All good things come to an end, this is true even for English classes and summer internships.
After six weeks of classes, our English lessons had to come to an end both because the semester was over and because Ramadan was scheduled to start shortly thereafter. This semester my English class was a bit of an anomaly. I somehow ended up with a class of nine men and one girl. It was hard for me to figure out how to adjust from daily life where "you absolutely do not talk to Arab men you don't know" to coming to a male-dominated class where I am the authority figure. I think overtime I won the respect of the class especially when I invited them to teach me about their culture and I mentioned that I was taking Arabic lessons. Having Carly in class with me was also helpful both to me and to my one girl who had become very reserved in class. I do not think teaching is my calling but I am greatful for the chance to learn from my class as much as they learn from me.
On graduation night, the center was packed with all of our students, some of their families and all the Americans. I say "all the Americans" because we had a team from Oregon visiting for the week. So this team in addition to the nine teachers, and a few friends who came by for the party, there were about twenty of us. Each of the teachers awarded their students their certificates of achievement and were met with thunderous applause. After which, the teachers were called back up unexpectantly to receive thanks and a box of sweets as tokens of appreciation from the center. Once all the formalities were done, students were invited to hang out and play word games led by the visitors from Oregon in the classrooms. When all the games and the impromptu jam session finished, English classes officially shut down until September.
For the summer interns, time in Jordan had come to a close as well. Of the eight of us, only Kara and I would be staying here past the summer. As a way for everyone to debrief and prepare for this, our advisors Sarah, Jessie and Lisa took us all to Wadi Rum. "Wadi" like we talked about before means a valley or area where a river caused a change in the landscape. There was probably once a river here that shaped some of the stone and cut through the valley but it has long since dried up. "Rum" means high or elevated, which is easy to understand when you see the rock structures that make Wadi Rum such a popular place to visit.
Though it is literally the middle of the desert, Bedouin people still live in and around Rum. When we arrived, we were met by two Bedouin men, Abdullah and Attalla, who would be our drivers and guides through the sands. After a quick stop at the gas station in Rum village, we set of on our adventure. First stop was an unusual rock. You might wonder what made this rock different from all the ones around it; nothing, except that someone long ago decided that it was the right rock to write on. Thamudic inscriptions ran down the side of this rock and only this rock. Thamudic language predates modern Arabic and shows up in various places between the Arabian and Sinai peninsulas. This Semitic language was used only between the 4th Century BC and the 3rd Century AD. Next it was back in the jeep to Khazali Canyon. The eight of us along with Lisa's girls climbed onto the ledge in the canyon to see how far we could go. At the center of this canyon was a water spring but none of us were willing to climb up the scant footholds to see the water. We climbed up and down the time worn rock for a bit then we were off. Racing each other, our jeeps bounced over the sand dunes and up the paths that pervious adventurers had left us. A few more natural wonders astounded us along the way like the natural Jebel Umm Fruth rock bridge and the simple beauty of the red sand beneath our feet. We stopped for a time of debriefing on top of a sandy hill where we spreading out a blanket to sit on. We shared the snacks we had brought while we discussed what we had learned about the culture, each other and ourselves. We sat and talked, watching the sunset until it was time to press on to our camp site.
There are several camp sites that can be rented in Wadi Rum with varying accommodations. I had figured on staying in a tent but we were all pleasantly surprised to find that our site had running water and toilets. Our host, with help from our drivers, made dinner for us in the ground. I have heard of people burying meat in charcoal to cook it in the states but burying in the sand was something new for me. Also, I had not seen a multi-tiered platter like the one our host puled out of the hole in the ground. He had prepared chicken with vegetables in the charcoal for us. Some of us opted to sleep out under the stars but Laura, Kara and I decided to share a tent instead. We were up with the sun the next morning for a breakfast of fruit and some more debriefing. Soon it was time for us to head back to the village. At the village, some of the girls took advantage of the opportunity to ride a camel. We heartily thanked our guides and headed back to town. Though it is not a World Wonder, Wadi Rum is considered a World Heritage Site and it is easy to see why.
As Kermit the Frog said "Life is made up of meetings and partings" and life in Jordan is no different. After coming back, we had only a few days and then Laura and Becky headed home to the states to finish their last year at college. Likewise, the next day Carly, Katie, Jessica and Mindy boarded a plane bound for the US. At the same time, Kara was headed to Rome. The way Visas work here, you can only stay in Jordan for six months and then you have to leave the country. At her six month mark, Kara had planned to go to Rome and meet up with her mother. This left me in the house alone for a week but it was alright. The team took care of me and I was able to navigate town on my own successfully. I am glad though that Kara is back now.
