Week 4: Madaba, Mt. Bebo, The Baptism Site, St. Mary's Church and website alterations/field experience

June is coming to a close, and with it my first month in Jordan. In Safawi, work remains mostly the same. Talal and I will continue to work on updating/revamping the website, as well as some other small projects. Apparently, I work much quicker than was expected, and so I will be able to start working on my independent project researching ecotourism techniques, much sooner than expected. Also, because we are working on such a good time schedule there is talk that this week Dr. Mustafa will take Talal and I with him on a "field excursion" out in the Badia. I really hope this happens, as I would love to see the ruins and water projects that I have been researching and hearing about. In particular, there is a lone oak tree that stands in the middle of the Badia known as the Bqeaweyah Tree, where supposedly Muhammad sat and meditated during the time in which Islam was being formed. Very cool.

This past weekend got off to a bit of a bumpy start, but then ended up working out fine. I once again stayed in Balad, which was great, except for when the hostel lost my booking request for a tour of Madaba, Mt. Nebo and the Baptism Site and of course the tour was full. Luckily, I met Muhammad, a tour guide from another hotel who was able to take me to the sites. First we went to Madaba, which I would guess is about 30-40km outside of Amman, and is famous for the mosaics that are collected there. St. George's Church and the Archaeological Park were both incredible, and many of the mosaics are in pristine condition. One mosaic at the Archaeological Park was the oldest in all of Jordan. After exploring the town, Muhammad and I continued on to Mt. Nebo, which with its panoramic view and connection to Moses was quite an experience. It is possible to look out on the Jordan Valley, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, Amman's 6th Circle, and the mountains of the West Bank. Finally, we went to the Baptism Site, which I believe was my favorite part of the day. I met up with some other Americans, including a student my year studying at Columbia and spending the summer working in Amman because his father lives here. First, with the tour group, we went to what is believed to be the Baptism Site of Jesus. Now, the Israelis maintain that the Baptism Site is on their side of the Jordan River, but historical evidence gives more support to the Jordanian side. Right beside the Site are the remnants of three churches that were built to commemorate the site. Next, it was off to the actual river. Again, this was quite an experience, and it took a while to digest that the small, green line of water in front of me was the river so important to so many believers, and the land directly across the way was the West Bank. After the river, our part of the group snuck off on the advice of an American couple who had visited before, and because we separated from the group we got to see John the Baptist's Spring, and the caves where monks would stay as they made their pilgrimage to the Jordan River.

Finally, on Saturday Sam and I partook in some necessary grooming (we both needed haircuts) and later in the day went to Dubliners to watch the U.S./Ghana game with some of Noor and Sam's friends from ABS, Aysha and Leen (Yasir missed out as he is currently in Turkey on a family vacation). While a good game, Sam and I walked away disappointed, especially Sam who leaves on Friday night for South Africa and was hoping that he would get to see Team U.S.A. play.Also, in between the haircuts and the game, I finally got to meet with Father Kevin, the priest at St. Mary's Church in Swefieh. It was very interesting to attend Mass at St. Mary's. I witnessed a baptism, and noted that quite an interesting agglomeration of Arab Christians, expats and Filipinos. All in all though, it was another great week of work and travel. Next week I think that I am going to skip going to Amman and instead take Talal up on his offer and go with him to his hometown that is less than a kilometer from the Syrian border in Northern Jordan. We shall see.

Week 3: Desert Castles, Balad and Website Revisions

I knew coming into this summer that the time would fly by, but the pace is still quite alarming for me. I am entering my third week and am already starting to panic a little that I will be gone before I know it! The past week Talal and I completed out presentation for the website, and also dug up some information on an ancient Nabatean city that was also used by the Romans and still partially stands today. Umm il-Kutten was an ancient Christian community, containing at least four churches and a monastery. I am still surprised daily when I keep realizing that the earliest Christian civilizations are from the Middle East, and then I kick myself for not putting two and two together. This week, Talal and I are looking for ways to improve the portents of the BCEE that have not been updated in a while, so we are looking to update the information about the animals held at the ecological center, as well as the history and information for potential school groups or researchers interested in coming to the BCEE. Most of the staff here is on vacation, so camp is relatively empty. Tonight, Talal took me on a tour through the camp now that the sun has gone down and it is no longer 100+ outside. The stars here are amazingly clear, but as I am on the other side of the world the constellations seem to have moved on me.

