Umm Qais, Another Adventure!

So, this week was pretty darn awesome. After doing next to nothing for the first two days (we did meet the children we will be teaching English to starting Sunday) we were told to absolutely not come back until Sunday because neither the marqez or the mudireea had any work for us. Well, we asked them a few times and then decided that if they were going to give us three days off of work we were going to use them in an epic fashion and go on an adventure. The biggest thing that I look for in an adventure is uniqueness, so as I was searching for someplace to have some fun I looked for a place I have never heard of. Hence, why we went to a random town in Northern Jordan called 'Umm Qais'.

When I looked up Umm Qais I was told that it was a beautiful "Decapolis City" overlooking the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, and even Lebanon in the distance. Also, it is a favorite destination of Palestinians living in Jordan who go to see some of their homeland where they lived and their family still live, but they are unable to visit. So, that is Umm Qais and that is what I will be describing to you today because it was epically amazing and I feel like telling you, even though I haven't posted anything about Petra, Wadi Rum, or Aqaba yet which is also sad.


To get to Umm Qais was actually not very difficult, we took three buses to get there from Amman and one of them was an hour long drive in an air conditioned touring bus (like we have in the United States) and only cost about $3.00. All together, for both of, we spent about $14 to get from our house to the city and back. When we got the ruins we were both pretty hungry and so we went right up to the local restaurant which was overlooking the valley in front of us and was shaded and breezy. I had delicious chicken and Austin had hummus as we sat and thought about the many historical things that happened within our view. It was especially cool to think about the religious significance of that area and to look at the hill where Christ is supposed to have cast the devils out of the people and into the swine who then ran off the hill into the Sea of Galilee (or Lake Tiberius as it is called in Jordan).

The city was really fun to explore. It is not typical looking ruined city because instead of brown sandstone or white granite being the building blocks, they used black basalt which brings an interesting new color to the mix. There was a beautiful museum that was extremely detailed and comprehensive where we got to see a number of mosaics that were being protected as well as a sarcophagus that we both laid in (a little weird to lay down where you know someone who was dead was and then they decomposed into it). Probably the coolest thing was an ancient 10in thick door made of solid rock that you could still open and close because it was perfectly balanced on a giant stone hinge. It was awesome. Also, the sight still has a lot of excavation yet to be done and so as you walk around you see many old arches and passageways just sitting around. You think they are nothing until you explore them a little bit and are then quite amazed at the things that are under your feet all the time in this beautiful country.


As we were walking to the edge of the cliff we saw this little house made of rock balancing precariously on the edge. I thought it would be cool to go have a look and also to see what the view is like from the promontory. Well, as we approached, two amazingly relieved Jordanian Soldiers appeared outside of the little hut and proceeded to greet us enthusiastically and then proceed to tell us what everything in the distance was including the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius), the Jordanian/Israeli Border, and the Syrian Border. It was amazing to see the Golan Heights especially and then to release why Israeli needed to take them and the strategic position it places Syria in if they receive them again with the creation of a Palestinian State. The other interesting thing I noticed was the technological divide between Israel and Jordan. The forward observation post for Jordan was very rustic, the soldiers had a single set of binoculars and were simply asked to look for signs of movement or advance. I'm sure that on the Israeli side they employ high technology such as radar and other devices, as well as many more soldiers to watch the border. It was very interesting and again, seeing how close they are to one another, it makes me grateful their is peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. The other cool thing, was that the defenses from the 1967 6 Day war were still in place on the hill. There were extensive concrete and rock trenches, supply trenches and pill-boxes. It was amazing to be standing to something that was so important in such a modern time and to see the front-lines firsthand.

The last thing we did was head back to the city up to the ruins of the Byzantine Basilica which had a number of intact and ruined pillars. Of course, we were up for a challenge and so we were decided to scramble up a number of the pillars and take cool pictures on top of them and around them which I will include here. It was a lot of fun, and helped us be entertained for another hour or so.

