Last Day in Jordan

it's been quite the thrill ride in this country. countless adventures. friendly/non-friendly locals. great ice cream. new foods. prayer calls. riding around in the trusty yellow bus. getting my hair pulled by nour a million times. learning learning learning.

jordan has been an amazing experience. it was certainly not without its issues, but on the whole it was a curious and happy place. i learned so much. i saw so much. i experienced. it was perfect.

i am quite excited to be coming back home. it's going to be nice getting back into the rhythm that is grand rapids, michigan. i got to get back to watch my sister in laws' bellies growwwwww. can't wait to see Kiley get into mischief. fight with my dog, Layla and of course hang out with my parents (and ross, and sam and have epic epic adventures!)

in any event...

i am going to miss how jordanians stuff fries into all their foods.

the abundance of hummus.

prayer call 5 times a day.

the gorgeous shoes on every woman's feet.

the people who were on this trip with me.

the adventures in al-balouti.

the roman ruins, the dead sea, aqaba, downtown amman.

the REALLY cheap food.

the celebrations of fireworks and horn-honking when someone gets married. (it is the HUGEST deal here. i love it. everyday is a birthday. :D)

the list goes on and on and on...

although i definitely won't miss this random happening.

we were on our last field trip on thursday, and we stopped for gas when we realized that there was this poor monkey in a red cage, just chilling out. out of NO WHERE these kids ran up to it and spit on it. and a little girl came up to it and hissed at it.

...i seriously wanted to get out of the van and beat their asses.

it was the most bizarre-o happening.

and so for now i close.

tomorrow around this time i should be touching down in chicago. breathing in that midwest air. deeeellishhhhhhh.

i'll see y'all soon.

salaam my worldly shipmates!

Day 27 fee Al-Urdun, or how graduating UJ arabic is rather rewarding

so yesterday was the final day of arabic. i took my written final for maisel and while i did not do as well as i had planned, i did well enough. it was just good to get that junk completed.

(tuesday i took my 15 minute oral exam with nour. and i ROCKEDDDD it!)

in any event, after the end of my exams we had to stick around for the dean of the university to do a "graduation ceremony" where he handed us certificates and congratulated us for surviving arabic. :)

i was really surprised to learn that... even the middle easterners can pronounce my name better than those back home. doctor nadia announced my name and got it dead on. (granted it was with an accent, but dammit! if people 6,000 miles away, who's first language is NOT english, can pronounce my name right.... then by golly people at home should be able to.)

oiy.

/end rant.

last night was also our farewell dinner with our professors. i'm really gonna miss nour. near the end she became one of my favorite people on this trip.

(amusingly enough, on the drive to the restaurant i told sandra "10 bucks she pulls one of our hair tonight." ....who should have won 10 bucks? ohhhh yeah.)

it was fun to get everyone together one last time. under the giant canopy. this is the second time we went to this really famous/awesome restaurant in amman. delicious food and shay. beautiful fountains and VERY attentive waitstaff. i am seriously going to miss being so respected by my servers. they are so so much cooler here. i'm just sayin'.

and then the time came to go home.

today we shall see mount nebo -- where moses died.

and explore the surrounding city. we will then end the day hanging out in hot springs. delicious, huh? i think so.

the days are numbered. gotta cram in the fun while i can!

<3333333

yallabye my USA compadres

Day 24 Fee Al-Urdun, or how doing laundry is a pain.

laundry.

so in jordan we don't really have the luxury of tossing our dirty clothes into a washer, then throwing them into a dryer and calling it good.

instead, you either have to pay a dinar per clothing item at a dry cleaners OR hand wash them in the sink.

since i am a poor man, i've had opted to do the latter choice... and it is a pain. seriously. i use the little hotel bar soap to scrub out dirt and let me tell you... i have no idea how they used to do this back in the olden days. it takes a LOT of work!

however, i manage to get it done after a hour or so of scrubbing and because i am an inappropriate american, i hang my clothes outside my hotel window... and this is the end result.

