January 23-26 our whole group was in Jordan, and it was probably the most amazing place I have been. I know I said that about Israel, but it's equally true here. Jordan didn't feel anything like Israel. It was a lot greener there with trees and grass! I know that's a weird thing to be excited about, but I really haven't seen much grass since I got here.
And it had some really amazing sites that we got to visit. The biggest being, of course, PETRA! And Petra has to be the coolest place I have ever been. You start off walking through this valley with some cool cave tombs and carvings here and there. Then you walk down the mile long narrow valley entrance called the Siq. We didn't even notice we were at the end of the Siq until we saw through the mouth of the Siq, the Treasury. It was just the same view as you get in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, just the barest glimpse of it peeking through the narrow opening. So of course we ran out of the Siq to see the Treasury.
The Treasury was amazing! So tall and elaborately carved out of the rock. It was totally mind-blowing. But we didn't stay there long because we wanted to run up to the Monastery. It took hundred and hundreds of stairs and at least 45 minutes of hiking, but we made it to the Monastery, which was just as fantastic as the Treasury. It wasn't as elaborately carved, but it was much larger. We had a great time wandering around and exploring Petra for the five or six hours we were there. But it wasn't near enough, there were still thousands of other cave tombs we didn't see, and other smaller magnificent Treasury-like tombs we didn't explore thoroughly. But we had a great time there and of course got the traditional camel ride in front of the Treasury which was a lot of fun (although I've decided that camels are not my favorite animals- not very pleasant and they smell really really bad). And on the way out we got to ride "wild Arabian horses" and let me tell you mine was wild! Not only did it try and bite three or four of the other horses, but it also tried to bite me everytime I steered it in a certain direction. And it tried to take off with me on its back, and almost threw me to the side when I slowed it down. So, all in all, Petra was quite the adventure.
Another really neat place we visited was the ruins of the Roman city of Jerash. And apparently it is in much better condition than a lot of ruins actually in Rome, it was pretty incredible. There were long rocky streets with all sorts of buildings on the side and an enormous village square. There was also an elaborate fountain and temples. It was such a beautiful city. I have decided that if I were to come from one of the ancient civilizations I would have to be a Roman. And not just any Roman, but a wealthy one. They had an amazing lifestyle with beautiful architechture. I wish we still made things like they did, we definitely have the technology to do it although I suppose slave labor is no longer acceptable... But Jerash was a great place to visit. And it was a bit weird to see in Jordan. I felt like I had just traveled to Rome or somewhere else in Europe, I definitely didn't picture this as part of the Middle East.
And another one of my favorite sites we went to on our last day there, the Jordan River Baptismal site. The Jordan River is not very impressive these days, shallow and very muddy, but it's such a quiet serene area. Thousands of people come there every year to visit the river where Christ was baptized. And we got a chance to read the story from the Bible when we were there and sing some hymns. It was a really beautiful experience, to sit there and think and feel the Spirit. That was, by far, one of my favorite places we have visited this semester.
So, now in my opinion, because of this trip, everyone must go to Jordan at some point in their lives. It's definitely been one of the highlights of my time here thus far: exploring and adventuring with friends in one of the most amazing places.
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