One Fish, Two Fish...

The colors were unreal. Reds, blues, greens, pinks, oranges. And I'm not just talking about my last Acid trip (just kidding mom!). Nope, that was just my last trip down to Aqaba scuba diving in the Coral Reefs of the Red Sea. Yep, that was my weekend. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about it. But it was definitely worth it.

Well, our weekend that was supposed to start at 6 o'clock am on Friday morning didn't really get rolling until Noon, at which time we began our way down to Petra. Me, two friends of mine, and a friend's brother that was visiting Jordan for a few days. We finally make it down to Petra around 4:00pm and..at last...begin what we came for.

It was great. This time we were the only four people on the trail. Well, not the only four. There was a Bedouin guy that was walking about 40 feet ahead of us. Good thing to, because the trail we were walking barely existed and had he not been there we would have for sure gotten lost. We went through Petra, saw the sites. We finally got to the Treasury just as it was getting dark, and made the final trek to the entrance in pitch black.

We then made our way down to Aqaba, where we grabbed some grub and slept on a hotel’s roof. Yep, slept on a roof. It was pretty awesome, the view of the city, the Red Sea, and Eilat, Israel on the other side. That was until 6 o’clock in the morning when a bird made it his duty to croak like he was dying until we were all awake. But overall, a great (cheap) night’s sleep.

Then, we went to the dive shop. Not that I was scared, because that definitely wasn’t the case. I was just nervous. Who knew what could happen. I finally decided to do it. To go ahead, risk my life against the raging forces of nature. We got on the boat and went out to the water. From there, people started to go under. I thought we were going to get some kind of orientation, maybe a lesson or two. Not so much.

It was finally my turn. I put on my wetsuit, got on my flippers, and strapped on my tank. Taking that first step off the boat and into the ocean is like walking the plank (with 20 pounds of oxygen strapped to your back). The dive instructor swam up to me and we both began to swim away from the boat. About 30 feet away, we stopped. He told me to prepare myself. We went through some quick breathing exercises and he told me the signals: an OK sign for…OK, and a shaking of your hand for…Get me out of here. He slowly let the air out of my vest (which was keeping me buoyant) and we began to descend. I struggled at first. You have to breathe in and out through your mouth and equalize the pressure from your ears by holding your nose and breathing (like on a plane). But once I got over this struggle, it was gorgeous. The fish and coral and ocean life was out of this world (actually, it is in this world…just a world we never see). However, the reef we went to, King Abdullah Reef, was located right off a public beach, which meant that I also saw Amstel Draft cans and plastic bags.

Well, 20 minutes later, I was out of the water, alive in one piece. I am so glad that I did it. Although, I didn’t really get the equalizing pressure thing right because I didn’t hold my nose all the way. So my ears were killing from the pressure and when I took off my face mask back on the boat, my face was covered in snot. A little disgusting, but I think well worth the price. We spent the rest of the day on the boat, and headed back home that night.

A great weekend was capped off by the host-family dinner that was held this past Monday evening. All the families that have host students were invited to a dinner at a top-end restaurant in the city. Turns out, my entire extended host family is in on this whole hosting students thing. And the invitation only inviting 2 members of each family translated into Jordanian terms means bring as many people as possible. They were all there, taking up about 4 tables of around 15 people each. We had the cousins, and the second cousins, and the aunts and uncles. Everyone. Our family hosts about 8 students in our program. Who woulda thought.

But the best part of the dinner was the entertainment. A group of us had been practicing the Dubkah, a traditional Arabic dance, for this ceremony we hold for our program next week. Well, we did it at the dinner, only our second time running through the whole thing. And it was a hit. Everyone loved it. And my host mom was so proud of my host brother and I being in the dance. It was really great! (there might be some video footage, but I don’t have my hands on it yet). Lots of fun!

Well, I might as well get started on my ten page paper due next week. But, when you have the options of scuba diving and dancing, the decision is so hard!

Our Bedouin "guide" looking of into the distance at Petra.

Sunset at Petra.

One of the guys in our gruop getting ready to dive (on the right).

Doin the Dabkah. We're wearing dishdashis, traditional Arabic robes.

Just part of the family. We had a few more tables like this.

took a little trip...