(hey, it's gotta get dry somehow!)

ice cream man?!

little known fact?

the ice cream man that drives around jordan/the middle east is absolutely nothing like the ice cream man we think of from the good ol' u s of a. sure he drives around a big truck and belts out playful childlike music from the speakers and sure the dude is creepy (i believe that's a prereq to drive an ice cream truck.)

but when you wave the ice cream man down in the city of amman, he does not greet you with a variety of cold treats for you to enjoy. instead...

he greets you with...

petroleum?

that's right ladies and gentlefools. petroleum. gasoline. diesel. the stuff you use to cook on a stove, or drive a car, or function in life. so when you wave the man down, you can buy a barrel of delicious petroleum for your family! isn't that a happy thought?!

so remember that, when you flag down the ice cream man and excitedly wait for your popsicle or whathaveyou because in this country, the people have no such happy notions.

;)

Day 23 fee Al-Urdun, or how it's good to sea you.

hallllooooo world!

how are you doing this fine afternoon? (or i guess the wee morning for the michigan folks.)

so last thursday/this saturday i went swimming in some of the coolest places on earth. or at least i'm convinced they were.

so on thursday we went to the supposed spot where jesus was baptized by john the baptist. it was pretty cool to see but it was hotter than blazes out so i had a hard time focusing on the monumental importance of the site i was at. while we were there we were led to this area where you could actually get into the jordan river if you wished to baptize yourself, or even just... hang out in its murky/disgusting waters. seriously though, not TEN feet away was the west bank. i contemplated swimming across just so i could say i had been to the west bank, but there was an army man with a nice machine gun stopping the crazy people like me from doing so. foiled again!

in any event, while we were there this foxy little russian lady decided to get in the water. PRIOR to getting in the river she was dressed in a ridiculously skimpy see-through shirt and really short, shorts. it was amusing to say the least. but when she went into the water? well, let's just say God wouldn't have approved of her garment choices. i found it ironic that such a lady was dressed and acting the way she was at the river (and seriously, no judgements here.) but the standard demographic of people who came in and out of this site were 60 and above.

alas, we finally left the baptism site and trottled off to the dead sea.

huzzah!

it was like magic, stepping into the resort's gates. the pool was large, there were fountains. the workers were dressed in nice button downs and pants. tropical arab music wafted in the air. bliss.

we trekked down to the actual dead sea after we all got properly lathered in sun screen and let me tell you, what an experience that was. (for those of you that don't know, the dead sea is the saltiest body of water in the world. it is dubbed the dead sea because, as the name would suggest, nothing can live in it.)

first steps into the water seemed normal enough, getting up to the knees however... it because apparent that the water wasn't exactly water consistency. moreee.... oily? the abundance of salt i think caused the water to be this way. either way, it was still pretty sweet. the sand was white and soft and once up to waist deep waters i had a hard time walking. you are so BUOYANT! it's utterly ridiculous.

i finally got out to very very deep waters where i couldn't see the bottom and i was just floating along. seriously, no swimming tactics needed. you just sorta sit in the water and move about. everything is perfectly suspended. if you are real quiet, you could even fall asleep on top of the water, which i wouldn't really advise for drowning reasons.

but i DID accidently get some of the water in my mouth and holy cow. that was the saltiest experience of my life. it was absolutely horrible. i was spitting it out for like 2 minutes straight. so for all you people who enjoy making a ruckus in the water, don't even bother doing that here.

however, the salty water of the sea got the best of me within 20 minutes of swimming. every nick, cut, and scrap on my body was burning with salt, salt, salt. so i had to evacuate the water and go to a much more enjoyable spot -- the giant pool.

you've all swam in pools, and they are fun, jolly times. filled with chlorine. but going into a pool RIGHT after you've been in the dead sea? i seriously thought i was drowning. the weight of the water was so foreign to me that it seriously took at least 5 or so minutes to get the hang of swimming properly again. insane.

the dead sea was a lot of fun though. and it was definitely worth the pain. and it was ALSO really freaking cool that i was on the lowest point on earth. sort of weird to think about. (and yeah, it's really freaking hot.)

