Today, Jordan 2013 experienced its first official excursion. It has been a very long, very awesome, very mind-blowing, very perfect day. We begin at the shrill of the alarm clock at 7am. Jesus Christ, I hate alarms. So, we ignored that and got up around 7:40. Ready to roll and at the bus for 8 because we are champs who are very good at being speedy and not caring as much as we should about our appearances. (Except for the fact that I usually change like three times before I leave...and I do it completely mindlessly without any proper reasoning at all. And the final outfit is almost always worse than the original but by then it's too late. Quais. Moving on.) We started off the day dropping Emily off at the clinic because she too has fallen ill (feel better Emily!!). Ps, waiting on the bus allowed me to get further into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (awesome book...coincidentally, courtesy of Emily...shukran ya mareda!). Post-reading session, we headed off to breakfast. The place of choice was Hashams, an amazing little restaurant on the side of a street in Irbid which serves incredible hummus and falafel. Like, wow. And of course, tea. Yai, shai. So good. Slightly more awake, we were back on the bus en route to our first destination, Ajloun castle. First of all, the bus ride (as always) was absolutely breathtaking. The view of the rolling hills and plains of the Middle East were laid out before us and no words could ever describe the feeling. Upon arrival and after all stopping at the gift shop to purchase the most beautiful hats known to mankind, we entered the ruins of Ajloun. It was spectacular. Jaw-dropping. Artifacts galore. History galore. View galore. There was an abundance of things! And the entire time, I was just trying to mentally slap myself into believing that I was really there. Because I did not. And I needed to in order to see with my eyes. Did that make sense? No? Oh well! It was incredible. Once we finished going through the castle (not that anyone could ever really have enough time there) we were able to hit the gift shop for real, which was almost just as fun. Dropped some serious dinar. Oh so worth it. Following our timed schedule, we then hopped back onto the bus and headed to to Jerash! More ruins and an extremely popular tourist site in Jordan. This was where we did some real trekking. The Middle Eastern sun was high in the sky, waters were run dry and it was so beautiful we were trying not to cry. Check out them rhymes. Jerash was even more incredible and managed to stun us all. We were all left to explore and that we did. We broke off into two groups, allowing Reshma, Kate and I to discover and then of course scale some ancient stairs and look out unto the whole of the truly beautiful pillars and other structures that are Jerash. It was amazing to be there. And I do not know if I can properly describe how cool it was. Absolutely unforgettable. And oh so lucky to have had the chance to live it. Once we finished our walk and were adequately covered in sweat, we again hit the gift shop. Which was again great. So many pretty things... And yet...money is needed to live. Sad story. Anywho. It is safe to say that by this point, exhaustion had been breeched. We all plopped ourselves back into the bus and attempted to keep eyelids from shutting so that the drive into Amman could be observed.
We made a quick stop at the Royal Automobile Museum (which houses the many retired cars of the royal family) and made the acute observation that royal cars are unnecessarily large. And ridiculously expensive. Which irked me because I do not like money, as was hinted at. Anyway, then we went to the King Abdullah mosque in Amman, which I personally was much more excited about. It was beautiful. In every sense of the word. Girls covered their hair with scarves and then we were all permitted in and shown around the incredibly old artifacts of the prophet that have been preserved (including a letter written to the Roman emperor and an actual strand of hair). The inside of the mosque was exquisite. Lines of the Quran were engraved into portions of the wall and as a whole, the mosque was huge...we were also able to go into the area in which women pray (women and men have separate, designated rooms) after removing our shoes, of course. It was beautiful and peaceful to say the least. As we were leaving, we were lucky enough to hear the beginning of the call to prayer, which is sung over a loudspeaker that sounds throughout the city in its entirety. Being in the mosque while this was happening was absolutely once in a lifetime. The sound just resonates through your entire body and without noticing it, you feel so at peace. It is as spiritual and as whole as it gets. I wish to return there. Very much so. It was just so pure.
From the mosque, we headed to the allegedly best mall in Amman. The city as a whole is much wealthier than small towns such as Irbid and greeted us as very well-kept, modern and gorgeous (As always. This is Jordan, if you've forgotten and everything is better here). The mall was no exception to this rule. I have never seen such a place. I should have taken pictures. It was so clean...so....cool. All I got there was Pinkberry (yum), but it was an experience. Intensely exhausted, but happier than ever, we again boarded the bus to go to our last stop. Rainbow Street. A line of adorable antique shops and very European-esque outdoor cafe's, it was also reminiscent of (a cleaner and Middle Eastern version) Boston. The views were again magnificent and there were also camel statuettes in the middle of the street, which made everything even better than it already was. We strolled down the street, the finest of Jordan's tourists, and were then picked up again by the bus! Also, important note: I have deemed our bus the Knight Bus. If you do not understand this Harry Potter reference, please go do some research because you are very behind on your magical journey and only after you have completed it can you truly live life. Anyway. Our bus driver is insanely talented, which we were all forced to realize today as he managed to squeeze our bus through extremely narrow side streets with double parked cars and approximately half of an inch between the bus and the mirrors of other vehicles on each of its sides. Flabbergasted. Yet, we're alive. Ps the view here was particularly great and the streets were lined with in-wall apartments and many colors, which I found happy-making.
