The first day of traveling was on Friday morning when we had to be
packed up and ready to go to Jerash and the Dead Sea. Jerash was a site of ruins which was very interesting to see and hear about. One of the really cool things about it was that there was a huge column that moves. Our guide put a spoon in between the tall column and the base and then pushed hard on the column and it was pretty cool to see the spoon move up and down. Their was also a Roman amphitheater which we were able to explore and when we entered 4 middle eastern people were playing instruments. One of them was
playing the bagpipes and I thought it was quite funny because the bagpipes are not from the Middle East or Rome. It was still pretty cool though. If you stand in a certain spot at the bottom on the
theater then you you can talk at a normal tone and everyone could hear. Someone from my church kept mentioning to the guides that I could sing and she was trying to get to them to make me stand in that spot and sing something. It was funny. After we explored a little bit(and by this I mean...climbing all over things. lol) we got a group picture of everyone that was attending the feast in Jordan all sitting in the amphitheater. Then...they asked me to sing. lol I guess she kept asking and so I stood in the "spot" and they asked me to sing Amazing Graze and I sang only the first verse then stopped and immediately afterwards the bagpipe started up again and played Amazing Grace. It was kinda hilarious...but really cool. Hahaha. The video will be on facebook soon...it didn't let me upload it on here for some reason. (The error message was in Arabic. lol)
That night we arrived at the Dead Sea!!!! I was so excited. The next day (The Sabbath) we went to Pella to have services. Luckily it was an easy day of no walking or hiking around. We had services together on the back porch which overlooked a beautiful valley and ruins of Pella. We ate lunch and had a chance to listen to them talk about the importance of the area. Pella was originally named by Jacob "Penuel" (the face of God) which we know to be the place that Jacob wrestled with
God and where God changed his name to Israel. Every time I think about it I can't believe that I was at the same place that God was once physically on earth. It is incomprehensible sometimes.
Later that day we went down to the water to float and it was so cool...can't explain the feeling. If
you tried to stand up or just keep your feet down in the water then they float back up. It was
fun to watch people fight with the water and bob up and down. lol Several people kept flipping all over the place...including myself. haha I got just ONE drop of water in my eye and it BURNED! lol We all knew before hand to be careful but literally on my way out one tiny drop got in my eye and I had to flail out with only one eye open. Luckily the life guard is ready and waiting with bottles of water to pour on people who are in pain. lol I had to put on the Dead Sea mud that everyone raved about. It was kinda weird...especially cuz I'm rubbing it all over myself. Haha.
Sunday we went to PETRA!!!!! (Insert Indiana Jones theme here) lol It was what I was looking forward to seeing the most and it was by far the most amazing. I did not know how extensive the area was and how amazing everything looked. A lot of the things to see were very preserved and others you could tell had been worn by weather. There was also a lot that has been recently uncovered and they are still working on it.
On Monday we had a short bus ride to Wadi Rum
to ride what they called 4X4 Jeeps...they were small old Toyota trucks with benches in the back. hahaha. It still worked. We drove all over the desert and soon came to a Bedouin tent which had trinkets to buy and camels all over that we could ride. They served us tea and rubbed squares of stone like perfume on us...they smelled good...and smelled real not like chemicals. They also lit Myrrh and walked around so we could smell the smoke from the incense burner. It all smelled really good. They pointed out on a rock where they had carved pictures in the stone of camels and other things. We negotiated a cheap rate to ride the camels and then we got on and as they stood up I couldn't stop giggling
because it was the funniest feeling. One second you are staring straight down at the camels head which is on the sand and the camel's bum is in the air...then the next second you are staring into the sun because the camel decided to finally use its front legs. Hahaha Once we rode in a circle around the tent we had to do the whole thing backwards and again I giggled a lot...it was funny! We got back in the "Jeep" and it took us towards another tent. There was a cavern which Brett, Zach and myself tried to run to the far side and all the while I was yelling random things because there was a really good echo coming from the far side. On the way to the end of the tour we ate lunch and drove down this HUGE hill which was almost like a roller coaster. I would definitely go back to Wadi Rum and camp over night which is an option. We'll see. :-P
Finally we get to SCUBA day!!!! I have never been scuba diving and this was my chance to go. We went about 12-13 meters down which is over 40 feet. We had the option to go once or twice(this was for those who weren't certified...the certified people went with a different group).
I chose to go twice and everyone is partnered with an instructor...one on one. My first dive the instructor caught an eel which he let me touch and we saw a rock fish which was one fish among the hundreds of fish I saw. On our way out we saw a Lion fish and we played tic-tac-toe in the sand under water. I was going to let him win then he stuck his tongue out in the water at me. The second time I went I saw a very bright fish which I forgot to ask later what it was...but it looked like a snail without a shell and moved just about as slow across the sand. Later one of the instructors caught what looked very much like a puffer fish and we were able to grab it and feel the weird balloon like body. It was really cool. There were tons of sea urchins and coral which was really pretty and I only cut myself once on the coral and that wasn't even when we were scuba diving but when we went snorkeling. haha. It stung a little bit but I was fine. I made friends with one of the instructors who is of Jordanian decent but grew up in Canada. She said she would help us get certified to dive and she is also a pilot and offered to take us flying as well!!!!
Our last day was a trip to Mt. Nebo and from there we were supposed to be able to see places like Bethlehem and Jericho but it was kind of hazy that day so we could only see a little past the Jordan River. For the Last Great Day we were back in Amman and that night after sunset we took some of the young adults back to our apartment to show them around. Everyone at the feast seemed to have a good time and we all bonded together through the difficulties with sickness and heat. I have TONS of pics that will be uploaded to my facebook and I recommend everyone go look at them because I can't put them all on here. They will also have captions on them which everyone should read and comment on. :-P I hope that all the feast around the world were as amazing and inspiring as mine. I hope to see everyone again soon!
Love,
Amanda
