Jordan

As I mentioned before, to continue the work visa process, the school sent us to Jordan! To be honest, I was very naive and figured it would be very similar to Kuwait-dry, dusty, and flat. I was wrong! When we arrived late Sunday night, we could already tell it was going to be very different from Kuwait. The air was fresh and crisp, and the drive was very hilly. 

On Monday I had to have blood work done and chest x-rays with a few other teachers. Then we were off to Bethany Beyond the Jordan and the Dead Sea. 

The drive was beautiful!

 Bethany Beyond the Jordan is the location where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. The picture below is where the river use the flow. Three Byzantine chapels were built to commemorate Jesus's baptism.

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' Jesus replied, 'Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.' Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" (Matthew 3:13-17)

This is walking down to the actual River of Jordan. It's also the border of Israel. There were literally armed guards on both sides, and baptisms taking place on the Israeli side. It was surreal. 

 Next, we were off to the Dead Sea. Fun Fact #1: It is 390m below sea level. This sign is at sea level.

 Fun Fact #2: The Dead Sea has 33.7% salinity- that means is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean.

The shore of the Dead Sea.

The mud in the Dead Sea is great for your skin! Rub it on, let it dry and rinse.
My skin was so soft!

The morning temperature started in the forties, but it warmed up. At the Dead Sea, the air was really warm! The water was like swimming at the beach in NC in early May. The best part was when I walked out and my feet began to float up! 

Trying to do breast stroke was hysterical! I literally couldn't keep my feet in the water, they just floated up behind me, so it looked ridiculous. 

One of my favorite photos.

That night we went out to eat in Amman with the other teachers. Then we visited a sport's bar and shared a pitcher of cold beer! Jordan is less conservative than Kuwait, so it's legal to drink.

We had to leave Amman at noon the next day to catch our plane, so we explored Amman really early. 

This is at the Roman Amphitheater. Can you find me?

 From the Amphitheater, you can see the Citadel on the hill across from us. Well, Michael calls it a steep hill, I call it a low mountain. We were going to just take a taxi, but the more we walked, the closer we got. We kept finding staircases to get us there.

This was one of the staircases-12 flights. 

We looked at one staircase and a man shook his finger at us and told us not to go. Then three little boys started yelling at us to come to them. An old man in a little house talked to us and said what every Jordanian we met says, "Welcome to Jordan! Where are you from? America? Welcome!" We followed the boys all the way up (they are fast! and I was puffed). But we made it to the Citadel. They wanted their picture taken and we gave them a Jordanian dinar. 

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 We reckon that coming from a country that is 230 years old means we have a different idea of historical sites. The ruins we saw in Jordan were the oldest structures we have ever seen!

This is a picture of Amman, Jordan from the "hill." It was a nice break from Kuwait visiting a country with fresh air and friendly people!