!الاردن

Finally, the post you've all been waiting for: My trip to Jordan.

Jordan was an exciting time in the life of the BYU-Jerusalem Students. We visited sites walked on by ancient prophets, saw churches built almost 2,000 years ago, explored one of the wonders of the ancient world,  saw the location of the beheading of the forerunner to Christ (John the Baptist), spent some time exploring downtown Amman, and stepped into the river where Christ Himself was baptized. Needless to say, joy was had by all.

This post will have a lot less writing than my post on my trip to Turkey. That one I felt I had a lot more to explain that couldn't be described with pictures. This one, however, I have quite a few pictures that are acceptable unto me. So here you go!

We started out by driving over the River Jordan. Where we drove over it, it was actually very small. It reminded me of when we went to Lake Powell when I was a youthling and Chelsey saw a puddle along the way and asked if that was the Lake. Haha. I actually thought it was going to get bigger. But where we crossed, it never did. I was slightly less impressed that Joshua led the Israelites through it on dry ground, but I'm sure it was still impressive. I mean, I definitely couldn't take an entire nation across it on dry ground. So props to Joshua.

The river:

It's crazy that this thing is the dividing line between two nations.

That day we Mt. Nebo, where Moses saw the promised land but wasn't allowed to go to it. A picture of me looking at the land of Israel from Mt. Nebo:

We visited an ancient church in Madaba, then finished the day in Machaerus, where John the Baptist was beheaded. It was actually beautiful here. Jordan is a desert country, but a beautiful desert. So here's a cute picture of my friend Becca and me at Machaerus. Look how cute we are:

Here's a picture of Machaerus with the Dead Sea in the background. So beautiful:

Then the drive to Petra was beautiful. I seriously love the desert.

Day Two, we visited PETRA. It means rock. And it's got beautiful rocks.

Petra is one of the new seven wonders of the world. And it deserves it. Petra, a city built by the ancient Nabataeans, has canyons reminiscent of those in Southern Utah and was made famous by Indiana Jones: the Last Crusade. As was requisite, I sang the Indiana Jones theme song as I went through the famed "Canyon of the Crescent Moon." It was at this point that I had my actual first view of the city of Petra through the canyon:

As we walked through the end of the canyon, we had a magnificent view of the Treasury at Petra. It was not, in fact, a treasury, but a tomb. It did not, as far as I know, have the Holy Grail or a crusader knight inside, as in Indiana Jones. It was, however, even more amazing to see than the pictures can do justice to.

The Treasury:

After spending a few minutes at the Treasury, we continued our tour of other sites of Petra before we were given the opportunity to explore on our own. As we walked, I had my headset in, listening through one earbud with the other dangling by the ground. There were many little Bedouin kids walking around, trying to sell things. Suddenly, one of these little girls walked up to me and just put the extra earbud in her ear. At first I was taken aback, but then I realized there was nothing wrong with it, so I let her listen with me! Haha. She was so cute.

After about 20 seconds, a young Bedouin boy came up to me and asked, "You listening to music?" The little girl handed him her earbud, he put it in his ear, and excitedly exclaimed, "Ah! Music of the guide!" Haha! So funny. Right afterwards, he himself put the earbud back in my ear. My friend Kayla got a picture of me with the boy, but I don't have the picture, so I'll put it up when I have it. My friend Ariel also got one of me with the Bedouin girl. So I'll put that one up when I get it, too. :)

Afterwards, we had to continue with our tour, so I didn't have a chance to stay and talk with the children. About five hours later, though, when I was back in the same area, I found the same boy! His name was Abdullah. We talked in front of the Treasury, in both English and Arabic, for about 10 minutes. Generally kids don't care that I speak Arabic, but he seemed to enjoy it. I successfully impressed a 10-year-old. It was a lot of fun, though. I've never gotten a chance to talk to a Bedouin child before, and it was really interesting to hear about his life, about what he likes to study in school, and what he likes to do in his spare time. At the end, he gave me a postcard and let me take a picture with him. So here is my favorite Bedouin child, my friend Abdullah and me:

(PS. If you pay close attention in this picture, you can see two things of note: 1. My tanline. 2. My sweat line where my backpack had been. It was easily over 100 degrees that day.)

Anyway, besides spending time at the treasury, we spent most of the day exploring Petra. We had 8 hours in the ancient city. It was unbelievable.

The hike to the Monastery in Petra was one of my favorites. The hike was great, but the heat was merciless. If you look closely at this picture, you may note that this is, in fact, not a backpack on my back. I'll give you one guess to figure out whether or not it's a sweat mark:

If you guessed that it is, good work! But now here's a cool picture of me at an overlook of the Monastary:

(Chelsey, don't worry, I've gotten my hair cut since then.)

During the rest of our day, we explored caves, tombs, and so much more.

My friend Emily and me in front of some cool-colored rocks the Siq:

LOOK. THIS ROCK COLOR IS NATURAL. Neat.

We even got to meet the woman, Margueritte van Geldermalsen, who wrote this book, "Married to a Bedouin." Apparently she came to Petra on a backpacking trip, met a Bedouin man who invited her to stay with him, and was married to him a few months later. Parents, how would you feel if I did a similar thing and came back married to a Bedouin woman? Let me know....

Also, I got to ride a camel! Since I didn't get to ride one in Egypt, I was rather grateful I still got an opportunity to ride one. :)

A picture of my friends Diedra, Kayla, and myself in front of the treasury:

Another picture in front of the treasury. That place was so cool.

The rest of my Jordan trip was amazing as well. It included exploring the remains of Shobak Castle, visiting the ancient city of Jerash, eating a non-kosher cheeseburger in Amman, and standing in the River Jordan, where Christ was baptized. But for now, I need to wrap things up. I leave for Galilee in six hours, and I couldn't be more excited. I get back on July 21, so look for some more updates after that! Until then, I will not have my computer, but know that I'm thinking of you all. This entire experience has been the most amazing experience of my life, but at the same time I still look forward to seeing you again in a little over a month. You all are the best.

For now, I'll just leave you with pictures from the rest of the Jordan trip, as well as some things I have been up to since then. I miss you all!

Me in front of the River Jordan:

Me IN the River Jordan:

(My New Testament teacher's daughter was actually baptized here. HOW COOL IS THAT?)

Me with the greatest jar of Nutella I've ever seen in my entire life. I almost bought it. I kid you not:

Emily's chart of the kings in 2 Kings, as we studied for our Old Testament Final:

In the water after snorkeling in the Red Sea at Eilat:

The cutest picture you will ever see next to the Red Sea:

Celebrating the Fourth of July on the 8th of July (holidays work in weird ways around here):

(Picture taken on my friend Meeshell's camera).
Let me breifly mention that our fourth of July celebration was amazing. We had hamburgers, CHEESEburgers (non-kosher), Hot Dogs, STEAK, potatoes, french fries, grilled chicken, and all sorts of desserts. It was a real, American barbecue, with great music and tons of fun. It was unbelievable. I can't tell you how much fun it was to just sit back and be real Americans for a night.

Anyway, that's that. I really need to go now. I'm so excited for Galilee. I'll update you all on how it was when I get back! Until then, fare thee well.