- Jordan. I basically knew nothing about Jordan and learned a lot about it on this trip. Jordan recognizes Israel as a country, so that's always a bonus for countries around Israel. It also sees itself as a neutral party in the middle east. It is really difficult to get Jordanian citizenship, supposedly. Also, the Jordanian Dinar is tied to the Dollar, and they accept both currencies, interesting. Also, everyone we talked to was very supportive of America and had a lot of pride in Jordan's relationship with the US. People in general were really nice to us everywhere, a store owner even gave me a mosaic as a gift, even though we didn't buy anything else at his store. Jordanian children also learn Arabic, English, and French in schools.
- Amman. Here are a few interesting facts about Amman (the capital of Jordan): Like Jerusalem, all of the buildings in Amman have to be made of the same stone. In Amman the stone is Limestone, and in Jerusalem its Jerusalem Stone (creative, I know). They are also trying to get rid of all traffic lights in Amman and replacing them with traffic circles to keep traffic flowing (my mom would hate it!). Lastly, motorcycles aren't allowed in Amman, actually I think this is true for all of Jordan, but it was most noticeable in Amman.
- Ancient Egyptian Death Rituals: Now, of course I knew about the pyramids and everything from ancient Egypt, but I don't think I ever really thought about the extensiveness of the death rituals from that time. The ancient egyptians went all out when it came to burying and preserving the dead- it's really incredible. I think the part that interests me the most is the belief behind it. I find myself wondering how they came up with the idea that everything put in a tomb with someone got to go to heaven with them. Or how they thought little model boats could become big boats for their owners to sail to heaven. Or even how taking out all of the internal organs of the person helped them be reborn into heaven. The belief was so deep and so detailed and exotic, it's really interesting.
- I mentioned this in my facebook album, but the coolest thing that I saw was Cheop's Solar Boat. Basically, it is a giant boat that was buried in thousands of pieces in a tomb next to one of the pharoah's pyramid. This boat was built solely to be buried for the Pharoah's soul to magically put together and sail to heaven in. That demonstration of faith and belief really amazes me.
- I am slightly claustrophobic. I've actually knows this for a while- I basically need to know my air source. So, I had some trouble in Egypt when it came to climbing in the pyramids- I basically didn't do it. I went partially up one of them, but then decided to stop. I don't know- the way I see it is that the pyramids were created to house the dead and their things, not for other (live) people to ever go in, so why would good ventilation be a priority? Thus I stay out of pyramids.
- Another interesting thing about traveling has been being able to talk to locals or non-American tourists about the US election. Everyone wants to talk about it. I think all of my traveling and talking to people has completely reinforced my decision to vote for Obama. Everyone has been so optimistic about the idea of Obama as president, and that kind of faith and hope for America redeeming its international image is a big plus for me.
It's about time to wrap up this post as I'm leaving for another adventure in Greece in 4 hours! Here's a preview of some of my favorite pictures from the trip:
This is the sun looking really neat behind a monument on Mount Nebo. Bible Trivia! Mount Nebo is the place where Moses stood and God showed him all the land for the Hebrews, unfortunately Moses was never allowed into that Land of Israel and he died somewhere in modern day Jordan.
This is the treasury in Petra, Jordan. What is incredible about this building is that it was carved out of the solid mountainside... no room for mistakes.
The sun behind the great pyramid in Giza!
As you can tell by the next two pictures, I really enjoyed re-learning manual photography techniques on this trip.
On the trip we did a 3 day Nile Cruise. The next few pictures our from one night when I got to watch the sun set from the top deck of our ship. It was beautiful.
The rest of the albums can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006290&l=39ee8&id=1229460136
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006291&l=2bb3e&id=1229460136
1 comment:
On to Greece! The best place in the Mediterranean.
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