This past weekend, I stayed at a hotel in Balad, the City Center of Amman. Much different than Abdoun, Balad was quite a fun experience. The hotel was perfectly located, and I could walk to the Roman Amphitheater and the Citadel, both of which I did. I also took part in a desert castle tour through the hotel, and along with three other travelers we visited Qasr al-Hallabat, Qasr al-Harrana, Qasr al-Azraq and Qasr Amra. Lukas and the two other guys, I never did catch their names, were from Germany, Holland and Poland. I was intrigued to find out that they had taken a gap year between high school and university to volunteer in Northern Israel. Like me, they had been spending there weekends traveling the Middle East, and gave some great travel advice. The castles themselves were quite amazing, and also quite remote. The oldest were some 1,500 years old. I also took some time to watch the France-Mexico (go Mexico!) game with Sam, Yasir, and Sam's friend Chris who was visiting for the week. Then on Saturday, Yasir took us to the Dunes Club in West Amman and we hung around the pool all afternoon for a lazy day. The funniest, and least politically correct, moment of the day was when we went to dinner at Houstons (we wanted burgers) and stumbled upon a new addition to the menu: Obama's Favorite Fried Chicken. Oops. Then it was back to the hotel, after yet another interesting cab ride in which the cabbie was a Palestinian man who spoke impeccable English that he had taught himself from watching tv. We discussed politics, and I he told me that he has been unable to return to see his family in Palestine for 20 years as he cannot get a visa. Another reminder of the reality of life for so many in the Middle East. Now, I'm back in Safawi looking forward to another week.

Week 2: The Dead Sea and BCEE website presentation

Now that I have been in Jordan for ten days, I have really started to feel like I have settled in. The second week of work has begun, and I can now say that I successfully navigated the bus system from Safawi to Amman through Mafraq, and I have been on my first real Jordanian weekend excursion: the Dead Sea. The lowest point on earth was a great way to spend a Saturday. As you can tell from the pictures, Noor, Sam and Yasir made sure that I had an authentic first Dead Sea experience, mud and all. Of course I had heard about the Dead Sea's unique capability of making swimmers float, but I did not anticipate having to fight the copious amount of salt just to keep from floating. All and all, the day we got to spend at the Mövenpick Hotel, Noor's suggestion and a great idea, was interesting and entertaining. To be able to look out across the Sea and see Jericho, possibly the world's oldest city, and the West Bank was unreal. The only complaint I think that any of us can harbor is that we had to make mad dashes from our beach chairs to the water in order to avoid second degree burns on the bottoms of our feet, but it was most definitely worth it. It was the end to a great weekend that included Books@cafe, Amman's version of Barnes and Noble but with a killer view of the city, and the World Cup (GO USA!). The weekend was also a send-off of sorts for Noor, who now leaves for an extended European vacation. She has promised Sam and I that she will not forget "her foreigners," and that we still have Aqaba, Petra, and Wadi Rum to investigate together before the summer is out. Back at Safawi, Talal and I are completing our presentation for the BCEE website, and are anticipating designing posters, pamphlets and possibly 3-D models of the animals at the ecological center. Also, our field station will add two researchers to our ranks this week, an American and an Australian. The coming week and weekend are set up to be just as entertaining as the last.

Week 1: Travel, Amman, and Safawi Field Station

The summer has begun! After a 20 hour journey from the Mid-West to the Middle East, I arrived at Queen Alia International Airport on Wednesday night, June 2, without complications. Immediately, I experienced a ridiculous level of hospitality from the Haddad family as they allowed me to spend my first weekend with them as I adjusted eight time zones before relocating to the Safawi Field Station. Noor, another CMCer, spent her weekend introducing me to her large group of friends and classmates, including Ameera, a junior at Wellesley and Sam, a junior at Middlebury. Sam, Ameera, Noor, Erica (yet another CMCer in Amman this summer) and I spent my first weekend in Salt at the Haddad family farm, at the sunglasses shaped pool belonging to Noor's grandmother, and traversing the streets of Amman.

On Sunday, I finally met Dr. Mostafa Shudeifat as well as my colleague for the summer Talal. First, we went to the Badia Centre for Ecological Education (BCEE), about one hour outside of Amman and about a kilometer from the Syrian border, and then on to Safawi, another 45 minutes away. So far, life in the Jordanian desert has been very, very interesting. The desert is composed of not only sand, but volcanic rocks that are the remnants of the now dormant volcanoes that can be found in the Badia. Also, the landscape is criss-crossed with the occasional remnants of walls from the Roman and Nabatean civilizations, and the BCEE is even housed in still standing Roman structures! Much different that I had expected, there is also fertile cropland in parts of the Badia, where water is derived from vast aquifers deep beneath the sand.

Now, a routine has set in. Curently, Talal and I are working to create educational materials for the BCEE website and tours. This coming weekend, I will return to Amman and possibly visit the Dead Sea with Noor, Sam and a troupe of my new found Jordanian friends.