Jordan! Part II: Even more exciting than Part I.

A while later after some more off roading with Sunny, we make it to Madaba where we are staying the night. We had some yummy food at a local restaurant, went back to the hotel for some local wine, took showers, and went to bed. In the morning, we went to some REALLLLLLY old churches that are famous for their mosaics, and also the place where John the Baptist was beheaded. Then we did some local shopping, got some neat stuff, and went on our way to Petra.

Really old mosaic in the floor.... like....REALLY OLD

Shrine of John the Baptist

Opening doors that I shouldn't, and going places I shouldn't go

We climbed to the top of the bell tower. This is Madaba.

John is looking a little pale after all these years....

Some interesting/memorable things happened on the way to Petra, such as the following….

Me: Why is that 7 year old boy standing in the middle of a round-a-bout?

Rachel: What is he looking at?

Me: Maybe he has a Gameboy color

Rachel: I think he has a gun, oh it must be a toy gun.... it has to be!

Me: He has a clip in the other hand.

 
*Uncontrollable laughter*

 
....But really a 7 year old boy was standing in the middle of a round-a-bout with a gun.

 

Aaaaaaand moving on.... I feel like some other interesting things happened, but that was good. We also stopped at some really old castles. One we didn’t quite make it to. The treacherous, curvy, one-lane roads were a little too much for the driver. I also don’t know if Sunny would have made it. So we took some beautiful pictures from afar of the first one. The second castle was really old and I climbed up (in sandals) to this really old window. It was amazing, walking around through the underground tunnels where they probably kept servants, prostitutes, and robbers. Right?????????? Okay, but seriously, this castle was awesome.

The open road

Castle in the background

The castle we actually went to... HUGE!

Semi-underground tunnels

Servant/prostitute/robbers quarters underground

 

And we continue on our trek to Petra… oh wait, GPS would like to steer us in a wrong direction (SHOCKING), and then up and down some treacherous hills, back in a circle, to the castle we were just at, and finally towards Petra! Yippee.

We finally make it to Petra. Hooray. Luckily, Heather and I were able to share a horse.

 

Welcome to Petra

 

Special bonding time

We go through the entrance…

The Entrance

 Then to “The Treasury,” the place of Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade or something like this… Indiana Jones was also our theme song music, pretty much everywhere we went thanks to our trusty GPS.

The Treasury. Rachel's life is now complete.

 We saw some old caves carved into stone where people lived. I also walked into a tomb. Creepy. There were big homes for rich people, medium sized homes for middle class, and tiny ones for poor people. We also were able to see and climb about in the last free standing structure at Petra. Pretty cool

A total crap picture of tombs... but they are tombs!!

Tired camel. This is probably as cute as a camel could ever look.

 
Then we saw a Post Office/Waffle House……………that actually turned out to be where people put cremains of their loved ones. Most accurate tour guide ever;-)

Post Office/Waffle House/Crematory

Amphitheater... or something like that 

 

THEN WE SAW SOME REALLY ADORABLE PUPPIES!!!

 

 

Cutest puppies ever! EVER.

 

 

We jump in the back of this fancy truck for a ride back to Sunny and then drive to find a Bedouin camp to stay at for the night. There were a few Rachel and Heather had looked up previously to stay at. Yay for Bedouin camp adventures!! So, the Indiana Jones theme song got played a lot (with our very own voices) for this part of the trip—it was a straight up adventure.

Riding in the back of the truck

 
We drive down some curvy roads, into the dark Jordan night where there are no street lamps and no cars. Sound like a horror story yet? Jeepers creepers? Yes, yes, then what you are thinking right now is COMPLETELY ACCURATE. So, we pull into the first Bedouin camp and make Almo sacrifice himself for the good of the group. He says it seems nice so the rest of us girls get out of the car and take a look around. It was really pretty with the lights throughout the surrounding stones, it had nice beds, and nice tents. However, there was absolutely NO ONE there. We were the only guests in the giant Bedouin camp. Also, Almo was talking down the price, they said we “missed” dinner, and would have to go into town to buy food to cook. Well, that just got sketchy. So, back into the car we hopped and down the road we went to the next Bedouin camp down the road. We turn to the 7 Wonders Bedouin Camp. There is a truck barely ahead of us and we follow it down a crazy gravel road. This is DAMN sketchy. We continue following the truck down this road and we begin to come upon the camp. Surrounding the camp is a chain link fence with barbed wire around the top and Rachel then yells “OH DEAR!! OH DEAR!!” The truck comes to a clearing and stops, a man gets out, and Heather turns/donuts Sunny around *insert Indiana Jones music here* and off we go back where we came from. S-K-E-T-C-H-Y.

