In Which I Ride A Camel

 

         Sorry about the long wait! My internet doesn't always function at a high enough level to allow blogging.

          I realized to my horror that my last post missed one of the most important parts of our trip to the south of Jordan---the camel ride! I almost didn't do it because I dislike riding horses so much, but we were in Wadi Mujib (location of the filming, and more importantly, the real-life events of the famous movie, "Lawrence of Arabia!"), so I thought I'd better try it. Actually, I loved it! It was rather comfortable and felt quite safe and clean. I loved the feeling of power from being way up on a convenient camel, and I was impressed by the ease with which the desert steed traversed the dunes. I also made friends with our Bedouin guide, Abu Hamid. He started singing to the camels, and I asked him to teach me. And so, friends, I rode my camel across the sand dunes of Jordan, singing with a Bedouin in broken Bedoo Arabic about, "the blue-eyed Amrikaani on the camel oh my darling!"
         Last weekend was a blast--I and two friends were invited to the Halloween party at the Greek Orthodox church in Amman. So, in full costume, off we went! It was a great Halloween party--we danced to Egyptian music (although I still don't really understand the rhythm of Arabic music. Several times, we Americans just started swing-dancing or the Mackerina!), ate Jordanian baked goods for dinner, and even had a wonderful chocolate cake, full of whipped cream and studded with chocolate chunks. We finally had to tear ourselves away from our Arab friends after 11 and head home.
      Today, we went to Ajloun and conquered yet another castle, only Ajloun was built by the nephew of Sala-Addin, not the Christian crusaders. I am including this picture for 2 reasons--1) It shows Taskkeel-Gilead, the birthplace of Elijah the prophet, and 2) to dispel any rumors that Jordan can't be green. We had rain and fog all day!

     Last but certainly not least, we went to an Ammonite watchtower in Amman and found a geocache. I call that a good day!