Jordan

After a brief layover in Lebanon, the next stop on the trip was the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. We stayed with the brother of one of my traveling friends. Most of our stay was spent in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Jordan has maintained relitive peace dispite being bordered by Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. It was in Jordan that I met the most unique people on the trip. Three Iraqi women made us a feast that could have fed a small army. Another Iraqi man told us stories of being in prison camps. The Middle East was somewhat like I expected it to be, but I was still surprised by many things that I saw. One of my favorite things was the shwarma stnads. Raw meat would be heated all day, rotisserie style, and when you ordered it they would simply shave off the roasted part and rotate the meat. I must admit that I was pretty hesitant about eating many shwarmas until I had my first one. Then I couldn't get enough. The highlight of the trip was probably Petra. Petra is a city that was completely carved out of stone by the Nabataeans around the time of Christ. We had to trek along a narrow path between two cliffs until it opened up to the Treasury of Petra. It was difficult not to feel like Indiana Jones as I passed the Treasury on my camel. One of the more memorable moments was when I got seperated from my friends when wondering around and I decided to sit down and talk to two Nabataean children. They made me some tea and taught me a game they played with stones. The little girl gave me a stone and told me to remember her. She was probably 10 years old, and she sold jewelry at Petra.