More Old Stuff

Jerash and Petra are the sites of the best ruins in Jordan. Jerash also hosts a music festival every year in one of the the old Roman theaters. We were not there during one of the main performances, because tickets are expensive; however, we did see an Arab man in traditional dress play Ode to Joy on the bagpipes.

Petra is the most famous site in Jordan and is being called one of the new wonders on the ancient world. We walked through the whole site during the day, and went through again during a night tour. Unfortunately, the pictures from the night tour did not come out, but I still have pictures from the day

Meet and Greet

Hey all, Sorry for the lack of posting. I have been very busy lately.

Recently I have gone to The Kings Palace, The American Embassy, Jerash, Mt. Nebo, and Petra.

Going to the Palace is an experience in itself. We passed about six security checkpoints, which are guarded by Unit 71, Jordan's CIA/FBI/Secret Service unit. We were told not to take pictures, but someone on our bus attempted anyway. One of Unit 71 members came to confiscate her camera, but was laughing when he did it. After he took the camera he said he wasn't going to give it back, but as soon our bus started to go foward he ran up and handed the camera back with a big smile on his face.

The Kings Palace is less of a palace and more of a large house. It doesn't have large spires or tons of gold the way Saddam Hussein's palaces did. Instead it has mosaic ceilings and lots of gifts from leaders of foreign countries, including a trophy Richard Nixon gave a previous king for beating him in golf. While at the palace we were aloud to sit in the chairs in the living room, which is where the king greets visitors. They told us which chair was the king's and which chair was the main guest's, so we all took turns sitting where all the leaders of the world who have visited Jordan, including Bill Clinton and Goerge W. Bush, sat. The king's chair was the most comfortable.

At the American embassy, we spoke with some knowledgeable foreign service agents. We were all excited to meet them, but as soon as the came in the room, our adviser Saleh, started to complain about someone that works at the university and how the embassy needs to get him fired. Most of the students were embarrassed and tried to change the subject quickly, but he brought it up a few more times. Apart from this fiasco, we learned some interesting things, including that Jordan recieves more US aid per capita than almost any other country, largely due to its cooperation with Israel.

The people at the embassy also remarked that there is almost no region to settle the region of Jordan. We saw this first hand when we went to Mt. Nebo. This is the mountain the Moses suppossedly climbed in order to see the promised land that God forbid him to go to. To be honest, if I were Moses, I wouldn't have felt too left out. From the top of the mountain you can see all the way to Jerusalem, yet I could probably have counted the number of fertile looking areas on one hand. There is just alot of desert and the only large body of water is the Dead Sea (very salty).

Birthday at the Dead Sea

Two posts in one night! I have to take advantage of the broadband while I have it.

July 5th was Brett's 20th birthday. Excited by the irony, we decided to celebrate his birth at the Dead Sea. A French girl I met in class with family in Jordan negotiated a good price for a cab to take us down. The drivers were probably willing to accept such a low price because they get into the Dead Sea beach for free when they bring tourists, so they just chilled at the beach while waiting to take us back.

The water at the Dead Sea is different than any other water on earth. Ocean water has is about 3% salt. The Dead Sea is 30% salt. This makes sinking in this water impossible. As you walk into the sea, you feet stop being able to touch the ocean floor when the water is about at your shoulders, because the water holds your shoulders above water even when you are holding still. If you don't make a conscious effort to keep your lower body under water, it will also force that up, making laying on top of the water the easiest position to maintain. Joe, a tall athletic guy in our group, tried to dive to the bottom, but couldn't get his knees beneath the surface as he tried to swim down.

The mud at the Dead Sea is supposed to be very good for your skin, so we found some under a rock and rubbed at all over ourselves. After we washed the mud off our skin was so soft we all spent the next ten minutes rubbing our own skin.

More stunning than the water at the Dead Sea, may be the view across realizing that you can see Israel. It looks as if you could swim across, if you were both an Olympic swimmer and unafraid of the darts Israel supposedly shoots at you if you attempt such a feet.

After we swam in the sea and the swimming pools that are provided at our beach, we returned to our apartments slightly sunburned and in possession of a great birthday story Brett can tell. Now when someone tries to brag about their birthday Brett, always a showman, can confidently one up them.

Ruins

"Old" is a relative term in Amman. The city has some ancient structures from the Roman and Ummayid Empires. But when Jordanians talk about the city, anything built before 1980 is said to be old. This is partly due to Jordan being a third world country up until the 1990s. A friend of mine, who has been coming here for the past ten years, told me that when he first came there was basically one street of shops and very little western. Now, all the men wear knock-off designer clothing, and shopping malls are five stories tall.

As a group we have decided to avoid the malls as much as possible, trying to experience "the real Jordan," but the truth is these malls and western culture are just as much, if not more, a part of the life of the people that live in Amman as the ancient ruins that you will only find tourists visiting. In fact, when we ask taxi drivers for good place to eat, they usually respond "KFC."

One of the ancient sights we visited the Hill of the Citadel (Jabbal Al-Qal'a). Here there are large columns, a bunch of rubble, and a restored Ummayid mosque. The tall columns are from the Temple of Hercules. The rubble is from a palace and has not been restored, meaning it is just a pile of rocks. The mosque, however, being a building of Islam, has been restored and is quite impressive. Additionally, the dome provided shade making it the favorite building of pale American tourists, such as ourselves.

While these truly old sites are nice, sometimes we breakdown and need something newer. On the 4th of July we went to a Fudruckers to celebrate America with burgers, fries, and milkshakes. We considered getting fireworks as there are no regulations on them here, but from what we heard fireworks here are mostly slightly tame versions of TNT that you throw off your roof. There are already enough ruins in Jordan, so we decided to forgo that American pastime.

In Shah' Allah

Everyone knows that religion is more pervasive in the culture of the Middle East than it is in the United States. Here the call to prayer blasts out across the city five times a day including once around 4:30 am. You can’t look in any direction without seeing the spire of a mosque in the skyline. But the most interesting and most frustrating aspect of religious culture here is the idea of "In Shah’ Allah", which translates to “God Willing.” This phrase is said whenever you express that something will be done in the future. Some harmless examples include “I will wake up early tomorrow, In Shah’ Allah” or “We will eat dinner around 6:00, In Shah’ Allah.” Slightly more frustrating are the responses to the repairs we have requested from our landlord. Brett and my refrigerator is freezing everything and it will be fixed, “In Shah’ Allah.” Mary and Lauren (two other Miami students) have a couch that is so broken it is now a useless pile of wood and fabric. This too will be repaired “In Shah’ Allah.”

Sometimes, however, this attitude of placing life in God’s hands can be downright maddening. At dinner a few nights ago, we ordered our food around 7:00. God apparently willed half of our party’s orders to arrive at 8:30. I was supposed to meet a Jordanian student to practice Arabic at 1:45 the next day. God never willed her to show up at all.