Blogs from West, Jordan, Middle East - page 12

Each moring we get up at 5am to be on site at 5:30am. We start out by going over the goals for the day. To get into my square we travel down some stone steps and then down across three suporting walls. It is around 6 metres into the ground. We haul rocks and take soil samples for each new level we uncover. Today we came down on an almost intacted vase from the Iron Age. Pretty amazing. However while cleaning around the vase and other pottery sherds I dropped a rock on my pinky finger, and automatically pulled it out. When I took it out it was bleeding pretty bad and as my team lead was wrapping it up she let me know that it might be broken. The pain was acute. So now ... read more

My room has 4 beds and contains 3 other very kind girls. Using our bathroom takes some talent. The shower is low presure and we have to turn it off between when lathing up to conserve water. The toilet leaks and by the end of the night caused all our water to be drained. We can not flush any toilet paper down the drain...oh and we don't have a sink. To go to our kitch we have to leave our room, go through the middle courtyard, exit the courtyard on to the street down some steps to get the door which has to be unlocked 3 times to get inside the musty basement we call our kitchen. Today we went on our tour of the site and of the town. My square that I dig ... read more

Hey all, trying my best once again to update everyone on the happenings of my little journey. For those that were on my Gecko's tour and are pedantic (which I recall is no-one except for myself), I apologize for my last entry, as some of the events were depicted in an incorrect chronology - best think of my blog as something along the lines of "inspired by actual events..." Anyhow, I last left off as I was rushing to change hotels for the upteenth time to meet my Intrepid group across the other side of town. My taxi driver let me off at the Ramses Square, in itself a large roundabout, and with my trusty Lonely Planet Guide, I found my way to the Victoria Hotel (talk about being a tourist - backpack in front, backpack ... read more

Been a while since last post, and falling behind. Haven't had much net access lately. Currently in a net cafe with no ventilation, surrounded by chainsmoking Syrians... not sure how much longer I can stand it so this may be short :) When last we met we'd arrived in Amman. The following day we headed out to visit the fabulous ruined Roman city of Jorash, the highlight of which was a fabulous semi-circular theatre in excellent condition that seats ~3000 people. It was even possible to view seat numbers carved beneath the seats... funny how some things work so well they remain unchanged after two thousand years. Was amazing to just sit on a seat (by seat, I mean rows of concrete benches) and wonder who had sat in the same seat over the past two ... read more

On Friday morning, I joined up with the Ingall's again and headed out to visit the various historical Christianity sites a stones throw from Amman. Our first stop was Mt. Nebo, the Memorial of Moses, the presumed site of his death and burial place, and center for pilgrimages since early Christian times. The site was located high above the Jordan Valley on a cold windswept hill with sweeping views of the valley and Dead Sea. From here, we cruised down the hillside to an important place associted with Jesus and John the Baptist, the settlement of Bethany where it is presumed the baptism of Jesus took place. The site is located along the Jordan River, and along the border with Palistinian controlled territory in Israel. For sure, the highlight of my day was taking a dip ... read more