So, it's taken me about 6 or 7 days to recover, although my stomach wouldn't say that it's back to normal (i think a little bit of pharaoh's revenge). But on the whole, I'd have to say that my trip to Egypt last week was amazing. 9 days in a country that has really scene the birth of our civilization and culture. It was surreal: the pyramids, the temples, the Nile, the Souqs. Granted, I may be ruin-ed out for a little bit, but it was worth it.

I won't bore you with all the details, but I'll give you an overview of the highlights:

Cairo - the largest and most populated city in Africa, this city is bustling with life at all hours of the day. With a population of 16 million people, it's huge! We stayed right by the downtown area (Talat Harb), which is a street lined on both sides by clothing stores. Egyptians think that the best marketing strategy is to stick as many mannequins as possible in the windows. These weren't just normal mannequins, but were out of control and had the oddest expressions. It was ridiculous, but really entertaining at the same time. Traffic sucks, the city is dirty, and there are people everywhere. But it was awesome, especially in contrast to Amman.

Giza: Yep, took a stroll around the Pyramids of Giza. 2 Wonders of the World down. Giza is really incredible, really touristy though. The sphinx is spectacular as well. It's so fascinating to see these structures which were built over 4000 years ago still standing. Yes, it's a complete tourist trap, as well. Fortunately, we didn't fall into any...many...of the traps set for tourists because of our fluent arabic. Hahaha...i make myself laugh. But, we had gotten a driver through our hostel to take us to the pyramids, who then proceeded to take us to a bunch of tourist-trap places to buy rugs, or perfumes, or papyrus scrolls. It seemed like a big scheme, so we were fairly successful at not giving in.

Western Desert: Probably my favorite part of the trip. We took at 2 day/1 night camping trip out to the Western Desert and saw the Black Desert and White Desert. The views were stunning, surreal, (insert adjective here). We slept out underneath the stars. Gorgeous. Probably the best part was the Italian couple that was on our tour with us. They spoke little English, but provided for some ridiculously awkward moments.

Luxor: Located in the south of Egypt (or Upper Egypt), a lot of the ruins are located here. That’s after the 12-hour train ride to get there of course. Luxor is the Ancient city of Thebes and used to be the capital of Egypt. Hence why there are so many ruins there: The Valley of the Kings, The Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshetput's Temple, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple. The Valley of the Kings is incredible because the tombs still have the original paint in them (unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures).

Aswan: A really relaxing town further south ofLuxor. Saw the Aswan Dam (a huge bone of contention during the Cold War), the Phillae Temple (a temple that had been flooded by the dam and then relocated to another site). Sunset on the Nile.

Alexandria: A Mediterranean coast town. We wanted to go swimming but the weather was too cold. Still, a relaxing day towards the end of our trip hanging out by the water.

Culture: You'd think all of the Middle East would be the same. But I've found out that this stereotype is in no way true. Egyptian culture, at least towards tourists, is completely different than Jordan. Not to say that we didn't have a great time, but it was different. Whereas in Jordan you'll get a "Welcome to Jordan" or "Let me help you", in Egypt you're more likely to get hasseled than anything. Despite the fact that then language is DIFFERENT in Egypt (which completely discourages me from ever thinking I'll learn the language), we were able to pick up a little of the colloquial and get by. But even so, shopowners will yell at you from across the street to come into their stores, only to get mad at you for not buying anything when you never intended to in the first place. And baksheesh, or tips, is a huge part of the way people operate. They'll ask for it after any "service" they provide, even for something as small as giving directions. Egyptians also have a fascination with foreign women. The 4 girls that I was with got at least a couple undying love confessions and marriage proposals while we were there. And walking down the street, I got a couple "Cassanova" or "4 wives...lucky man" or my favorite "Spicy". It takes a little getting used to.

So at the end of the day, I am so glad to be back in Jordan. I've realized what a great place it is to study here. But..only a month left. It's scary to think how quickly this time has gone by. I think it might be time to actually...study? Although, who said studying was part of a study abroad experience....

You know, the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx...

The White Desert. Can you guess why this one is called The Chick?

Sunrise over the White Desert. Stunning.



The Black Desert.

Luxor Temple.

Luxor's "motto". Made me laugh.


