Wadi Rum

---

Thursday Night
I get back from a meeting, exhausted from a tough week, and I start packing. I make several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, buy a flashlight, some pringles, apple juice, some apples and cucumbers, and some pita to snack on. I also pack several liters of water, apparently water is expensive in the middle of the desert. We've been told to have a passport with us, just in case we're stopped at a checkpoint on the way and have to prove we have visas to be here. I pack light clothing for the day, and really warm clothing for the night. Suntan lotion and mosquito repellent go in too, as well as one of my books so I can study on the long ride out. Christina's birthday is on Friday, so some of our friends are over to hang out and celebrate over her newly purchased mini-hookah. I head to bed by 1030.

Friday
I got up at 650. Ouch. But I had to - I had to have time to finish packing, double check that I had enough food and water, I had to take a shower and eat breakfast. I took some time to leave a note on Christina's door wishing her a happy birthday, then I ran out to be at the school by 8. 50 of us from school pile onto a bus, still looking half-asleep. There were 14 kids under 10, 13 under 7. We left just before 9. I sat in the back of the bus with Bill (one of my classmates), his wife, and his three kids, who made the sticky buns with me a couple weeks ago. They kept me occupied pretty much for the whole 4 hour drive. We got to Wadi Rum a little after 1 - and it was gorgeous. There was a lot of sand, but the rock formations were so cool, especially the way the sun hit them. A lot of people in the group said it looked just like Arizona, but not having ever been to Arizona, it looked foreign to me. Apparently if I ever go to Arizona, it'll look like Wadi Rum.
We settled into our tents, and then most of the families and couples went on a hike up a rock formation on the campsite. I stayed behind with a couple friends to rest and enjoy the cool breeze for a while before chaos would erupt upon the return of the mass of young children. Around 4, we all headed out for an hour long walk through the desert to this little hill for a sunset walk and fellowship. The kids ran almost halfway, kicking a soccer ball, until they were too tired to go any longer. By the time we got to the hill, I had sand dunes in my shoes, and the sun was beginning to set. We took pictures in front of some of the cooler rock formations and watched the sun set. It was beautiful - sitting on top of the hill, it was quiet and peaceful. We chatted and sung and played with the kids for a while, and some people from the camp brought some sage tea up to us. When it started getting dark, we loaded the smaller kids into the jeep, and the rest of us set off to walk back to the camp. When we got back, we had about half an hour to chill before dinner, so I took two of Bill's kids out to the back of the camp where it was darkest, and we watched the stars for a while. There were so many - I had never seen stars like this before. We tried picking out constellations for a while, and while we were chilling on the ground, we saw a satellite going past, and a shooting star. It was the first shooting star the kids had seen, so they were really excited. They ran back to tell their parents, and we all headed to the middle of camp to eat dinner - pita, cheese, steamed vegetables, rice, lamb kebab, and barbecue chicken. After dinner, we gathered around a fire to roast marshmallows, make smores, and my new favorite - stuff chocolate into a banana, wrap it in foil, throw it in the fire for 5 minutes, and you get melty chocolate banana yumminess. We talked about everything from the science of smores to politics to the ridiculous amount of homework we all had waiting for us when we went home. The moon had risen, and it was really bright, so it was really difficult to see the stars, which made us all sad, we were looking forward to more star gazing. We all packed it in before 11, we had to be on the bus by 9 to get to the visitors center for the jeep rides.
That night, the baby in the tent next to us cried almost the whole time. Most of us didn't sleep very well. I didn't sleep at all.

