Well, what a beautiful weekend! With three weeks passed, we had a long weekend to recuperate from the work so far. It hasn't been as strenuous since we stopped working heavily with the big tools, but being in shared accomodations and feeling a bit isolated sometimes takes its toll. That's why we were so excited to get to spend a weekend away from the dig house, with smaller groups. When we started planning, a group of four girls (including myself) decided to travel together - Daniela, Dominique, and Darcye are all going into second year, are incredibly sweet and fun, and super relaxed. The perfect combination for a weekend away!
After ending work on Thursday, we had our weekly site tours - with everyone eager to get on a bus, we breezed through them and headed back into Aqaba. Backpacks were unpacked and repacked, clothing changed, showers taken, lunch scarfed down, final errands run and finally movement made towards the exit to Shokini so we could trek down to the bus station to catch the 4:00 to Amman. The ride was relatively uneventful – we travelled in the same bus as several other groups (including my roommates in the seats in front of us!), snacking, listening to music, mocking the incredibly cheesy films that were playing in Arabic over a screen in front of us. The bus system is treated much like an airplane, actually, with a stewardess from whom you can purchase drinks and movies the entire way as well.
Four hours later, we were dropped off in Amman, into a scene of chaos – tourists, our many groups, and the other bus travellers thrown into a scene of cab drivers offering different fares. With a touch of concern, we joined the throng and I agreed to the first driver offering what seemed like a reasonable fare to Madaba. We piled into the car – Ds in the back and me in the front seat – and drove off. I was extremely grateful for many similar crazy scenes and the example of my lovely and necessarily assertive mother while travelling under my belt to prepare for the ridiculous driving, packed spaces and confusion we’d already encountered. Our drive to Madaba was with a lovely man named Mohammed, originally from Iran and living in Jordan since being shot at 16 times in his country. Many of his friends and family had died, were stuck, or were missing – it was so unsettling and an uncomfortable reminder of how close in proximity the Middle Eastern countries are to one another, while also seeming so far apart – while the distance to his home is a fairly easy distance, it seems unsurmountable when considering how the difficulties he would face upon returning, social, political, and personal. After 40 minutes of chatter and reckless driving (front seat had a seat belt – a nice change from most Jordanian vehicles!), we arrived in Madaba to find the most disorganized turning circle I’ve yet seen in this beautiful country. It would seem that in Jordan, there is only one rule to entering/exiting these areas – don’t hit anything/anyone. Based on how people drive, it’s easier said than done. Lanes are a suggestion, most rear view mirrors broken or nonexistent, and side mirrors I’ve seen used maybe once. Otherwise, the best tool for communicating to other drivers is honking your horn, signalling one of several things:
1) You can’t merge into this lane, because I’m in your way.
2) I’m right behind you, and you’re in my way.
3) I’m feeling particularly irritable and just wanted something to do. Based on these clear signals, people obviously understand one another’s driving techniques.
After some slight confusion, we arrived at the Meriam hotel where we were to stay for the night. We settled into two cozy bedrooms with little balconies and enjoyed the sensation of being chilled when we went down to grab food by the pool. It was amazing, and so luxurious after Shokini that we started feeling that it was truly a vacation. Exhausted, we settled in for the night, then woke up the next morning after a sleep in (7 AM!) to grab breakfast included in the hotel’s cost. What a treat to find pancakes and scrambled eggs were both available! After weeks of pita and cravings for home, having some familiar food was a very welcome change.