Ramadan officially started July 10th. Life here is very different now. Fewer people are out during the day because it is so hot, and fasting from food and drink for sixteen hours makes the heat all the more unbearable. Kara and I went out with our friend Yara at 8:00 the other night and the streets were completely empty. This is because at sundown iftar begins. Iftar is the breaking of the fast when families gather together to eat and read the Quran. Generally this falls between 7:30 and 8:00 at night. The call to prayer will sound from the mosque and people on the street will shoot off fireworks in celebration of breaking the fast. Shops will be closed from 7:00 until about 8:30 so that the workers can eat as well. Taxi drivers will even pull over to the side of the road to eat and drink whatever they brought with them for this time. Fast begins again in the morning at 4:30. A few nights now I have woken up at 3 am to the sound of someone beating a drum while walking down the street. They do this to wake up those who are fasting so that they can eat before sunup. I understand why this is an important job but 3 am is really early. I planned on having so much free time during Ramadan but somehow the days keep getting away from me. This is my excuse for why this post is so late. Don't worry though in two weeks life should get exciting again and I will do my best to keep you all updated. Ramadan Kareem!
https://picasaweb.google.com/108532852514122909750/WadiRum?authkey=Gv1sRgCPnB6azzkPGWPA#
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
World Wonder #2: Petra
To distract you from how far behind in my blogging I have become, I will now dazzle you with one of the Wonders of the World. If you've been following me for a while you know that while I was in Ireland I had the opportunity to see Giant's Causeway, a natural wonder. Now in Jordan, I have had the chance to travel to another wonder: the Red-Rose City of Petra.
As I have done in the past, I tried to research Petra so that I could explain who built it and why. The problem is no one actually knows. It is believed to have built by the Nabeteans in the late 300's BC. However, records are sparse regarding the early masonry and ownership of this place. Constructed at the opening of a wadi or natural canyon, the first building is called the Treasury or Siq. What treasure did it hold? No one knows. More than likely it was only actually used as a tomb and if we stretch the truth a bit we can conclude that whoever was buried there was buried with his treasure. I mean, it's a pretty amazing place to be laid to rest, he must have been a king of some sort. Who he is and what was (or was not) buried with him remains part of the mystery. Similarly, the final building on the path is known as the Monastery. This is most apparently a misnomer because this building is only one room deep and could not serve as the housing for the religious leaders of the Nabeteans (if in fact they were the ones who started it all). Maybe this is part of what makes Petra a wonder: the anonymity of its founder.
Scattered betwixt the staggeringly ornate carved buildings are a few Roman remnants. Like everyone else who has stumbled upon Petra, the Romans were exceedingly impressed with its architecture. As they had the habit of doing, the Romans set up shop in the same area in order to make use of the surroundings and the locals. They did not stay for very long though. Rome was very good at building water ways to the areas that lacked natural springs and Petra was no exception. However, after a series of earthquakes destroyed many of the buildings and the water pipe system Rome decided it smarter to leave Petra and went off to focus their efforts on more habitable lands.
Petra, though uninhabited, seems unable to remain out of the public eye for very long. It hosted the end scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Treasury serves as the backdrop but since the actual building only houses three rooms, the remainder of the scenes are shot on a Hollywood set (sorry to disappoint you). Despite this press, it was not until 2007 that Petra was considered a World Wonder. Between 2000 & 2007 the New 7 Wonders Foundations worked to weigh various landmarks across the globe to see which was worthy of the title. Petra beat out many contenders, most notably the Statue of Liberty and the Pyramids at Gaza (Gaza retains an honorary status as one of the Ancient Wonders), and is counted among the Taj Mahal in India, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Collesum in Rome, The Great Wall of China, and Machu Picchu in Peru.
Our journey began at 7 in the morning. As we traveled north, we had to stop on the side of the road and appreciate the view that we had from the top of the mountains. There wasn't a sand storm that morning per se but we could see the dust moving and playing with the colors of the horizon. I believe we started our journey through Petra around 10:30. Gene and Zead led our group of seven American girls (Kara, Laura, Mindy, Katie, Carly, Jessica and I) along with Gene's son Rubbia down the sandy road into the wadi. Naturally carved canyons offer both a wonder of their own with all the colors and formations, along with relief from the sun. Like I said, Petra is in the middle of the desert and any relief is always welcome. Along the way there were carvings in the rock that let us know what to expect up ahead. We exited the wadi to find ourselves in front of the Siq. They have closed the Siq to the public so all we could do is look at it. All around us buzzed tourist groups, trinket salesmen and locals who make a living providing camel, donkey or horse rides to visitors who do not want to hike the trail. After an appropriate amount of appreciating, we moved on from the Siq.
