I Walked Today Where Harrison Ford Walked*

 I just returned from an absolutely amazing trip to the south of Jordan. It was a 4-day trip, but classes start up again tomorrow morning. We had so many amazing experiences, which I have no hope of cataloguing fully if I want to be ready for class tomorrow, but let me get some high points:

• We visited 2 Crusader's castles called Kerak and Shobak. My favorite was Shobak, the second one, where there is a wonderful secret tunnel leading from the castle to the bottom of the hill on which it is built. It took about 10 minutes to make the full descent, but it was thrilling to be in a real castle, and I may or may not have made several references to things like "The Chronicles of Narnia.
• I walked through the Canyon of the Crescent Moon to seek the Holy Grail! All I have to say about Petra is, neither the pictures, nor the movie "Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade" do it justice. There's just so much to see, and it's so exotic and majestic.
• I achieved one of my primary goals in life by wearing a turban made from a lovely Pashmina scarf, purchased from a lovely Bedouin grandmother in Petra

   Also, for those who are interested in olivewood Nativity sets, here is the video of the trip we took to the store where they're made. 

         And if you're not totally worn out yet, here's a really nice video from our very first trip to Madaba, Mount Nebo (the real one!), the Dead Sea, and the baptismal site on the Jordan River, courtesy of Scott Gemmel. (I'm the one in the large hat and the tiger shirt.)
* I have to attribute this highly appropriate quote to my friend and classmate, Chelsea Elliott