Wadi Rum

The past 2 days we spent camping in the Wadi Rum desert. Originally I was not too excited to go but always going with the flow and it turned out to be the best thing we have seen in Jordan so far and in the top of my experiences ever. Since we were not sure what to expect we loaded up our tiny rental car with mostly blankets & pillows, a change of clothes, and food. It was a 4-hour drive toward to Saudi boarder.

This is how Wikipedia describes it (so it’s gotta be true): Wadi Rum is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southwest Jordan. It is the largest wadi (valley) in Jordan. The name Rum most likely comes from a root meaning 'high' or 'elevated'.

Their website says: Wadi Rum is a protected area covering 720 square kilometers of dramatic desert wilderness in the south of Jordan. Huge mountains of sandstone and granite emerge, sheer-sided, from wide sandy valleys to reach heights of 1700 meters and more. Narrow canyons and fissures cut deep into the mountains and many conceal ancient rock drawings etched by the peoples of the desert over millennia. Bedouin tribes still live among the mountains of Rum and their large goat-hair tents are a special feature of the landscape. There are many ways to enjoy the attractions of Rum, including jeep, camel and hiking tours and you can stay overnight in a Bedouin tent and gaze at the amazing panoply of stars. To safeguard its unique desert landscape, Wadi Rum was declared a protected area in1998 and an intensive conservation programme is now underway.

When we got there we went to our hotel, okay so tent. It was a place called the Rest House where they had small tents set up for people to stay in for only 3JD a person/a night. It was a lot nicer than expected, there were mattress pads in there and blankets and pillows in these 2 man tents. We laughed that the mattress there was softer than our ones at home.
We arrived at about 4, got things organized for our tour the next day and then took a couple mile walk (in soft sand) to a spot where our book suggested was good to watch the sunset. We sat on a rock and started to watch a not so exciting setting of the sun when a man (who we could tell was a resident) in a tour jeep pulled up and asked us if we wanted to be taken to a sunset spot a ways away for free (he had to check on some tourists and was going that way and back anyways). Of course free was the key word so we jumped in the back and off we went. It was a very bumpy ride on the sand (and later found out he was driving extra fast so we didn’t miss the sunset). He dropped us off on a sand dune where we could watch, oh yeh, and then left us… near the Saudi boarder The sunset was amazing however we were a little worried we wouldn’t have a ride back and would be sleeping there that night. Well he DID come back and then drove us all the way back to our camp. Once it got dark the stars and moon were the best I have ever seen them look. It was a beautiful night and all against the mountain was unbelievable. I kept saying how a picture can’t even start to do justice to what it was like being here so I’m sorry that you all will not get even a fraction of the experience. Anways, the guy who came back for us was a very nice guy and invited us to have tea with him, so we did. We found out he was a climbing guide and his name was in our tour book as being the best. He owned a Bedouin resort for tourist to stay in (this was another option for a place to stay but they usually charged 20-60JD a night hence why we opted for the tents) and his place was book for the next 6 months. He lived in a house there and owned a camel for fun, as well as I think 6-7 trucks that people who worked for him used. He seems like a real nice guy who just wanted to show us a nice view and chat over tea. After a while 3 other guides came up to sit with him and I started giggling at the fact that here we were the 5 of us sitting at a table having tea with 4 locals in their white dress-like robe thinger and their turban looking hats. Way cool. By this time it was getting late and we still hadn’t had dinner. We had brought a tiny grill, which was an adventure to light and make work. Eventually we got it and had a nice meal of steak & veggies on skewers with baked potatoes. After that we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up and met our driver/guide for an 8-hour jeep ride around Wadi Rum, which would hit most of the prime spots. He was one of the guys that we had met the night before while having tea. The jeeps were pretty cool, decked out with 2 benches in the back and a canopy over top. Our driver’s name was Mohammed (which we like since ½ the people here are named that). We had a great time going around seeing a siq, rock bridges, sand dunes, Lawrence’s house (from Lawrence from Arabia), and things like that. He encouraged us to climb things with him (barefooted), which was so fun and really cool. The mountains that we climbed (except in the siq) were pretty easy to step up so we were able to get to the tops of them pretty easily. He took us to a Bedouin “house” or tent where we got to sit on mats and drink tea with a guy and his son that lived there. He also played us a little music. It was cool to get to mingle with locals. You will all have to look at my pictures so get a better idea of what our 8 hour tour was like but again you can never see it ½ as well as being there. All in all it was a great trip and again one of the coolest things I have done yet. We drove back that night and now it is the weekend.
This next weeks schedule is looking good! We start back at school Sunday and then take the day off for Atonement (one of our church holydays) on Monday and then school Tuesday & Wednesday AND THEN we leave for Thailand on Thursday! Justin, Jamie & Jonathan are all leaving on Tuesday and will be there before us on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at like 1-2 a.m. We get there Friday at 11 a.m. We are so looking forward to it!