I promise this blog is coming to an end in the near future. I'm trying here, people. Our Knight Bus then dropped us off for dinner after our incredibly packed day of events at the most beautiful restaurant I have ever had the honor of dining at. Water fountains, waterfalls, strategically placed bridges and the most attractive cutlery I have ever seen made us all feel a bit like royalty. Dinner was amazing. And watermelon was dessert. I'm telling you, I belong here. I mean, they just brought us platters of watermelon. Platters. The amount of happiness I have been experiencing is actually unfathomable (Al Hamdulilah). It's the little things. And also, the ancient ruins. Anywho. We boarded the bus for the last time of the night. And within approximately five minutes, I would say most everyone was asleep. But, not me! I was and am just as ready to fall dead asleep as everyone else, but I really just cannot not be looking out the window. I am actually in love with our bus rides. Especially at night. The lights of Irbid splayed out in front me, I can't look away. Honestly, it's a heart thing. Some people love the lights of New York or Boston...it feels right to them. I don't feel that way about those cities. They're breath-taking, but they don't fill me with the same joy. Jordan at night is like a snow globe of twinkling Christmas lights...everywhere. It's like the stars have dropped to the Earth for just a moment. And that's all you can see. I'm going to spend my last three weeks coming up with a fitting metaphor... It's perfect. And every time, it reminds me of how happy I am just to be here.
Now. I must sleep. And attempt to ignore the overwhelming feeling that I never want this to end. The adventure. The jam-packed, ramble-filled blogs. I just want to hang onto these moments forever. Goodnight, Jordan. Tisbaheen ala kheir world. :) <3
We made a quick stop at the Royal Automobile Museum (which houses the many retired cars of the royal family) and made the acute observation that royal cars are unnecessarily large. And ridiculously expensive. Which irked me because I do not like money, as was hinted at. Anyway, then we went to the King Abdullah mosque in Amman, which I personally was much more excited about. It was beautiful. In every sense of the word. Girls covered their hair with scarves and then we were all permitted in and shown around the incredibly old artifacts of the prophet that have been preserved (including a letter written to the Roman emperor and an actual strand of hair). The inside of the mosque was exquisite. Lines of the Quran were engraved into portions of the wall and as a whole, the mosque was huge...we were also able to go into the area in which women pray (women and men have separate, designated rooms) after removing our shoes, of course. It was beautiful and peaceful to say the least. As we were leaving, we were lucky enough to hear the beginning of the call to prayer, which is sung over a loudspeaker that sounds throughout the city in its entirety. Being in the mosque while this was happening was absolutely once in a lifetime. The sound just resonates through your entire body and without noticing it, you feel so at peace. It is as spiritual and as whole as it gets. I wish to return there. Very much so. It was just so pure.
From the mosque, we headed to the allegedly best mall in Amman. The city as a whole is much wealthier than small towns such as Irbid and greeted us as very well-kept, modern and gorgeous (As always. This is Jordan, if you've forgotten and everything is better here). The mall was no exception to this rule. I have never seen such a place. I should have taken pictures. It was so clean...so....cool. All I got there was Pinkberry (yum), but it was an experience. Intensely exhausted, but happier than ever, we again boarded the bus to go to our last stop. Rainbow Street. A line of adorable antique shops and very European-esque outdoor cafe's, it was also reminiscent of (a cleaner and Middle Eastern version) Boston. The views were again magnificent and there were also camel statuettes in the middle of the street, which made everything even better than it already was. We strolled down the street, the finest of Jordan's tourists, and were then picked up again by the bus! Also, important note: I have deemed our bus the Knight Bus. If you do not understand this Harry Potter reference, please go do some research because you are very behind on your magical journey and only after you have completed it can you truly live life. Anyway. Our bus driver is insanely talented, which we were all forced to realize today as he managed to squeeze our bus through extremely narrow side streets with double parked cars and approximately half of an inch between the bus and the mirrors of other vehicles on each of its sides. Flabbergasted. Yet, we're alive. Ps the view here was particularly great and the streets were lined with in-wall apartments and many colors, which I found happy-making.
I promise this blog is coming to an end in the near future. I'm trying here, people. Our Knight Bus then dropped us off for dinner after our incredibly packed day of events at the most beautiful restaurant I have ever had the honor of dining at. Water fountains, waterfalls, strategically placed bridges and the most attractive cutlery I have ever seen made us all feel a bit like royalty. Dinner was amazing. And watermelon was dessert. I'm telling you, I belong here. I mean, they just brought us platters of watermelon. Platters. The amount of happiness I have been experiencing is actually unfathomable (Al Hamdulilah). It's the little things. And also, the ancient ruins. Anywho. We boarded the bus for the last time of the night. And within approximately five minutes, I would say most everyone was asleep. But, not me! I was and am just as ready to fall dead asleep as everyone else, but I really just cannot not be looking out the window. I am actually in love with our bus rides. Especially at night. The lights of Irbid splayed out in front me, I can't look away. Honestly, it's a heart thing. Some people love the lights of New York or Boston...it feels right to them. I don't feel that way about those cities. They're breath-taking, but they don't fill me with the same joy. Jordan at night is like a snow globe of twinkling Christmas lights...everywhere. It's like the stars have dropped to the Earth for just a moment. And that's all you can see. I'm going to spend my last three weeks coming up with a fitting metaphor... It's perfect. And every time, it reminds me of how happy I am just to be here.
Now. I must sleep. And attempt to ignore the overwhelming feeling that I never want this to end. The adventure. The jam-packed, ramble-filled blogs. I just want to hang onto these moments forever. Goodnight, Jordan. Tisbaheen ala kheir world. :) <3
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