Thursday 25th – Sunday 28th = Mini Trip to the South!!!
Class –> left for mini trip by early afternoon!!! The program offers this trip to both the advanced and beginning/intermediate groups but on separate weekends so there were just 15 of us.
First night we camped in the Dana nature reserve in semi-Bedouin style. The reserve is in a huge basin kinda like a mini grand canyon (kinda). When we first arrived at the gate at the top of the basin we had the option of riding down in a truck or walking so I walked down with a few other people (about 2k). When we all got to the bottom we hiked up a mini mountain – pretty intense – just in time to see the beginning of the sunset at the summit! So beautiful! There were other campers there and we all ate at a common dining area – the food was prepared by staff in buffet style and was sooo good! The best thing I remember was this cauliflower dish (I am not normally a huge fan) that was in a delicious creamy sauce! After dinner we all relaxed in a Bedouin tent (not really like a tent, though – shaped like an L with the roof and back covered with fabric but with the other side open + carpets on the ground + cushions lining the back with low tables) and drank really good tea.
The next morning we left after breakfast and headed to Petra. We stopped on the way at a castle that had been captured by Saladin during the Crusades – so cool!! We finally got to Petra and checked into our hotel – NICE hotel. Really nice hotel. We had a little free time = lunch at the buffet (intense dessert bar…) –> POOL!! Then we went to Little Petra as a group (Nabatean structures similar to Petra) and a Neolithic settlement nearby. For dinner we ate at another Bedouin camp – this one was much more legit! Same tent-structure and really really good food! They slow-cooked lamb and chicken in this large oven-thing all day. The door to the oven had been sealed shut and we got to watch them break it open! There was an oud player and some other musicians – too cool. And SOOO many stars!!! It made Brooklyn look like the center of light pollution!
The next day we got an early start and headed to Petra by 8am after a fabulous breakfast at the hotel! We spent all day at Petra. First there was a long walk through fabulous rock formations to the treasury. Then it was a bit further to the city center. We had a private tour with Chris (program coordinator for our program and conveniently an archeologist who is excavating at Petra and is a specialist in Nabytian history). After a long morning in the hot sun, we had lunch at a restaurant from about 1-2pm and then decided to take a long hike up to the monastery – sooooo worth it!! It was a long steep climb up and parts of the path were pretty treacherous! We had to scramble up some slopes and walk along narrow ledges but we made it to the top and it was so great! The scale of the monastery was more impressive than the treasury and a bit past the monastery up another hill was the most fabulous view of the surrounding mountains! There was a sign that pointed towards this little summit that said “View of the End of the World,” or something of that nature in English that was quite amusing. There was also a rest area near the monastery (constructed without a permit) that served coffee, tea, and cold beverages. I was happy it was there since it was about time to stock up on water! The hike down was much easier and we made it back to the hotel by just abut 6pm. It was a long day, but was so worth spending all that time in the heat! We also met ___, a woman who married a Bedouin man after backpacking through Jordan in the 70’s. She was selling copies of her memoirs at Petra and we chatted with her for a short time. That night we ate at a restaurant called Petra Kitchen where we all helped prepare the meal under the instruction of the chefs – really good! All sorts of appetizers, chicken and rice, dessert! After a couple of us went upstairs where the manager of the restaurant also runs a small gift store. All the merchandise is handcrafted in Jordan and is ridiculously expensive. The rest of the night we had off so I headed to the rooftop lounge of the hotel with a couple other people. The weather was beautiful and it was really relaxing.
On Sunday we headed to Wadi Ramm, the desert where they shot “Lawrence of Arabia,” the latest “Transformers,” and “Mars the Red Planet.” It was spectacular. The expanses of sand and rock were on a gargantuan scale and we sped through the desert in rented jeeps! The drivers were experts on driving through the sand and did all sorts of swerves like in the movies!! We stopped for lunch at another Bedouin camp (not sure if that’s where the drivers normally live) and then drove back through the desert to the bus. Then the long ride back to Amman (a good 4 hours or so).
Monday 29th –> normal day of class, tutoring, etc
Tuesday, 30th –> went out at night to a café with several other students and one of our tutors!
Wednesday, July 1st (already??) à concert in downtown Amman at the Roman theater!!! Jordanian rock group (mediocre) + Palestinian hip-hop group (fantastic!!) à stopped at a juice stand on the way home for fresh melon juice – ah, too good…
Thursday, 2nd –> our Friday!! (our weekend is Friday-Saturday). I had tutoring in the afternoon (my roommate and I coordinated our tutoring slots so we had a combined 2-hour session with the same tutor, who takes students out driving in his car). We drove to the outskirts of the city and then dropped off my roommate at a lecture. Then we picked up my tutors friend and the three of us had dinner at a Yemeni restaurant close to the hotel I am living in! The food was really good (all the food here is good!) and the restaurant was really low-key and casual. They dropped me off just in time for me to join a bunch of people who were heading to see Transformers at a theater in one of the larger malls in Amman. The mall was really nice, just like any large mall at home, and the theater was really nice too! The theater had assigned seating, which seemed a little funny to us, so we all bought our tickets together. The movie was pretty poor overall (I had very low expectations) but it was awesome because it featured shots of Petra and Wadi Ramm!!! The shots of Wadi Ramm were supposed to be in Egypt, but it was still so cool to see places we visited on screen!!! The audience clapped at the part in Petra – go Jordan!!!
Friday 3rd –> some homework –> bazzar/market in Amman = fabulous! Everything is really cheap since it is all second hand. The market was huge and had mostly clothing items, but also some food and music/movies! Later is a 4th of July BBQ for the program and later later a few of us are going out to another BBQ with our tutor!! Yay! It will be fun!! Tomorrow will be a homework day!
P.S. These entries are a little disjointed because I type them in Word in our hotel (no internet) and upload them in batches aka now 🙂 Also. Any “a” with an accent mark is supposed to be an –> (doesn’t paste from Word). Later!!!