Wadi Rum to just chill at the hotel and take full advantage of its several interconnected swimming pools.  Also, what a view of the very blue Red Sea!  While we were in Aqaba, we had the chance to go scuba diving.  It was our first time, and Amber was really nervous at the beginning: she was a little worried to be under that much water.  Luckily she had a very patient dive instructor that made sure she was ready before taking her further down.  Darren, on the other hand, was completely calm about the whole thing and really excited to go.  He wasn’t able to see as much, though, because he had to take off his glasses.  Fortunately for us, we found someone else who was there to give us pictures.

After we left Aqaba, we went to Mt. Nebo, which is the location where Moses was able to look at the Promised Land even though he was unable to enter.  Yes, the view was amazing, but the landscape has changed some since the time of Moses.  Seriously though, they say you can almost see the Mediterranean on a clear day.

 

Last, we went to Madaba to see the world’s oldest mosaic map, one of the Holy Land, which is housed in a Greek Orthodox church.  It was nice to see, but all the decorations of the church were distracting from the splendor of the mosaic map.

We saw and heard lots of inspiring things, and had an amazing time.  We still have trouble believing we’re here, in a land so rich with history and so much promise for the future!