-----aqaba?

so yesterday the gang and i went to aqaba for the day. it was a 4.5 hour drive to the city (it's at the very south tip of jordan, hanging out next to egypt and saudi arabia.)

we had to leave at 6am just to get there at a decent time, enjoy it's sunny awesomeness for 5 hours and then drive the 4.5 hours back to amman.

aqaba was seriously awesome. it is absolutely a resort town, but the beach is out of this world.

also awesome? the red sea is WAY less salty than the dead sea, but still like 10 times saltier than your standard ocean. salt is evil, i've decided.

when we got there, maisel got us all snorkels and flippers so we could do some snorkeling to see the reefs and i was like bouncing off the walls to get out there and explore.

sprayed down with suncreen? check. (at least i THOUGHT so.)

running out to the sea, i slapped on my snorkeling mask and shoved my feet into my flippers and dove into the water. okay maybe not so much as doved as... half fell/splashed into the warmth.

the first time i went snorkeling out the red sea i was just in awe. the reefs were HUGE and filled with a million different types of colorful fish, swimming from one place to the next. it was short lived though, because my mask kept filling up with water and i had to go back in to keep from drowning out in the sea.

the SECOND time i went out, however... man... i really got a chance to see the beauty of the water. i saw barracudas, tiny fish, huge fish, scuba divers, weird sea anemones.

and?!?!?!

FINDING NEMO!

i saw him with my OWN TWO EYES! i hadn't realized that nemo was so small! it was so cool! and he was living in that pink squishy thing just like in the movie! i believe i actually squealed in excitement under water, which... i believe... startled poor nemo, but he came back out after my crazy went away.

man. it was so epic, though. the snorkeling was just incredible. i was so worn out, but i wish i had days to explore the reefs and not just hours. if you ever get a chance to go snorkeling near reefs, do it! it is totally worth getting salt in your eyes/mouth. haha.

on the way home we stopped for sandwiches and i started to feel that familiar burn of the sun. it crept up around my shoulders and upper back, and even part of my left leg, but i didn't really think anything of it... but when i got home and switched to pajamas.

hol-y shii-t.

i cannot begin to describe the redness of my skin. not my arms, face, right leg, lower back. but my UPPER back and left leg! AHHHH! apparently i was proper in using the spray sunscreen. i usually always rub it in. not this time. swear to shit, i look like a freaking burn victim.

evilly enough, sandra could NOT stop laughing at me when she was putting lotion on my skin. (i had to pick some johnson and johnson baby lotion at the store for this reason. and it was only lotion that wasn't like 6JD)

ugh, so here i sit. writing this blog with my shoulders on fire. it's beautiful, i tell ya. absolutely perfect that the day ended that way.

the dead and red seas were so so great though. i can't really express that enough. i suppose if i took more time i could explain it a little better but i have the worries of exams swarming around my head now. joys! :)

one more week until i'm back to the mitten!

salaam my worldly travelers.

Oh, Nour...

random bit:

whenever sandra, steve, matt and i are in class and are starting to get a little frisky our jordanian professor gets... upset. but not in the way you might think. if, let's say, we start laughing a lot, or talking too much while she is doing something else she starts off with death stares (sweet and innocent, right?) she MAY even start with hair pulling or pinching (only to sandra and me because we're on her side of the damn table)

she has also been known to threaten us by saying she'll throw us out of the window or beat up.

but by FAR the best is when she whips out this little bit:

(imagine the best mafia/scary voice/slight arabic accent/death stare)

"i will kill all of you."

bam! she zings us with the funniest yet most disturbing sentence ever. i love it. every time she says it we bust out laughing because it's just so freaking hilarious how she enunciates every single word. i love it. it's probably one of my most fondest memories here in jordan and i gotta say, i'm really gonna miss my violent yet lovable jordanian professor.

(i could change my mind if she fails me on my final. but that's pending.)

haha.