With the help of the incredible hotel staff, we managed to get a driver to take us on our first adventure: a trip to the Dead Sea. Ahmed took us out of Madaba along winding roads, stopping often to indulge our wish to take pictures of the amazing scenery, donkeys, camels, and the like. There was so much greenery compared to Aqaba, with fruit vendors lining the street with their wares and a shocking number of trees. Combined with the gentle curves of the mountains, the view was unbelievable. When Ahmed pointed out a local Mosaic factory, he took us inside to watch people producing some incredible creations from tiny pieces of stone. It was fantastic to watch as one of the employees explained how the patterns were laid, the stones cut, then temporarily glued with a paper maché mix of flour and water, before being transferred to a prepared plaster surface, smoothed in, cleaned, and left to dry. It was so cool, and some of the designs were incredibly intricate. There were even ostrich eggs decorated with a fine needle, like a tattoo across their surface. It was amazing. We were offered welcome drinks and given the chance to browse through the shop’s selection, which we did, taking far longer than the fifteen minutes Ahmed had suggested while he patiently waited. It was unreal, and such fun. We finally piled back into the car to continue our journey, the anticipation building as we saw a body of water no bigger than some of Canada’s smaller lakes appear to our left. It was a brownish colour, and even from a distance, looked clearly Dead. The salinity of the Dead Sea is so great that only the smallest and most resilient organisms can survive in its waters. Ahmed stopped briefly to demonstrate to us a really cool feature on one hill – the magnetic force of a particular spot keeps your car rolling forward uphill while in neutral! It was so strange and interesting to watch. When Ahmed restarted the car, we were practically bouncing out of excitement, and going down the mountainsides and towards the beach we were all so bubbly. It was a few minutes later that we arrived at Amman Beach, a “public” bathing area meant for tourists, where our usual bathing gear would be appropriate, though unusual. After paying the hugely inflated entrance fee, we adventured down the steps towards the water. Setting our towels down in the sand, we walked in and formed a circle, then sat back in the water. The second we lifted our feet from the ground, the floated up to the surface. It was shocking, amazing, hilarious. We laughed outrageously, doing barrel rolls and getting stuck on our stomachs repeatedly as the water forced us up to the surface. I was hugely grateful for my guidebook’s recommendation not to go near coral reefs or any other beaches beforehand for fear of small cuts, though, as the water was SO salty that even the smallest cuts on our fingers were painful. The water felt greasy from salt, and when we went to dry our hands they were so coated in the water that it wouldn’t come off. Once we’d overcome the initial surprise and excitement of the Sea, we hopped out and bargained our way to buying Dead Sea mud, supposedly filled with minerals and healing properties, to coat ourselves in. It was black, smelled a little funny, and covered our bodies like a second skin. Liberally applying the mud, we were joined by a young woman from the American Embassy to Georgia, on her way home from an assignment as a liason with Washington, D.C. Together, we laughed as one of the staff on the beach helped us take pictures, seeing as we’d unfortunately forgotten to keep one hand mud-free for photos. After fifteen minutes of letting the mud harden into a black, smelly, leathery layer of goo, we made the journey back to the water to rinse off. On the way, we were stopped by three boys from Lebanon who wanted to take a picture with us, which we allowed. Then, we continued into the shallow water, rinsing off with great difficulty and getting splashed by another group of young men. Going out further, I realized that the group from the photo had followed us in, and we were now encircled by a number of young men, who were trying to separate our group. Realizing what was happening and watching them get closer to us, we started swimming back towards shallower water, until a lifeguard whistled them angrily out of the water. It was a little unsettling, but definitely couldn’t dampen the awesomeness of our day! We got out to shower off the salt water, and realized that our skin looked really red, like a sunburn everywhere that the mud had been. Though we tried to wash it off in the showers, it wasn’t going anywhere – we were stained red! It looked so silly. Hungry and tired, we headed back to meet Ahmed. We took a different route back to the hotel, travelling near a river valley and through orchards of guava and fig, though we missed seeing quite a few areas because we’d all fallen asleep! We returned to the hotel to change, grabbed our stuff, and headed out to get shawarma and explore Madaba. I left my bathing suit to soak in