Over all, Umm Qais was extremely awesome. I'm grateful that I was able to find a less-visited tourist destination and to finally see the area surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius) and the Golan Heights. It helps understand the strategic advantage of this area and the reasons behind some of Israel's policies and procedures. Also, sitting in Umm Qais I wondered if Palestinians actually came there and looked at their homeland that they were unable to visit and the families they wouldn't know. I thought about what it would be like to be in Canada, away from my family, and refused entry into my homeland, the United States of America. I will not comment on the political situation here, but it simply made it more real for me and helped me have empathy instead of simply sympathy. I think this is one of the greatest things I have gained here in Jordan, a better understanding of the Arab people, especially Palestinians and a better understanding of some of the situations in the Middle East according to other people's eyes.

Look, I know Karate!

That's a weird center pillar!

This is the flat Chameleon I found while walking down the road,
pretty cool eh?

Karak and other random adventures

The Museum at Dana... sort of small but cool nonetheless

Pounding the Oregano with a rock

Today was a nice, rather slow paced day where we got to enjoy ourselves and basically do whatever we wanted for much of the day.  We didn't really have a plan for today except we wanted to explore the area of Dana a little bit and also have plenty of time to see Karak and get home before things got too late.  In the morning, about half of the group slept in late while the other half decided we really wanted to explore Dana village and see what we could find.  I packed up all of my stuff for a quick exit and then headed outside.  We had heard that there was some sort of giftshop and craft making area but were unsure of where we could find it.  I headed down an interesting little alley and found a nice bridge to cross over.  As I was crossing the bridge I started to hear pounding and thought it sounded interesting so I decided I would head in the direction of the pounding while taking pictures and enjoying my surrounding. Imagine my surprise when I entered a beautiful little building and found 5 or 6 women pounding the snot our of oregano with rocks to create the spice that we all use in our cooking.  I found it very interesting and was content to watch but was soon invited to join in and take a turn at smashing some oregano.  The dust got everywhere but it was surprisingly enjoyable especially when one of the women began singing a song in time with the pounding.  It made me realize just how cool this experience really was.  I was sitting there pounding oregano  when the rest of the group found me and started laughing because they always seem to find me doing something with the locals and having a great time of it.

Engraving my ring

  Anyway, after the I had taken a few pictures of the Oregano production, the girls informed us that there was silver smith shopped close by a long with a museum that sold all of the goods that were handmade here on site.  Of course I jumped at the opportunity to go see all of that stuff and everyone else wanted to go as well so off we went.  There was a cool little museum explaining the preserve as well as a guest house where we found that we had been royally ripped off with our accommodations and hadn't even seen the nature preserve or entered it!  We were more than a little mad with our tour guide but decided that we would simply come back later to enjoy the preserve and see some of Jordan's beautiful wildlife.  Also in the center was an awesome little gift shop with tons of hand made items for sale and two really nice ladies that informed us that a lot of the silver was made on site and we could go see the silver shop down stairs.  The silver shop was not very busy, they said they didn't have any orders, but it was interesting to see how they cut our and shaped everything by hand.  I have discovered, in Jordan at least, that if you stand around looking at something long enough the person doing the job will invite you to do it with them and teach you how to do it which I find is really cool and very nice.  Today was no different as they promptly placed us in a chair and showed us how they flattened the metal, cut it out by hand, polished and a number of other things.  As we were watching they showed us a polishing wheel and then asked me for my irish ring.  They then polished the heck out of it and made it look better than it ever had when I bought it in Ireland.  It was really cool, however, when they asked me to spell my name in Arabic and then engraved it on the inside of the ring along with a heart.  So now my Irish ring is engraved with " سكاي "    and a heart which I think is pretty cool.  I wonder what other cool things can happen to this ring before the end?  Well, after I got my ring engraved we took a few final pictures and then headed of to the North so we could see the ancient remains of Al-Karak the Castle.

