My program has 2 trips a semester. The first one is the big weekend trip. Then the second one is a one day trip. This semester, the day trip could either be a trip to the Dead Sea, or the Biblical Jordan. I chose Biblical Jordan, with the thought that maybe it would be historically really interesting.
There is so much that I have to do all the time, that I just did not feel like I had time to do this trip. I have my vocab and what not mostly memorized, but part of being alive is occasionally resting. Since I did that trip, I did not get a rest day, and it will not be until next weekend that I get to rest. So, going into the trip, my attitude was less than enthusiastic.
First off, we went to where they baptize people at the river Jordan. This is the lowest place on earth, with it being more than 400 km below sea level. On the bus, I watched my bottle water squish as we continued to descend. Once we were there, we were warned that there were aggressive flies which only like to land on your eyes and mouth, and are not shooed away by merely shaking your head. They aren't thick, but they are extremely annoying.
We walked to where Jesus was baptized. At this place, it is a dry pit, but back in the day, it used to be full of water. You can see the three different constructions of a church at this place. The down side of all these sites is that most of the grandness of the site is in your own imagination. Most of the time, these places are 2000+ years old, and so only foundations are left. This place was called the church of clothes, since it was where Christ disrobed to be baptized.
Next, we walked through this path that had turned into a tunnel with overgrowth. The desert makes me paranoid of bugs, since they have such horrible mean one's. I was paranoid they would drop in my hair, and since I am not smurf sized like the rest of the country, I was constantly stooping to not bang my head. It was neat looking though, and it opened out just before a gate to see the river Jordan.
In this area, there's guards with machine guns, just waiting for someone to swim across. The river is only 20 feet, but on one side you are in Jordan, and on the other side, you are in Palestine. It's close enough, that if allowed, I could throw a rock. Crossing, and rock throwing, is not allowed, and we were warned countless times about how stupid this would be. Of course, no one actually wanted to touch the water in any way, so there was no danger of this. Many people who go for baptisms or a ritual washing come away from the experience sick. According to my friend's conservation of water class, this river is particularly disgusting, and not worth touching.
Many of the groups that were here had come for their deep spiritual beliefs. There were at least 3 different Christian groups, including Greek Orthodox Protestants, and Roman Catholics. I could not tell the difference, but this Asian student, who is a deeply pious Catholic, walked with my friend and I, and told us the differences. He knew so much, and was the best tour guide.
After the baptism site, we went to a Greek Orthodox Church. The paintings inside were beautiful, and of course, all the writings were in Greek. These bones here were in a relic box, and were found when the earth was dug up around the churches. According to the box, they were the bones of saints, but were unnamed saints.
Next, we got on the bus and went to Mount Nebo. This is where God told Moses to go so he could see the land that was promised to him and his people. The view here was quite expansive.
The inside of the church had an ancient map. This map showed the different places that one could go for religious worship, or where the divisions of the kingdoms were. The tour guide really was quite proud of this little bit of history, and kept thoroughly describing the same things over and over again. Then we went to actually see the map, and the church which houses it. In the basement of the church, there is a glass shelving area. This shelf was filled with prayers from people. It was really kind of interesting.
By now, we were hungry, grumpy, and hot. The last couple times my program had fed us, it had been really gross, and I was in no mood to have more food. Still, they insisted on an hour break at this one restaurant. According to my program, they said that it is the best restaurant in Jordan. They also said mansef was good, but I think it is horrid, and have not trusted their judgement since.
This place was amazing. It was very mediterranean. While there was some Arabic food, it was a good even mix, and I had to agree it was the best place to eat. We were there for an hour, and then we left for our final place.
It was described as a castle. We drove clear out to a high point in the middle of no where. I do not know what possessed someone to build a castle in this spot because nothing grows, and it is a huge hike. I could not understand how they got food and other things up to this castle.
There was the long way, down this path, and the short way, up the side of the mountain. We went the short way. When we got to the top...we saw that it was not a castle anymore, but instead just a foundation. The castle had long ago disappeared. There were various pits, which were obviously intentionally built, but we could not figure out what they were for. It appeared their current use was a garbage can since there were a couple wrappers in the bottom of it.
Going back, we walked along the path, and then got into the bus. By now, we were so tired, and were ready to go home. We were scheduled to be home at 5:30, but true to the ME, we got home at 7:30. There was not much time or energy for homework, so I just went to bed.
