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Zaid and Charlene's entry April 2: We had lunch plans at my Aunt Amal's today at around 2 o'clock. As such we weren't able to take any day trips anywhere. We didn't however want to stick around the house waiting for lunch so we decided that today would be a good day to visit a place called Mt. Nebo, approximately 40 km from Amman.
Along the drive, we stopped at some farms and ate Lohs (raw whole almonds), they were tangy and good. Traditionally they are eaten with salt, but we both liked them better plain. We drove past some ridiculously large mansions in the area. The owners were thought to have made their money in Iraq. I think many people have gained fortune in the business of supply and reparation for the war in Iraq.
Mt. Nebo is a small "mountain" (the region consists of large and sweeping rolling hills) but has great religious significance in that it is the supposed place where Moses is believed to have seen the Promised Land from. He apparently died here (somewhere on Mt. Nebo) at the age of 120! And see the Promised Land I'm sure he could from up here...at the top of the mountain there were commanding views of the valley from all directions. Of course, to the East immediately across the Jordan River is the West Bank (Jericho, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Negev) and Israel.
Mt. Nebo had drastically changed since the last time I was there 17 years ago. In fact, I think the theme for this trip for me compared to last time is the how touristy Jordan has become. Anyways, they were charging a fee to enter the Mt. Nebo site. It was 1 JD for Jordanians and 7 JD's for non-Jordanians. Our driver asked us to hang back and was able to get 3 Jordanian-priced tickets - hooray. As we were walking up to the church the tourist police (yes...there was actually a booth on the hill for the "Toursit Police") stopped us and asked in Arabic, "you're Jordanian [referring to the driver], you're Jordanian [referring to me], but her, what's she [referring to Charlene]?" He then explained that she was my wife and that was enough to appease them (if you're married to a Jordanian, you are entitled to Jordanian citizenship). That whole episode was quite amusing.
At the top of the mountain, a memorial church to Moses was built during the 4th century AD. The church houses old mosaics showing a map of the region in historical times, details of how daily was for people of the region (i.e. harvesting grapes, hunting gazelle-like animals, etc.), and other spectacularly intricate designs. This is the highlight of Mt. Nebo but unfortunately was closed for rennovations :( Because of its religious significance, Mt. Nebo has historically been, and still is today, an important sight for pilgrimage. In fact, the main Roman Road leading through the area had a side-street that diverted to Mt. Nebo. Apparently there's an old mile-marker on the hill which we didn't see.
Even though the main attraction was closed, we still wanted to walk around up top and check out some of the views and sites. The views from the top of the mountain were quite nice though it was a pretty hazy day. We could look in the direction of West Bank and all the Holy Sites but unfortunately could not see them well. At one point Charlene climbed up onto the roof of another building that was pretty accessible to get a better photo of the surrounding valley. After she hopped off and as we walked by the door to the building, we realised that it was in fact a church and that mass was currently proceeding. OOPS! Thankfully she was not smitten down by any forces (tourist police or other). There was also a small museum on the mountain which we walked quickly through. There were a number of interpretation signs for the site, history lessons, various roman columns (~100-200 AD) and sections of columns, pottery, etc. but nothing too noteworthy.
Lunch at Aunt Amal's was really good. She had a huge arabic feast prepared, including kube (fried ground meat & cracked wheat), tabouleh, grape leave wraps, kousa (stuffed small zuchinnis), mukloubeh ("upside down" rice with nuts and chicken), various pasteries, etc. We were quite full after, yet still made room for 2 helpings of cake. Lots of family was there for lunch: Aunt Amal, Aunt Insaf, Samar, Alia, Ghaith, Hala, Samar's two daughters (Tallah and Marianne), and 2 of Ghaith's sons (Amer and Tammer). We had a few rounds of gahawa (bedouin coffee) and shaii (tea) and a nice chat.
That evening we had family visit Samir at the flat here. Rassia, Farhan, Lina, Abrahim, and Lina & Abrahim's son Farris. It was a nice visit for everyone and after Lina dropped Zaid and I off at the "books@cafe" where we had a late dinner.
The next day (April 3) we visited Zaid's aunt Nabiyla with the family and went for another big lunch out at a arabic restaurant with Zaid's aunt Hiem and aunt Nahlah with cousin Bassam and we were happy that Samir joined us out for the lunch. I pinned a red carnation on his blazer for the outing. That night we had more visitors (Umo George, Aunt Khallas) and then the physiotherapist came for a consultation with Samir. Can't remember what else we did right now...
More to come on the last couple days... we are behind on the travel blog!
- comments
Susan & Gavin Nice family photos. Your dad looks really happy surrounded by family. We are really enjoying being able to see these photos and reading your entries. take care Love Mom & Dad
Michelle Gets hard to keep up a blog when there are so many people to see and things to do and see eh? Love that you are getting a great blend of family time and sights time!