The group before heading out of Dana

The castle from the top of the Umayyad addition 

  As we pulled up to the castle I knew it was going to be amazing.  It was huge and precariously perched on top of a huge hill overlooking all of the surrounding valleys and the dead sea which we could just see off in the distance.  As we were walking about to the gate I saw a little shop that said I could buy an audio tour thing for 5 bucks and thought that it would be sweet so I bought it, the only one in the group oddly enough.  Well, that audio tour was amazing but would end up creating some issues later on.  It turns out that the castle mount had been continuously inhabited for thousands of years but that the earliest fortifications dated back to the time of the Frankish Crusaders.  Since that time they were modified by all of the Islamic Dynasties and had amazingly preserve ruins of the castle.  I found out some amazing stories from the Audio tour about how Salah Din had besieged the castle on multiple occasions and how the castle had traded sides multiple times.  Apparently Karak is located on a major north south trading route and controls a port city on the dead sea.  The Castle was huge with a giant underground market that ran over 100 meters, a mosque, huge kitchen areas, a church, giant underground rooms, a stable, barracks and giant walls.  It was amazing and every step of the way the audio tour explained and directed me along at what I THOUGHT was a reasonable pace.  Something else that was awesome is that you can climb and explore anywhere you want.  So every random staircase I saw I could go up and every doorway leading to a dark hole, I could explore.  It was a lot of fun and allowed me to see some amazing views and spectacular ruins.

The "Bath of the Lily"

  Well, it turns out that although I thought we were supposed to all meet up at 5:00 everyone else had finished exploring the castle in under an hour.  When they were sick of waiting they called my cell-phone which I answered but had no response from the other end.  I figured my friend Austin had but dialed me and so when he called two seconds after that I simply didn't answer the phone.  Also, when they came looking for me in the Castle, much of the time I was underground and so I couldn't hear their calls or see them searching.  Basically it was a perfect storm to make it so that everyone else was waiting for me for about an hour while I was enjoying myself inside the castle having lots of fun exploring and listening to my Audio Guide.  I felt really bad when they finally found me but I stick by my decision to purchase the audio tour.  I think they are so much fun and they make the experience so much better because it is no longer simply a bunch of ruins but actually has meaning, stories, and interesting facts along with it.  I think any time there is an audio tour, people should purchase them.  Just my two cents, also make sure you have a meeting place and time set up with your group so everyone knows the expectation.

Just a cool passageway
I found while exploring

The view from inside the ruined mosque at the temple

  Well, that was pretty much the end of my adventures this weekend.  I'll upload some pictures on this soon so everyone can be jealous of my awesome adventures and I'll keep updating you.  Tomorrow I'm headed off to the Sheikh's house for dinner which should be pretty sweet!

Aeed Istiklal " عيد الاستقلال"

  Today was Jordan's Independence Day (May 25th) from Britain and it was most definitely fantastic.  We had originally told our friend Ahmed that we wanted to go visit him in Aqaba but then we found out that there were a ton of celebrations in the city including a military parade where the king and queen might appear.  So Ahmed decided he would meet us in Amman and we would have a little party with him and then we would go to see the parade.  We hoped it would be a fun day and knew that spending some time with Ahmed was always fun.

Ahmed and I in the ampitheater

  We met Ahmed downtown and he promptly whisked us off to see the Roman Amphitheater and museums that are downtown.  He told us that we were supposed to be charged a dollar for entrance fee, the locals are only charged 15 cents, but that he told the guards we were working with the ministry and they let us in for free.  He then told us that he could get us into Petra for free also which is pretty sweet considering it's a 70 dollar entrance fee (unless you entered Jordan that day, then it's a 140 dollars.  They do that so that Israelis can't simply cross the border and go to Petra.  Pretty sneaky eh?).  Anyway, the Roman Amphitheater is huge and absolutely gorgeous.  I'm constantly amazed at the public works they created and the workmanship that has allowed such structures to stand for 2000 years or so.  Also, as I have mentioned before, I find it interesting that the largest theater in Jordan is the one that was built 200o years ago but that is still used today for artistic performances.  Being the person that I am, I of course had to explore every nook and crevice of the amphitheater and take lots of pictures because it was really cool.
  As we left the amphitheater, Ahmed told us we needed to stop at a mosque so he could do his afternoon prayers but on the way I saw a 'dagger' workshop and I just had to stop in.  There we met an older gentleman and his brother who hand made traditional bedouin and arab daggers.  He said the business had been in his family for over 5 generations and that they had even made a dagger for the king (he had an official picture right there).  I got to watch him engrave a dagger and talked with him for quite awhile.  I told him I would come back soon, when I have a better idea of what I want engraved on a knife or what type of knife that I want.  He said alright and probably didn't believe me one bit.  However, I love little shops where they make the craft by hand and would rather pay double for a product I saw made or had commissioned than to pay for a crappy product that was supposedly made by hand by a factory worker in China.  Anyway, he was a really nice man and I look forward to going back and speaking with him in the future.

