Countdown to Roma!

At this exact time tomorrow morning, I will be waiting at the Terminal to board my flight to Rome, Italy at Queen Alia International Airport.  Excited doesn't being to explain.  I'll be meeting family in Rome - and that alone is enough to have me jumping for joy.  Add the fact that I feel like I'm exploring my heritage (my family is half-Italian, after all) and that I'm following Ezio Auditore da Firenze's footsteps (Assassin's Creed reference; yes, I am a geek)...this is going to be an epic spring break.

Before I leave, though, a quick update on life between Iraq and a hard place.  This past week I found myself fully recovered from my stomach bug.  The weather here is still a little chilly, and this week has decided to be beautiful in the morning and go crazy in the afternoon.  One day this week, around about 2pm, the shining sun disappeared in the wake of a thunder/hail/rain storm!  Drainage problems, thy name is Amman.  When we have flash rain storms like that, I really wonder how the bottom of the city (Amman is built on several mountains, remember) doesn't just disappear underwater.  The streets here become literal waterfalls when it rains.  It brings new meaning to the phrase, "flash flooding".

Beyond that, I had midterms this week, so the majority of my free time was spent brushing up on my International Relations knowledge and arabic grammar.  Besides that, I was busy getting ready for Spring Break!

Arabic Grammar! Also... I've been on a bit of a Western Fantasy kick this week... I bought Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small on my nook and watched A Knight's Tale for the nth time... but that doodle is educational!  

We had to fill out travel forms for CIEE.  You have no idea how tempted I was to turn mine in with a full plan of what I  would do in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse... it's a legitimate possibility!

Before I wrap up and start to pack for Spring Break; here are  a few pictures from Jerash and Ajloun that didn't make it onto the original blog posts!  

Anyone want to take bets on how many more pillar pictures I'll post before coming back to the States?

Jerash, roman columns, city and mountains behind...no big deal.  It's just how we do things in Jordan...

At Mer Elias after community service; tired and happy from our hike and covered in paint!

I do plan on blogging about Italy; no promises on how soon that post will be up.  It's likely to be broken in to a few parts, and the week right after Spring Break is going to be super hectic (some of my professors decided to have mid-terms after break) because I have a bunch of tests and papers due.  I'll do my best, though!

Until then...

Arrivederci  miei amici!  Vediamo quando torno da Roma e Firenze!  :-P

  

Ajloun Community Service

Last Saturday, I along with five other CIEE students, traveled to Ajloun to an all girls school in a small village named Baoun Village.

Once there, we got right to work in the classrooms, painting the walls with a fresh coat of white, in preparation for the oil based painting we'll be doing next week.  We worked for a good three or four hours and painted ten classrooms, and the walls outside of them.  As we worked students from the school started to help out - girls of all ages as this school is k-12.  It was a lot of fun working side by side with the Jordanian children.  Some things - like having paint fights - truly are cross-cultural!  

After we finished painting for the day, we had lunch at the house of a local family.  It was absolutely delicious! 

After lunch, we went on a hike through through the mountains surrounding Bauon Village all the way up to Mer Elias - a site of the ruins of a Byzantine church.  As we hiked I was once again amazed by the greenery of the north.  Wildflowers of all colors - yellow, purple, blue, orange - bloomed around us in areas, and the vegetation was as thick and lively as I would expect it to be on the east coast in the Appalachians.  As we started the climb, groves of olive trees stretched out in fields on either side of the dirt path we scrambled up.  As we climbed higher, we came across small lakes and ancient rivers that had once been places of discussion and relaxation in roman times.  I could still see where the Romans had carved steps into the mountain as we hiked.  History here is not only in the books - it is all around, in every nook and cranny of the country.   

Olive trees!

Those steps were carved by Romans...this small pond was once a Roman Bath

We also came across an old Byzantine Mosque during our hike

Wild Flowers :)

Mer Elias is the site of ruins of Byzantine churches. It also has a pretty amazing view since it's at the top of a mountain.  I like the idea of building churches on mountains; it seems to be a theme of the different sites we have visited so far, but it definitely serves to remind you of how small you are, and how beautiful the world can be.

Mer Elias

View from Mer Elias

Mosaics!

This used to be a church.  You can see how it is cross shaped!

Once we were done poking around the ruins, we climbed back into our bus and drove back to Amman.

A Note:

As I write this, it is the 21st of March.  I have been in Jordan for two months now.  This day sees me in bed, not at class, as I seem to have picked up a small stomach bug (but don't worry, I seem to be on the mend). In less than two months now, I will be back in the States.  This prospect both excites and saddens me. All I can really hope for is that I have as many amazing adventures in this last half of my study abroad experience as I have had already!

 

Jerash and Umm Qais

Bright and early last Saturday morning, I met two friends at the North Bus Station in Amman, and hopped on a bus bound for Irbid, Jordan.  As we left the boundaries of Amman and traversed the desert roads, I was surprised by the gradual increase of green in the surrounding landscape. The further north we went, the more green there was until at last I felt like I had been transported  to the rolling green landscapes of the United Kingdom! As we passed through Irbid, and then hopped in a taxi to go even further north to Umm Qais, there were flowers, thick carpets of grass, bushes, and evergreens on both sides of the road.  There was as much green in the north as there was sand in Wadi Rum!  