The carvings at the Phillae Temple. Still in great condition.

Sunset over the Nile in Aswan.

We went to this Sufi Dance Festival. Sufiism is a mystical sect of Islam that has its own traditions and customs. The music and dancing was really interesting. The guy in the middle here had been twirling for about 25 minutes when I took this picture...gotta give him props!

1 down, 6 to go

Seeing one of the wonders of the world is....pretty awesome. Yeah, so I hit one of those up this past weekend. Recently chosen as one of the newest wonders of the world, Petra is an gorgeous display of ancient craftmanship and artistry dating thousands of years old. It is a spectacular site that shows both the history and the culture of the ancient Nabataeans. So it was pretty cool. And the 7 hour hike to get there didn't hurt much either.

Well, backing up a bit, I went on a trip with my program down to the south of Jordan to visit Petra this past weekend. We made a stop at Karak Castle, a 2000 year old castle that is one of the largest and best Crusader castles in the region. So, basically, lots of history, lots of information. Some pretty cool photos.

Then we headed on down to Petra. We made camp at the only Bedouin camp inside Petra. Sat by the camp fire, drank some tea, climbed some rocks, slept in some tents...all the usual. The next morning is when all the fun stuff began. Waking up at 6 am, we began our hike an hour later. The sun began beating down our backs at about 7:30am. We took a back route through Petra, so not the normal route through the Siq and to the Treasury (the Treasury is the most famous part of Petra). We saw the Monestary, so called because a cross was found carved into the facade. It's actually a tomb for some important person. Most of the monuments in Petra are carved into the sandstone and mainly tombs, funerary halls, temples, etc. A little morbid, but on the whole some pretty stunning sights.

We ended up at the Treasury (see picture below). It's out of this world. The architecture and artistry is stunning. This building isn't actually a treasury, but is believed to be either a tomb or a temple. It was a great end to a really fantastic hike.

Well, the walk ended around 4 (with an hour break in the middle), but a nice little jaunt through the sandstone. But Petra is gorgeous and deserves a second visit....in shah allah I'll be able to go back. Actually headed out to Egypt in less than 24 hours for Spring Break! 9 days visiting some of the most amazing sites on Earth...gotta love it. Oh, and I'll be able to knock off another Wonder of the World too while I'm at it.

Karak Temple, one of the best preserved Crusador forts in the world...i think.

The blazing sun. Gotta love it.

The walk to the sites. Some stunning views.

A picture of the Monestary. Almost as cool as the Treasury,

and finally...the Treasury! Probably the most famous part of Petra. It's stunning...you really do have to see it.

effin cool!

And off we go. So, I never really thought it would happen. That’s until my friend began the conversation: world’s tallest building, rotating floors, indoor ski resort. How could I resist? Well, if you’re wondering what I’m talking about, then shame on you. That would be the one and only: DUBAI! And Yes, I went there this past weekend! Talk about one of the most ridiculous experiences I have ever had. Dubai is a city seeking to become the “-est” of the world: biggest, tallest, richest…anything you’d like. And frankly, I think they’re doing a damn good job of it too.

So we arrived late Wednesday night in Dubai after a 3 hour flight on Qatar Airways, probably the nicest airlines I’ve been on. Fun fact, the only pets allowed on board are seeing eye dogs and Falcons. Yes, Falcons! Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Falcons on board why we were flying. But, arrival in Dubai, get to our 4 Star Hotel (the cheapest place we were able to find), and tried to get out to see the town. Well, unbeknownst to us, Dubai night life closes around 2/3 am. It was about 2:30am, and in our attempts to find something to do we landed right in the middle of the Dubai red light district. I have absolutely no doubt that this was the red light district….believe you me, absolutely none.

Well, the next day, we decided to take a trek of “old Dubai,” or the parts of the city that actually date back to before the newest wave of “-est” (which really only goes back to about 20 years ago). We took a look at the Dubai Museum, walked along the Old Souq, Gold Souq, Spice Souq, and Textile Souq. Took an abra across the Dubai Creek. All very touristy stuff. The greatest part was that our attempts to speak Arabic were hindered by the fact that NO one in Dubai actually speaks Arabic. There are so few native “Emiratians,” with most people hailing from India, Pakistan, the Phillipines, or Africa. And European tourists as well. In fact, we actually got strange looks when we tried to speak to people in Arabic. At night, went to this great Pakistani restaurant, ate some Mater Paneer (no worries Rahul, you can tell Harsha that her’s is the best)!

