On the Banks of the Jordan...

Goodness.

What a trip.

Are there even words to describe Jordan with?

We spent our first three days in Amman. The capital city of Jordan was mightily unexplored by our group. We spent most of our time in the residence we stayed in. We did manage to at least walk around every night, and got out via taxis on two nights. However, I feel as though I know nothing of Amman.

Although, on our way out, we did get to visit the beautiful King Abdullah Mosque. It's obvious contrast to the mosques of Turkey piqued my curiosity and made me enjoy it's architecture perhaps more than is warranted.

That's a lot of little blue tiles...

As we packed up from Amman, there was something of a weight lifted off my shoulders. Dana and I had panned the entire 10 days of our groups' time in Jordan - which of course made me want to deliver the best product that I could. The lectures in Amman were definitely the part that was most on our backs. They went so well - the students all appreciated them and the speakers enjoyed talking.

But after Amman, it was basically all on the tour company's back.

And man did they deliver.

The Dead Sea

OK... This place is crazy.

I have never felt like I did wading in the waters of this sea. It's completely inexplicable. I spent most of my time on my back, and laughing. It's just such an absurd feeling, you can't help but laugh!

Naturally, it took about 1.5 minutes for the guys to lost their trunks.

Yup, I'm proud to say that I carried on Chris's legacy and swam nekkid in the Dead Sea.

Petra by Night

We drove from the Dead Sea to Petra and got in just at dusk. The valley - Wadi Musa (meaning Valley of Moses) - was lit in deep reds and browns as the sun set.

At 8:30 we made our way into the Petra complex, following only the light of candles laid along the pathway.

It made the whole experience so mysterious - climbing through a canyon complex that you have never been to, only by what's visible from small candles and the full moon's light.

Epic is the word.

Petra

I have wanted to see Petra since I first discovered that it was a real place after watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

I had imagined riding down the canyon on horseback into a vast opening with the Treasury exploding into view in all of its glory.

I wasn't disappointed.

Well, minus the horse. There were none of those.

Choose Wisely.

What I didn't know was that this is only one small small part of Petra. We got here by noon and hiked the rest of the afternoon throughout the massive Petra complex. This is by far the most massive and impressive archaeological site I've ever been to.

When you think "meh... that's the least impressive four-story-high-ancient-tomb-carved-into-the-canyon-wall-two-thousand-years-ago I've seen today" you are spoiled.

Wadi Rum

The next day we drove to Wadi Rum to spend two nights camping with the Bedouin.

Come. On.

This is the section of the desert that T.E. Lawrence settle down in and explored/fought for in the early 1900s.

I'm not sure it's changed much since then.

We began our Bedouin adventure witha two hour camel ride. Yup. I've become a master camel rider in the past week.

The Caravan...

Our Fearless Leader

What I Saw.

No Problem for Dana.

Happy Joe Young.

 We arrived at our camp after those two back-numbing hours and then spent the next day and a half wandering, jeeping, and climbing around Wadi Rum.

I felt so at home in the desert.

Who would have thought?

I already miss the feeling of sand, the Bedouin tea and music, the awe-inspiring sunsets, the way-too-dangerous rock climbing, and the pace of desert life.

See you soon Wadi Rum...

Biblical Sites

After leaving the desert, we made it to Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan.

Where John baptized Jesus.

Woah.

Not sure I can capture what it felt like to dip my feet into the Jordan where Jesus' (probably) dipped his, other than to say that it was mysteriously amazing.

Then, to Mt. Nebo, where Moses caught his glimpse of the long-awaited Promised Land and finally rested his weary feet forever.

It was so chilling to look into Israel from where Moses did and know that I was going to complete the journey he never could.

Which is exactly what I did the next day.

Life is Good Today (Pt. 1)...

Sometimes you just have to archive a weekend. Because it's that fantastic.

This is what we call a good old fashioned update.

Friday, March 16 2012

-We finished up our last day of classes and I rejoiced. Lectures done. We made it. 

I've left these days full of classes utterly exhausted. I'm not entirely sure of why.

Perhaps is the length or type of lecture.

More likely it's due to the strange chi that envelopes our dorm building that makes true and actual rest impossible.

Sleep is uncommon enough, but rest? Well that's just out of the question.

