Diving in Aqaba

Several of my friends and I traveled to the city of Aqaba this weekend, located on the southwest coast of Jordan on the Red Sea. We started the trip off joining 15 other people on a party bus, blasting music and dancing for almost the entirety of the four hour drive. The next day was spent enjoying the beauty of the Red Sea. We were able to go on a 20 minute scuba diving excursion (despite having a license), and it was simply amazing. It was scary at first, but we all dove one-on-one with an instructor who guided us the entire time. Exploring a sunken military tank, I caught a glimpse of a moray eel, numerous lion fish (potentially poisonous to even humans), and beautiful tropical fish. After the dive, we snorkeled and swam for a couple of hours, delighted to be in the clearest and most vibrant body of water I have ever witnessed.

Harbor of Aqaba

 Pre-Dive with my equipment on!

Elliot, Zach, Sam, and I chillin on the boat....Elliot hates candid pictures but loves his kafeea (male head scarf)

It is interesting to note that my group of friends were the only Americans on board the ship with an exception of one man from Atlanta who was working in Amman. Most of the people were Jordanian or European. This holds true to Amman as well, as the only Americans I have encountered have been students studying Arabic at the University or interning. Most of the non-Arab people here are European, and most Jordanians are surprised when they discover that we are Americans...just something that I have noticed in the past few weeks.

Biblical Jordan

Yesterday, CIEE took all of the students on a Biblical Jordan excursion, where we visited famous biblical sites located less then two hours from Amman. Due to my limited travel experience beyond America, it was fascinating for me to be able to visit places that were significant thousands of years ago.

The first site that we visited was Makawar Mountain, the location where John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod Antipas. According to the biblical account, John the Baptist denounced the marriage of Herod because Herod had stolen his brother's wife, Herodious...scandalous :). For this denouncement, Herold imprisoned John the Baptist on top of Makawar Mountain. On Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodius, Salome, danced in front of the whole party; Herod was enthralled by her dancing so much that he told Salome that she could have anything she desired. Salome chose the head of John the Baptist on a platter at the request of Herodius, and her wish was granted.

Prison that Herod kept John the Baptist

Janet, Laurel, and I atop Mount Makawar

The whole group!


The next place we ventured was the city of Madaba, which is famous for its Byzantine-era architecture and mosaics. Within Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George Church is the oldest map of the Holy Land, made entirely from mosaics and dated back to the 6th century. The people of Madaba continue to create beautiful mosaics in honor of its history.

 Basilica of Saint George

 Oldest map of the Holy Land preserved on the floor of the church

Artist from Madaba

Laurel and I in traditional hijab


Next we traveled to the most significant place of all -- Mount Nebo. On the summit of Mount Nebo is where God gave Moses the view of the Promised Land.

View from the summit of Mount Nebo

The Dead Sea البحر الميت

This past Saturday, a big group of us ventured to البحر الميت (AlBahhr Almayt), the Dead Sea, which is only a 30-40 minute drive from Amman. The claim that it is impossible to sink in the Dead Sea...completely accurate. I felt like I was in an anti-gravity chamber! I could only stay in for about 15 minutes at a time because the salt was burning my skin, but the experience was unforgettable.

 Alyssa, Janet, Sam and I covered in the mud of the Dead Sea, claimed to possess healing powers. If anything, it was a good sun block!

Janet and I with our Jordanian friends -- Ghassan and Fuad 

Palestine right across the Sea

منسف‎ Mansaf

For lunch today, I was blessed with the chance to eat the national dish of Jordan called منسف‎ pronounced "mansaf". Here is a description that I stole from a Jordanian cuisine website:

"The national dish of Jordan is Mansaf: lamb seasoned with aromatic herbs, sometimes lightly spiced, cooked in yoghurt, and served with huge quantities of rice. Feasting on Mansaf is taken seriously, and hours are spent in its preparations.