There is so much that I have to do all the time, that I just did not feel like I had time to do this trip. I have my vocab and what not mostly memorized, but part of being alive is occasionally resting. Since I did that trip, I did not get a rest day, and it will not be until next weekend that I get to rest. So, going into the trip, my attitude was less than enthusiastic.
First off, we went to where they baptize people at the river Jordan. This is the lowest place on earth, with it being more than 400 km below sea level. On the bus, I watched my bottle water squish as we continued to descend. Once we were there, we were warned that there were aggressive flies which only like to land on your eyes and mouth, and are not shooed away by merely shaking your head. They aren't thick, but they are extremely annoying.
We walked to where Jesus was baptized. At this place, it is a dry pit, but back in the day, it used to be full of water. You can see the three different constructions of a church at this place. The down side of all these sites is that most of the grandness of the site is in your own imagination. Most of the time, these places are 2000+ years old, and so only foundations are left. This place was called the church of clothes, since it was where Christ disrobed to be baptized.
Next, we walked through this path that had turned into a tunnel with overgrowth. The desert makes me paranoid of bugs, since they have such horrible mean one's. I was paranoid they would drop in my hair, and since I am not smurf sized like the rest of the country, I was constantly stooping to not bang my head. It was neat looking though, and it opened out just before a gate to see the river Jordan.
In this area, there's guards with machine guns, just waiting for someone to swim across. The river is only 20 feet, but on one side you are in Jordan, and on the other side, you are in Palestine. It's close enough, that if allowed, I could throw a rock. Crossing, and rock throwing, is not allowed, and we were warned countless times about how stupid this would be. Of course, no one actually wanted to touch the water in any way, so there was no danger of this. Many people who go for baptisms or a ritual washing come away from the experience sick. According to my friend's conservation of water class, this river is particularly disgusting, and not worth touching.
Many of the groups that were here had come for their deep spiritual beliefs. There were at least 3 different Christian groups, including Greek Orthodox Protestants, and Roman Catholics. I could not tell the difference, but this Asian student, who is a deeply pious Catholic, walked with my friend and I, and told us the differences. He knew so much, and was the best tour guide.
After the baptism site, we went to a Greek Orthodox Church. The paintings inside were beautiful, and of course, all the writings were in Greek. These bones here were in a relic box, and were found when the earth was dug up around the churches. According to the box, they were the bones of saints, but were unnamed saints.
Next, we got on the bus and went to Mount Nebo. This is where God told Moses to go so he could see the land that was promised to him and his people. The view here was quite expansive.
The inside of the church had an ancient map. This map showed the different places that one could go for religious worship, or where the divisions of the kingdoms were. The tour guide really was quite proud of this little bit of history, and kept thoroughly describing the same things over and over again. Then we went to actually see the map, and the church which houses it. In the basement of the church, there is a glass shelving area. This shelf was filled with prayers from people. It was really kind of interesting.
By now, we were hungry, grumpy, and hot. The last couple times my program had fed us, it had been really gross, and I was in no mood to have more food. Still, they insisted on an hour break at this one restaurant. According to my program, they said that it is the best restaurant in Jordan. They also said mansef was good, but I think it is horrid, and have not trusted their judgement since.
This place was amazing. It was very mediterranean. While there was some Arabic food, it was a good even mix, and I had to agree it was the best place to eat. We were there for an hour, and then we left for our final place.
It was described as a castle. We drove clear out to a high point in the middle of no where. I do not know what possessed someone to build a castle in this spot because nothing grows, and it is a huge hike. I could not understand how they got food and other things up to this castle.
There was the long way, down this path, and the short way, up the side of the mountain. We went the short way. When we got to the top...we saw that it was not a castle anymore, but instead just a foundation. The castle had long ago disappeared. There were various pits, which were obviously intentionally built, but we could not figure out what they were for. It appeared their current use was a garbage can since there were a couple wrappers in the bottom of it.
Going back, we walked along the path, and then got into the bus. By now, we were so tired, and were ready to go home. We were scheduled to be home at 5:30, but true to the ME, we got home at 7:30. There was not much time or energy for homework, so I just went to bed.
um.... where's the pictures? ;)
ReplyDeleteThis post is retarded. It posted in the wrong place. Then the pictures disappeared. So I'll put new pictures up again this weekend.
ReplyDelete