Petra: Worthy of Its Hype

The four of us (me, Betsy, Al and Gary) were on the road to Petra before 7 am, in the care of a silent but extremely expedient driver named Jorad. It was a long drive through landscape that reminded me a lot of the American southwest--specifically southern Colorado: flat, dry, brown, increasingly desolate as we left the sprawl of Amman. Small villages dotted the view, and we passed many men and women standing on the highway, ostensibly awaiting rides to work, wherever that could possibly be. We arrived in Wadi Musa, the village outside Petra, in about two and a half hours, bought our tickets, and made our way into one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

It was a truly astonishing place, and though I took a lot of pictures, it would take me forever to upload more than a couple. So if you want to see what we saw, just Google "Petra" images and enjoy the visual feast. Petra is an ancient town, settled over 2000 years ago by the Nabateans, by most accounts a tribe that would have done well on Wall Street. These masters of their universe carved beautiful, awe-inspiring facades of buildings into the red rock of this place, and they are still there to be seen (and photographed). There are endless caves in which people lived (and still live, though not legally, as the last tribe to inhabit Petra was relocated when the place became a "national treasure"). As we wandered through the Siq (the crack in the canyon walls through which one enters--used in the third Indiana Jones move [The Last Crusade]), we understood why Petra is the most visited site in Jordan. The rock is beautiful--red, pink, yellow, brown--softened by long-ago water that smoothed its edges. Please do look at pictures online taken by more accomplished photographers than I.

We walked for the entire day, stopping for lunch at a restaurant at the lowest part of the city, then hiked to the highest--the Monastery (not really a monastery, but oh well). At every point, incredible views of Roman ruins, Nabatean carvings and present-day Bedouins (who work at small tables along the trails, selling water and trinkets) kept our attention from the heat and unrelenting sun. It was close to 100 degrees all day, and I've got to tell you--there's not a lot of shade in that place.

I could write easily a dozen paragraphs about Petra, but who wins that way? Suffice to say that we had a great time, were appropriately awed by it, and Betsy and I rode camels. Camels, by the way, smell really bad and up close have faces only a mother camel could love.

We came home around 9 pm, showered off three layers of sunscreen and three accompanying layers of red dust, ate a quick late dinner, and collapsed, dreaming of little Bedouin girls who insisted on selling us rocks (the one in the picture charged me one dinar--about $1.25--to take her picture).

At the moment, we are trying to recover by sitting at the hotel pool. I am amazed by the Jordanian sky. I have not seen a cloud since I arrived here, and given my general disposition as well as my own homeland of Connecticut, that's a little disconcerting. We're on our own as both Gary and Al have departed. We will eventually make our way into the city and take the tour bus Al recommended that will drive us to various sites around Amman (he said it's a new tour company, and he was the only one on the bus when he went). Tomorrow we'll head to the Dead Sea for our Middle Eastern spa days. I'll check in again from there.

July 1: Amman, Jordan

After a long night on an airplane packed with families excitedly bound for Jordan and other parts of the Middle East, we arrived in very hot and dusty Amman, the capital and largest city in Jordan. Betsy and I planned to get a ride with Gary, a Champlain College faculty member on the same flight, to our hotel, which is located near his accommodations. Our driver was not quite expecting us, and really had only enough room for Gary and his bag. He kindly made room for us, and we rode, suitcases on our laps, into the city and to our hotel.

Amman is dry, brown, and hilly. The traffic is what one might expect in a city of two million people who consider lines on the highway to be mere suggestions. As much as people might worry that the incendiary politics of the region make travel here risky, it does not compare to the roads. Even the walk from our hotel down the street to a strip of shops near the University was sketchy, as sidewalks kind of come and go and drivers belie all that one hears about wonderful Middle East hospitality. Impatience is the prevailing theme.

Nonetheless, we survived the walk and found a Lebanese snack shop where Betsy and I shared a "mishwi" (my best estimation), which was a lot like...pizza. We were surrounded by mostly college-aged folks, owing to our proximity to the enormous University of Jordan (60,000 students). It is truly fascinating to see in person the Islamic dress common to this region: women uncovered, women in hijabs (just head scarves), in ornate, close-fitting robes that cover their arms and legs completely, and in burqas (a full covering over the head and shoulders with just a small slit where their eyes are). The men look like they could be on the street in Hartford--jeans and open-necked shirts. It's really the women who are quite striking in their dress and beauty.

Today we went to the University of Jordan where we met several faculty members who are working with Gary on Champlain's Global Modules program. While he did some business, Betsy, Al (another CC faculty member) and I took a tour of the campus with a public relations staff member. It's quite a lovely campus, behind a gate and tall fence, teeming with students. Again, the women really stood out, in part because it was about 95 degrees and we were having a hard time imagining what it was like to be covered head to toe in black cloth. We did see some men in traditional garb, but that was the exception. The physical layout of the campus felt something like one of those big California community colleges, but one glance around at the people would convince you you're not in Ventura County. We enjoyed a great lunch in the faculty dining room with our hosts, three of whom teach in the English Department. It was fascinating to talk with them about the texts they use (and don't use) in their American literature classes. Our most senior host, Rula Quawas, who also teaches Women's Studies, explained the "three taboos" about which they are not permitted to teach: sex, religion, politics. She laughed and said, "But these things are what literature is about!" I sensed that Rula is someone who enjoys coloring outside the lines. Another instructor, a much younger woman named Inez, said that she stays away from the three taboos because she finds that such controversy (whether or not it's okay to even discuss these) distracts from discussing the material. And a third, Laza (the only one of the three who was covered--wearing a head scarf), was somewhere in between. She shared a great story about teaching Kate Chopin's "The Awakening," in which a woman commits suicide in part because of her hopelessness about her marriage, a concept that elicited great discussion among her students.

Betsy extended an invitation to both Laza and Inez to come to Champlain (both are hoping to do their Ph.Ds in Europe or the States, so are very interested in such opportunities), but somehow the words "near the Canadian border" seemed to cool their enthusiasm.

Tomorrow we head to Petra, which I am even more excited about, having had everyone here ask, with genuine concern, "Are you going to Petra?" and then responding with great enthusiasm when we answer yes.

I'll try posting some pictures later. It's time for dinner.

Adventures Await

It's interesting to think that creating a blog to share travel adventures with friends is something my parents, and probably yours, never thought to do. I'm fairly certain Bob and Rita never uttered the word "blog" in all their years. Taking pictures, bringing home souvenirs...now those are things they would understand.

Anyway, welcome to my first real blog, an occasional journal of my trip to the Middle East, specifically Jordan and Egypt, with my best friend and excellent traveling companion Betsy. Depending on internet access, I'll send updates of our days in the desert. So check in when you can.

And if you'd like to check out Betsy's blog, supported by Champlain College and thus much slicker than mine, the link is http://www.blogs.targetx.com/champlainintl/index.htm