The next day was time for New Dubai. After joining forces with our Australian friend (a guy we met at the hotel), we headed over to the public beach on the Persian Gulf right next to the Burj Al-Arab, the world’s only 7 star hotel (why 7 stars? Because the owner felt like it deserved 7 stars and so he gave it 7 stars). Seeing as it costs $100 to even visit the hotel, we decided that views from the beach were good enough. After that, we grabbed a taxi and headed out to the Camel Race Track (awesome, I know!!). Unfortunately, these plans were thwarted by the fact that there were no races that day… So instead, we went on over to the Atlantis Palm Hotel, located on a man-made island in the shape of a Palm Tree. Well…a pretty nice hotel I’d say. Legend has it that the hotel has underwater rooms…but I’m not sure. We then proceeded over to the Mall of the Emirates, the largest mall outside of North American. This mall is complete with 3 Starbucks, a 500-seat community theater, and yes, an indoor Ski Resort…in the middle of the DESERT!. We didn’t plan our time well or else we would have gone skiing,but it was pretty ridiculous. The on over to the Burj Dubai, the world’s largest building. It currently stands 100m taller than the previous tallest building in the world and still has 200m to go. The downtown area is still under construction and at night you can see the lights of all the cranes popping off the buildings. Another fun fact, Dubai has 25% of the world’s tall cranes.

Well, instead of spending more money on a hotel that night, we decided that it’d be a great decision to head to the airport after our night out and get an early morning flight. So, 4am we show up at the airport for our 6am flight. However, instead of going straight back to Amman, we planned a 6 hour layover in Doha, Qatar.

Doha is a really interesting city. Still under construction, the city center seems more like a ghost town than a commercial complex. I think that Doha is going for a “Dubai’s little sister” reputation. We saw the Museum of Islamic Arts, walked around one of the old Souqs, ate some more Pakistani food for breakfast, hitch-hiked with an Irish guy down to the City Center (downtown area). You know, all in a day’s work.

Then back to the airport and back to Amman. Overall, an incredible experience. Yes, Dubai is extremely opulent and offers some of the most outrageous things you could ever ask for. But then again, it’s Dubai! Could you ask for anything less?

One of the shops at the Gold Souq. Imagine blocks and blocks filled with 22kt gold like this.

My group with the Dubai skyline in the background. The tall building all the way to the right is the Burj Dubai (world's tallest building). A stunning skyline if I do say so myself.

Burj Al-Arab, world's only 7 star hotel. Complete with helicopter landing pad (all the way on the top left).

Atlantis Palm Hotel out on the Palm Islands. Looks pretty cool at night. Us and Australian friend posing down at the bottom if you can see.

Can someone say Indoor Ski Resort?

Doha City Center. (A Canadian friend we picked up along the way on the left)

going places...

Yes, that's me. I am going places. Well, more in the literal sense than anything. This past Thursday a group of us packed our bags and headed down to Aqaba, the resort city on the Red Sea, for the weekend. A four hour bus ride later and we were relaxing like the best of them, strolling the streets surrounded by expats and Saudis.

All right, so Aqaba may not be the typical Jordanian vacation spot (hence why it is geared almost exclusively toward Americans and Europeans), but it's a great place for us Americans to get away from Amman for a weekend and relax on the beach. Which is exactly what I did the entire weekend. Well, I was only there for a day, but a day spent laying out on the beach staring at the opposite shore -- depending on the direction you're looking at could either be Egypt or Israel -- is definitely a day well spent.

Well, a little breakdown of how that trip went. Arrived in Aqaba, grabbed in a room at probably the cheapest hotel in the city (5 dinars per bed or ~$7), grabbed some grub, hung out at a cafe. At about 1am, a few of us wanted to walk along the beach before heading back to the hotel. We tried asking directions from a taxi driver, who attempted to rip us off of all our money. Fortunately we were saved by a local scuba instructor, who took us out to the local beach and treated us to some nargileh (that's hookah for you folks back in the states). Well, 2am rolls around, and most of our group decides to head back to the hotel. My friend and I (along with our scuba instructor), decide to wait it out and try to catch the sunrise on the beach. In case you were wondering, Aqaba is really not as interesting at 3am in the morning. But, we did get the sunrise over the Red Sea, which was really nice.

