Dead Sea & Biblical Jordan

Before I get to the part you all want to read about...

Thursday after classes, CIEE had reserved space on the UJ soccer field and invited us to invite our peer tutors to come out and play a game (or three, as it turned out) of soccer!  I had been onboard the second they told us about it; I definitely miss playing regularly.   As we started organizing into teams, I realized that I was the only girl on the field - and most of the guys were Jordanians; peer tutors (and as it happened, some random students who just wanted to kick a ball around...) outnumbered CIEE three to one.  To be honest I wasn't sure how they were going to react or what to expect; though I've generally been 'one of the guys' as far as sports go for most of my life, these were Jordanian guys.

We played for two hours, until the sky turned dusky and even the veteran (for there certainly were some) players were exhausted.  I definitely held my own, and by the end of the match a few of the guys were telling me I was a good player - and it seemed genuine.  I kinda wish we could play every week; I'd get my cardio in, and I really do miss playing soccer.

Now...the good part.

Today, (Friday) myself and eleven other friends and CIEE students gathered at the University Main gate just before 7:00AM to go to the Dead Sea.

  After about an hour or so of driving, we were there.

  The Dead Sea looks more like a lake than an ocean - and it is a landlocked lake despite the name - and because we used the public beaches, the lead up was quite rocky.  I was surprised to see that the water was clear; I don't know what I had been expecting, but after seeing the mud and hearing about the mineral content, I had assumed the water would look...different...somehow.  Instead, it was clearer even than the water in Nagshead or Myrtle Beach in the States.  Almost as soon as I stepped into the water, I could feel the buoyancy.  Before I was even up to my knees, I could lay back and float without fear of scraping my legs on the rocky bottom!  The water was also warm (maybe not quite up to my Dad's standards, but good enough for me) so the fact that we were going to the beach in February wasn't a problem.  We bobbed out further into the Dead Sea, and well...

Exactly.  Floating.  You could stand straight up in the water with almost your entire upper body out of it and just bob, without floating or anything.

We stayed for about a half hour - forty-five minutes or so, and then dried off and went back to the van to drive another forty-five minutes or so and stopped at a natural hot springs resort.

On the way to the Hot Springs, we stopped and enjoyed the sights

Natural Hot Springs Waterfall!

 Who would have thought; waterfalls in the desert! There were three or four natural hot springs with a hotel and resort built around them.  The water was luxuriously hot, and a balm for the grime of salt and minerals the Dead Sea had left on my skin.  Sitting under the waterfall itself was like hiring your own natural masseuse; I don't think my neck and shoulders have ever been so relaxed.  We all kicked back and hung out in the springs for a few hours, and then dried off for a second time to head back to Amman.

Once back at the University, Khalid suggested that we grab lunch (an early dinner really, as it was 3:00pm) at a Yemeni Restaurant nearby.  Five of us went with him, and were treated to an all out Arab style meal.  Delicious food, fresh bread, and plenty of tea and conversation for all.   A wonderful end to an excellent day.

Saturday Morning I woke up bright but not quite so early for CIEE's Biblical Jordan day trip.  We left at 8:00am, and went to Jesus's Baptism Site, Mt. Nebo, St. George's Church in Madaba, and Mukawer - the mountain fortress where John the Baptist was held prisoner and eventually beheaded.

We drove about an hour to get to Jesus's Baptism site.  In order to get to it, you have to cross through a military checkpoint because the baptism site is, of course, on the Jordan River, and the river is the border between Israel and Jordan.  As we were walking the meandering paths to the actual baptism site, at times the river would curve and Israel was a hop, skip and jump away.  It was surreal.  The terrain leading to the river was beautiful; I could imagine disciples wandering through the underbrush on the way to be baptized, hundreds of years ago.

Say Hello to Israel!

The island to the left bank is Israel; but the domed church in the distance is in Jordan

When we finally did reach the baptism site, I was a little bit underwhelmed; I had assumed there would be more pomp and circumstance.  Reflecting, I think it is for the best that Jesus's baptism site remains simple; it is supposed to be a humble place, just like the act of baptism itself is humble - bearing yourself before God and asking forgiveness.

The large church towards the top of the picture was built by the Byzantines; to the bottom of the picture, the small canal  and arch after the steps is the actual location of Jesus's Baptism

What the site looks like today

Where Jesus was baptized

Remains of the Byzantine church

After visiting the baptism site we walked to the banks of the Jordan River, and waved to Israel!  Picture it:  On one side of the river, us, a Jordanian flag, and a few Jordanian soldiers, and less than thirty feet away, Israeli soldiers, tourists, and flags!

Holy Water!

Hi Israel!

Touching the water of the Jordan

Group Shot!

A nearby Church we visited...

Chris Harvey knows what those birds mean.... 

After the baptism site, we piled into the bus and drove up to Mount Nebo.  If your biblical history is a little rusty, Mount Nebo is where Moses looked out and saw the Holy Land for the first time.  It was a little cloudy, so the view wasn't quite as clear as it is usually, but it was still breathtaking.

Can you see the face of God?

What Moses could see when he looked out onto the Promise Land

On the way to Madaba City we stopped in a craftshop where they made handcrafted mosaics.  They were beautiful.  The craftshop hires many individuals with disabilities, and so some of the money they make goes to help provide for those individuals.  The time and detail that goes into every one was simply astounding.

M R ducks? A R not, O S A R! C M E D B D feet?

L I B! M R ducks!

I saw this one and thought of Mrs. Betty :)

We then drove to Madaba City and visited St. George's Church, home of the oldest map of the Middle East that still exists.  The map existed before the Church, and is a mosaic on the floor.  Part of it was missing/were destroyed, but what remains is worth a visit.

St. George's is also home to myriad mosaics.  They were gorgeous; from a distance, most of them don't even look like mosaics.

This isn't a mosaic; it is a painting of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus.  However; notice the third  hand.  No one knows whose it is; when the painting was painted, it did not have the third hand.  Overnight, the hand appeared - a miracle. 

Overall I enjoyed the Church more than I thought I would.  It was relaxing and comforting to walk in the doors and smell incense - a smell that I ordinarily would not think to miss.

After St. George's we ate lunch.  The restaurant used to be a house; but it was converted by the owners!  The food was delicious!

The famous CIEE Ahmad!

Then we went to Mukawer; the place where John the Baptist was held prisoner and then executed by King Herod.  As the story goes, King Herod saw a beautiful girl dancing and wanted to marry her.  He told her he would give her anything if she would accept his proposal, and asked what she wanted. The girl went home to her mother, who despised John the Baptist, and told her daughter to ask Herod for the head of John the Baptist.  The girl asked, and Herod gave her John's head on a silver platter. 

So...there were some "roman" columns (in quotation because we're pretty sure they were built by Jordanians, not Romans) and I embraced my inner Ezio.  (Hey, I have relatives in Florence!)

First the small one...

Then the tall one!

Animus Data Fragment Collected

C-I-E-E!

My attempt to pose in kokutsu dachi