Camels, Bedouins and Rum

This is me riding a camel in Petra and IT WAS AMAZING! It has been just about my favorite part of the trip so far. The guide I had let me take the reins and ride it all my myself for about 10 min. Getting up on it and getting down on it was the best part because camel get up back legs first and sit down front legs first, so it is a really bumpy ride. I was a little nervous at first but that didn't last long because the guide spanked the camel and it took off at a full run- it was GREAT! I think I had pretty lazy camel though because I tried to race these guys on a donkey (which are ALL over in Petra) and they totally smoked me! Jon didn't ride one- I'm not sure why- I think he was scared;)

Petra was beautiful- actually beautiful doesn't do it justice- breath-taking, awe-inspiring, the most amazing thing I've seen in my life. You know the end of the third Indiana Jones movie, where they go to get the holy grail and they go through this big canyon and they find a huge temple carved into the rock-- that is Petra. There are these enrormous temples and tombs carved into the rocks all over and they are beautiful. We hiked around for about 8 hours and we didn't even see 1/8th of all there was to see.

After Petra we went to Wadi Rum and camped out at a bedouin camp (it was one they had set up for tourists) and it was fun. They had all these white tents set up and it looked like a world war two military camp- Jon really liked it. The next morning they took us on a jeep ride into the desert and we went "off-roading" over the sand hills. I was suprised at how beautiful the desert was, I was expecting a barren wasteland but it was quite the opposite. When we actually got out there I was suprised by how un-harsh it seemed. I don't mean that I would like to be stranded out there with only a camel-- but I can see how people would want to live there. The bedouins have really adapted to life out there and it is amazing to see how they manage to make it out there.

So while the rest of group when to Aqaba ( the coast of the Red Sea) a group of us stayed behind, (because it was too expensive) and took it kind of "chill". We borrowed Hala's car
and a group of us drove to Wadi Mujib, about an half hour past the Dead Sea. It was fantastic. We initally wanted to do this 7 hour hike where you hire a guide and repel down waterfalls and
the like but when we got there we found out that it cost 35 dinar (almost $50) and that was too much for us.



So instead we took a self-guided hike up the river to a waterfall- it was amazing. It looked alot like southern Utah and I imagine it would be comparable to hiking through the "Narrows". There were a ton of kestrels perched in the rocks and a lot of waterfalls to slide down. It took us about four hours to hike it.
On the way back down we ran into a group of Arab kids our age hiking and they needed help up this really slippery rock part. Jon was very chivalrous and helped everyone up it. But one girl got sucked into this crevice and it pulled her pants off (she as swim suit under- thank heavens) and she was REALLY imbarressed to be around all the Arab boys without pants. So JOn spent about a half and hour looking for her pants-- and found them stuck under a rock.

Hijab Shopping with Mirvat

Mirvat is the secretary at the Jordan anti-tobacco Society and is just about the sweetest girl! She doesn't speak English very well and half the time we can't understand eachother but she hasn't let that stop her from becoming our friend. One of the boys on the trip, Kevin (the boy in in the picture with Jon) knows Arabic and he translates for us-- it is a fun triangle! Last week Mirvat invited Meredith (one of the girls in the tobacco project with us) me, Jon and Kevin to go shopping for Hijabs (the muslim head scarves) and it was really so much fun.

I was suprised to find that the hijab really isn't that hot to wear nor is it as confining as I thought. It does make it a little harder to hear but you get over that pretty fast. I've come to gain a new perspective on the hijab. I used to see it as a symbol of women's oppression and submission but it is quite the opposite. For alot of the women (not all-- but alot ) they have made a choice to wear it as a statement of thier faith. Wearing the hijab is a declaration of thier faith, it tells the world that they are holy women and that they are different from other women. Mirvat was telling us that it is a way in which you tell men that they can't treat you like an object. That you won't use your body to manipulate or be degraded. The hijab draws attention to your head instead of your body and tells men that the mind is the most important part of a woman.

The hijab represents a whole way of being. To wear it is to say that you beleive in modesty- in dress, in action, in the way you speak, think and look at the world. I've really gained a new appreciation for President Hinckley's call to modesty after seeing how these women understand it. They have internalized it and it is a DEEP religious commitment.



I admit that not all women see it this way, for some it is just culture (like alot of the women who are totally veiled and gloved) but I'd say the majority of women I've met love wearing the hijab and it is a religous choice. I was really suprised by the reactions I got when I wore it. Girls are pretty good at telling when men think that they look beautiful and when Jon and I walked in with me in the hijab the guys at the front desk of the hotel (who are both muslim) thought I looked more beautiful. They kept saying that it made me more beautiful and that I should wear it all the time. It was interesting for me to see that to them, the hijab was more beautiful.