So we drive back into the tiny town of Petra, find some downright fancy (haha just kidding) accommodations, and get some rooms. We go out to a place to have dinner which may or may not have doubled as someone’s apartment?? I mean, they were really trying to convince us to stay at this place… We were basically eating dinner in lazy boy chairs watching a big screen TV. We pay for a meal and walk down the road in search of a bar. We walk, walk, walk, walk, walk….. all the way back to the entrance of Petra where we find a cute little cave bar….. a cave bar that used to be a TOMB!! I drank in tomb. Kind of cool. We all snuggle in a cab together and go back to our accommodations.

 Next morning we get up, walk down the street for some breakfast. At this point in time Almo was offered 100 cows for me. This was a tough decision to make, but I was able to stay on the trip and not get sold into marriage to a Petra local. Whew! Crisis averted. Down the road we go on our way back to Amman. We had some more sweet road tripping adventures on our way back. We found our NICE hotel. Then we went out in search of some dinner.

This was not a good dinner establishment. We are thinking “Goodfellas Pizza.” It also looked like it had a bar in the top part, which was totally FALSE advertising. The bar was not even real. Yet, we did get to go upstairs in a tiny 2 person, very slow moving elevator that may or may not have been from a creepy old 18^th century house. Anyway, moving on. We drank really gross hot chocolate, then ate really gross pizza, and then we left…. Left down the 2 person, very slow moving elevator.

We find this cute little pastry shop (where we also found out that we could have eaten dinner), and had cute yummy pastries and warm coffee drinks. Yum, yum, yum. It was also very atune to the holiday spirit so we took an adorable picture with the Christmas tree J Happy Holidays!!

Holiday pic:)

 

We then bought some spirits in a tiny shop, where we also had them open the wine bottles (we lacked a corkscrew), and carried them very carefully into our hotel. We then consumed the spirits, had a lovely evening in, and went to bed. We made it to our flight, despite the lack of anything/anyone being helpful in the Amman airport. Jetsetted back to Dubai where I arrived, happy to be home J

 

Jordan trip complete!!

Jetting off to Jordan

This weekend was UAE National Day AND Dubai won the 2020 World Expo bid. So, all in all, it was a 5 day weekend. 3.5 of those days, I was in Jordan.

Is it too emotional to say that the trip to Jordan brought me extreme joy? I have only been back in Dubai for a few hours, but now that I can reflect, it was a wonderful trip. Post trip high??

Trip participants: myself, Heather (the champion off road driver), Rachel (I-Spy champ), Almo (hired photographer/Rachel's husband who speaks Arabic)

Day 1: Flew out of Dubai early in the morning.... as in waking up and being at the airport before 6 am!  Had a nice three hour flight to Amman, Jordan. Once we arrived in Amman, we were privileged enough to hang out at the air port for 3 hours. That was fun times. Once we got our visas we went on down to get some Starbuck's coffee (with a very opinionated barista), and went to get our rental car.

Look at me, look at me!..... in the Amman airport

Direct quote from the rental car guy: If you can drive a stick, I'll get you a very nice car." We're walking out FINALLY. The thoughts going through my head as we're walking by cars *wow this one looks pretty nice*..... *this one is basically brand new*.... *realllllllly hope it isn't that one*..... Continue walking towards that one *oh shit the trunk is open, it is probably that one, hopefully we walk past it to the next one* Rachel quote of the trip: "Oh dear" So basically we end up with a 5 year old Nissan "Sunny"/Altima stick shift. Luckily we had a GPS, who was quickly nicknamed "Bitch" for the trip, because this crazy GPS lady took us on the most treacherous roads. There was a little off-roading in Sunny, also a little rebar scratch thanks to the Bitch and a local farmer.

Anywho, we get on the road. Rachel and I are in the back seat, Heather is driving like a champ, and Almo has the job of reading signs. Rachel and I decide to play I-Spy. The countryside of Jordan does not offer a lot of I-Spy choices which we learned rather quickly. After only two turns, we figured that if you spy something "brown," the answer will always be "desert." If something of any other color was spotted, the answer will always be "trash bag." There are an incredible amount of plastic trash bags across Jordan, a really truly incredible amount. Rachel had the solution of getting the world's largest rake to solve this problem. Conclusion to the problem is still a work in progress. This was just the beginning of our road games.

As you can see, I-Spy choices were quite limited. This photo is a little deceiving as there is a tree and clouds.

 

*Hum in your head* Driving down the road, driving down the road, driving down the road *keep humming* Do this for 2 hours with no radio, a Bitch-y GPS, 60 degree inclines, and invisible speed bumps. Thankfully, there was a lot of immature banter going on in the car. Also, Heather rapping.... and dueting with Rachel on Jesus songs from childhood. Actually, quite a delightful time.

