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.
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