Petrafied

So... Jordan rocked (pun intended)! I loved it so much, and I'm already planning on going back sometime hopefully. Short and sweet synopsis:

Day 1: Mt. Nebo, mosaic at Madaba, and Machaerus (Herod's Palace).

Lizzy and me at Machaerus

Day 2: Petra. It was breathtaking. Think Zion's National Park mixed with some of the coolest architecture you've ever seen, and you'll be getting somewhat close to Petra. The fact that I also got to ride a camel (best $10 I've ever spent) and I felt like Indiana Jones in his third movie also contributed to making this one of the best days of my life.

The shot I was waiting for the whole trip--still not perfect, but pretty good.

I loved the colors in the rocks

Bedouin man at home

This is from a hike that we made up to the "monastery," or a tomb used by the ancient Nabatean peoples.

Additional hiking after reaching the monastery gave us this great view of the building and the canyon below

I was there, too.

This necklace was so gaudy that I had to get a picture of it... The only thing is that one of my teachers bought this same one (or at least one very similar).

Donkey in one of the tombs

Sarah, all of the camel shots are for you!

"I'm on a camel!"

So delighted.

Fenton was, too.

Favorite camel shot of the day--thanks to Scott for being such an amazing photographer!

Epic shot of Morgan on his steed.

Bottles filled with Jordanian sand--there were obviously a lot of them.

We also went to a Crusader fortress afterwards, which was pretty cool. We found a secret passageway and everything. Anyway, here's one of the shots from there:

Kudos to Jenessa for taking such a great shot!

Day 3: Amman. Visited the Amman Citadel to see the Temple of Hercules:

Temple of Hercules!

I love that the moon was still up

Joseph, this one's for you! This lizard was about 8 inches long or so.

We also went to the Jordanian Museum and took some really mature pictures next to these priceless, ancient artifacts:

Uncanny.

Next, we went to the Jabbok river (the place where Jacob reconciled with Esau) and had a nice little devotional. We also went to Jersash to look at some ancient ruins there. It was really fun, and we had a great time galloping in the ancient Hippodrome (the place for chariot racing), jumping off of pillars, performing in the Roman theatre, and other nonsensical things. Here are some pictures from the trip:

The Forum

Megan and Megan

Jumping pics!

Mary Poppins? Or witch?

Jordanian Arab guy playing the American ditty "Yankee Doodle" on the Scottish bagpipes.

Day 4: Roman theatre (even bigger than the one at Ephesus!) and Jordan River. I also should let you all know that we missed our wake-up call that morning and slept in until 5 minutes before our buses were supposed to leave. As a result, I wasn't able to brush my hair or wash my face. This, in combination with day 4 being the hottest day of our trip, led to my not having my picture taken very often. Just know that I was there with the other students.

Alyse and Megan in the Roman Theatre at Amman

Scott and Tyson in the Jordan River

That's about it! Final exams start this next week, so don't get too excited about next week's post. My life is still just as wonderful as ever--I'm trying to soak up as much as I can! Thanks for your support and for your excitement; I love this place and I'm so happy that you all get to read (and see) a little bit about it. Be good and have a great week!

Love,

Becca