How to begin explaining Wadi Rum... it is by far the most amazing desert I have been to in my life. Certainly gives Arizona a run for its money, although I do still appreciate the mountains, Dad. The sand grains are incredibly small and the land is deeply filled with it. The mountains surrounding the area were nothing short of majestic. Jealous yet?
So we took the last day of school off (Thursday) and went to Wadi Rum in the morning. When we first got there we immediately started walking around on the sand, climbing mountains, etc. Then about 30 minutes into our exploration I heard the group yelling ahead of me that a storm is coming. I took another look at the sky - impossible. So i kept on walking. A few seconds later I see Munther running past me at top speed headed for the main camp. For those of you who watch "The Office" just think to the fire episode when Michael knocks people out of his way to get out of the building during a fire alarm. It was a little like that. So unfortunately for me and my dry clothes, they were right. About 30 seconds later the sky erupted in thunder and pouring rain. Quickly realizing that standing in an open desert when lighting is on it way is not too bright, I ran back to the camp.
Luckily, the rain lasted about 15 minutes at the most. Although for the rest of the day the weather was much colder than usual. For the rest of the day we explored a lot more and ate the delicious food and chai from the camp. Then at night we danced "debka" (what else did you expect?) with the bigger group consisting of the Bedoins, us and I think some Dutch. Then we basically danced for about 2 hours longer. Quite enjoyable for two reasons... I like to dance and Ata's dance moves are nothing short of absolutely absurd. So naturally, it was hilarious.
Although the night sounded like there was a hurricane outside due to the strong winds and the ratting of our tents, I slept like a baby. In the morning we got to ride camels! Finally!! And I loved it! The camel ride was so calm and surprisingly comfortable. I tried talking to the Bedoin boy who was leading my camel but it was a little difficult at first since his kafea (red and white checkered head scarf) was wrapped around his entire head including his face. And you think understanding Arabic is difficult normally. But a little bit later I got to talking to two of the boys and landed on the common topic of marriage. Good talk.
Now for the pictures! They are in no specific order but they say a lot more than I can with words. I'll begin with the picture of me trying to fit in and simultaneously look creepy.
Amazing, no? So after Wadi Rum we went to Aqaba. Now, Aqaba is known for its beautiful weather, the Red Sea, and general awesomeness. Too bad it rained. Muhammad (our other professor who came on the trip with us) said he lived there for seven years and it was never like it was on Friday. No problem. So we still walked around a lot, a few of us dared to go swimming, and we got a great boat ride in the Red Sea to get a better view of the King's palace, the Israeli border and the Egyptian border. We did eat some amazing fresh fish as well. Although I somehow got a small fish bone stuck in my throat which subsequently stayed there for over a day. This led to quite a bit of confusion on my part as Munther kept asking me "You have a bone stuck in your throat?! Did it leave yet?" The confusion stemmed from the fact I did not previously know either the word for bone or throat. So he basically just laughed at my expense for most of the time in Aqaba. Payback for me laughing at his dancing at Wadi Rum I guess. But now - it left!
Swimming in the Red Sea:
The fresh fish I demolished:
And last but certainly not least... we went to Petra!! Now I'm sure if you have ever heard anything about Jordan, you've heard about Petra. The bad weather continued for our bus ride to Petra but thankfully once we got there the weather was fantastic. So for the remainder of the daylight I walked around with Jafar, Yacoub, Khalid, Ata and Ghawwar.
At first you walk through this incredible pathway that has towering mountains on either side. Then when you least expect it there is a carved building in the rock called "The Treasury" at the first opening. Amazing. Since Petra was at one time the center of the Nabatean civilization, you find carved buildings out of the soft rock at every turn. Before coming to Petra I had only seen pictures of "The Treasury" so I thought that was the only thing to see. Oh no. It is an entire city. We were there for 5 hours and we still didn't see it all!
One highlight of Petra was when we ran into Munther bargaining with a little boy, Rabeah, to give him an injured pigeon that the boy had picked up and stuffed in his jacket. After a good 20 minutes of haggling with the boy, Munther payed him 1.5 dinar and Rabeah gave him the injured pigeon. Munther just set it down about a half a mile away in a place the boy might not find it. Sad though because it couldn't fly and would most likely die there. Speaking of dying animals... we then saw a Bedoin woman rescuing two young goats from up on a mountain when we were climbing up there. It was so sad to see the one goat basically dying from lack of milk and lack of mother as the other goat was basically screaming or "baaa-ing." Too bad I don't generally carry milk on me.
In better news, the sights were gorgeous. Very picture worthy. Oh and look that that - I took some pictures!
This is the initial long entryway before you get to the Treasury.
Note the detail in the carving of the buildings. It was incredible how this entire large room had this exact same diagonal design - even on the ceiling!
And that was it! I was exhausted by the end. All in all, despite the weather, it was an incredible weekend. I can't wait until I have an opportunity to go back to Wadi Rum.
Before I go I will leave you with some "heresa" (a classic Arab sweet) just for being so sweet and reading until the end! Note: those who just skimmed and looked at the pictures, you have failed. You are not allowed to look at this picture of heresa. Unless of course you are also not reading this and just looking at the picture. Then I have no control.
hahah i love the ending. wow you are so in a different world, it's crazy/beautiful (hey, like the movie!). you write so jill-y. loves it. also i studied the bedouin in anthro and love their culture. super interesting marriage rituals too haha.
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