Saturday
630 am, I was still awake. I threw on my sweats and flip-flops, and went on a walk around camp. It started to get light, and I realized that I was up in time to see the sun rise. I ran back to my tent to get my camera, and I wanted to hike up the rocks next to camp for a better view, but the sun was rising fast, so I sat in the middle of camp and watched it rise. Breathtaking. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun rise, and this one was pretty awesome. After the sun was up, I got dressed, and some of the kids were up, so I took them on an early morning hike up the rocks before breakfast - with their parents' permission, of course.
By the time we made it back down, most of the camp was still asleep, so we had early breakfast - pita and cheese again, cucumbers and tomatoes, jelly, boiled eggs, and tea or coffee. By 9, most of the group loaded onto the bus, and we left for the visitors center for the jeep tours. We split up into groups - our group was the biggest, with 7 adults and 5 kids. We piled in the back of the jeep and drove off, excited for what the next 3 1/2 hours would bring. We hadn't even been on the road for 5 minutes when the engine gave out, and we pulled over. Our driver got out, popped the hood, played around with some things, and we piled back in to try again. This time, we didn't make 30 secs before breaking down again. So we waited. Our driver, in true Arab style, waved past all the cars that drove by. Finally, we convinced him to call for another jeep, and when it arrived, we all piled back in an continued our journey through the desert.
We stopped first at a Bedouin camp that was set up near a spring in mountain. A pipe was run from the spring all the way down the the camp, so camels and people could get water. I tried to purchase a head scarf, but the guy selling them got way too close and kept telling me how beautiful my blue eyes were. I was creeped, so I went back to the jeep to eat some of the amazing cookies a woman from our group had made for the trip. We saw loads of camels while driving through the sand. I got excited, maybe I could find a guy who would let me ride one. I have wanted to do that forever. The next big stop was at this canyon - two huge rock formations with a big split down the middle. We went to explore it, and there were cool inscriptions (that I can't read, I already tried...) on the wall, and there were carvings indicating that it was a "holy place" - or at least considered to be at one point, probably before tourists invaded... I was walking back with some friends, and I saw this teenager walking down the sand dune with three camels in tow. I grabbed Amy, a second semester journalist (and one of my tent mates) to negotiate with the kid so I could get a picture on the camel for cheap. So the kid had the camel get down so I could hop on, and then the camel behind me started getting all up in my hair, I was worried he was going to eat it or something. But he didn't, and the camel I was on got up, I got my picture, and I thought I was gonna get off, but the kid started walking off, camels in tow, and here I was, no clue what was going on. So I went with it for a bit, and then asked the kid to let me off. The camel went down front ways first, and I really thought I was going to fall off. But I managed ok. I was so excited for those few minutes. I FINALLY got to ride a camel. About time... And then my camera died.
We set off again, through the sand dunes, and we were well on our way up one when our engine died again. This time, we were in the middle of nowhere. There were no Bedouins, no jeeps, no people, and no cell signal. We're thinking, great. We would get two messed up jeeps in a row. It's my luck. And apparently there a a couple other people in our jeep who have the same issue I do - that "adventures" follow us everywhere. Our driver "fixed" the issue with a plastic bag, not sure how much that really helped, but we didn't break down again. After a while, we got really close to this rock face, and we see this boulder on the left, and part of the rock face jutting out on the right, and so not enough space for the jeep to get through. But our driver keeps on, slows almost to a full stop, and crawls through the space, with barely an inch on either side. It's safe to say we all though he was going to take the top of the jeep off with that move. But he didn't. We were impressed.
The last stop was this massive sand dune. I thought, why not?, kicked off my shoes and socks, and starting climbing up it. It was really tough to get footing, and every step was exhausting, but I made it all the way to the top. Then I decided there was nothing better to do than to jump off the side of it. So I ran and jumped (not getting nearly as much air as I thought I would, nothing to really leap off of...) and tumbled down the side of the dune. When I stopped halfway down, I flipped onto my side and rolled the rest of the way, picking up about 6 lbs of sand in the mesh lining of my pants. It was so much fun. I got up to walk back to the jeep, and quickly discovered that I had rolled down the side of the dune that had been baking in the sun all morning. I couldn't take more than 5 steps before it felt like the bottoms of my feet were burning off, and I had to sit down and let them cool before attempting a few more steps. My group thought this was hilarious, but I eventually made it back to the jeep, and proceeded to dump all the sand out of the bottom of my pant legs.
After almost 4 hours in the desert, we headed back the the visitors center to go back to camp before the long ride home. We ate lunch at camp, checked that everything was packed up and no children were left behind, then we loaded up and headed off for the long drive home. You could tell that everyone was tired, for more than half of the trip, the bus was quiet - almost everyone was asleep. Close to 5, we stopped for dinner, and the last hour was noisy again, all the kids awake and energized after soda and food. We got home just after 7, exhausted, dirty, but having thoroughly enjoyed the past 2 days.

---

Photos

our tent occupants
me, amy, aliana, and amy

Comments

[Daddy]

Smores and carvings
Mummy and I are reading this while driving back from meetings in Kentucky - ahhh, the wonders of broadband on my cell phone! I love the carvings on the walls. BTW, I am bringing Hershey's and graham crackers to Glasgow in Nov to introduce smores to some friends of mine. I'll have to explain that to customs....

[The Daltons]

:-)
What a great trip! Adventures certainly do follow you everywhere...would we expect anything less?