Hello!!
I know, I was so promising with the whole plan of the Blogs, but as the due date of my big project crept nearer it became all consuming to do that and have a life, then all of a sudden its March, and I’m planning the trip home 
To be honest, there hasn’t been much going on in the past while anyways… work is still really great and I will be very sad to leave the wonderful people I was so lucky to share this time with, but outside of work it was a bit of the hum drum of winter. It didn’t help that every weekend was worse weather wise than the next – we had hail at one point, and terrible wind and rain.
When we read before we came that it would be cold, we had no idea what that would mean when you live in a stone building with no heat… it is literally like living in an ice box. There is no refuge from the freezing temperatures – even now as I sit outside on the first nice weekend in months, the inside of the house is much cooler than the balmy evening temperature outdoors. I hear once the buildings get consistent sun they heat up, then you have the opposite problem – they conduct the heat and bake you like an oven!! haha. A bit too much for my spoiled west coast self, really…
At one point in the month when the weather was ok we went to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, a very important religious site where Jesus was baptized. We just missed the pilgrimage which was there the week before, but that ok – I don’t really know what I would have done with more religious types around me than there already were on the guided tour! The Jordan River was really just a trickle a that point as it was before the rain that came for the month after…. the winters here come later and later, cauing locals to regularly pray to Allah to fix this man-made climactic crisis that affects this country so visibly.
It was a nice day trip though, and we drove between the top of the Dead Sea (where Bethany Beyond the Jordan is) through the desert mountains to Madaba, passing the gorgeous view of Mt. Nebo on the way. Unfortunately, it was less than impressive as it was quite hazy, and our hunger was out of control! Madaba was great, and we stopped in for lunch at this quaint little restaurant that is dedicated to the promotion of handicrafts and maintaining cultural heritage (as Madaba has been inhabited for 4,500 years) by the name of Haret Jdoudna – I highly recommend it. The town is very well known for its mosaics, and the most famous is the map of Jerusalem on the floor of St. Georges church.
The next thing I have seen since then of note is Jerash yesterday – the most columns I have ever seen in one place! This is an impressive roman town, with not one but 2 amphitheaters! There is an intermittent bag pipe playing display which is sort of hilarious here… why bagpipes? in traditional Jordanian dress? playing amazing grace? the things they do for tourists….
Our favorite place now to go for a drink was our discovery about 5 weeks ago – the Auberge Cafe. It is in a little alley up a tiny staurcase and is not frequented by many women at all, but they now know Jordan and I thats for sure! many of the men who go there have been going for years, and some of the best conversations and glimpses into Jordan have been in the sharing of stories and drinks with the table surrounding us in this place… I will miss it for sure.
The plan now is to finish work this week – inshallah I will go to Aqaba for Tueseday night with some women I work with as there is a project going on there that has taken them away for most of the last month. I think it could be really fun to have a night away, then I can just hop on the bus back.
Thursday we will go to Damascus, Syria and stay there for the weekend, then we will have to come back to Amman to go to Jerusalem and spend a few night in the old city… we just felt we couldn’t not go, you know? so we will be sure to come back to Amman on the 18th to fly out on the 19th at 8:15am (ugh), but as flights don’t match up perfectly we will be forced to spend the night of the 19th in the pub in London somewhere around Earl’s Court or Bayswater or Fulham… depends on where we can find the cheapest hostel. I’m not complaining – a boisterous english pub will be a welcome sight!
The next morning we will fly to Marseille, and we will meet up with my mom and dad as they are staying at my aunt and uncles little auberge in the hills of Oppede le vieux. Check it out and keep it in mind for your next european holiday: www.belle2nuit.fr – so amazing, I can’t wait to see it – and Laurie and Roger of course. Then we will spend the week in the rolling green hills of the south of France… so lovely, it will be the first time I have been back in 8 years, so it will be nice to see some familiar sites, drink in the secenery and the vino, and show Dan some places even he hasn’t seen.
I think my time in Jordan has been so amazing, and trying, and confusing, and frustrating… and valuable. it will take a long time to even be aware of all the different things it has given me. I am not going to lie though, I am a bit excited to get back.
For those who had the chance to read my project, I hope you liked it. I am pretty pleased with how things turned out, and the final draft is being bound tomorrow. Very exciting to have completed my requirements and to be able to call myself a graduate, actually.
If anyone knows of any job prospects please keep me in mind – we are leaning towards Vancouver, but as both Dan and I are jobless we are quite flexible haha.
Cheers, sorry again it has taken me so long to write and catch you all up, but I hope to have time to do a bit more reflection in the near future…. possibly drinking wine with wifi in France, wouldn’t that be nice?
xo linds
