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!

Iftar, iftar, and (maybe) more iftar

So, we had our first authentic iftar the other day.  Here's how it went:

One of our bus drivers, who we have been spending lots of time with because of running here for a blood test, there for a security check, somewhere else for ID photos, invited us to his brother's house to eat that night.  When we arrived, we were greeted by the family: 8 kids, 2 parents, 1 grandparent, 1 cousin, and 1 uncle.  Everyone was incredibly nice, and the baby was adorable!  It was a beautiful evening, so we sat on cushions on their patio.  The main dish was one huge plate of chicken and rice, with some kind of sticky dough underneath and a yogurt sauce to drizzle over top, which was pretty tasty.  They were nice and gave us separate plates, but we wouldn't have minded digging in with the rest of them.  They also set out some bowls of cucumber and tomato salad, which was absolutely delicious (Darren ate a whole bowl by himself), and some slightly spiced noodle soup.  There were also stuffed grape leaves and stuffed squash.  A little while after the meal they brought out tea and fresh grapes, and we sat and talked for quite awhile.  Then the girls asked Amber to go inside and help prepare dessert, which turned out to be a less than stellar idea because they asked so many questions she almost burned what she was supposed to be watching.  In the meantime, we all had coffee - yes, they do tea followed by coffee - and then the goodies were ready: little balls of fried dough which we had never seen before, but tasted similar to funnel cake.  After talking a little more, we left for home.

On the way home, he invited us to his sister's house for post-iftar tea in a couple days.  That time, we took Amanda and Stella with us.  After meeting more of the family, we picked fresh apples, figs, and grapes at their house and drank tea and 2 types of coffee:  Turkish/Arabic coffee = not so bad and Bedouin coffee = not so good; we were thankful for small cups.  Once again, the family was incredible, and they insisted that we let others know that Arabs are nice people and treat us Americans like family, which they certainly did!  They would have kept us all night, but we finally got home about 1am.


Tonight was another school-sponsored iftar, with teachers and students.  It was about like last time, but with some exceptions: we got to invite Amanda and Stella along, we know some of the staff better now so we didn't sit alone, and we didn't have any coffee.

On Wednesday, the last day of Ramadan, we should be having one last iftar, but we don't have many details yet.  We will see...