So instead of littering this page with pictures I have a whole photo album dedicated to Wadi Rum (there are over 100) CLICK HERE!














Photo of us on a rock bridge

Link to Wadi Rum Website http://www.wadirum.jo

Busy Week!

These last couple days have flown by. Let me think where to start.

Wednesday we went to school as usual and then went to Jerash (Roman ruins) with our visitors that afternoon. We walked around for a little bit getting some pictures and video and then went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant. Earlier that day they crew went to the other school (ABS) to film around there.

Thursday was a sad day…. Swine flu day was a hoax so they took it back and we had to work. Okay so work isn’t that bad but when you think the week is done and then they tell you just kidding one more day, it is sad. Anyways, Thursday was different anyways since only about ½ the kids or less showed up. (Remember the week break was next week so they must have started vacation early.) I had one class in the morning and then sat around the rest of the day. On the plus side I finished a book I was reading! The crew went to visit the Princess at the Royal Palace that day. They said originally she would only have 5 minutes to talk and they ended up spending about an hour just for the interview as well as longer chatting, then were invited to another room for tea. From what I hear they had a great shoot there and a great experience hanging out with Princess Sarvath. She is the reason why we are here. She is the patron of the school we are working out and the one who worked with our church years ago to send college kids my parent’s age to do the same thing we are now. Hence she has been with our program for a long long time so it was great to have an interview with her as the put together the video about this project. They then went to Stephanie’s work and then to Tine’s for dinner. We hung out around here and then walked down to the falafel shop for dinner. (1 falafel=20 cents)

Friday we were up bright and early to go to Petra. We rented a small bus to fit the 9 of us in as well as a driver. We left at about 6:30am. It is about 3.5 hour drive. Petra just got added to the list as a new “World Wonder.”

Here’s some Petra info:

- Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

-carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

-Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1 kilometer in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80 metres high cliffs.

-As you reach the end of the Siq you will catch your first glimpse of Al-Khazneh (Treasury). A massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink, rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

I have several pictures of walking through the sig, the treasury, and camels & donkeys they wanted us to ride. We took a hike up the mountain where we could view the Treasury from the top. To really explore everything they say you would need about 5 days. We only took one hike. One thing I found cool was a carved out cave that was carpeted with a bed inside as well as dished placed in the wall cracks. We stayed until about 4 and then drove back. We stopped at our favorite hole in the wall local Kabob & Swerma place. It was packed so we took it to go and all piled round our little dinning room table.

Saturday was a holy day for us (Feast of Trumpets) as well at a church day so we met in our apartment and there were 9 of us! We almost doubled our attendance AND we got 2 live speakers. After services we had lunch (lasagna) talked for a while, and it rained! It was the first rain we have seen here and felt so good in this desert. Later we had a bible study and then went to a really good place for dinner. It was outside under a tent canopy and we sat on these couches with a table in the middle with a round inset circle where all the food sat. As always we had kabobs. It was a great atmosphere.