The next morning (well, i guess it technically was morning by this time...but after 2 hours of sleep I should say), our group split up with most people going off scuba diving in the Red Sea. As much as I wanted to go, the lure of sitting out on the beach and doing absolutely nothing all day won out in the end. And ...that's exactly what I did. We went to a private beach (all beaches are private...sucks that you have to pay, but it means it's actually clean as opposed to the ones back in California), and I proceeded to get 3rd degree burns on my back. Yes, thanks to horrible application of suntan lotion and a 30 minute nap in the sun, I know have red map on the United States burnt into my back. The beach was beautiful, the Red Sea was awesome to swim in, and the Saudis with whom we hitch-hiked back to our hotel were really nice. Overall, a pretty sweet day. That night, I headed back to Amman because I had a trip organized through my program the next day.

The trip was a tour of the major Roman ruins in Jordan. Truly a spectacular set of sights. Its amazing to walk the streets of cities that were built over 2000 years ago and were still intact today. We went first to Um Qais, a set of ruins in the far north of the country, an ancient city overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights of Israel. It turns out, over 75% of the city is still unearthed, meaning that there is a treasure trove of wealth buried beneath. What struck me the most about this city was the amount of green EVERYWHERE. I'm used to living in Amman, where trees are coveted sites. This place had rolling hills of grass and flowers.

After that, we went to the most coveted ruins in Jordan: Jerash. This city is just as old as Um Qais, but far more extensive and intact. Walking around and seeing the beauty of lore and history, it was hard not to be overwhelmed with the history and age of the city. Granted, I can only take seeing old stone buildings for so long, but it really was fascinating to see the old temples and churches, theaters and roads, that still cling to the past.

Yes, that was my extensive weekend. I'd love to tell you all about the week, and if anything actually happens, you'll be the first to know. School continues on. Midterms this week. Teachers forgetting to tell us that class is canceled. When in Jordan...

One new thing: I've begun volunteering at girl's school in Al-Baqa'a Camp, the largest Palestinian Refugee Camp in Jordan... over 150,000 people. Located about 15 minutes outside of Amman, this camp holds over 150,000 refugees. I haven't seen anything of the camp, nor been able to really talk with many of the people about their experiences, but from what I've seen from volunteering, it definitely is a struggle for these people. The school I am at is a government funded school, but they can only offer so many resources. I was able to talk to the school's principal for a few moments, who told us about her experiences seeing the camp grow from a few tents to a more formalized city...or something like it. I've only been once -- they want us to come and converse with the girls to help practice their English -- but I plan on continuing.

It's funny, the hardest question I was asked (both at the camp and in general), "Why are you studying Arabic?" I've been asked that a few times now here, and I still draw a blank before I can try to answer. Because I want world peace? Because I want to understand the culture and history of the Middle East? I guess those answers work, but it doesn't seem like enough. Or maybe it is...

The view of Aqaba coming in from the North. Reminded me of the the view of the Bay from Bart coming back from San Fran.

Oh Aqaba, how I love thee. How could you not love it when you can sit by this beach all day. The opposite shore: either Egypt or Israel, not sure.

Um Qais. Lots of green...really unnatural for Jordan.

The East Gate of Jerash. Look at that architecture!

The ruins of Jerash with the modern city in the background.

92 Camels, 15 4x4s, and Infinite Stars....what a life!

A day in the life of… T.E. Lawrence. Yep, that was definitely me this past weekend. The setting for Lawrence of Arabia: Wadi Rum. Desert and mountains and stars and beauty…what more could a guy ask for. (All right, I can think of a couple things, but roll with me here.) Wadi Rum is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve been too yet.

Wadi Rum is actually a valley in the south of Jordan and is inhabited mainly by local Bedouins and a couple camels. Catered mainly toward tourists though, this site is a huge financial gain for the region. Even so, it really is beautiful. It is very much preserved and offers an exquisite view of nature.

