Where everyday is an adventure: More Adventures in Jordan

March 31, 2010

We have been traveling around Jordan now for just over a week and absolutely love it. We are welcomed to Jordan every street we walk down, in every restaurant we eat at and everywhere else we go. English is widely used here and even if someone is not good at English they are willing to give it a try as are we with Arabic. It makes for some great conversations. The people are incredibly hospitable and genuinely kind. We sent the kids across the road from the hotel where we were staying to go run off some energy and play soccer (futbol) and when we joined them they were surrounded by about 12 other local children. When Tob and I showed up all the kids ran up yelling “hello, hello” and asked our names and shared theirs. They helped us with our Arabic and loved helping me take pictures. Afterward when we were getting close to leaving one boy invited us to their home for dinner. Since it was children offering and not adults we thought better to politely decline. From what I have heard an invitation to a home for dinner is fairly common.

Internet service hasn’t been great and takes plenty of time in the evenings just to send an email and post a few pictures on Facebook, so I apologize for neglecting our blog.

We have been busy taking in all we can. Luckily Jordan is a small country so with the amount of time we are here we are able to slow down and soak it all in. So far we have visited the dead sea and mount nebo, explored numerous castles (Qasr Kharana, Qusayr Amra, and Qasr al-Azraq) along the Azraq highway towards Iraq. We spent one night up in Umm Qais exploring the ancient city of Gadara. From the high grounds of the city we had views of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), Israel, palastine territories, Syria and Lebanon. There were quite a few checkpoints in the area and the soldiers would not let us take any pictures but they were all super friendly as we shared our passports with them. From Umm Qais we headed south to Pella, another less impressive ancient city we pretty much had to ourselves to explore. The last couple of days have been spent visiting the ancient city of Gerasa (in Jerash), a very impressive site with both a strong Roman and Greek influence. Ajloun castle was another day where we had a great time exploring as well as witnessing an unfortunate accident. Just below where we were standing a young girl (16-18?) fell from a ledge and laid lifelessly in front of us as people swarmed her. It was awful. Just before that we were watching families, kids, and young adults climbing in all areas that were closed off or supposed to be so it was a learning experience for the children but something you don’t ever want to see.

Now we are in Karak, a fun little town. We arrived here late in the afternoon so the plan is to visit the Castle tomorrow morning. Then we plan to head to Dana Biosphere Reserve for some hiking and beautiful scenery. Jordan is a beautiful county unfortunately littered with garbage but the friendly people and laid back atmosphere make up for it. The weather has been really nice, sunny and temps in the 70’s I would guess, cooler in the evenings. The food has been wonderful. Lots of hummus, pita bread, tobuleh (not my favorite) Kabobs made of chicken and lamb, falafel and roadside treats.