YAY WE MADE IT TO THE DEAD SEA!! LET US FLOAT WITHOUT A DUCKIE FLOATY AND WATER WINGS:-) :-) :-)

Me and the Dead Sea

It was B-E-A-You-tiful

We get changed into our suits, find some coveted Dead Sea mud, cover ourselves (Heather was lucky enough to get assistance with the mud coverage from a local), and walked in.

Very helpful sign

 I slowwwwwwwly leaned back because the ole' brain was telling me *you don't float in water without your duckie floaty and water wings.* Well, what do you know?

Me floating, Heather frolicking

The rumors are true, you DO float in the Dead Sea with absolutely no effort.

 

 

Dead Sea adventure complete.

 

 

 

Thankful!

I started this adventure I'm on over a year ago . In October 2012 I signed up for an overseas teaching fair, and here I am living in a different country with the exact job I wanted. I am thankful for so many NEW things this year. The core will never change-- my friends and family back home made this possible. There was some concern of course, me moving so far away (and out of the country this time), but I have had an insane amount of support from my family and friends.

I wouldn't have been across the world if both of my parents (and both step parents) hadn't been so supportive. And sisters... and brother.... I'm sure you all still think I'm crazy, but you know doing "weird" things like this also makes me happy. My friends at home are so very, very wonderful! They made this one of the best summers yet:-)

That being said, my adjustment here would have been less than perfect if I hadn't met so many new wonderful people. New friends and co-workers have been absolutely amazing in terms of support, needing a chat, helping me get out of my apartment/Mirdif, and vacation buddies.

What this sappy sentimental post is really trying to say is:

I APPRECIATE YOU ALL!! I'm so thankful to have everyone in my life and those I have met along the way. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I think I will eat a turkey sandwich for the occasion...and go shopping...and get a pedicure...

Backous family: you best be eating an extra share of grandma's chicken noodles!!


Lastly, Happy Friendsgiving to all my Dubai peeps:) You are awesome.

Showing some UAE pride!! EXPO 2020 and National Day:) Amazing to be here.

Eid Part Deux

Part II:

Day 2 Continued:

 After the Portuguese Bridge we went to the Debre Libanos Monastery. The monastery was founded a very super long time ago (13th or 15th century). First we went into the monastery museum where we saw lots of old artifacts. We then waited until the service of the monastery was over, and we were then able to see the inside. Inside the monastery was beautiful. The stained glass was absolutely amazing. While it was very cool to see, there were many people outside of the gates living in extreme poverty. It was very sad.

It was very pretty inside.

Part of our group with the monk guy.

 

Just one wall of the stained glass inside.

Later in the evening when we finally arrived back to our hotel, we showered quick and then got ready for a real Ethiopian night. We ate authentic Ethiopian food and watched traditional Ethiopian dance. It was quite a show! Most of my close friends and family know I am an admirer of all types of dance! This was no different. I loved the beats and some of the moves were very cool to watch.

Lady singer

The dancers: they had tons of costume changes, there were 3 men and 3 women

Ethiopian food is also quite interesting. Traditional Ethiopian food consists of different cooked meats and vegetables that you eat with flat, spongy bread. You tear off the bread, then pinch up the meat/vegetables with the bread. I did not like the bread, but I did like this finger food. Then the waiters come around so you can wash your hands… seriously you soap up and then they pour warm water from a teapot over your hands and give you a fresh towel to dry them.

Hand washing

 

 

Day 3: Wenchi Crater Lake

This was the day I was most looking forward to, and definitely my favorite day of the trip!(.... except the part where I got violently ill when we got back to our hotel... but more on that later or not).

The day started quite early. We knew we had a 3-4 hour drive ahead of us. The roads would have been really cool had they been roads. Our bus driver was seriously amazing!! I do not know how we didn’t get stuck dozens of times or get stranded. We stopped for coffee, where a bird pooped on me! (True story) The views out of our bus were amazing as well. When we first got there we had some fantastic restroom facilities… haha! It was a grass hut surrounded a cement hole. We then made our way to our guides and horses. To make it around the lake we had to both hike and ride horses. When the inclines were to steep for the horses to make it with a person on them, our guides would bring them down for us to meet them.

The beginning of the day!