Evidence of the Romans was right up against the original carvings. The Roman theater was right across from some "apartments" that are carved in the red sandstone that gives Petra its name. The Roman road offered our legs a break from dredging through sand. While making our way up the road, Jessica found a friend in the little boy who was selling rocks beside the roadway. He was elated to make the sale and she was glad to make his day. Next up, were more Roman remains: Hadrian's Gate and the temple. These were the last sites on flat terrain; if we wanted to continue on we had to hike up the sand covered stairs or rent a donkey. I was determined to walk the whole thing and did so. Jessica, Katie and Gene joined in my uphill march while the others rented donkeys. Gene called this being a "hiking purist", I called it a questionable life decision. I must say though, the donkeys only beat us by five minutes which is impressive if you consider we were climbing up stone stairs under the noonday sun. Once we caught up, it was down a different set of stairs to the Monastery. We had brought along fruit and snacks for the journey and the Monastery served as our hideaway from the sun as we ate. Finding some natural 'footholds' we all climbed into the Monastery. Inside of this huge building is only one room with no furniture or fixtures, no ornaments or decorations, and no apparent purpose. The stark difference between the highly ornate outside and the four plain walls inside reminds me of what someone said about white-washed tombs: the outside looks great but the inside is empty and only houses rotting bones (Matthew 23:26-28).
If you think you like apples, let me say you have never tasted an apple until you have hiked five miles uphill in the desert and then, when you finally get a rest, you bite into a bright green apple. The granny smith apple I had in the Monastery was the best apple I've ever had in my life. It's funny how the arid times make the mundane things spectacular. After our short break (it certainly felt short) we jumped out of the Monastery and continued up to the End of the World. The view from the top most peak we were able to climb is known as the View of the End of the World. It certainly felt like it. That's not to say we looked over the cliff and saw into space; rather when you looked around from the top of the cliff it felt like if you looked for long enough you could find the end of the world. As if to make this point, Gene pointed out a white dot on one of the mountain tops opposite us. That white dot is the final resting place of Aaron...yeah that Aaron: brother of Moses, head of the priesthood, featured in the pages of scripture. Again our enjoyment of the view was brief and then we turned around to journey back down the trail we had just painstakingly climbed (not to complain). Going down is always easier than going up but the steps were still sprinkled with sand and sure footing was a bit trickier to find. The road that we walked down to the wadi is a steady three mile uphill on the way out. Laura and Zead decided since they had had enough exercise that day and rented horses to take them out. Laura's horse was named Indiana Jones, in case we had missed the connection between the franchise and the place we had visited. So figure the road in and out is about three miles one way, the hike through Petra is about five miles one way which makes a total of approximately sixteen miles covered in one day. Not bad for a wee stretch of the legs.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108532852514122909750/Petra?authkey=Gv1sRgCO7IqOKbwPKZ1QE#
As I have done in the past, I tried to research Petra so that I could explain who built it and why. The problem is no one actually knows. It is believed to have built by the Nabeteans in the late 300's BC. However, records are sparse regarding the early masonry and ownership of this place. Constructed at the opening of a wadi or natural canyon, the first building is called the Treasury or Siq. What treasure did it hold? No one knows. More than likely it was only actually used as a tomb and if we stretch the truth a bit we can conclude that whoever was buried there was buried with his treasure. I mean, it's a pretty amazing place to be laid to rest, he must have been a king of some sort. Who he is and what was (or was not) buried with him remains part of the mystery. Similarly, the final building on the path is known as the Monastery. This is most apparently a misnomer because this building is only one room deep and could not serve as the housing for the religious leaders of the Nabeteans (if in fact they were the ones who started it all). Maybe this is part of what makes Petra a wonder: the anonymity of its founder.
Scattered betwixt the staggeringly ornate carved buildings are a few Roman remnants. Like everyone else who has stumbled upon Petra, the Romans were exceedingly impressed with its architecture. As they had the habit of doing, the Romans set up shop in the same area in order to make use of the surroundings and the locals. They did not stay for very long though. Rome was very good at building water ways to the areas that lacked natural springs and Petra was no exception. However, after a series of earthquakes destroyed many of the buildings and the water pipe system Rome decided it smarter to leave Petra and went off to focus their efforts on more habitable lands.