The mosque where I took a nap "groofwa"

  After we left the dagger place we went to find Ahmed and found him chilling under the front veranda of the mosque talking to his new Egyptian friend.  We talked to him for a while and then because we had some time to spare we all took a short little cat nap under the front awning.  It was one of the most peaceful and relaxing naps that I feel I have ever had and how many westerners can say they took a nap on a mosque's porch in the middle of Amman, I bet not too many.  From there we headed up to the Parade route and this is where the true fun begins.

Myself, Ahmed, Austin and the Bedouin Dancers

  When we got to the circle where we were going to watch the parade we were immediately greeted by a few huge pictures of the king and his father.  A lot of heavily armed military men, an F-350 with at least two 60 cal. machine guns and gigantic masses of chanting and dancing shabab (young men and boys) waving Jordanian Flags and chanting, "Aesh jallal Maleek Abdullah" or long live King Abudallah.  To tell you the truth, it was exactly like the scenes we see replayed on CNN all the time except that this one was an extremely joyous and happy occasion for all involved.  On one side of the road there were a series of Imams and other traditionally clothed individuals lined up shoulder to shoulder while on our side there were people dancing, a stage set up, and bedouin dancing troupe dressed in traditional white that Ahmed said he wanted us to dance with.  Well, Ahmed introduced us to the dancers and we got some pictures taken with them and then went behind the barrier to where their stage was set up.  Here was where the real fun began.  As the crowd grew larger more and more shabab congregated around the stage and they began to play some really loud Arabic music.  I listened at first and then as I was introduced to many new people my age by Ahmed, I began to be dragged into the dancing and taught how to do it.  For the next hour and a half I was constantly jumping, clapping, being pulled into a circle, shimmying or holding a random Arab man's hand as he grabbed me to go off to dance.  I'm pretty sure that if you were to search, "stupid american dancing at Jordan's Independence Day", you would find at least 2 dozen movies and hundreds of pictures.  The arabs were all amazingly enthralled that a huge blonde, blue-eyed American was dancing and having tons of fun with them in the middle of the parade.  They were so enthralled that every time I would leave one group I would get sucked into another and the process of holding hands, dancing, clapping and smiling for tons of pictures would begin again.  It was very interesting, although tiring, and I loved it completely.
  On a side note, I realize a lot better now why Arab boys are so touchy feely.  During the party, there were absolutely no women involved.  The only women I saw were on the periphery and they were not having any fun.  That meant that the Shabab had to dance with each other and have fun in that manner rather that doing the unthinkable in their culture and have physical contact with a woman (btw, that's an exaggeration).  Anyway, it just taught me a lot more about the people I am around every day.

One of my many chances to dance with the Shabab

  When I finally got out of the Shabab, my new friend Luai asked me if I wanted to dance with the Sheikhs out in front of the parade.  The Sheikhs were two arab men dressed in traditional clothing with black overcoats dancing in front of the parade waving flags and dancing with a sword.  At first I thought that I would be nervous being in front of so many people, but my desire to have fun, experience something new, and have a cool story quickly overwhelmed that opinion.  So, like a true Herrick at hitched it out in front of the entire parade, put on one of their black see-through robes and proceeded to be paraded up and down the line of people and meet all types of other Sheikhs, Army Officers and other people.  It was pretty funny, and fun because of how many people took pictures and just how amazing it was.  Also, every time Skeikh Yusef would lead me to one end of the people a lady would give me horrible Arabic Coffee to drink.  I didn't have time to explain that I don't drink coffee for religious reasons and I didn't want to offend them so I just drank it, 4 times!  It was, interesting to say the least.  Anyway, tons of people took pictures and I met a number of important people although I don't really know who.  I was also on T.V. and in the newspaper dancing with the Sheikhs!  It was an awesome experience and Sheikh Yusef invited me over to his house to eat dinner sometime soon. Also, I got to see the King and Queen drive by because I was in the front row and they had to wave at all the Sheikhs around me so they rolled down the window.  It was really cool.