The horses were on the smaller side, and I’m amazed they made it (I’m amazed I made it too). I’m also very thankful we had them. Horse gear in Ethiopia is quite different than that in the states. Here it was a blanket with a homemade saddle and a single rope for “reins.” The stirrups were made of a thin metal rod. Quite different from the fancy saddles and nice leather reins back in the states. Each horse had a guide that led it everywhere we went. I quite liked my first guide because he pretty much let me take the reins (rope) to lead my horse most of the time. When it came time to cross a creek or stream he was still there to help.

 

 

Going through the creek on my horsey

We started at the top of the crater and slowly horsed and hiked down the side and into a large, BEAUTIFUL, open valley with streams and hot springs going through. It was really breathtaking. Simple, green, gorgeous. The pictures don’t even do it enough justice!! It was amazing to be there and take it all in.

 

Once we got through the amazing, beautiful, exquisite views of the valley we ate lunch and had a nice group pee. We then continued up through a tseep and narrow climb in the mountain where we encountered a 5 year old boy herding lots of goats, cows, donkeys, and sheep. It got a little crowded. Finally, we made it down to the lake. Amazing views.

We walked around the lake a little bit to go meet a boat to take us across. Our guide called across the lake. Seriously, he literally yelled across the lake for this john boat to paddle over. We waited there for about twenty minutes. This is also about the time my mind and body started crashing. Exhaustion from this point on just took over my body and I laid down on the ground. Once the john boat got to our shore, we all hopped it, almost sunk it, paddled across to see another monastery (that we couldn’t go in). At this point I started feeling nauseous. Then john boated back in this super sketch boat that clearly should not have been holding more than 7 people, but was holding 15+!!

This was the point where we all hoped the others could swim.

We hiked a tiny bit up a hill to meet our next set of horses and guides. THANKFUL THERE WERE HORSES. I would not have made it! On our way back up, we had some more breathtaking views, lots of cute kids running from their huts enthusiastically waving and shouting “HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!” It was so adorable.

Finally, after an exhausting day we made it back to the bus!! Halle-frickin-lujah! At this point my body felt like it was shutting down and I was getting nauseous. After another roller coaster ride back on the bus, we made it back to our hotel. YAY. Still down right exhausted, not feeling the best, I’m thinking “Damn, tonight is the last night in Ethiopia, just suck it up and get it together so you can hang out and discover the lovely Addis Ababa.”

So I did. I sucked it up, took a shower, got ready, went down to meet friends for dinner. We were waiting forever for this food. I kept saying I don’t feel well, but I’ll feel better after dinner comes. After saying that a few times I realized I was going to be ill, left money with my friends, and bolted to the room. I get to the room, straight to the toilet, and vom.com. Climb into bed, pass out, and don’t move until the next morning.

 

Day 4 and beyond: In the morning I still feel like a worthless pile, but get up to go explore the city a little bit with others on our trip. We head back to the Mercado. While there I got a pretty little ring and a few Ethiopia labeled touristy things. After we get back to the room, I puke again, we pack up all our stuff, I got down to the lobby where I sleep on the couches the next 2 hours until we need to go to the airport. The flight when surprisingly well, although my body still felt completely exhausted.

Upon arrival back home (yes, I call Dubai home now!!), I called in sick to work…. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday! I went to work and finally started eating whole foods on Wednesday—this was very exciting as I had only been eating crackers and broth for 4-5 days. Thank goodness for friends and roommates who had broth and brought me Gatorade. Evidently this prolonged illness stuff is quite common among EVERYONE who travels to 3^rd world countries for the first time. I was also quite thankful for a friend having some Cipro, which is a strong antibiotic that kills everything in your GI tract. I think that is what eventually made me well again. Africa (the continent) is crossed off the list for a while after that sickness!

Overall, the trip was very successful. Short as it needed to be! I was so very, very happy to be going back to DubaiJ

 

The most necessary picture: me just standing next to a giant pile of manure

 



Eid Holiday... to Ethiopia!

I can finally write about my trip to Ethiopia now that I am not bitter about the sickness that came afterwards... and that I am no longer sick.

To begin, I am (shockingly) in the Middle East. Eid is an Islamic holiday. We get school off. YAY!! So then everyone goes on vacations-- there is a crazzzzzy amount of places that are within a few hours flight of Dubai. The best part about Eid holidays, at least this year, is that they happen according to the moon. So, this year just a few days before our break, they announced instead of having a 2-day work week (5 days off total), we would be getting a full 9 days off!!!! Excitement radiated through the teachers at school upon this announcement of course.

Naturally, I spent the first 4 days partying. I didn't mean to, but one loses track when they have a vacation the unexpectedly doubles! The latter part of break was spent in Ethiopia.

