June 16 Jerash, Amman and Be Our Guest Dinner

---

Let's start tonight with a little comment on Touring Etiquette, shall we? Touring is very different from vacationing. With a vacation, you are in charge. You can do what you want when you want and for how long. You travel how you want and, basically, you are in total control. Not so in touring.

When you are on a tour you are part of a whole, meaning if you are late, or you get lost or you want to stay longer someplace, you are disrupting everyone else on the tour. Your actions have consequences not only for you but for everyone else. If you are part of a tour, LISTEN to your tour guide. BE PUNCTUAL (meaning showing up at the bus or for a meal 5 minutes before time. PAY ATTENTION to directions from your tour guide. He will tell you when you need to be someplace, when to put your luggage out for collection, where to meet, etc. If you do not want to go to a specific place, say for a group dinner, TELL YOUR GUIDE in advance so that the rest of the tour is not waiting for you on the bus only to learn you are not going with the group. Touring is not for everyone. Some people want complete control and feel they are entitled to do what they want. You do not have that right as you are impacting everyone else on the tour. So if you want freedom, take a vacation. If you want a tour, be courteous and comply with the tour guide's directions. It will make the tour better for everyone, including you.

Today we got started on our tour with a trip to Ancient Jerash. In ancient times Jerash was one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the Near East. The area was first settled during the Neolithic period (7500 BCE to 5500 BCE). The Greeks built a Hellenistic City in the second century. This was built upon by the Romans and the Byzantine empires. Jerash has been here for a long, long time!

The city is almost completely intact and we can see temples, amphitheaters, a hippodrome, and many other examples of Roman, Greek, and Byzantine structures. We got a good feel for what life was like during this period and could see how civilization has not really changed much for millennia. Jerash was an important stop on the trade route for incense and spices and was the favorite city of Emperor Hadrian who built a magnificent gate in his own honor. The modern city is now the center of government and the capital city of the Jerash Governorate, so it remains a very important place even today.

Our next stop was a bit disappointing if I do say so myself. We had planned a lunch at a local Iraq al-Amir Women's Association. I had expected another lunch like we had with Doris in Jaffa but this was a bit different.

From the itinerary, I thought the plan was to have a home-cooked lunch prepared by the local women and then have some instruction by the women on some of the local crafts like papermaking, soap manufacturing, and ceramics. The first part, lunch, was excellent. We sat outside in the shade and enjoyed several local dishes, fruits, dessert, and coffee. That was great. Unfortunately, there was no interaction between the local women and our group. They seemed to keep to themselves, did not interact with the group, and basically ignored us. There was no instruction on any of the crafts, and if you wanted to buy something you had to go to the shops and look around. It could have been a much better-managed cultural experience. I hope future tours have a better experience.

After lunch, we toured the ancient sites of modern Amman. Here we saw an almost intact 6000-seat Roman amphitheater that was still in use today. There was a museum showing artifacts and costumes from the time of the Romans and local dress from a more recent historical period.

Next, we drove up the hill to the Amman Citadel overlooking modern Amman. This ancient city was a major seat of government for the Califate. Here the calif would greet visitors. The Citadel sits atop one of 7 ancient mountains in Amman and thus the city was considered to be like Rome, which was built in a similar design upon 7 hills. The city was first inhabited in Neolithic times and was later home to Neo Assyrians, Neo Babylonians, the Ptolemies, the Selecucids, the Romans, The Byzantines, and after many centuries, the modern capital city of Jordan. Suffice it to say it has a very long history and may be one of the oldest human habitations in the world.

After our tour, we headed back to the hotel for a respite before another Be Our Guest dinner in the home of a local Jordanian family. Our bus driver took us to the local residential neighborhood where we were introduced to a local family and invited into their home! We sat around their living room, swapping stories both of cultural and personal nature. The family owns two restaurants started by the husband and wife who now have their middle daughter managing both locations. The oldest sister is married with a very beautiful two-year-old daughter. The youngest daughter recently graduated college and plans to start a career in marketing and social media. The food was wonderful and the family a pleasure to meet. It's things like this that can bring people and cultures together.

Tomorrow we head to Petra.

---