Sunday was our last day with our visitors. As well as our first day of break for the Eid. We woke up at went to the hotel to get personal interviews with the film crew and then said our goodbye. They are headed to Israel for the next couple days before going home. We felt a little lost to not have anything to do or any plans. We have a whole week of break and as of now, no plans. We don’t mind not having plans but the fact that this is our only week break together it’s a little disappointing. We do not have our Visa’s in check so we can not leave the country (which was our original plan) as well as until we get our residence cards everything costs 90% more for us. (i.e. Petra was 21JD for us and 1JD for residents). We decided on movie night and I was the most excited I have been yet when we found Mike’s DVD’s just down the street from our place. There they have all the copied movies you could ever want. They have old, new, and some still in theater videos. The best part is the each movie is only 1JD each. They also have a deal if you buy 5 you get 6^th for free and same with 10 get 3. Jamie and I ended up getting 14! We bought 10 and he gave us 4 free as well as chocolate while we shopped. I will now officially be caught up on my movies. It great, just like Redbox except you don’t have to return them! I think this was my most exciting adventure yet :) ha.

Today we are lying around taking it slow this morning. Not sure if we will do anything, probably run at some point, watch a movie! So you are now all officially updated on my week.

P.S. this is when the camel tried to bite me.

Don't forget to check out my photos!
LINK TO PHOTO ALBUM!

Filming day

So I got really sick! Sunday I only got a couple hours of sleep and woke up to my alarm for school and decided I would take a “sick day.” And since I’m technically a volunteer apparently I have unlimited! Had the worst sore throat for a couple days then came the runny nose and cough, but the cough was so bad to the point it was very painful to do it. Did go to school Monday even though I probably should have stayed home another day. Been taking every home remedy we can think of this includes 10 different vitamins (yes my mom is Dr. Quinn and packed them with me) +2 liquid thingers from mom +zinc tablets +straight fresh garlic +honey +salt water gargle +salt vinegar gargle +shots of lemon juice +cayenne pepper +emergen c or airborn +juice! Might be it or might be a couple more, I have started to loose track! Anyways today I’m feeling so much better and its only day 5 of the cold! Hardly had to cough or blow nose, throat it doing good my voice it just still not good. Every now and then it goes completely but mostly just raspy & low. So enough about that!

Mr. Horchak came in Sunday night but we didn’t see him until Monday evening and all had a nice dinner with him and then headed to the hotel to meet Clay & Clint (the video guys). Today they came to the school to film. It was the oddest thing. I learned that the school totally shuts down when visitors come. They stack the classrooms how they want them. In art we got 5 kids in the morning and then went very slow getting started. Then I realized we were waiting for them to come film us. We started the project and put one thing on the cards to look like they had already started. We then sat and waited… the teacher said this is what they do when visitors come and sometimes they wait an hour. We ended up sitting there in pretty much silence not doing anything for at least an hour maybe more. Finally when they came into our class room the teacher started working like she had been going the whole time. I had 2 kids to help with the project and she had 3, I think she forgot because she ended up helping one of my kids first and then starting on her own. My kid took a couple minutes to finish his (with not much help from me since he was old enough to do it himself) and then I was done and just sat. So it made for I’m sure pretty exciting TV. I’m sure they only need a couple seconds of me working but I was disappointed that we didn’t get to interact with the kids on film. Since we can not speak to them we mostly get to know their funny personalities (good & bad, but mostly always humorous) as well as their smiles and high fives and saying “hi” a hundred times a day since that’s the only word they know in English). I feel like in the effort of them to control & contain the environment; they lost the realness of the children and their personalities. It was funny to hear that they do no learning when visitors come and sometime the kids don't even get to eat. I don't think all of them go to today but since its Ramadan it's not as big of a deal. I guess this has happened before because they had the system down. I got to peak in on ceramic class and make some flowers with the kids, I loved it! I can't wait until I get to go help out there (if they let me). Anyways, oh well we will see what they come up with I guess! It will be a nice memory for us to have the video to remember all the kids.

