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!

let it snow let it snow let it snow...

Well, the weather outside is…awful
But the…space heater…is so delightful
And if there’s no university to go…
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

All right, so my rendition of “let it snow” may not be making the top of the charts, but I just thought I’d go into song to express my enjoyment at the weather yesterday. Yes, it snowed. In Jordan of all places. We’ve actually been waiting for snow for over 2 weeks now. And the Jordanian reaction to snow…stop everything! Literally, the entire city seems to shut down with the mere mention of it. Schools were cancelled, shops closed. And seriously, it was a light snow that melted before it hit the ground. But, who am I to complain. I experienced my first snow day while in Amman. It was pretty great, did absolutely nothing with it though.

I’ve really been itching to get out of the city of Amman…explore the whole world of Jordan… and beyond. But alas, I spent most of this weekend either in my house or in cafés (hey, the rain was torential…can you blame me?). School was good…some teacher’s decided to not show up. Arabic is pretty much the same. Although we got paired up with Peer Tutors this week (or paid friends as we call them). They are there to help us with our Colloquial, build friendships, yadda yadda yadda… My friend is a really nice guy, willing to take the time to help me understand what he is saying and to strengthen my own language skills. But it’s still hard when I would consider my own vocabulary at about a kindergarten level and my confidence even below that. Then again, that’s why I’m here right.

I think one of this week’s highlights was my attempt at playing football on Thursday. After school, a friend’s home-stay brother (he’s 16) invited us to play football with a couple of his friends. Well, a nice group of about 7 of us Americans joined his larger group of 30 or so Jordanian friends. See, I haven’t played football in about 10 years, and I wasn’t any good then. Well, not much has really changed. I was really excited… got to kick the ball a few times. Although I think it was really more in sympathy from the Jordanians rather than their strategic need for me to in the game. Nonetheless, I had a great time.

Well, I’m hoping to make more of this weekend than the past. We’ll see what final plans get worked up though. It’s weird to think, I’ve been here a month already. It really does go by quickly.

Another pic of my nephew. He know's what he likes...what can ya say!

My host family (from left to right): Kelley - another girl in my program (my host-niece technically), Murad - a 2nd?? cousin (not really sure), and Ammar - host-bro.