Jordan!

On October 29, we left to spend 4 days in Jordan. Our first stop was Mount Nebo. It is revered Holy Site by many because traditionally Moses spend his last days upon the mountain. Many believe this is where he died and was buried, but we know from latter-day revelation that this is not the case. We visited a couple other sites (mostly national park-type) and then stopped for the night in Petra. We relaxed a little and spent some time out by the pool (which turned out to be pretty cold according to the people who were thrown in ;)). After dinner a group of us went out walking, but there really was not much to see. Fortunately, a group of us followed our professors to this 5-star hotel at the end of the street. We got ice cream and enjoyed just talking and associating with one another. It was Craig's birthday, so we bought him ice cream. That night a few of us stayed up late playing games and talking. It was really a lot of fun! I got to know some people better who I don't normally associate with.

The next day we got up early so we could make our way to Petra! I was really excited to see this place! There is so much history there and so many cool things to see. Of course the highlight of the trip was seeing the ancient treasury, which many people will recognize from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A few of the boys in our group dressed up as Indiana Jones, and one even had a whip. We all had fun taking pictures, and even got a big group picture together in front of the treasury. The rock formations and the buildings carved into the rock are absolutely breathtaking! I marvel at how these people built them. Towards the end of our tour we hiked up to a monastery. It was beautiful! We had lunch there and then made our way back to the buses for the drive to Amman where we would be spending the rest of our time. That night a group of us (Caleb, Kendra, Lauran, Sarah J., Courtney, Nick, and Greg [and a couple I don't remember]) went to the Mecca Mall in Amman. It was cool to walk around and browse in the shops. We got amazing gelato and kind of just played around. We got back pretty late, and I had "girl-talk" with my roommate and a couple other girls. It was a lot of fun!

October 31 our first stop was the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestled with an angel. We had some pretty entertaining guys who attempted to re-create that scene. It was pretty funny! The rest of our day was spent at an ancient Roman city called Jerash. It had to be one of the coolest cities we've visited! The ruins are absolutely amazing! We stopped in the hippodrome, where the Romans held many of their athletic events. We recreated some races there and some of the guys even acted as the chariots/horses. It was very entertaining. After seeing the colonade and a couple other sites, we were left to our own devices for a little over an hour. We had a blast climbing up on rocks and also taking pictures. We even took Muse pictures on several of the pillars located there. This has to be the funnest site I've been to! It was so relaxed and I really enjoyed intermingling with the other class. We don't often get a chance to do that, so that was really nice. After we left Jerash we had lunch. Then we had the opportunity to go to the Amman Branch! It was really a neat experience to have a meeting in one of the only branches in the Middle East. We met with the branch president, his wife, and some of the members of the branch. It was cool to see a branch of the church here! Hopefully there will be the opportunity to have more in the future. That night was another free night, so a group of us decided to go to Fudruckers. We were all looking forward to having American food for a change. The food was delicious, and we all had a lot of fun! After dinner some went to the mall, while I went with another group back to the hotel. I played games and talked with people until pretty late.

Our last day in Jordan we went to some ancient ruins and then to a small museum. The coolest part about the museum was it had parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls that we got to look at! You hear so much about them, but it was surreal to actually see them. We spent some free time taking pictures and then got back on the bus for a bus tour of Amman. It is a pretty cool to see the sites, and we even got a peek at the American Embassy located there. Our final stop of the day before returning to the Jerusalem Center was the Jordan River Baptismal site. It was a really neat experience to be there and think about what happened at that site.

Jordan was amazing! I think I actually enjoyed it more than Egypt. It was much more relaxed and the associations with people were wonderful! I am having such a great time here!