A picture's worth a thousand words

This past week was the program trip to Wadi Rum, Aqaba, and Petra. But it's high time for me to upload some pictures so instead of describing everything I'm going to make this a massive picture post with a little description. Enjoy! :)


The first part of the trip was in the desert of Wadi Rum. We bussed from the university to here, then got on camels and off we went! Other people took pictures of me which I dont' have so this is one I took. It was quite an experience, one I enjoyed but won't go out of my way to do again. We slept at a Bedouin camp, very touristy but very nice. We slept in beds in 3 or 6-person tents; there was very good food and dancing; and afterwards a few of us went and stargazed. You just dont' get those kinds of stars on the East Coast! or the Midwest, for that matter. It was BEAUTIFUL!


The next morning was a jeep ride to Aqaba. (Is there a difference between jeeps and 4x4's? we took the latter if there is.) We stopped off at a couple of places, like a brick wall dubbed Lawrence of Arabia's house and a great place to climb (this picture is from the top of the ridge). It was lotta fun. At Aqaba we ate lunch and got on a boat to snorkel. It was decent snorkeling but I've been spoiled. What was a lot of fun was jumping off the boat afterwards. whoopee! :) Some of the guys were doing dives and backflips; i just jumped straight. We slept in another Bedouin camp right outside of Petra.

Petra was by far my favorite part of the trip. We woke up with the sun and took a 3-hour hike to get to the ruins. It was a difficult and awe-inspiring hike that reminded me of the Grand Canyon. I got all my excess energy out that came from sitting in class or in front of a TV with my host family. I feel really bad for some people; they didn't tell us beforehand we'd be scaling a cliff face, and there were a few people who are afraid of heights. But everyone did it! I can't believe but am really grateful CIEE took us on a hike like that. The ruins themselves were a lot of fun. The Nebeteans carved tombs etc into the cliff face so they're not extremely deep but as elaborate as anything the Greeks and Romans did. We spent the day there and then went back to the university/home.

Otherwise, I'm still having a great time. I actually understood my Arabic teacher today, which was a major plus. The other classes are shaping up nicely. It's a LOT of work, though. Not quite as much as Wes but they try. Not like other programs. At night I sit with Shireen's family outside and listen to them talk. I'm learning, slowly but surely. Laiz is being weird right now; he's sitting outside my room and making noises. odddddddd boy. gotta love him. Anyway, I've also been going to a couple of Muslim services. Last night Amal took me to an all-woman's one. Now that the novelty's worn off I'm MUCH happier at that one! I felt somewhat of a connection plus there was singing. You definitely don't get that when the women are a floor above the men and there's a small wall blocking your sight. But this one was really nice and afterwards I inendated Amal with questions about the services.


The picture you've all been waiting for, this is me! Amal just bought me my own today which is a little less ugly, it's purple with small purple and blue flowers and white lace around the edge. Better. :) and now I have my own.