We crossed borders relatively easily and stopped to change busses because of course, an Israeli bus wouldn’t last long in Jordan. Some friends and I went looking for a “Welcome to Jordan” sign but we couldn’t find one! It was the worst! So we settled for what looked like some sort of important building with Arabic and a picture of King Abdullah. (His picture is literally everywhere.)
Welcome to Jordan!
In case you were wondering what the bus ride looked like in Jordan before we got to a city…it looked like this….sweet huh? Like it could be right out of Star Wars…
On the way to Petra we stopped at Madaba and saw the famous Mediterranean and Jerusalem mosaic….so cool, and then also at Shobeck Castle…..which was not as cool as the other castle I have been to, but still way way awesome…..i’ve become quite the “ancient ruins snob”, haven’t I? We also went up to Mt. Nebo and our professor made us sing, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and i was embarrassed...really? that song?
I was surprised about how green Jordan was…and the mountains were pretty awesome as well.
Finally in Wadi Musa which is right by Petra we stopped at our hotel and had free time for the rest of the night. During our free time we walked around the downtown main street area and we went to a bakery and made it back because our hotel had a pasta chef making custom pasta dishes… so we had delicious pasta made by our personal Jordanian pasta chef in Jordan at 9:30 at night….so bizarre…and completely awesome.
The next morning we drove to the Petra reserve at 6 in the morning! SO EARLY. But it turned out to be for the best because we were there by ourselves.
There was this winding path through the smooth, colored rocks until you come into view of the famous treasury (as seen in Indiana Jones) peeking out through the rocks.
It was so big and so beautiful….and just so cool to see in person. Just…unbelievable.
The colors in all the rock-cut tombs were so pretty, I absolutely loved it.
There was a hike we took up to this monastery that had a “view of the end of the world” We spent the whole day at Petra, literally from 6 to 3pm….and it was so hot.
the edge of the world....apparently...maybe not...but definitely a really cool view.
and then another loooong hike up to an overlook of the Treasury.
biggest temple
(in all of petra, if i'm not mistaken)
note how tiny the people in the picture are.....
in summary: petra blew my mind. it was really a unique site.
everything was so massive and so ancient. i thoroughly enjoyed it
From Wadi Musa we drove to Amman, Jordan and made it there in time for dinner….and check into another hotel. The next couple days we spent in Amman were really cool. We first went to Jerash which is a Roman city in the Decapolis….and apparently the best preserved in all the Middle East. I agree…it was so awesome.
Jerash!
theater
playing on the antiquities..
We went to the King Hussein mosque, which is not only the biggest but also the most holy mosque in Jordan. All the girls had to wear these black robes with hoods…it was kinda way fun…all in the name of being culturally sensitive I’ll spare you all the jokes that were made about being dementors or the nasgul or a judge…I guess.
Mosque!
(the guard behind me yelled at me right after i took this picture for taking my hood off.)
well, Jordan was a blast. There was a bit of drama before hand and some students didn't get to go.....which, to be honest...broke up some of the cliques and some of us were able to get to know each other a little better....just in time to leave right? well....i've got 2 weeks left! and SO MUCH TO DO! It'll be over too soon, but i'm way excited to go back to the States. well, leave me a comment!
i would've joked about being a dementor all day... but did you have any feelings about having to wear the robe/hood while males got to wear more normal attire? just curious. i don't know that it would have bothered me for a day... but long-term i think it would definitely affect me.
ReplyDeleteand petra looks AMAZING. i can't believe we only have two weeks left!
the mosque a couple pictures from the bottom is beauuutiful! especially after studying mosque architecture!! little miss ancient ruins snob ;)
ReplyDeleteUp until recently, I haven't realized how much of a feminist I really am. But I am as much a result of my culture as anyone else is. In short, seeing all the girls in black robes and the dude is normal clothing made me feel really indignant. If girls have to wear dementor robes, then boys should have to as well. But then, I have to remember that since most guys are jerks that only objectify women, it is for the best that women hide themselves. At least the men other there recognize that it's a problem and have done something about it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that's how I see it, but my opinion may be swayed by the fact that this really creepy sleaze-bucket totally looked me and my friend up and down like a piece of meat yesterday. My fist was balled up and already to punch him if he stopped within hitting distance (too bad he didn't). I think our wedding rings kept him and his meat-head friends going.