Jordan, here I come!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
This morning we drove to the border of Israel and Jordan. In order to cross the border we had to unload all of our bags, go through passport control, have our bags searched, get a new guide, bus driver, and bus, and then proceed onto the rest of Jordan. Once across the border we met Gamil, our tour guide. He was definitely no Abner but we'll take what we can get. Our group is the first HUG group ever to get to go to Jordan so it was as much of an adventure to us as it was to Captain and DiMy. The first place we went was Mt. Nebo. This the mountain that Moses went to for God to show him the promised land before he died. Had the day been a little bit clearer we would have been able to see the Dead Sea, Jericho, the Jordan River, and the mountains around Jerusalem. Unfortunately it was incredibly hazy so we couldn't see very far but it was still cool to imagine what Moses would have been able to see before he died. Next we went to St. George Church. This church has a mosaic of the oldest map of the Holy Lands that we have. We drove to Amman and spent the night there and guess what we got...... DR PEPPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was diet but really, was I in any position to be picky? :)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Today we got to go to the ancient city of Petra. For those Indiana Jones fans out there, this is where they shot the scene in the Last Crusade where they ride the horses through the cliffs to the big temple that is carved into the rock. The city of Petra is an entire city carved into the rocks. It dates back to the 4th century BC and was the capital of the Navadim Kingdom. It was home to 40,000 people and was 19 square miles. We walked up and looked at all of the facades that are still left in the rock and the temples and tombs that are still there. We were then given free time to walk back down and explore the city. That night we stayed in a hotel close to Petra. Sara, my roommate, and I were sitting in the room watching some TV before dinner when all of the sudden we heard loud explosions coming from outside. We looked at each other for a second and then the panic set in. She and I both hit the floor and debated whether or not to crawl to the window and see what was happening. Well, after a few minutes on the floor we crept over the windowsill and pulled up the curtains. You know what it was? .... FIREWORKS! We thought that we were being bombed but instead it was flippin' fireworks... really people? haha! It made for some fun stories at the dinner table though! We head for Jerusalem tomorrow. We'll be there for the remainder of our trip and I am so excited to see this city!!

Jordan definitely wasn't my favorite part of the trip but it was still really cool to see everything! I am so blessed!