Right before Sandance-- a fantastic music festival on a sandy beach next to the ocean. Rocked out to The Killers. Good times:-)

 

 

 

Ethiopia-- mind you I have never been to Africa before, so this was quite the culture shock in many, many ways. First, it smells. It smells like lots of things, most of them not pleasant, especially in the city. Second, no toilet paper. This is a real issue when you finally find a toilet, and there is no toilet paper. Third, the scenery. The scenery in the Ethiopian countryside is absolutely beautiful! Honestly, it takes your breath away. Then while you are following your local tour guide, probably one of the nicest people you could meet, you get distracted, because you look up and see hundreds of baboons! Anyways, a bit of sensory overload.

 

Here goes...

 

 

Day 1: We get on our plane, leave the most wonderful, accommodating airport in the world (Dubai) and fly off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My friend and I are thinking, I really hope they have a Starbucks in the Addis Ababa airport. HA! Haha! Hahahahaha.... Upon plane touchdown, I'm thinking "Wow, I really need to pee, but I suppose I'll hold it, I'll just go in the airport."

 

HELLLLLOOOOO, newbie to Africa. We waited 20 minutes in line to get our Ethiopian visa. Our visa was on-arrival, 20 USD, and hand written. So, I still really need to pee. Next, I must exchange my money for Ethiopian Birr. Fun fact-- 1 USD=18 Birrs. Another 20 minutes passes. Yay, now I have money. Where is the restroom?????? It is over there in the corner. Superb, finally! Walk into the restroom. Very dark, very dingy, hmm.... should I be in here right now? This was the first of many interesting pee breaks in Ethiopia. No toilet paper, no running water, no paper towels (because there is no running water).... Uhh, anyone have some hand sanitizer??

 

Alas, the first day continues, we get on our tour bus, quite nice in fact, and shuttle off to eat some lunch. The lunch was quite nice, very tasty. We then went to the museum where the famous "Lucy" skeleton resides. Before you can enter the ground where the museum is, you must get frisked by a lady security officer. Now, I understand the important of security checks and such, but she touched A LOT of places. We get into the museum., they have a lot of cool, super, SUPER, old, MIND BLOWING old stuff..... including Lucy!

 

 

There is Lucy. Did that just blow your mind?

 

We also took a drive through the Mercado. The biggest market in Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia, maybe Africa? Something big and fancy. The Mercado is a place where you barter every single purchase, hardcore. Then you still get ripped off. At the same time you are also trying to not get robbed--seriously. Finally, we head to our hotel. Our hotel was wonderful. We had running water, toilet paper, and a bed.

 

That night we decide to explore. We walk out of our hotel, down the alley, and across the road. We thought "this shack looks mighty fine!" And it was. There was alcohol in it, a few pieces of straw scattered throughout the floor and a VIP room in the back. We of course went straight to the VIP room, it had a table and a refrigerator. Could we please have some mixed drinks? The lady really doesn't speak English. After we are trying to tell her what we all want, I think she just gave up. She reappears with a small, blue pitcher (yes, the pitcher is dirty). Sets the pitcher on the table, opens the bottle of vodka, pours about half a bottle of vodka in, then cracks open a few warm Coca-Colas, dumps those in, walks away. Hmm... warm Coca-Cola and vodka... Did that just happen? Yes, I'll take two please.

 

Day 2 (Part I): Local family, Portuguese bridge, Ethiopian restaurant and dancing

 

We leave Addis Ababa and embark on a little journey. Our first stop is to visit a family, and see how many of the rural population lives. We take pictures at a beautiful viewpoint. Then our group gets the sales pitch for baskets and marble carved necklaces (which would happen many times throughout this trip) until we got on our bus and drove away. This is also where we discovered that all of the kids in Ethiopia want pens! The kids always ask for pens (and money), but they are so excited if you have a pen. Anyway, this local family welcomes us into the huts they live and sleep in. They also showed us their livestock, and where they were cooking.

 

Next stop was the Portuguese Bridge. It was built in the 16th century. It was beautiful! We hiked down to the bridge, walked across it, hiked a little more, got really close to a giant family of baboons, hiked a little more, hoped the baboons wouldn't charge us, then saw a beautiful waterfall :-) It was wonderful!

 

 The sign for the bridge (complete with errors): WELCOME TO THE PORTUGES BRIDGE WAS BUILT IN 16TH CENTURY THIS BRIDGE IS DEEP 15 METERS TO THE EARTH VISIT THIS ATTRACTIV BRIDGE AND SWEEMING CAVE AND ALSO THE NATURAL ARIA"

 Waterfall with the swimming hole and bridge in the background

The Portuguese Bridge!!

See the baboons? If you look closely they are all over the mountainside.

 

 

 

 

 

Ethiopia: Part II (soon to follow)