Pictures from this weekend

So this weekend I went to Petra and Wadi Rum. Eventually I will post my adventures, but it will take forever to type, so for now the pictures will have to suffice...

New Background

See the sweet new background? Yeah I took that picture...

Nuances

There are a few nuances here that many may not know about the Middle East. Things I have noticed that I didn't know beforehand. I will try to take pictures of the concrete examples to make this post a little more interesting.


- Women who are covered have very few ways in which to express themselves. I have noticed that one of the most varying things about the women here are their shoes. Shoes are things in which they delight because they can really show their personality through their feet.


- As much as they delight in criticizing the US, they love Americans. Everyday has become a hassle in running errands because I am stopped by many trying to start up conversations that almost always end in some sort of invitation to coffee, shisha, or dinner.


- They do the kiss on the cheek thing here, but it is much more intense. Between recent acquaintances it is one on the left, two on the right. For good friends it is one on the left, and three on the right. If you have a best friend, it is one on the left, and four to five on the right depending on the degrees of friendship. And it is not just cheek to cheek it is full on lip to cheek contact. I felt violated my first time.


- The only sort of popular clothing is that with English script on it which results in many people wearing shirts that are highly inappropriate, or highly Christian. One was wearing a shirt that said (I apologize for the explicitness of this, but it is the truth) "Bukkake ruined my carpet". They are horrified when we inform them the true meaning of the words. Others wear alcohol brand shirts, and I have seen a fair share of "FUMC" or "First Baptist" shirts from donations.


- I have drunk more soda than I ever have here.


- My reoccurring meal is a grilled chicken sandwich with hummus, chili sauce, pickled cabbage, tomatoes and sesame sauce with a freshly made banana, milk and strawberry smoothie. It is delicious. I am tired of it.


- John Cena, Robin Williams, and Obama are all extremely popular here.


- Everything is knock-off

Umm Qais

So, we spent the necessary 3 JD roundtrip for our trip to Umm Qais, the day after the Dead Sea. We didn't really know what to expect exactly. Here is what we found:

The Sea of Galilee

We did our own performance in the amphitheater

Syria

Israel and the Sea of Galilee 

"Mark 5: 10-20" happened somewhere in this picture

Beer in front of The Sea of Galilee

Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea

So we were trudging along in the university's bus towards the Dead Sea, our final destination. It was hot and I was listening to Train, I think. I was looking out of the window at the scenery and all of the sudden we came around a bend and we could see for kilometers and kilometers. We had arrived at Mount Nebo, the mountain that Moses stood on just before he died and where God revealed to him the Holy Land. The place itself had a monastery and a half-constructed church on it. It was very difficult for me to truly imagine  Moses, flanked by the whole nation of Israel standing on top of the summit looking at their new home. The view was breathtaking:

We loaded back up, went to Jesus's baptismal sight (I did a blog entry on it already, but I really don't have much to say about it, it's kind of one of those things you just have to go to) and then continued from there to the Dead Sea. First, we stopped at Jordan's first established fast food restaurant to eat lunch. Chili Ways is not aptly named. The chili tastes terrible but the burgers are delicious. We pulled up to one of the many "resorts" on the Dead Sea, parked and walked to the entrance. 10 JD to get in, not terrible. The guards stood by the entrance very seriously and a small group of covered women huddled in the dark interior. The automatic doors opened, light flooded my eyes and when they had adjusted, the first thing I saw was a short Arab man wearing a gray striped knit shirt, matching gray striped socks, black dress shoes and a black speedo. Nothing else. He pushed pass us and I quickly realized that I was not in Irbid anymore. Drink and ice cream vendors everywhere. Many of the overweight men wore speedos and the young fit ones wore long shorts. The venue looked like it was taken directly off of the top of a Carnival cruise ship and placed in front of the Dead Sea. Women mostly swan in their "burkinis",  while a few more liberal ones stuck to jeans and t-shirts. First thing we did after changing into bathing suits was head to the Dead Sea. Walking into the sea I slipped on salt deposits that coated the bottom. When I got waste deep, I let my feet up and I eased back. I am unable to describe the feeling. If you placed a thin raft under your body and lay on it floating, that is as close as I can get. You cannot sink, I tried. You can sit upright, indian style. Just don't get the water in your eyes, it kills. For that matter, don't get it on your lips, cuts or in your mouth. In fact don't give the water any opportunity to enter any orifices i.e. farting or urinating underwater is a no-no. We got out and swam a bit in the pool, had some cold soda, and got back on the bus after a few hours.

the beach

Dead Sea

Relaxation pose

Superman, it is 3 feet deep here

notice the "burkinis"?

Then our bus broke down for about an hour... here:

Not so bad...