On another note only 4 days till Ramadan is over!!! So excited! And tomorrow will be our last school day with it! We actually are getting this Thursday off as well for what we call, “National Swine Flu Day.” So we made it up but I guess the government said there is no school so the holiday Eid (we get all next week off for that) will be extra long since the swine flu has been gaining power over here. Last I heard there were a little under 200 confirmed cases, I think in Amman. Not sure and I think that was this weekend when I heard it.
Tonight we went to the Iftar at the school where the others are work (ABS). Princes Sarveth was there and we got to say hello to her and shake her hand. There was a nice traditional Arabic band playing music and we had a nice dinner.

Going to bed now, need my sleep to heal! Tomorrow is the last school day of the week and then we are going to Jerash afterward. I’m sure there will be photos for that! Haven’t taken much lately. Of course after Petra this Friday there will be more!

Peace out brussel sprouts.

I should be sleeping...

Despite the fact that I am sick, I am up at 11:45pm because I’m just that dedicated to you. Okay yeh you’re right, I can’t sleep. AND I have to be up bright and early at 5:30am! AND to top it off, tomorrow is the Iftar for my school so the kids and I will be staying at school until the iftar starts at about 6:45pm then eating THEN probably a long bus ride home. Don’t get me wrong, the iftar sounds great and all, I am just dreading staying at school all day and no nap, ESPECIALLY since I am still up right now…. And have a cold, yuck. We went to the store the other day and bought a bunch of snacks since everyone else will be fasting all day. So ready for Ramadan to be over, only 7 more days!

This past week not much new has happened to tell about. We are getting use to the kids and how we are treated and how to treat them. The past couple days I’ve had the chance to talk with the art teacher I’m with at lot since we have only had morning classes. I have learned a lot from talking with her and she says the same as we swap stories about our different religions and countries. She was so surprised to hear that there a some Christians (like me) that don’t eat pork, also surprised that we have a day of fast like they do (except for ours is a day, not a month, THANKFULLY!). She also said I can eat my food in her room! Since she is pregnant she is not fasting right now so we eat together every now and then. I was very excited to stop stuffing my face in the moth ball bathroom. I have also started a little word bank of words Arabic words I have picked up and she is teaching me more. I also think she shared her cold with me :( no fun.

Sunday is Eduardo’s birthday and since we are going to be gone his wife, Stephanie, schemed up a plan. She made one of his favorite cakes (tres Lecha=3 milk) and then we took him to one of his favorite U.S. restaurants… Fuddruckers. It was all planned out so 1. he didn’t know she made a cake today (she is very sneaky) and 2. we got all the way to the restaurant in the taxi without him knowing where we were going until we walked up to it. Tine also came along so today we set our record by getting 6 people in the taxi.

Next week is going to be such a great busy week. Mr. Horchak (a minister from Dallas, TX) is coming in to visit on Sunday. Then 2 guys that work in the video department at the church home office (the guys Jamie is working for) come in Monday. They will be shooting a video of us at our school and some shots of the town to make a video about the project. I can’t wait for all of you to see it since it will be the best look you can get into our life here. Tuesday they will come to my school and Tuesday night we have another Iftar at the other school where Princess Sarveth would like to meet us. Wednesday & Thursday they will visit the other work places and we will travel around town a bit. Friday we will go to Petra. THEN the whole next week we have off for their holiday of Eid. This marks the end of Ramadan. After that we will have a few days of work the next week and we are all off to Thailand. This is what I am most excited for because I will get to see my 3 boys! Justin, Jamie & Jonathan, (boyfriend, brother, cousin) the flying J’s will be traveling together to join us for the feast for 10 days there. This next month is going to fly by!

Okay now for some sleep please!