The first glimpse of Umm Qais

When we arrived in Umm Qais - the ruins of what was once a vibrant Roman city - crumbling walls of white, grey, and basalt stone met my eyes; twisting paths that had once been roads, steps made uneven by the passage of many feet and years, and around it all, growing in every nook and cranny, verdant, lush greenery.    Columns rose and were silhouetted by the skyline of mountains in the background. Try to image what Umm Qais must have looked like in its heydey; grandiose temples and tens of houses littering the mountain side; children running up and down the staircases hewn from the mountain, legions parading down wide roads with roman columns on either side.

Ruins of a temple; the columns are all that remain. Those mountains in the background are the Golan Heights

As the three of us wandered down twisted passageways and clambered over rocks, we discovered an Amphitheater made of beautiful basalt stone.  The theater used to hold tens of thousands of people; but with the passage of time much of the higher tiers of seating have collapsed and crumbled. What took place here? Gladiator fights? Roman and greek tragedy plays?  Lecture?

Climbing as usual :-P

I look so tiny!

 After the Ampitheater, we continued to explore the ruins.

It wouldn't have been a successful day if I hadn't climbed at least ONE column...

Viewpoint Synchronized...

As we wandered, eventually we came to the very reason Umm Qais is a place you absolutely have to visit.  Umm Qais is the northernmost point in Jordan. From it, you can look out and Lebanon, Israel, and Syria while standing in Jordan.  

All the way to the left, in the hazy distance, is the sea of Galilee (now, Tiberius Lake) which is a border between Israel and Syria. The mountain in the center is the Golan heights, and all the way to the right in the distance we could see the white peak of a mountain in Lebanon.

The white winding road at the base of the mountain in the background is the border between Jordan and Israel. 

You can see the Sea of Galilee a little better in this one, and the hazy land beyond is Syria. 

I could had stood and looked out from that viewpoint all day.  Here I am, in Jordan, in the midst of so much history, at such a pivotal moment in history.  From here, Israel and Syria look so peaceful.  If those mountains could speak, what would they say?  If the stones of Umm Qais could tell their stories, what sort of stories would they be?  This region of the world is beautiful, full of  life and culture.  You certainly do not see the verdant mountains of Northern Jordan in the news at home.  I saw a side of Jordan on this excursion that I hadn't seen before.

Also, by the lookout, there was a pack of wild dogs (about five or six) sunbathing.  One looked like a husky, and the poor guy got up and started barking when he saw us - tail wagging, almost howling a clear, "Come play with us!" sort of bark.  The group of dogs looked to be in fairly good health - they weren't scrawny, so I'm sure they receive regular attention from tourists at Umm Qais.

As we continued, we stumbled across what looked like troughs full of water.  Upon further inspection, we realized we had actually wandered across a tomb!

The Way is Shut, It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead Keep it!

 Sadly, when we ventured inside, no green ghostly king met me to ask if I was the daughter of Isildur. Darn.  There weren't any dragons, either.

We continued, taking different paths back to the museum at the front of Umm Qais.  We found some more columns, and a large road.  Just imagine the legions marching down it, row upon row of horses and men with spears and shield.

If these stones could talk, what would they say?

We made it back to the museum area, and took a quick walk through the garden!  I haven't seen so many insects and wildlife in general since I was in the States!  It was refreshing - though the sudden appearance of bumblebees buzzing was a little startling at first. 

Next we checked out the museum Umm Qais had to offer.

After the museum, we ran across an archaeological dig in process! Dr. Daniel Jackson wasn't present; but it was still really cool! The people running it let us walk around the site and watch the archaeologists as the excavated right before our eyes! 

As we were about to leave Umm Qais, we noticed a large group of people and loud voices heading our way. We investigated, and it turned out it was the CIEE group who was visiting Umm Qais and Jerash today as well!  We met up with them, and managed to tag along for transportation.  When they stopped for lunch, we went elsewhere, but not before stopping and watching some breadmakers make fresh bread! Yummm.

Then it was on to Jerash: Hadrian's Gate.  Not to be confused with the Hadrian Wall in the United Kingdom; though this gate was probably made under the same Emperor. It is amazing to just try and imagine an empire stretching all the way from Britain to Jordan!

 Jerash was absolutely bursting with awesome sights. First up, a stadium, probably used for chariot races and other such events! Two guys races around the track; it's even longer than it looks.

A Knight's Tale, anyone?

 And now, prepare yourself for some awesome views:

I like this pictures because you can see the city in the background. It was surreal coming to Jerash.  One moment you are driving through a city, smaller than Amman but similar in style and appearance and then... BAM. Roman Ruins. 

 Are you "Roman'ed" out yet?  I wasn't.  The Greeks might have done it first (and better) but the Roman were pretty awesome too.  Just take this amphitheater for an example!

By the time we got to the Amphitheater, evening was fast approaching and the sun was just beginning to decline. A bunch of us powered up the steps of the Amphitheater and then sat at the top and just relaxed, enjoying the fruits of our labor.  At the bottom of the Amphitheater, there were two guys playing music; one with a drum and one with bagpipes. They'd rile everyone up and even got a few dance circles going on. It was the best possible way to end an already amazing day. 

As we drove home, I tried (and failed many times) to capture the beautiful sun setting over Northern Jordan. At last, I succeeded, and sat back and relaxed for the rest of the ride home, tired and content as yet another absolutely amazing adventure in Jordan came to a close.