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.
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