the bathroom sink, hoping that somehow the mud would come out! We went into the city, hoping first to find St. George’s church, renowned for its beautiful mosaic floor. We went in, and I lit a candle on my way, thinking of all the family and friends I’m missing, before walking to see the remains of the floor. It was beautiful, showing a surprisingly accurate depiction of the Holy Land, with Greek writing showing place names and describing them. It also showed the Dead Sea, with a river flowing into it and a fish swimming away near the salty entrance. The only thing that was a little odd was the placement of the Nile, East of the Dead Sea. However, this has a really interesting biblical reason, as all things in the Old Testament start in the East, and so the Nile is put to the East to show its religious significance. After taking a good, long look, I sat at the back of the church. As we looked up and admired, many other visitors walked in, taking a knee at the entrance and crossing themselves. Now, I should note that Madaba’s population is 2/3 Christian. It was really moving, and a little overwhelming to be surrounded by such faith and spirituality. Being there and witnessing the continued devotion to such a marvellous spot was so uplifting. When we left the church, we thought about going to find another one with more complete mosaic, as St. George’s was heavily damaged and only 1/3 survives. While wandering down the street though, we passed an adorable shopping district and decided to go through it, taking our time, bargaining, and making purchases. When we wandered into one shop, however, things were not so simple. While bargaining, the man running the store kept calling each of us “sister,” and when we had finished our shopping and were walking out, he said to me, “Sister, I see God in you,” and urged us to come into his shop again, for only five minutes, he said, and sit down. He made me take a seat, and started saying that I was a troubled soul, with a winding path which my family and friends couldn’t quite understand. He said that I woke up with tremors, which while not exactly true, was still profoundly disturbing to hear. Then, when he spoke again, he told me to relax, which was obviously not going to happen (and I told him so). At this point, we were pretty freaked out, and then he started to pray over me, saying to God that “I never ask you for anything,” and then finally reaching out his hand and touching my forehead.
It was too much.
I giggled. He broke from his trance, and looked at me, then started saying how he was 56 and had been celibate his whole life, and was devoted to the Lord alone, and then said to us that we should go to his priest, Thomas, who would help us. At this point, noticing how frightened and upset I had become, Darcye tried to get us out of there, but it took another ten minutes of his rambles before we could finally leave. At that point Dom came over to me, squeezed my hand and said “that guy was SO scary. Are you ok?” To which I responded, with the first thought that popped into my head, “I think I just had an exorcism!”
We started rushing off, totally hysterical and laughing outrageously, while sort of crying as well. Daniela, totally unphased, walked straight into the shop next door, but it took a ton of persuasion from Darcye to get Dominique and me to make our way back towards the crazy man’s shop. We braced ourselves and adventured in, which turned out to be a great idea since the shop owner was so friendly, and like so many Jordanians, loved to dress Daniela up (she apparently looks Iranian and all the men here find her completely gorgeous). He was so sweet and nearly made us forget our earlier run-in. However, as we walked out of the shop, Dom and I agreed on one point. We really needed wine. We wandered back towards our hotel, passing a shop which had a stunning array of wine choices – two. White, or red. We picked white, and the guys working behind the counter gave us two bags of ice to cool it down. We got back to our hotel, set down the bottle and decided to go for a swim in the pool.
While changing, Darcye was going to use the sink when she noticed that there, on top of my bathing suit, was her toothbrush. It had fallen from the ledge above. This was problematic for several reasons, not the least of which was the disgusting, Dead Sea mud-water in the sink. More importantly, though, we aren’t supposed to drink the tap water in Madaba or Amman. While Dom had already forgotten this rule every night AFTER she’d started brushing her teeth (“Oh Crap! I used the tap water again. Oh well” –Dom), Darcye threw out her toothbrush and we told the girls on our way to the pool, laughing at the ridiculousness. I was still laughing about it a little when we got back upstairs and I hopped into the shower to try and scrub off some of the Dead Sea that was still staining my body. After a lot of effort, I turned off the water only to realize the shower curtain had been a little open, and the water had splashed my toothbrush as well! Two toothbrushes down.