I wore it to the anti-tobacco class last night and it went over really well. It was a new feeling to "blend in". I didn't get the special treatment that I normally feel I get as an American. No one really recognized me at first but once they did they thought it was beautiful that I was wearing it. I am still not sure how I feel about it-- but I think I'll try wearing it a few more times out in public-- just for the experience.

The University of the Olives

This is the bus we took to do the presentation at the University of Zaytooneha ( a private university outside of Amman), it was a crazy bus. It had grandma drapes and fringe all over (actaully alot of the cars and buses have that here- I don't know why). It felt like a mix between a 1970s love wagon and a grandma's living room on wheels.

The U of Z really rolled out the red carpet for us and treated us so well. When we arrived at the security gate we saw this sign and it made us really laugh. When we went into give our presentation we were so intimidated because it was in this big auditorium and everyone was dressed in lab coats -- luckily Jon and I were in charge of the anti-tobacco booth so we didn't have to present.

The booth was an interesting expereince-- it turned into a "talk to the pretty american girls" booth really fast and Camille (the other girl in our group) and I felt really uncomfortable while Jon and Kevin were doing really good anti- tobacco "tracting" around the perimeter. By the time they tried to get back up to us they had to fight their way through a group of about 20 nursing students (who are ALL boys-- very different than the US) who were chanting and singing and throwing cigarettes in the trash. It was really fun because we had people promising not to smoke and they were getting excited- throwing away packs of cigarettes and FORCING their friends to do the same.

They wanted a picture with us at the end but after what happened in Jerash Jon didn't want ANY pictures- so we compromised and I am taking this picture (even though Jon still doesn't look so happy)

The Dead Sea Adventure

This is amazing! I'd heard people say it was easy to float in the dead sea, but they didn't tell me that it was EFFORTLESS! You can stand up in the water and your chest still stays out of the water. This is a very beneficial fact as well when you find out that the water tastes so terrible. It is literally painful to get it in your mouth- or as Jon found out- up your nose.
Hala told us not to shave (faces, legs or arm pits) for a few days before we went- and we soon found out why. The salt makes every orifice in your body (yes, even that one;) sting!


The Mud Monsters! The Mud in the Dead sea is so thick and full of salt, so when you put it on yourself it hardens and acts like a facial mask- all over your body. There are people who spend weeks and weeks at the hotel we were at to get treatments. We talked to one guy who had been there for 2 weeks and we asked him if he could tell a difference- he seemed a little unsure- so I don't know if it really medicinal purposes- but it was really fun to put it all over eachother!

Amman (aka. Philedeliphia in the Bible maps)

This is a great shot of Amman. Hala (our director) told us that it is was the longest flag in the world until a year ago when they were won out by China!

Amman is a really beautiful city. It is on a series of hills and the city sprawls out for miles. At first I thought that I would never be able to figure out where we were because all the buildings are brown and there are NO street names or signs. But I've begun to get more of a handle on it now- even though Jon and I do manage to get lost at least once or twice every few days!

The city is strange mixture of the old and the new- most of the buildings are just built from the 1920's (even though some look older!) but then there are roman and christian ruins spread in between them. In this picture you can see the Roman amphitheater in the middle of downtown.
At the top of the city there is the remnants of Hercules temple. It was the first time I had ever seen anything that old and it was really breathtaking.

Church in Amman

Going to church here in Amman has been such a neat expereince! The first day we went into church I really felt the spirit wash over me. When we sing we sing in English and Arabic (transliterated- thank goodness) and the first time I was so overcome with a feeling of peace. God really is aware of his childen all over the world and is making plans for them. The Lord's hand is really moving over this land and you can see it. Some of the stories of the converts here are amazing.
For example one of the young men who translates sacrament meeting- oh yeah- all of church is translated into either arabic or English (depending on who is speaking). Jon and I both bore our testimonies on fast Friday and boy was it intimidating to have everything you said translated into Arabic! Anyway, one of the translators has been a member for a little over two years and was converted by one of the missionary couples. He lives in city outside of Amman where there are alot of historic churches and he worked as a tour guide. The missionary couple was on his tour and took a special interest in him and he was interested in coming to church- so they invited him and he came, and kept coming and coming until finally he asked to be baptized. He is an amazing member and it is exciting to see how his life has changed.
Missionary work here is really interesting because it is against the law to preach to or convert a muslim. If they are Christian they can convert to what ever Christian church they want, but you still can't preach to them- they have to ask you questions. I was talking with the branch president and he said that it is really sad when they get Muslims who are interested in the church but they can't tell them anything about it. Someday!