Mansaf is cooked in jameed (the Arabic word for dried yoghurt), which is then mixed with water in a tray to produce a creamy sauce. This is poured into a large stewing pot with chunks of lamb meat. The pot is put over an open fire. As the stew begins to warm, it is stirred to prevent the yoghurt from separating.
Large trays are covered with the doughy flat Arabic bread and dampened with yoghurt. On top of this, a layer of rice is heaped. The meat is then piled on top. Almonds, pine-kernels and other nuts may be sprinkled over the dish, which is then ready for serving."

The traditional way to eat the dish is to eat standing up, use only one hand, then roll the mansaf with your hand into a ball. Then pop it into your mouth, and eat it all in one bite! Traditionally, only the men eat in this manner, but they insisted that we try the messy way. It was absolutely delicious! But as you can imagine, I was full after six balls because the jameed is so heavy.

As you can see, we have made Jordanian friends! Laurel, one of my friends on the program, has a connection through a family friend, and she was able to introduce to a group of locals. They are some of the friendliest and most hospitable people that I have ever met. They are eager to show us different parts of Amman, and I truly love spending time with them. They speak almost perfect English, so there is no language barrier whatsoever. However, they are more than happy to help us learn the local dialect and let us practice our Arabic with them. Tomorrow, they are driving us to the Dead Sea...ن شاء اللهI I will not get too sunburnt!

جزار

The butcher جزار (jazzaar) taught us the names of the different parts of the lamb خروف (kharoof) that are eaten....including brains, tongue, and kidney. 

مش مشكلة Mish Mosgheela

مرحبا  ! (pronounced Marhabban) Greetings from the student center at the University of Jordan! We get free wireless internet here, and it is a really great place to hang out after our day of classes. We had our first الفصحى (Foshha) class today -- Foshha means "formal" Arabic. My teacher, Neezar, is absolutely incredible. He is very animated; anytime that we want to know the meaning of an Arabic word, he acts it out and makes us guess the meaning in English...like a sharades game haha. He is an excellent instructor, and there are only three other students in my class; I am definitley going to love being able to focus on just Arabic for a change. Tomorrow, we start our عامية (ayymeea) class, which will teach us how to say words and phrases in the Jordanian dialect. I am really looking forward to this class because I have never learned any aymeea before, and it will allow us to communicate MUCH better with the Jordanians here.

One of the phrases that we have learned in ayymea so far is مش مشكلة (mish moosgheela). It means no worries or no problem. For example, one of the store owners told me mish mosgheela when I bumped into a picture frame. We have also learned how to instruct taxi drivers and order food. After we were taught these phrases, we were sent out into Amman to fend for ourselves. Three other students and I went to a place called Hashem, which claims to be the oldest falafel place..ever. The King has even stopped by to enjoy the delicious falafel and hummous there. I loved talking to the taxi driver and the waiter in their local language!

I am definitely still adjusting to living without the conviences of America in the apartment. There is no flushing toilet paper (and toilet paper is not available in public restrooms), we have to turn on a switch an hour before we want hot water, and there is no dryer or dishwasher. However, the apartments are HUGE and we have three balconies. In the evenings when the temperature becomes cool, it is so nice to just sit out on the balcony with the other kids on the program and enjoy the weather.

Another thing to get used to is the Call to Prayer, which resonates from the mosque two blocks from our apartment. The Call to Prayer is a beautiful sound -- a holy man sings to the surrounding area, informing them that it is time to pray. This happens at different times throughout the day, including 3:30 AM. Because the mosque is so close, it sounds like the Call to Prayer is being sung through a bull horn into my ear. I am slowly accepting the fact that I will be woken up for fifteen to twenty minutes every night haha.

Even though there is still a lot to grow accustomed to here, I could not be happier with these past few days.

First day in Amman!

 I'm here safe and sound :) These are some pictures from our tour of the city! I'm absolutely loving this place, and I am looking forward to everything new that I will see, do, and learn.

 View from the Citadel

 Street view

 Roman temple at the Citadel

Jordanian hillside