After some big weekends, things have been pretty mellow here in Amman. It has given me time to appreciate some of the smaller things in Jordan. For example:

I enjoy seeing Jordanian attempts to translate. All over town there are mistakes: "dentaal" for "dental;" "saloon" for "salon;" etc. I saw a Spongebob shirt that you "You will always be in my hearth." It's charming, really. I especially like the slogan they have printed on their fruit cans...

Tourist: Best without taste.

What is that supposed to mean?

Living alone, I have the privilege to make a short walk through town to meet up with my American friends. As I left my apartment recently, I encountered a mass exodus...from one field to the other...

It is truly amazing how these goats stay together. It was fun to see them pleasantly walking on the sidewalk, side by side. This is a common occurrence on my street, and it makes me smile every time.

We live near an area called Jabal Hussein: a hip part of the area with modern shops and restaurants. Vendors line the sidewalks with their crafts and ripped-off items. In Amman, you have the luxury of looking high class at a low price. For example, why buy the expensive Hugo Boss, Polo, or Eternity cologne when you can buy Hogo Boos, Pulo, or Externity? Or why buy Nike socks when you can buy cheap socks with the logo printed on them? I took advantage of this principle and bought myself some workout clothes...

The picture may be blurry due to the pure magic of the outfit. These are the most comfortable shorts I've ever owned, complimented by my new adidos muscle shirt. Adidos is even better than Adidas because instead of three stripes you get four.

I have been learning to appreciate art this past week. Some of us went to the Jordanian National Gallery of Art near our home. Having been to some art galleries in DC, I wasn't super excited. Not that I hate art. I just don't understand it. I understand that art is a visual expression of an artists inner feelings, but the meaning gets lost in translation for me. I mean, can someone please explain this painting to me?

Great colors. I even like how it is off-center and super simple. But why is it in a national gallery of art? Abstract art is something I simply do not understand.

I actually liked this painting...

But my favorite was probably this one:

I enjoyed the colors and the scene that it painted in my mind. I could almost smell the fruit from the orchard. And the three tall trees in the middle were a good contrast to the rest of it. I enjoy art. I just would like to understand it.

There happens to be a film festival this week. We've been to two films. The first was called "Of God and Men," a story about a group of Catholic monks living at a monastery in Algeria. Although the town is being attacked by terrorists, the monks refuse to leave because they have become so attached to the community around them. It was touching to see the bond that the monks made with the Muslim community.

Last night we saw a short documentary about finding humor in the West Bank. It was refreshing to see people retain their humor among such controversy in that part of the world. Just watching Palestinian school girls make jokes and laugh was very tender. Truly. Not only was the documentary great, but the setting of the film was incredible. We were near Rainbow Street, the hippest part of Amman, watching the film on an outdoor screen on a hill overlooking the rest of Amman. To my left was the Citadel (the site of Roman ruins) that was lit with yellow lights. To my right lights shimmered from the homes and stores on a flowing hill. The temperature was, like most nights, perfect. I took a minute to ponder and really recognize where I am in the world.

What an experience this is.

Camels...who knew?

Last weekend we went out to the Badia, or the desert. I was expecting tents, fires, holes for toilets, and a lot of nothing. As it turns out, the Badia is home to many wealthy Jordanians. Slash, the contact we have from out there, is from a very powerful family that owns several wells worth millions of dollars. The Badia, as I came to learn, is a series of small villages about an hour outside of Amman. Most people out there are related to each other somehow. They are more traditional than the folk in Amman. So you get an idea of what it's like:

The people of the Badia have homes just like (or better) than the homes in Amman, yet they set up tents outside their homes for social events. There is no furniture - only carpet lines the floor. In the middle there is pit with hot coals to heat the coffee, which is passed around in a small glass. (We, of course, did not perform this custom, but it was interesting to learn about.) They'll eat and dance the night away in these little tents. It would have been a perfect, relaxing afternoon if it weren't for the swarm of flies attacking my face 80 times per second.

Yes, this is in the Badia. Orchards of apricots and grapes dotted the landscape. I never thought I would see anything "lush" in Jordan, but this trip proved me wrong.

So we to see the camels. Here we see a mother with her newborn child. These camels were very mellow.

Then we met Bruiser. This guy had a big attitude to go with his big body. Slash introduced us to the beast, put a rope around his neck, and challenged us to ride him.

First step: have the camel sit. This things are substantially taller than horses, so it is imperative that they sit down. Slash gave me the rope and told me to tug in a downward motion to tame the camel-ion stallion. Bruiser didn't take me seriously and kept jerking back, almost to the point of lifting me off of the ground.
With some serious help, I finally got Bruiser to sit. Then I got ready...

...and mounted. Notice that these camels only have one hump. Am I the only person in the world who assumed most camels had two? As it turns out, the two-humped camels are the least abundant on Earth. You can imagine how awkward riding these things can be, especially for males. It was actually quite comfortable...until my adrenaline wore out and my nerves regained their sensitivity.

Victory. You sit on their back hips, hold onto their thick back hair, and hit them with a stick now and then. And that's how you ride a camel (and get completely nasty hands that smell like camel).

After taming Bruiser we visited another location with female camels. This darling is pregnant. We called her Sofia.


It took a random field in Jordan for me to finally understand Sting.

We went to a place called Black Mountain, which really was just a hill of volcanic rock. It was beautiful. And we were near Syria. I conquered camels and death on this quick trip.

Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba

Friday morning a large group of us (the BYU interns, the Zaytooners, and myself) hopped on a bus to explore the southern part of Jordan. A few hours later we were in Petra, an ancient city built by the Nabataeans thousands of years ago. They built structures into the rock - a city carved out of stone. You may recognize some of it from scenes in movies such as Indiana Jones and Transformers. I'm not so educated as to the history of this location, so I plan to research it soon. The place looks a lot southern Utah, doesn't it? It reminds me of the Narrows in Zion's National Park. Zion's, however, does not have this ancient city. Although I took hundreds of pictures, it is not feasible to upload them all onto this blog. Hopefully you can get a sense of Petra's wonder by viewing the following:

The main site of Petra, the Treasury, slowly creeps into view through the narrow crevice as you walk closer and closer. This picture does not capture the Treasury in the background because the sun was too bright, but I assure you that it's behind me.

This is what it really looked like:

Here's the Treasury in full splendor. As soon as you step into the scene, you are surrounded by Bedouin people. They offer to take you further down the canyon on their donkey, horse, or camel. There are dozens of Bedouin children who speak English remarkably well that try to sell you jewelry of all kinds. I did not ride a camel (because they are expensive and because I wanted to enjoy this place at my own pace), but I almost bought some necklaces from this kid. He used a "bait and switch" method. When I figured out what he was doing, I told him I didn't want anything anymore. But he persistent and followed me for a while. I had to learn that ignoring people is the best way to get them off your back here. But for a bunch of children with no education, their English and business skills are off the charts.

I didn't ride this camel, but I would eventually. Keep reading.

Isn't this amazing? I took a lot of pictures, but it is impossible to take this all in.

This boy's name was Solomon. He spoke great English. He offered to take me on his donkey, which I declined. We became good friends for about 20 minutes. Too bad his eyes were closed.

This is the Monastery, a good hour-or-so long hike after the treasury. It was just as beautiful.

This is the view from inside the Monastery. It was just a big square room with a stage-like structure from where I am taking the photo. I can't fathom how they were able to carve big rooms like this into the rock with such skill. The surfaces are perfectly flat and the room is perfectly square.


So that was Petra. We spent several hours there. I probably explored about 40% of what was there. It was such a big place with a lot of offshoots and different trails. It was a lot of fun, but we were without food for most of the day, so all the hiking and hot sun were taking their toll on our poor bodies. We hopped back onto the bus and drove down to Wadi Rum.

I was told we were camping in the desert...and I was not too excited. I was expecting very little of Wadi Rum: sand, heat, no amenities, etc. I was grossly mistaken.

We pulled up to our camp and I was blown away. It was like a hotel with no roof. These are the tents we stayed in. They had two or three beds (yes, with matresses) in each room.

They had a large common area in the middle of the camp. This is where all the eating and dancing took place later that evening. (Yes, dancing. Jordanians love to dance, which usually consists of a circle of men holding hands or clapping. Their clapping is usually off-beat, but man, these people love to dance. They love to watch Americans dance even more. Whenever we go out there, Arabs grab their cameras. I'm sure I'll make it onto Jordan's YouTube eventually.)

Dave, Joel, and Bruce kickin' it Arab style: touching each other as much as possible.

Wadi Rum was the most wondrous place I've ever been. There was a silent power throughout the whole place. It was majestic and marvelous in every sense of those words. While dinner was being prepared we all spread out and explored our surroundings. It was Lake Powell-esque with all its sand and rock.

This was a special moment: Jordanian sunset in the desert complete with camel. Priceless. (My Chaco flip-flops are also priceless. I love those things.)

I wish I could have spent more time in Wadi Rum. It was so great. As I mentioned, I was expecting very little of Wadi Rum. I thought it would be the least-enjoyable part of the trip, yet it turned out to be my favorite. It was a spiritual experience where I was able to witness God's glory.

The next morning, after breakfast, we again packed into our tour bus and drove even further south to Aqaba. This is a city on the shores of the Red Sea. It was hot. We drove to a beach, which was a slight disappointment because it was so rocky that it hurt our feet. Luckily there was a pier where from which we could jump into the sea. The water is gorgeous: such clarity in its shades of blue and green.

That night we took it easy. We walked around the city and walked to the beach. I had some delicious ice cream.

Standing outside of our hotel presented a first for me. This man came by on his camel and asked if we wanted a ride. We refused at first because they usually swindle you out of a lotta money, but he insisted he didn't want it. He took us on rides up the street and back. Jini grabbed the rope and led the camel for me. She ran...so the camel ran. I was bouncing out of the saddle. Camels are super tall and I was close to knocking my head on several low-hanging signs, but it was so fun.

Before the camel ride (these pictures are out of order), we jumped onto a boat. For the next couple of hours we made our way around the Gulf of Aqaba. This picture shows across the gulf to Israel:

This is our boat. There were about 10 of us Americans on board. The boast had loud speakers...and a big open deck...which means dancing was inevitable. They blasted Jordanian music for the first part of the trip. We knew they wanted "the Americans" to dance when they played I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. (They played the same song the night before at Wadi Rum. I don't know why they assume we love this song.) Before anyone was dancing, I was talking to Dave and Keri with my back to the dance area. Then suddenly I feel a hand grab mine. I turn around to find an Arab man pulling me onto the dance floor. I resisted, then gave it. That started a full on dance party. Eventually my American colleagues joined. Again, Arab people grabbed their cameras and phones to record us.

Smolder.

Arabs are so romantic. I've been hurt so many times that this wall explain my deepest plea:


So there's a snapshot into my weekend. It was 'mumtaz,' as they would say here. The whole thing exceeded my expectations and I gained a greater appreciation for Jordan the country and its people.

This blog entry didn't satisfy you? Left you with questions or comments? Try writing me. I'm more than happy (and begging) for communication.