We went to a pharmacy to pick up some of the worst, most overpriced toothbrushes imaginable, then headed into town for dinner. At night, it was very noticeably different from Aqaba, as we were the only women around. After our uncomfortable run-in in the morning, we decided to find a place nearby, and went into a darkened restaurant with amazing, spicy bread, hummus, and falafel. We got back, and tried to open the wine. Unfortunately, it would seem my Swiss Army knife really isn’t made to handle the Mount Nebo Wine cork. Using a t-shirt, and a ton of effort, we got half the cork out at a time, with Dom nearly punching herself in the face when she took a turn trying to remove it. Finally, we broke in to find that it wasn’t really cold, and that it wasn’t really very good, either. Still, we chatted and passed the bottle around and recovered from our eventful day. Then, brushing her teeth, Darcye washed her toothbrush with tap water. Announcing this, we laughed and she rinsed it with bottled water, refusing to let another toothbrush go to waste. The next morning, we woke up late again (two sleep-ins! 7:05!), ate, and started to pack. As I was brushing my teeth, thinking about how funny it was that Darcye had ruined another toothbrush and how I shouldn’t rinse it again, I stuck my toothbrush reflexively under the water.
Oh dear.
Four toothbrushes later, we had a driver named Abdullah take us out to the ruins at Jerash. Along the way, we saw a river coursing through a valley – it was such a shock to see fresh water running so energetically downhill, we actually exclaimed out loud. After a long drive, we turned a corner in a village and were face to face with some of the most stunning ruins I’ve ever seen, stuck right in the middle of a town of rolling hills and stuccoed houses. It was so cool, and so stunning. We wandered through Jerash for two hours, exploring the road, watching archaeologists at work, climbing through ruins of temples and churches, and finally reaching a small temple to Artemis, with a large well in the centre. We asked a younger guy working in the area to take a picture, and Dom put down her water bottle, not realizing that she’d rested it on the edge of the well. We watched, as if in slow motion, as it rolled, and tumbled, down into the depths. The same guy gave us two cold water bottles to replace it, which was really sweet, but it was still completely worthwhile to make fun of Dom. As we left the area, we wandered towards our final stop, the amphitheatre nearest the entrance. It was incredibly complete, and many of the features that make ancient amphitheatres so exceptional were still intact, including amplification systems. It was pretty funny to test them, especially since there were two Bedouin men working in the centre to prove the amphitheatre’s functionality, using drums and – wait for it – bagpipes. They were bagpiping to their heart’s content, the same tune, every five minutes. It was so bizarre. They really didn’t go well together, the ancient ruins and bagpipes, except as Queen’s students we appreciated the combination of ancient studies and Highland music. Funnily enough, there are also Scotch thistles growing EVERYWHERE in Jordan, and to huge sizes. It’s pretty ridiculous. As our day neared its end, we drove back to Amman to catch the 2:00 bus, buying our tickets at the exact same moment as another group from our trip (Jake, Robin, Meaghan and Danielle, who had also been in the next door room our second night in Madaba) arrived at the bus terminal. Unfortunately, both of us had gone to the wrong one! We ended up driving right behind them all the way to our departure point, buying the most delicious pizza for the journey, and then hopping on the bus together with yet another group – Mike, Erin, Miranda and Natasha. When we arrived back to the heat of Aqaba, it was a little sad to end our amazing weekend, but it felt a bit like coming home. It was also so nice yesterday to reunite with our squares – we made huge progress and found TWO Roman coins (I found the second one, and it was pretty big!). Today, we’re maybe a few wheelbarrows of dirt away from finishing the probe I’ve started today in one corner of our square, a smaller area to see where the aqueduct’s foundation ends and if it matches up with the other areas we’ve dug. Because we’re so close, we’ve actually opened another square in the area adjacent. It’s pretty exciting, but Square 20 will be sadly missed. That’s all for now, but best wishes and lots of love from Aqaba (high today of 46 degrees Celsius, I’m told!). Ma’as salaam!