So, per usual, I spent the walk back from class debating, do I go into town with some people, or take a nap?

I was so tempted to take a few hours off. 

I am SO glad I didn't.

-Hopped on the bus/ferry into town with Peter, Joe, Keaton, and Sam (boys night out?) just in time to see this:

Ferry with the silhouette of Sultanahmet in the background (Ⓒ Keaton Hudson).

COME. ON. 

How gorgeous is that view?

I'm already missing this city. And I haven't even left. I wonder what the implications of that are...

-We spent the whole ferry ride tossing bits of bread up in the air and watching the gulls catch them in their mouths. Some things to learn from this:

-Birds would make unbelievable wide-receivers/outfielders.

-We are far too easily amused. And that's just fine with me.

-Immediately we headed to the New Mosque. New... as in finished in 1663. 110 years before America was founded, and they call this place the NEW mosque. It's true what they say, Middle Easterners have long memories.

An excellent Ottoman mosque, the Yeni Camii offers a fantastic break from the supremely touristy Blue Mosque while still showing off Mimar Sinan's incredible style. Observe:

Boy. I wish that Istanbul had some pretty things to see... (Ⓒ Keaton Hudson)

-Then, we raced through the Egyptian Spice Bazaar and up the hill to the Suleymaniye Mosque. You see, we were really worried that we wouldn't make it before the call to prayer went off at sunset and we would be barred from entering.

Well, we made it in time. 

And I didn't catch my breath for an hour.

This is, by far, the most amazing, reverent, wonderful mosque I have ever seen. It's daring in its architecture, and yet surprisingly simple. Maybe that is what made it so spectacular. Here's a "doesn't-do-it-justice"still photo and video clip:

Please forgive the shakey-cam.

Not only did we make it in time, we were allowed to stay for the entire prayer. Talk about an experience. That's something that every person should get a chance to witness. We didn't say a word for a half-hour, and that was absolutely A-OK.

-After the prayer, we walked outside. And it just kept being breath-taking...

Can you ever imagine something like this just becoming "normal"? 'Oh that? That's just my mosque, no big deal.'

Mükemmel. 

 There was also this:

Nothing special, just an extremely vivid shot of Jupiter and Venus highlighting one of the minarets lit-up in dramatic fashion.

-We left the mosque and headed down the hill for a bite to eat and then to a nargile cafe. Oh, but not a typical nargile cafe.

As we walked down a street for the second time, Keaton said 'I know it was on this street!' Just then, one of the restaurant hawkers, whom we had been ignoring brazenly, got even bolder. He approached us trying to get us into his joint. Finally, we asked him if he knew where the "Cistern Bar" was.

'That's my bar!' It's right here! We've done some construction recently...' He exclaims pointing at a newly concreted spot in the wall. Then, he leads us through one of the restaurants windows, because, obviously, the door had been sealed up for no apparent reason.

We hunched through the window and immediately found exactly what we were looking for:

The entire bar is a converted cistern, each room an ancient underground Byzantine water holder.

I don't often use the word 'epic', but, come on, this is epic.
Please note the ideal range of facial expressions.

-We hung around the bar so long that we missed the ferry back to Asia, and none of us cared. Nothing could get us down on this night.

You know, every so often (read: like once every two days) I have a moment that makes me stop and think 'this is my job!' And then I remember how incredibly blessed I am. 

This is our night-capping view. Hello, beautiful.

Ivory Towers...

Yesterday, while heading to the Grand Bazaar, I stumbled upon extreme beauty.

"If anyone has a camera, the light is hitting that mosque perfectly right now" Keaton remarked while the rest of us were too busy looking at our shoes to notice the humongous place of worship straight in front of us.

As I looked up, my breath was actually held. Revealing my inner nerd, I quipped something about the mosque looking like it was straight out of Minas Tirith...

Honestly, though. This view was abnormal. It felt like we had discovered part of a book that had somehow slipping into our reality for just enough time to be photographed and then disappear.

Absolutely my favorite picture from the trip so far. 

No question.

I definitely wanted to share it somehow. So, when I got into a WiFi zone, I did what any good 20-something would do, and put it up on instagram.

I'm not the biggest fan of constant use of sepia, but I have to say. It made this scene look even more breathtaking.