My B-Day

Well it was my 23rd birthday yesterday. We are getting a little more into the groove of working with the kids and figuring out how things work there. Jamie got switched over to Music class and I am still in art… maybe for the year? The music teacher is really cool too, he is my age and speaks really good English and has lived in Texas before and is ½ blind. He tells us things no one else will. Like the word in Arabic for foreigner, he taught us the word because that’s what people there use when they are talking about us in Arabic. Not that it will help us much but I guess we will know ! ...or just be more paranoid. The biggest difficulty is the language barrier. It makes it very hard for us to do anything with the kids because of it and can’t really enforce rules that way. For instance, the teacher stepped out of the room to talk to another teacher by the door way, in the meantime two boys started hitting each other and running around the room chasing each other and wrestling. I know the word for “no” so I keep saying “LA! LA!” but they know we have no power so that didn’t help, I also tried to step in front of one but he was bigger than be and that did nothing either, the teacher was right there and one girl was yelling “MISS MISS!” as her…. But nothing, finally I went over to tap on her solder and told her I needed help.

I was a little late for dinner (with the group) since I was talking to my mom so everyone was already in the other apartment waiting for me. When I got there they started singing Happy Birthday and there on the table was Papa John’s Pizza! I was sooo excited. It was the best idea, I had seen it a couple times driving and told them it was my favorite pizza from the U.S. so they thought it would be great for my birthday dinner, which it way! They also made me a Funfetti cake, which is also my fav ☺ it was a good night. Thanks for the messages also, there were nice to read.

One of the staff at the school also gave me a pretty necklace with a snail on it. He said he felt bad we couldn’t have a party since it was Ramadan. It was very nice of him to get me a present though!

Today (Tuesday) we had a shorter day since we went to the police department to renew our Visas, not much new to talk about but one interesting thing happened today. The teacher had a meeting and I guess when that happens they just leave the kids by themselves, which is not a good idea. Four of them were sitting in the art room, which I actually didn’t know and wasn’t told to watch them. I notice one grab a broom and shut the door so I went to do damage control (because I’m so good a making them listen right). Turns out two were fighting, hitting each other and another one was just grumpy causing trouble. I got them some paper to color on so they would have something to do and then had to stand between the hitters because telling them no, or LA didn’t help. I managed to keep them from killing each other (notice I didn’t say peace) until the teacher got back. The art teacher is 2 months pregnant and she told me that in the meeting they discussed that when she is sick and when she has her baby and will take some time off work that they want me teaching the class. The idea of actually helping sounds great however I’m not sure how I will be able to tell them what to do as well as keep them from fighting. We will see! Only 2 more days of work and then it’s the weekend again!

I have several new photos all of the kids at school, click this link!

Photos & Videos

I have a couple of new photos and videos to share.

Part 2 of the "Party Bus" this kid in the first 5 seconds can dance!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ynZHYb2VWE

Next is a short clip from the Iftar we went to. Just shows it a little better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzCq-GRNJ50

And this is the link to my facebook photo album.

The Dead Sea

We had a great first day of the weekend. We rented a very small car and all loaded up and headed to the dead sea. Eduardo is used to driving in Mexico so he was up for the crazy Jordanian driving. The dead sea is about 30 minutes away. We ended up going to a hotel side beach instead of the public beach since it was only 3JD more. It was a very nice place with chairs and umbrellas and a couple pools and ofcourse the beach. We first headed down to the sea and floated around a bit. It’s a very strange feeling to be able to float. Also sometime if I was positioned straight/or standing my legs would come up from under me and I would kinda roll so I was floating again. For some background information the sea is 1,385 ft below sea level, the lowest elevation on the earth’s surface on dry land. It has 33.7% salinity and is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean. It’s salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot live.

Next it was time for a mud bath. There was a section of the shoreline that was very muddy. All you do it reach down and grab a chunk.