With the Sheikhs again, just a sweet picture

Living it up with Sheikh Yusef and Sheikh Hussin

  After the King went by the parade was over and so everyone split very quickly, including us.  We didn't really know where we were going but Ahmed put us on the bus with all the dancers and we rode with them to the next event where we though Ahmed was going to meet us but it turns out that he went back to Aqaba.  Well, the next event we went to was a huge celebration that was much more modern.  It was hosted by Zain, one of the big internet/phone companies here, and was pretty crazy.  There were HUGE bouncers everywhere and 'big black men' (what every Arab tells us they are afraid of) barring our way through.  It took some convincing by the dancers but finally we were allowed to go back stage with them and watched their performance from the shelter of the VIP tent with all sorts of interesting and powerful people (also free drinks!).  It was awesome and when we finally got home we collapsed into bed!
  Seriously, can you believe the experiences I am having here in Jordan?  I think the key is simply to try lots of things and never be afraid to make a fool of yourself.  It happens to me enough anyway so why should I be afraid right?  Anyway, I have definitely found the Arabic people to be amazingly hospitable and nice in every way and although I miss many things in America I am thoroughly enjoying my time here.  Till next time!

The Arab form of Work...

This is how I center looked
when we got to work this morning

Sunday was pretty uneventful with us going to work for only a couple hours and mainly just watching other people do work.  On Sunday, however, I ate one of the most humble and delicious meals I have ever had with the Egyptian workers at the center.  They bought some pita bread, a can of tuna fish and a box of soft cheese.  The tuna and cheese they poured out onto plastic bags and then you would rip off a piece of the bread and grab some of the cheese or tuna and then drink some tea with it.  Honestly, the entire thing fed five people and it was amazing, and it made me so grateful for the many things I have back in America.  However, after one of our Jordanian co-workers saw us he said that that was a horrible meal and that he would show us a great meal tomorrow and then we would explore the caves that are nearby.  So, the rest of this post is going to be about Monday which was absolutely amazing!
  First of all, we showed up to work late because our boss from the previous day told us there wouldn't be much to do and it was alright if we showed up at 10:30 or later if we wanted.  So, we got to the center a little after 10:30 and then did the obligatory sit around for awhile and make small talk that we can't really do because we (or at least I) don't know enough Arabic.  By the time we started moving furniture and doing a bit of cleaning it was almost 11 and we were told that the painters would not be coming that day to finish it and so there wasn't much that we could do anyway.  So, we moved a little bit of furniture around and swept out the corridor and the front area with horribly inadequate tools.  Once that was finished we decided we would go clean up the play area which was covered in discarded building supplies.  So, we asked Mahmud if he had some gloves and he said, "No".  So then we asked if they had a rake, and he said, "No".  We then decided that we could work with a shovel so we asked him and he said, "No".  Finally we decided all we needed was a wheelbarrow but once again he said, "No".  So finally we said, well then what do you have?  Mahmud then proceeded to hand us a broken old plastic bucket and were able to find a dustpan to use as a shovel.  It was epic.  So, we simply did the best that we could cleaning up the area and after our hour of work was done and there was nothing else to do Mahmud took us on an adventure!

Mahmud and I at lunch

  Our adventure consisted of visiting the local Women's Co-op where they hand-made paper, ceramics, wove and made soap.  It was awesome and they gave us brochures talking about how we could get them to teach us how to make these things for not that much money at all.  It was an amazing place, but it only got better when we sat down to eat lunch. which was also epic!  We had for lunch a traditional bedouin breakfast where everything was in communal dishes that you ate by taking a chunk of pita bread, ripping it off and dipping or grabbing whatever it was that you wanted to eat.  The food included awesome jelly, scrambled eggs, olive oil, yoghurt sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes (which I didn't touch) and the most amazing potatoes ever.  It was amazingly good because of the simplicity, versatility and vitality of the food.  It was so fresh and raw that it was amazing to have.  Quite a change from the processed food that I must normally eat.  Once we were stuffed fool and wanted to go into a food coma from the delicious meal Mahmud led us across the street to explore the caves that had been carved from the solid rock walls.

