We made it to Jordan!
Welcome to our first official blogpost! We arrived in Jordan on January 4, 2012 and have now surpassed the six week mark of our three year adventure. Our household goods have arrived, pictures are on the walls, and we are beginning to fall into our work and school routines. Here are a few pictures and stories from the past six weeks. I will try to do a better job from now on of posting regularly so you can stay up to date :)
First, a little bit about Jordan and its location, geography, and people. Jordan is situated between Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iraq. The country is ruled by King Abdullah (son of King Hussein, who was married to American, Queen Noor). Jordan is comprised of Sunni Muslims (90%) and Christians (less than 10%). The government, although a constitutional monarchy is in the midst of numerous democratic reforms and enjoys a healthy relationship with the U.S. Jordan also shares a peace treaty with Israel, making it unique among Middle Eastern nations. The population itself is made up mostly of "East Bankers" (those who descended from the native bedouins within Jordan) and Palestinians. There are also thousands of refugees from Syria and Iraq who have settled within the country. Because of its location, Jordan is definitely an exciting place to live in the current state of world affairs, with major conflict escalation occurring to our north and west.
Now for some fun info: This is Dylan enjoying her first of many cups of tea. She likes hers with 96 spoonfuls of sugar. Below the tea picture is a traditional spread of food- kebab meat (lamb, beef, or chicken, tons of vegetable, rice, spices, bread, and of course- french fries)
This is a photo from outside the big new mall in Amman- the usual transportation- Porsche, nissan, guy on donkey...
This is a picture from Dylan's first day of school. The words behind her say "The Little Academy." Her school is taught half in Arabic and half in English. She goes five days a week from 8:30-1:30, quite an adjustment from American pre-school. She is really loving it so far and seems to be learning a little Arabic. Her two "best" friends at school are Jordanian and she says they play doll house and playdoh- we are unsure of how they really communicate but they seem to enjoy each other. She also has Brits, Americans, French, and Koreans in her class. We hear her singing songs in her room at night in Arabic- Ben says that every 10th word is a real word, the rest are "Eng-bic." I only wish I could learn as fast as a four year old.
Dead Sea
During the first month, we primarily learned our way around the big city, met people, and got the house set up. Now that we have settled in, we have taken the past two weekends to do some "local" traveling. So far, we have made it to both the Dead Sea (45 minutes to the Southwest) and the Red Sea (3.5 hours south). The Dead Sea is famous for being the lowest land point on Earth. It is also what separates Jordan from Israel geographically. It was a little chilly so we didn't swim but walked around the beach and checked out some of the resorts in the area.
Red Sea- Aqaba
Last weekend we drove down to Aqaba, the Jordanian port/resort city on the Red Sea. We drove along the Desert Highway which took us down the center of the country. It is a beautiful, though adventurous 3.5-4 hour drive . That day happened to be incredibly windy so the first few hours were spent watching things fly across the road, trailers over turn, and the beautiful orange-pink hue of a sand storm in which you can't see too far ahead of yourself to navigate. The last hour of the drive was clear as can be. We were able to see the entrance to Wadi Rum- a famous valley of rock formations cut into sandstone. It is known for outdoor fun- hiking, camping, ATV riding, horseback riding, etc... For those of you that have been to Colorado, it is reminiscent of a giant Garden of the Gods Park. Here are some pictures from the drive:
The drive wouldn't be complete without having to stop for some camels:
And some goats (at the main intersection into Aqaba):
From Aqaba, you can see across to both Israel and Egypt. We stayed for the weekend and enjoyed our time away from the city. Unfortunately it was unseasonably cold; temperatures are usually in the low 80s and they were between 50-55 and rainy the entire weekend. Dylan and Ben enjoyed the heated pool at the hotel while I enjoyed reading magazines and catching up on gossip from back home. The last morning we were there it got above 60 and Dylan and Ben ran into the sea water and built a sand castle. I again let them enjoy this bonding time while I stayed in my warm clothes and took pictures and drank tea from the sidelines.
We also ventured into the town and decided to check out the Aquarium. Aquarium was definitely a generous word for the small stone building with home fish tanks placed into holes in the wall. Appearance withstanding, the aquarium had some of the most beautiful fish we had ever seen. It is too bad it isn't kept up better to attract more tourists.
The town was lined with beautiful gardens that stretched from the main road almost down to the sea shore:
And this last picture is one from what I like to call my "no rules reel." Kids don't ride in carseats and there are usually 5 or 6 kids weaving in and out of the front and back seats at all times. This car is stopped because the dad ran inside the store to grab something, but this is literally what you see driving fast down the road all the time. Dylan is very concerned about this, ha. She loves rules, just like her dad.
