Jet lag finally set in today for almost everyone--by the end of our day of walking and seeing historical sights we were about ready to fall asleep standing up!
Wake up call was set for 7:00, but my roommate P woke up at 5:00 AM to the Call to Prayer, while I was up by 6:00 AM just due to the time difference. The time difference from home to here is significant, so I'm sure we will continue to update our sleeping patterns as we progress through the day. Breakfast was at 7:30 AM and was delicious! So many amazing breads, eggs, hummus, etc to try out. I was surprised by one dish--it was labeled as 'mashed potatoes,' but when I dug into it, it was SWEET! I was shocked because I was expecting it to be savory like back home. No one can fool an Idahoan when it comes to potatoes... At 8:30, we all got onto the bus to go to our first stop--Ajloun (ahj-loon). Ajloun contains an Islamic castle built from 1183-1184 (~50 km from Amman). One of the nicest things about this castle was its location on top of a mountain surrounded by a valley and other mountains. This allowed for safety since the people living there could see for miles in any direction to know when other troops were coming. Next, we stopped into Jerash. Jerash is a Greco-Roman city roughly 48km north of Amman situated in the mountains of Gilead. The architecture from within is Imperial Roman. As was evident in the buildings still standing, the Romans were very particular and intelligent. We also saw first hand that the large pillars had a built in system to make them earthquake proof! Imagine that creation from a civilization ~2,000 years ago... We also had a wonderful buffet lunch of authentic Jordanian food. If I lived here, I think I would gain a lot of weight since I've liked almost everything to eat thus far!! It is important to note that bagpiping is big here! The picture below shows a group playing in the amphitheatre inside Jerash. Our final stop was back into Amman to see the city, amphitheater (largest in Jordan), and the downtown souk area. We stopped along the way and Rain bought us Jordanian bananas--they were so tiny but delicious--and walked us into a spice shop to smell/taste/buy spices. There was also a shop there selling pure and authentic olive oil soap! By the time dinner rolled around, we were all tired but very hungry. We had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant called Fakhr El-Din. All of the food was served "family style" where we passed the communal bowls around, taking what we wanted to try. There were FOUR courses: cold appetizers, warm appetizers, meat, and dessert. After desert we were able to try "White coffee." White coffee is actually not a type of coffee, but is hot water and orange blossoms boiled together to drink. It was the perfect way to finish off the meal. Back to the hotel and we all quickly went to our respective rooms. To give you an idea of how crazy this is, it is 12:13 AM here and we will need to be up by 5:30 to pack, grab breakfast, and be out the door at 7:00. This paired with jet lag is quite the combo!! Hopefully we will all be at least somewhat rested before our next adventure tomorrow! P.S. Two quick thoughts from conversation today:
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Greetings from a now weary world traveler! I was informed before we left that the link for my blog had been sent out to a myriad of people, so I will do my best to relay our experiences as truly (and succinctly) as possible. Also, I will try to include the obligatory pictures of airports, nature, and camels to bring a little bit of our journey back to you. (I think you’ll be glad I cannot bring back some of the smells though…)
Our journey began with minimal hiccups—minus my initial laptop debauchery (long story short I didn’t know I was going to need my laptop until the last minute and then proceeded to pack it without a charger…). The first flight to Utah was quick and painless, as was our several hour layover there. The second flight was 10 hours to Paris—our gateway connection to finally getting to Amman! I normally feel claustrophobic and weary of such long flights (not to mention stiff from sitting so long!) but it afforded me the grand opportunity to work on my last paper for about 8 hours straight with minimal distraction. The food wasn’t half bad either! I actually was able to snag a great baguette pen from the Paris airport as well... The final leg of our flight was a just over four-hour flight to Amman. I could not have stayed awake if my life depended on it! We all emerged from the plane, rumpled clothes, sleepy-eyed, and ready to begin our journey fresh tomorrow. Customs was easier than expected; our passports were given to the man who met us at the airport, and he took care of obtaining our visas while we collected our masses of bags. Our tour guide, “Rain,” picked us up, got us—and our luggage—onto a bus, and we were off for ~50 minute drive to our hotel for the night. The hotel is super nice! I think that myself, along with the others, have rarely been THIS excited to see a shower and comfy bed though! Tomorrow will be a bright and early day. Although I do not know everyone on this trip yet (there are 12 of us), anyone could feel the level of excitement permeate the group. |
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