I'm back!

Sorry that my internet is just absolutely horrendous: I haven't had access in a little while. I'm in a lovely little cafe that caters to foreigners, eating a plain margherita pizza. Life is good.

But I've also just had a crazy crazy weekend. We visited Petra, Aqaba and Wadi Rum, which are all great tourist sites in the South. Petra, with its ancient Roman ruins and great natural scenery and caverns, was amazing. It was exhausting hiking all day, but well worth it to go all the way to the Monastery, which was quite a hike. From one spot, a little bit more of a hike beyond that, was called "The End of the World", a mountain top where we were could see Israel beyond in the mountains. That night, we learned how to cook traditional Jordanian food, which our host families have been making for us, from a restaurant called "Petra Kitchen" there. The food was definitely welcome, although my slight dislike for Middle Eastern food before coming to Jordan has only gotten worse.

We slept in this great Bedouin camp ground under the stars that night, which was beautiful. Before, we sat with a few other Americans, actually from Chicago, having tea and swapping stories. It was a great night to lay out, especially in this camp hidden in a canyon-ish place. Around midnight, while we were staying up talking despite being exhausted, the moon finally crested the mountain next to us, illuminating all the ground around us. It was incredible.

Then, we had an early morning and drove to Aqaba the next day to enjoy the Dead Sea. From the boat we went on, we could see Israel across the sea, it was so surreal. We just enjoyed the boat for awhile, and some went snorkling to look at the coral. It was a great great day with wonderful weather, and we enjoyed some local fish in a restaurant nearby

That afternoon, we had what I would arguably say is one of the ten most bizarre experiences I have ever had (included in this list is getting picked up by the Mexican border police for getting lost walking in the median of the freeway, as well as a strange mega church encounter in Kansas City). We were told we were going 4 wheeling through the mountains of Wadi Rum to another traditional Bedouin camp we were staying that night. False. Sooooo false.

Our 4 wheelers? Junky 80s Toyota 4 wheel drive pick up trucks. They had benches with foam attached (see picture), wired, yes, wired to the truck. And off we went, driving through the desert: it was awesome. Especially because our driver was a little crazy, with a need for speed and a drive to beat the other trucks. We'd occasionally drive up sand dunes and loose traction, but it was all part of the fun.

Eventually, we made it to the camp, after an incredible desert sunset. We had a, surprisingly good, Bedouin dinner with great great great watermelon. They actually have watermelon with seeds, unlike America's horrendous, seedless fruit. We enjoyed another great night under the stars.

Next day, we spent on a four hour long camel ride. Now, it was a little unnecessarily long... but definitely an experience. We saw more of the mountains and saw some ancient drawings all around.

Ok, that was a pretty long post... Hopefully it won't be too long until I get to write again. Classes are kinda boring, but hopefully they'll be pick up soon. Starting on Friday, we have 10 days off for the Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan, so my friends and I are hopefully planning a big trip. I'll share details soon :)