Day 18 fee Al-Urdun, or how traveling takes up alllll my time

marhaba my friends!!!

how is life back in the states? i am completely aware that i haven't updated in about 8 years but that won't stop me from trying to catch up right now.

if you haven't already looked, i've posted 203483 pictures on facebook that shows my explorations of this country. (and thursday/saturday i will be going to the dead sea as well as aqaba. hallllaaaa!)

in any event, this past weekend has been absolutely eye opening, out of this world breathtaking. i think back to all the natural wonders that i saw and i can't even conjure up the words to explain.

nature is beautifully curious.

endless wonders glitter across this earth and you only have a fraction of time to witness them. explore. go places. SEE what's out there. you have no idea what you are missing until you are standing at the very bottom of a mountain, so tiny, so small. staring up into the lush trees, the water running between your toes, the sound of a faint waterfall a kilometer off. laughter. happiness. climbing the rocks, take pictures and more pictures. a breeze tickles your cheek and you feel as though you could [almost] cry because in that moment, life is so beautiful.

i don't wish to get all hippie/philosophical on everyone. but it just amazes me that there is so much to do. i am so very thankful that i had this chance to study in jordan. i had a chance to see roman ruins, crusader castles, mosques, deserts, the location where Lawrence of Arabia set up camp one particular harsh winter some years ago. i've seen amphitheaters, been inside a mosque, climbed in secret passageways, jerash, umm qais...the list is abundant.

too often people find it easy to sit at home, wait for something better to come along. hope that they will be able to save up for trips. plan for extravagant adventures and yet... never seem to make these ideas blossom. it is easy for me, too.

exploring petra was probably one of the most hellish experiences of my life. the historical buildings and area were so amazing but physically i lacked the gung ho attitude to enjoy it properly. it (don't quote me on this) was about a 6-7 mile hike in total. hottest time of the day. no shade. hot sand. and then? 800 steps up a mountain. a mountain so vast that had i been SMART and paid for a donkey to take me up, would have been beautiful just to study. but no, i took the hard way. i heaved and hoed up the mountain. i took about a billion breaks, choking down water and juice and crackers. wiping sweat from my brow. trying to keep even breathing.

and in the end?

i was greeted with a monastery. at the time i was just really pissed off that THAT's what i walked all the way for. now i'm glad i conquered the hike. i rested inside the monastery for about a hour just trying to regain some life.

however, coming back down through petra again i developed an unpleasant case of sun poisoning. the swarming, dizzying feelings of hot hot sun. the need to faint, fall face first into the sand hit me so strongly, it was all i could to put one foot in front of the other. thankfully, arie and steve were there to cheer me on. keep me going. offering water. and? talking about what it would be like to have a floating pirate ship (you guys rock.)

petra was great. it's one of the modern seven wonders of the world. and i got to see it. forever from now i'll be able to tell people that i traveled to jordan in my early 20's and saw thousand year old history.

wadi bin hammad was another awesome experience. i explained it earlier in this blog. it was 3 hike through the bottom of a mountain, in a creek, just as i mentioned. the rock faces and vegetation was absolutely stunning. it seems so unreal to image how much nature can create just by itself. for instance, the iron deposits on the stones created bright orange stripes of color all over. a nature's painting. signed by mother nature herself. man.

wadi rum and visiting the bedouins was swell! we spent the night in rather comfortable tents. wanted the sunset on a giant boulder. ate delicious fish, chicken, rice and bread. danced. sang. conversed over a cup of shay. and in the morning? we rode camels. yes, folks. my dream DID come true. i rode a camel and it was awesome. at one point, while sitting on top of Trudy it hit me that i--- was in the desert--- riding a camel--- witnessing where Lawrence had once slept years ago.

the opportunities that have come my way throughout my life have always been amazing. i have been fortunate and being able to come to jordan, to add another notch to my traveling belt was perfect. i can only hope that everyone receives the opportunity someday to explore. simply explore.

and with that, i leave you with a picture i stumbled upon, waiting to get to the bedouin camp. a random train came passing by and i took several pictures in succession. reminds me of my papa. :)

salaam, my worldly travelers.