Blogs from Madaba, West, Jordan, Middle East - page 2

Wednesday - Dead Sea - Bethany by the Jordan, Mt. Nebo, Madaba, Shawbak Castle to Petra We leave the Dead Sea and head to Bethany beyond the Jordan, where Jesus was baptized. It was already hot hot hot by 9sh and on our way we could see Jericho off in the distance. Imagine 2 penguins in the desert…that was basically equivalent to 2 Canadians in the desert this morning, melting… We arrived at an area where we had to wait for a shuttle to take us to the sites and the Jordan River. We walked on a pathway and visited the Baptism site and then onto the Jordan River. Sian stepped into the Jordan River where they were baptizing people from the other side and to her surprise it wasn’t shallow. We visited the St. John ... read more

Bad start to today with their being no hot water for a shower. The hotel said there were was hot water between 7-9 a.m. every day, but at 8.30 there was nothing. This was despite there being hardly anyone staying in the hotel. I mentioned it to the receptionist, but he didn't seem too interested. I was happy enough to be checking out of the Farah Hotel. We decided to go check out the Citadel in Amman before going to Madaba. It was much better than expected and it was good to be at one of the highest points of the city just before leaving to see all of the spots we had been in. The ruins were also pretty impressive. We then went and got our bus to Madaba, which took a lot longer than ... read more

Madaba was our base for travel to the North and West, since it is closer to the Amman airport than Amman, and it is nice an centrally located. It's also a nice walking town. Most tourists come to Madaba to see the mosaic floor depicting the holy lands including the Dead Sea and the Jordan river at the St. George's Greek Orthodox church. The church was re-discovered in the ruins of the old town of Madaba and goes back to Byzantine times. The mosaic floor was preserved due to all the rubble on top of it.... read more

Ahlan ya Shabab, I can't believe 6 weeks have already gone by, and only 3 weeks left! While classes have not slowed down whatsoever (starting chapter 13 Sunday) the academic experience is still very good. However, there is much more to learning a culture than just attempting to learn the language (key word attempt), but also traveling to important historical landmarks. Today, since Friday is a weekend, I decided to head West to the city of Madaba which is around a 10 minute ride from Mount Nebo. For those of you who don't know what Mount Nebo is, it is a hugely important religious site in the west of Jordan. "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho." (Deuteronomy 34:1)." According to scripture in ... read more

After Wadi Rum we had decided to head to Madaba, a small town near Amman known for it's historical sites and mosaics. We were also excited to hear that thanks to the presence of Catholics, alcohol could be found in abundance in Madaba. Now, I must explain.....before we set off on this adventure a friend gave me one simple command “Alex, have a great time, but please do this for me.....drink the national beer of every country you visit”. There may have also been mention of photographing the evidence, at which I have failed, but as for the drinking of national beers, I have been doing quite well. Jordan, being an Islamic country, has rather a limited selection and availability of alcohol. Indeed I didn't even know if there was a national beer. But there is ... read more