The trip was organized by my program, so 92 of us piled onto 2 buses last Friday and hauled out down South to Wadi Rum. We began with a four hour jeep ride through the valley stopping at various locations to check out the gorgeous rock formations. It was hilarious as our 15 trucks would all stop at some point, we would scramble out, and 92 of us would attempt to scale a sand dune or rock wall. Looking out into the horizon and seeing nothing but desert and mountains (and maybe a electrical tower) was so overwhelming, yet peaceful.. We grabbed sunset on a rock and then proceeded to our final destination for the evening: the Bedouin tents.

Ok, so maybe just a tourist destination, but still, we slept in tents with Bedouins (that counts, right?). Ate some great Bedouin food and entertained by a little Bedouin oud (kind of like a guitar) and dancing. A little later on, a few of us ventured out of the compounds of the camp and climbed a huge hill to get a better view of the stars. All in all a great night. A few hours later, I proceeded to wake up at 5 am to climb the same hill to watch the sunrise. I have never felt so cold, but yet so content before.

After a couple more hours of sleep and a refreshing breakfast, we left the camp and were greeted by 92 angry camels. Yes, those camels were ours. 92 camels waiting to take us trekking through the Wadi...for 3 hours. Yes, that means riding a camel for 3 hours straight. Not the most relaxing way to travel (I’m still feeling my inner thighs three days later), but definitely an experience to remember. It was an awesome feeling to look back and see a caravan of camels riding through a barren valley.

So, all in all, a pretty great weekend. I’m still exhausted, shway under the weather, but much more in tune to the beauty that surrounds me.

Next week, a recount of volunteering at a Palestinian Refugee Camp and more weekend adventures.

Out.

CIEE-ers overtaking the mountains of Wadi Rum.

A great view of the valley and mountains. Beautiful...ech?

Another picture of the Wadi.

SUNSET!

92 Camels...yep that's right. Can't do that back in the states!

I just wanna dance!

So, I finally make it out of the city! And I think I did myself pretty well. I guess four days in Beirut will do that. Yep, that’s right. I went to Beirut, Lebanon this weekend…and I had a BLAST!! Seriously, take any misconceptions you might have had about this city and throw them completely away. Beirut is such an interesting intersection of cultures, with strong French influences (they colonized the country until the 1940s) and an equally strong Arab culture. It’s hard not to get lost in this city and never want to leave (and with the booming nightlife you’d never want to sleep). Granted, it does have some visual battle scars from the past 40 years of tension (bullet holes in walls, blown-out buildings, tanks...nothing all the unusual), but that really doesn't play out in how the people act or how the city feels. I really felt like this place was everything in one. People speak English, Arabic, and French (it was great having a friend of mine who spoke French with us). The architecture is a mixture of Puerto Rican plantation, Arab Souq, French colonial, and Los Angeles beachfront. The weather was perfect (a great respite from the cold and rain in Amman). And the people are great – never a harsh word among them.

Why was I in Beirut this weekend you might be asking yourself? Well, this past Monday was the Prophet’s birthday. Prophet's birthday = public holiday = no school. You get where I'm going with this?! Since weekends here are Friday and Saturday (not the usual Sat/Sun), we decided to skip school on Sunday and take a long weekend. Three friends and I grabbed a taxi on Thursday after class. Destination: Beirut. It actually isn’t as easy as it sounds – a few problems along the way – but we did get there and back all in one piece.. more or less.

To travel to Lebanon, you need to get through Syria. So yes, that means I also went to Syria this weekend. Any typical Jordanian traveling the route from Amman, Jordan to Beirut, Lebanon would take around 4 hours by car. Unfortunately, I am neither typical nor Jordanian, meaning it wasn’t quite that easy for me. The US has not normalized relations with Syria, creating huge obstacles for any American wanting to enter Syria. We got to the border expecting a wait, but we weren’t prepared for the 6 and a half hours of boredom that we had trying to get a transit visa through the country. Yep, 6.5 hours. Seeing as we got to the border at about 4pm, we didn’t really get out of there until 10:30pm, the time we had expected to arrive in Beirut (good thing we had bought a huge box of cookies right before the border -- they consoled us during our wait). Our driver, who by now was extremely angry that he had had to wait with us, proceeded to speed close to 200km an hour through Syria to Lebanon. The Lebanese border was easy. Then an hour later, we were at our hotel. 2:30am, exhausted, angry, but really stoked for the next 3 days. That was the general attitude of our group when going to bed.

