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!