Petra & Wadi Rum

This past weekend at Petra and Wadi Rum was one of the best weekends of my entire life. After our midterms, we left straight away on a 5-hour drive to Petra (one of the 7 wonders of the world). Once we arrived at the Old Village Resort in Petra we had an amazing dinner, swam in the pool, and watched the sunset. The next morning we went straight to explore the wonders of Petra. The architecture of Petra and the history of the old civilizations and lifestyles that date back to as early as 100AD was fascinating. We spent the majority of the day there exploring and learning about the old and new Bedouin cultures. It was a great opportunity to practice my Arabic (including using my Arabic skills to bargain down prices on souvenirs).

Here are some pictures from Petra:

After Petra, we drove another 2 hours to the Wadi Rum red desert (actually the same desert where “The Martian” with Matt Damon was filmed). Once we arrived in the small local Bedouin town, they loaded us onto the back of pickup trucks and drove us out to a small civilization in the desert called the Bedouin Lifestyle Camp. The whole village was no more than an acre in size and our group shared 3 tents to sleep in. They cooked us a classic Bedouin dinner, which means submerging the food in a hole in the sand and cooking it under the ground. We ate the dinner on pillows on the sand dunes around a campfire. We danced, drank tea, and sang to Arabic songs until around 1am. After the whole area cleared out, we all experienced one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments: everyone just laid down or sat in complete silence while we watched the stars that spanned from horizon to horizon.

The next morning we got back on the pickup trucks and drove to many different rock formations, canyons, and sand dunes to explore. Here are some pictures from all of Wadi Rum:

Program Midpoint

Sorry, I'm not blogging as often as I planned. Our classes at the Qasid Institute and all of our other activities have been keeping us super busy. Tomorrow we have our midterms and then we're off for a weekend trip with the whole NSLI-Y group - the first night we'll stay at a resort at Petra where we'll tour the ruins and the second night we'll be camping with a Bedouin tribe in the Wadi Rum desert where we'll get to see the sand dunes and famous rock bridge. Petra and Wadi Rum are both UNESCO World Heritage sites and I'll definitely post pictures and blog about the trip next week.

Weekdays

Last week was a great week of classes and we had fun with our host family and the whole NSLI-Y group. During the week, we worked hard in our classes and spent time with the other kids in our NSLI-Y program (we love heading out to lunch after class).  

We also did a language exchange with Jordanian alumni of the YES program and we did a cooking class at the Hamada restaurant where we learned how to make hummus, crispy falafel, and yummy bread.

     

Last Weekend
Last weekend we spent both days with our host family. On Friday, we got to spend some time with our host mom's extended family, and on Saturday, our host family took us to the Dead Sea. We're so grateful that they took us on such a fun excursion.

Exploring Amman

(from Sunday 7/1/18)

Rainbow Street Ice Cream

On Thursday night, Emma and I and our host family all went to Rainbow street and had some pan rolled ice cream. Adventuring through the crowded Rainbow Street was a cool cultural experience.

Friday Family Visit
Friday was one of those days that made me feel blessed not only for this specific opportunity but to be living in such a beautiful world. We went to visit our host grandparents' house and it made for a day I’ll never forget. The view was amazing and we tried so many delicious local Jordanian foods. After lunch, we went to another distant family member's house where we watched the sunset. I’m so happy to be here in such a beautiful place to learn Arabic.

Saturday Group Excursion
Then, yesterday somehow managed to live up to the amazing bar that was set by Friday. Yesterday the whole NSLI-Y American Councils group went to the ancient Roman ruins and amphitheater in Amman. After that, we went to downtown Amman and went to countless juice stands and ice cream shops. After some small souvenir shopping, the day finished off with a rooftop dinner. We learned how to make the classic dish known as Mansaf while listening to live music with an amazing view of the city. Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan and we were told that people like to say that even a single handful of mansaf can enhance your pronunciation of the Arabic language. 

Apartment View
Finally, here are a few pictures of the view from our apartment and my host mom and brothers.