Three days really isn’t all that much time in a completely new country where everything is new and exciting. We saw the American University in Beirut, which could probably easily rival Berkeley in beauty. It's a gorgeous campus, and it sits right on the Mediterranean, meaning all views look either west to the sea or north to the snow-capped mountains. I guess I shouldn’t transfer for my senior year of college, but it is really tempting to want to stay for at least the rest of the semester. We walked along the Corniche (the street lining the ocean), saw Hamra street (a really popular street with lots of shopping), walked downtown (an area lined with shops and restaurants), went to a club on Monot Street which played mostly Arab music (AWESOME I know). And that was only Day 1. Well, I guess technically it was already well into Day 2 by then, but that's just semantics.

Our second day was a little calmer. We started it off at a great French bakery, which we proceeded to return to every day after. The best breads and croissant I’ve ever had, with French jams and a real cappuccino. Talk about starting the day right. We saw the Martyr's Square, a tribute to the past Prime Minister who had been assassinated, toured the National Museum (this place has art and history dating back thousands of years), walked part of the Green Zone – the de-militarized zone during the war, ate dinner by the ocean, took a ride on a Ferris Wheel for about 45 minutes. No joke, the ride attendant was crazy and wouldn’t let us get off. We had convinced a friend who was scared of heights to get on the Ferris Wheel, promising to only go around twice before telling the attendant we wanted out. Well, we went around twice and told the guy we were done. He then proceeded to smile at us…and walk away…while we were still on. At the time, not so funny as we were left alone on the Ferris Wheel. Looking back, hilarious that we had been abandoned on this rickety, creaking machine. After that, another exploration of the nightlife. Just a tip, people don’t start going out until…2am. Before that, everything is pretty empty. It’s said that Beirut is where people go to party in the Middle East and I believe that to every degree after this past weekend.

The next day…oh the next day. We decided to head out of Beirut to see some of the ancient ruins and mountain views. We found a taxi and told him our plan, which he agreed with. After hitting our first destination, Gbeil (a city near the water with really old ruins), he proceeded to hijack us and create his own plan of what we should do. Oh, so maybe hijack is a bit of a strong word, but our driver was now in charge. He made all of our purchases, told us what to do, decided where we were going to eat dinner (and what we were going to eat), and decided to forget about all traffic laws. A bit crazy. But definitely an experience to put down in the books.

The next day (Monday) was time to come home. This time we only had to wait four and a half hours at the Syrian border (WOOHOOO!!), but due to some regulation with our driver or his car, we couldn’t enter Jordan until 7pm. So we decided to detour in Damascus for an hour and a half. Just enough time to see the largest and most famous Souq in the city (Souq Al-Hamadieh) and the Mosque located in the center of it. We only got through one wing in our hour and a half, so this definitely deserves another go around. So much to see and do in Damascus. It has such a long history that dwarfs anything we have in America.

So, all in all, a good weekend. Minus the part on the drive back when our driver wanted us to smuggle alcohol across the border. But no biggee…he was still able to get his cigarettes through. On the whole though, probably my best experience abroad so far. Beirut is an awesome city and offers everything you would want to do in the Middle East. It is ridiculous to think that a country with such a arduous history still has so much vibrancy and energy. I dare you all to rethink what your perceptions of the Middle East. I know I have, and I know that the learning has only just begun for me.

Let’s see where next weekend takes me!

The American University of Beirut. This picture really doesn't do it justice.

Downtown Beirut. The big clocktower. Lots of stories here. Not enough time to write in blog.

The Corniche. Med Sea behind, snow-capped mountains to the North. Oh yeah, and the group of people I was with. Accompanied by my host-bro and host-cousin(?).

The same street at night. This pic taken from atop the Ferris Wheel.

A gorgeous mosque in the background, and a church right in front. A great juxtaposition of the religious culture in Lebanon.

Gbeil, the outlying city we went to. Sits right on the water. You can see the ruins on the right.

The Souq in Damascus. This picture shows absolutely nothing because this place is HUGE!