Welcome to Jordan!

Michelle’s thoughts:

We arrived in Amman, Jordan on Oct 2nd. The scenery is very different than Istanbul, where in Amman everything is mainly a series of beige blocks and very little greenery. The city blends into the stone mountains surrounding the city. It’s very exciting to be in my first Arab country. The Arabic writing is mind-boggling and seeing some of the women covered totally in their black full body chador and hejab veil, that you can’t see their faces (even their eyes), is still a strange sight to see. However, Amman is a modern Arab city with trendy cafes and bars, elegant art galleries, western style mega malls, and most women wear western clothes, though many wear a headscarf. It’s a city embracing an international and culturally diverse vision of the future.

The people we have encountered are very friendly. They really like Canadian visitors. They say we are the nicest tourists with the big smiles! Our taxi driver was very proud that his son married a Canadian. It was funny to listen to his stories of how beautiful Canada is when he and his wife visited in the summer. They had visited Banff and Lake Louise and he excitedly showed us, on his cell phone, the bear cub they saw at the edge of a mountain. We asked if he was scared, and he replied that people should not be afraid of the cub, but for the mother bear. We just laughed!

We took a day trip to Jerash. It is one of the best examples in the Middle East of a Roman provincial city. It is wonderfully preserved with its amazing Oval Plaza, theatres and temples. Like the other ruins we visited, we try to imagine the life 2000 years ago; the centre bustling with shops and merchants, children running around the painted statues and buildings clad in marble, and the men on chariots riding through the colonnaded street. It was a pleasant site to visit because it wasn’t as crowded as Ephesus.

We also visited the Dead Sea. The lowest point on earth. The water is six times saltier than the ocean, such that you can enjoy a bizarre buoyancy of floating in the Dead Sea. Craig was barely submerged in the water, when his feet was knocked from under him and he was floating on his back! The concentration is high because of the high evaporation rate which has, over the years, led to a build-up of salts.

Of course, knowing we will never be there again, we did the touristy thing and got lathered with a mudpack from the Dead Sea. It naturally contains various minerals, which are apparently excellent for one’s health and used to polish our pores! We looked funny in our Super Hero black suits, but I must say our skin was sooo smooth afterwards! Beware when you paddle in the water, you’ll probably discover cuts you never knew you had!!

Love,
Michelle