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Another intense weekend! Talk about sitting in a buss and doing the tourist thing: running around, taking pictures and trying to breathe it all in very fast!
Friday morning at 9 am a bus drove outside our house and the whole international group packed in it for the day's sightseeing. Near the city of Madaba is Mount Nebo, a mountain at which Moses is said to be buried, although no-one knows where. However, there is a Moses Memorial at the mountain, a holy place for the good Christians, which maybe we all were not, but a place worth visiting anyway, if not for the views over Jordan River Valley and the Dead Sea, but for the serene atmosphere while looking at the ancient mosaics on display or the Mount Nebo nature reserve exhibition. There was a tree which at the first glance looked like a joke: someone had tied many pieces of toilet paper on it, but as we got closer and saw the older ladies tying their little pieces too, they explained that it was a wish three. They explained that while walking around the holy place you might reach a spiritual moment, after which you were entitled to either tie something to or take something with you from the tree and make a wish. My stomach was aching for the first time the whole trip right that day, so I did wish for what felt like small but quite intense cramps in my stomach to stop. And, well, the next day they were gone!!! (yeah…. that's what i thought too…)
After Madaba we drove up to Al Karak. It is a city on top of a hill, and on the highest point there are ruins of an old castle that was used to protect the city. We were actually there too late, and would not have been let into the ruin area that was already closed for the day, but our very good friend who kindly had fixed us the bus and all for this spontaneous trip managed to convince the officers to let us have a tour. And the ruins were impressive! Some of the labyrinth hallways underground were well preserved and it would have been easy to get lost. We did manage to (mostly) stay in group (when not taking advantage of the superb photo ops offered by the rugged ruins in the sunset) and got out all in one piece.
Saturday morning we got to sleep in a bit later, which probably was for the best because the day was quite exhausting. We drove next to green valleys, a very odd sight after seeing how dry this country is, especially this time a year, to Wadi Mujib. There is a deep and narrow canyon carved in the mountain by the river that has flown and still flows strong on the bottom. So we reduced clothing to absolute minimum, took on the lifejackets and started walking upstream. The canyon walls rose high above us and in most places shun the sky. The current was quite strong and in some deeper places we got to hang on to ropes in order to keep going forwards. There were also a couple of places where we had to climb up, meaning that on the way back we got to enjoy nature's own water slides! In the end of the path there was a large "hall" formed by the stony canyon walls and a waterfall! Showering under the waterfall letting it massage the sore shoulders and playing in the knee deep water, was probably one of the best moments on the trip. And on the way back we could use the current, slide and float. It was a good adventure, probably not quite as challenging for some of the guys, but at least for me it was lots of fun and some exciting spots where you just had to forget your fear, let go the steady grip, slide and let the water take you!
The second destination for saturday was Dead Sea. Probably not the most wise thing to do: swim in salt after an adventure that surely left some scratch-marks in at least most of us, but the time is limited and this was a convenient plan otherwise. We went to the family resort, the Amman Beach, and with it's nice sandy beach and 2 big pools for 10JD it was a superior choice for the cheap students, at least over the 50JD luxury hotel beaches. As we arrived I was extremely hungry so I went to eat with guys while the other girls went swimming. We tried all the dishes from the overpriced buffet, and especially the yellow jello that Sebastian judged to taste like soap. And it really did, like a flower soap, and it was kind of delicious but at the same time the soapy association made it weird. And when I asked what it was, all I got was "custard". I think Lucas tried to wash his hands with it, but didn't really work. Afterwards it was time for swimming. I was scared to go dip myself in the sea, in my memory fresh the pain in my feet the last time. Scared, especially because my sandals had once again dug their way into my flesh during the canyoning (remind me to toss them and get new ones!) and the life jacket had left red scratch marks on my underarms. Well, having to be at least not worse than the others, cursing so my mom wouldn't recognize me, I walked in to the water and floated for a while. Ok, I have to admit, I cowarded out quite quickly and surrendered to take pictures of the other floaters. Yet another beautiful sunset and a restless bus ride home, with imaginary ping pong and tired discussions.
Today is sunday, our monday, meaning school at 8.15, first of the IC presentations. My group has its turn on wednesday, which is good because there hasn't been too much time for preparations, you know: so little time, so much to do, so big Jordan!
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