Some of the caves I got to explore today

  The caves were really cool, and that is an amazing understatement.  Something I love and find sort of disturbing at the same time is that no sights are really protected in Jordan that I have seen so far.  You can pretty much crawl over any ruin you see and touch anything you want unless the government makes it physically impossible for you to do so.  This means that while seeing the caves we got to explore and climb through every nook and cranny looking for fun things to see and talk about.  It reminded me a lot of when we would explore the cave dwellings of the Native Americans in New Mexico all the time as a family.  I was constantly seeing new things and analyzing the things that I saw.  It was amazing, however, because these caves were so much older than the ones I had seen in the United States and they were so much more sophisticated as well.  A number of the caves had carved rectangular doorways and were multiple stories tall.  There was also a sophistacted system of writing that was extremely interesting to analyze and think about what it said.  We spent a solid two-hours there so all together we worked for an hour and then spent the next three chillaxing and enjoying ourselves exploring our region.  It was so much fun and I am definitely going to go back to learn how to weave and make paper, not to mention have another delicious meal!
  Anyway, the rest of the day wasn't really anything to highlight but tomorrow is Aid Istiklal or independence day for Jordan and there are supposed to be some pretty sweet celebrations and a parade by the army that the King might even be in!  I'll tell you how it went tomorrow!

Fun Fact:  It is the arab way to just make do with what you have or fix it as many times as possible until it breaks into a million pieces.  For instance, when I asked for a screwdriver at work I was given a Knife and when a bed broke in our house we nailed it back together and coated it with what smelled like Elmer's glue.  It's very cool.

The Internship Begins

Today was the first day of our internship and I must say I was a bit nervous about what to expect because I really had no idea.  Until last week I had thought I would be working in an office, with all of the expectations of an office job.  Now, however, I will be working directly with the community doing who knows what, with I don’t know whom.  Well, today I got to finally find out exactly what the next three months are going to hold for me and I am EXTREMELY excited.

Some of my fellow interns from L to R:
Austin, Ben, Annie, Me and Katie

This morning we met with her Excellency the Minister of Social Development to start off our internships.  She is an amazing woman who is very new to her job because of the reorganization of the cabinet early this year.  We got to saw a little bit about what the ministry does before we were sent out to the four corners of the earth to do our work and find our people.  Our director with the ministry, Rasha, asked the director of transportation for the Ministry, Nasser, to show myself and two other students the community centers where we would be working.  On the drive there we decided that another student and I would go to the less-developed of the two programs, to provide more help and understand better what it was we need to do to help them.  We were under the impression that we would be working with a community center in Jordan, but we were wrong.  As we drove and continued to cross hills and drive through valleys we quickly left Amman behind and entered the area we would later learn is called “

الاميرعراق” (Iraq il-Ameer).  Iraq refers to an area that has many valleys while il-Ameer means the prince.  It is an extremely rural area full of farmers and Bedouins.  The drive there was beautiful as we got to see amazing terraces, caves, and valley gardens as well as see the countryside of Jordan for the first time.

Two sweet Bedouin (العزادي) men who were either just
chilling at the ruins or were actually the keepers... 

Upon arrival at the community center we met Ali the director or mudiir of the community center.  He showed us the building and we quickly saw there is a lot of work to be done.  The center is in disarray because the old director left in a hurry not to long ago and they are currently under construction that means that the first phase of our work will be manual labor (and we all know how much I love service!).  It is a small community center where we will get to do a lot and help the farmers be more sustainable and the children learn and grow more.  Both myself and the other intern, Aussie, are looking forward to opportunity immensely.  Typical to Arab hospitality they offered us soda and then informed us they would like to feed us lunch that we could not refuse.  That was, however, before we learned that there were Roman Ruins nearby that we could explore.  We all jumped in cars and headed down to the ruins that were awesome.  I am amazed that I will be working so close to them, in the beautiful quite country doing labor that I loved.  Truly I am being blessed so much.

I look forward to showing you the progress we make at the community center and the adventures we have out in the countryside where it’s quite and absolutely beautiful.  This summer is surely going to be amazing!

The ruins in all their glory!

Fun Jordanian Fact: it seems that every person in Jordan knows at least one phrase in English, "Welcome to Jordan!"