Petra, though uninhabited, seems unable to remain out of the public eye for very long. It hosted the end scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Treasury serves as the backdrop but since the actual building only houses three rooms, the remainder of the scenes are shot on a Hollywood set (sorry to disappoint you). Despite this press, it was not until 2007 that Petra was considered a World Wonder. Between 2000 & 2007 the New 7 Wonders Foundations worked to weigh various landmarks across the globe to see which was worthy of the title. Petra beat out many contenders, most notably the Statue of Liberty and the Pyramids at Gaza (Gaza retains an honorary status as one of the Ancient Wonders), and is counted among the Taj Mahal in India, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Collesum in Rome, The Great Wall of China, and Machu Picchu in Peru.
Our journey began at 7 in the morning. As we traveled north, we had to stop on the side of the road and appreciate the view that we had from the top of the mountains. There wasn't a sand storm that morning per se but we could see the dust moving and playing with the colors of the horizon. I believe we started our journey through Petra around 10:30. Gene and Zead led our group of seven American girls (Kara, Laura, Mindy, Katie, Carly, Jessica and I) along with Gene's son Rubbia down the sandy road into the wadi. Naturally carved canyons offer both a wonder of their own with all the colors and formations, along with relief from the sun. Like I said, Petra is in the middle of the desert and any relief is always welcome. Along the way there were carvings in the rock that let us know what to expect up ahead. We exited the wadi to find ourselves in front of the Siq. They have closed the Siq to the public so all we could do is look at it. All around us buzzed tourist groups, trinket salesmen and locals who make a living providing camel, donkey or horse rides to visitors who do not want to hike the trail. After an appropriate amount of appreciating, we moved on from the Siq.
Evidence of the Romans was right up against the original carvings. The Roman theater was right across from some "apartments" that are carved in the red sandstone that gives Petra its name. The Roman road offered our legs a break from dredging through sand. While making our way up the road, Jessica found a friend in the little boy who was selling rocks beside the roadway. He was elated to make the sale and she was glad to make his day. Next up, were more Roman remains: Hadrian's Gate and the temple. These were the last sites on flat terrain; if we wanted to continue on we had to hike up the sand covered stairs or rent a donkey. I was determined to walk the whole thing and did so. Jessica, Katie and Gene joined in my uphill march while the others rented donkeys. Gene called this being a "hiking purist", I called it a questionable life decision. I must say though, the donkeys only beat us by five minutes which is impressive if you consider we were climbing up stone stairs under the noonday sun. Once we caught up, it was down a different set of stairs to the Monastery. We had brought along fruit and snacks for the journey and the Monastery served as our hideaway from the sun as we ate. Finding some natural 'footholds' we all climbed into the Monastery. Inside of this huge building is only one room with no furniture or fixtures, no ornaments or decorations, and no apparent purpose. The stark difference between the highly ornate outside and the four plain walls inside reminds me of what someone said about white-washed tombs: the outside looks great but the inside is empty and only houses rotting bones (Matthew 23:26-28).
If you think you like apples, let me say you have never tasted an apple until you have hiked five miles uphill in the desert and then, when you finally get a rest, you bite into a bright green apple. The granny smith apple I had in the Monastery was the best apple I've ever had in my life. It's funny how the arid times make the mundane things spectacular. After our short break (it certainly felt short) we jumped out of the Monastery and continued up to the End of the World. The view from the top most peak we were able to climb is known as the View of the End of the World. It certainly felt like it. That's not to say we looked over the cliff and saw into space; rather when you looked around from the top of the cliff it felt like if you looked for long enough you could find the end of the world. As if to make this point, Gene pointed out a white dot on one of the mountain tops opposite us. That white dot is the final resting place of Aaron...yeah that Aaron: brother of Moses, head of the priesthood, featured in the pages of scripture. Again our enjoyment of the view was brief and then we turned around to journey back down the trail we had just painstakingly climbed (not to complain). Going down is always easier than going up but the steps were still sprinkled with sand and sure footing was a bit trickier to find. The road that we walked down to the wadi is a steady three mile uphill on the way out. Laura and Zead decided since they had had enough exercise that day and rented horses to take them out. Laura's horse was named Indiana Jones, in case we had missed the connection between the franchise and the place we had visited. So figure the road in and out is about three miles one way, the hike through Petra is about five miles one way which makes a total of approximately sixteen miles covered in one day. Not bad for a wee stretch of the legs.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108532852514122909750/Petra?authkey=Gv1sRgCO7IqOKbwPKZ1QE#
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