This is a passage from a website about the mud...
Improves blood circulation and natural skin generation.
Fine mud grains, cleanse the skin and remove any dirt particles, impurities and toxins.
Proven to provide effective relief for skin disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, acne and wrinkles.
Moisturizes your skin and helps natural skin hydration
Gently peels away dead skin cells to reveal more youthful, healthier skin layer
Dead Sea mud has many amazing health properties, and in addition to the ones listed above also helps treat and relieve some other ailments. These ailments include arthritis, muscle stiffness and aches, rheumatism, joint inflammation and even itchy, dry skin.
So how can some simple, all natural mud be so effective at helping so many things and cleaning your skin so well at the same time? The answer lies in what you can't see - the high concentration of salts and minerals present in the mud. You see, as the Dead Sea evaporates year after year (it's not connected to any other body of water), the salt and minerals which are already present in high amounts get absorbed into the mud at the bottom of the sea. This mud is then extracted and packaged, with all the impurities removed. The minerals which are present in the mud are all natural minerals which your skin needs every day. By using Dead Sea mud, or a mud mask, you are basically feeding your skin these essential minerals. Minerals such as potassium, magnesium, sodium, bromine and calcium are all needed by your skin to help maintain the right moisture levels and hydration.
Another very powerful effect of using Dead Sea mud is the fact that as it dries, it pulls out any toxins that may be present in your skin cells from your everyday diet. This leaves the skin completely clean, refreshed and pure on top of infusing it with the minerals. At the same time it firms your skin and tightens it, giving you an exceptional anti aging benefit and leaving your skin looking younger. Because of this dual effect of exfoliating, cleansing and providing essential minerals, Dead Sea mud is able to help with so many various ailments or to simply keep you skin looking young and healthy for a long time!
Tip: Mud masks made with Dead Sea mud have also proved to be very helpful when applied to a scalp for hair roots strengthening. These masks help to stop hair loss and enhance new growth. They proved to be 4 times more effective than any other product of the kind during comparative tests with many other popular cosmetic brands.

Anyways, you cover your body with this mud, as seen in photo.

Next wash off and then shower off. We got back to the pool area and laid out on chairs and swam a little and read a little. We stayed until sunset and watch it go down under the mountains. We drove back in our tiny car and ate dinner together. A great day and a nice way to spend a Friday night. Tomorrow we are going over to Tine’s to have church at her place then back to work on Sunday. I may never get used to a Friday-Saturday weekend…

Party Bus

We had to get a blood test Wednesday for our Visa’s. A bus took us to a little sketchy building with a bunch of people in lines. We were directed to a room with many people in there and in the front was a desk and next to that was a lady who was taking everyone blood right there in the same room. I was so nervous, in the past I have turn a little white and tipsy from needles/blood so the fact that I was sitting in a room with all the blood and people and needles, I thought for sure I was a goner. BUT I survived! It wasn’t too bad, the build up was worse and I made sure to sneak some food and water on the bus. Once we got back no kids came to art class so we sat around and talked to some teachers. The bus ride home was the most excitement we have had all week working at the school. The driver put in a tape (yeh a cassette tape) and blared the music. The kids were clapping and yelling and dancing around. It was so fun to watch them. Here a video clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wkrxWLgD6c

Last night was our first Iftar. It is the dinner party they have after sundown during Ramadan. It was in a really nice place called Sports City. There was a huge pool with a bridge with water flowing from it and lights and table set up in the GRASS, yes green beautiful grass. I already miss grass so much. I took my shoes off just to feel it for a little bit! Anyways, a big spread of food and dessert. It was thrown by Prince Hassan and his wife Princess Sarvath, but we only saw them from a distance, Prince Hassan also gave a speech, but it was in Arabic so not sure what it was about. We had a nice time and got some good food.
p.s. Prince Hassan is the late King Hussain's brother. He would have been King when King Hussain died but 2 weeks before he died, Hussain named his son to be King.


Added a few more photos. Click HERE!