Jordan and Israel

Hello all! I am back from a 10 day vacation in Jordan and Israel. I was able to take this vacation because A&M Qatar was out of school since Qatar is celebrating Ramadan. Ramadan is a month long fast where Mulsims don't eat, drink, smoke, or have sex during daylight hours. I left Qatar on Friday, September 26 at 1:45am and returned to Qatar Sunday, October 5 at 6pm. I was able to get homework extensions for my online class I am taking from College Station. The trip started off with a bang from the get go: I had bought 2 plane tickets-one for me and one for Jagannath(another engineering grad student) since he didn't have a credit card to use online. I put both tickets under my name, and when I got to the airport, they wouldn't accept his ticket because it was under my name. I asked Royal Jordanian why they would let someone buy two tickets under the same name if someone else couldn't fly under an extra ticket, and they told me that some people buy multiple tickets just so they have extra room! I thought that was a dumb answer because people who want more room would upgrade to business class instead of flying economy like I do. However, we were in the process of fixing the problem before our flight when they informed Jagannath that since he was Indian and had an Indian passport as opposed to an American passport (which is like gold when you travel internationally), they wouldn't issue him a Visa to enter Jordan. Royal Jordanian told him he should have contacted the Indian Embassy in Jordan 2 weeks before our vacation, and asked for a Visa and a passport. So we left Jagannath at the airport. Jagannath was dissappointed, but he actually went on vacation the next day to the only country that would let him in without a Visa....India! I am working on getting a refund on my $750 plane ticket that I couldn't use.

The trip consisted of 3 days in Amman, Jordan 2 days in Petra, Jordan 1 day in Aqaba, Jordan 2 days in Jerusalem, Israel and 1 day in Tel Aviv, Israel (or Palestine as the Arabs like to call it). j

In Amman we stayed in a $10 per night hostel, saw Roman ruins, Mount Nebo (where Moses died), and went to the Dead Sea. As most of you know, you float in the Dead Sea due to the high salt content. However, if that salt gets in your eyes, it burns so bad you feel like you have just been sprayed in the face with acid. We also went to a Turkish bath where you sit in a steam room, hot tub, get scrubbed down, and then massaged. I must confess I felt pretty weirded out before I went, but it turned out to be pretty neat. I also got to see the place where Jesus is said to have been baptized along the Jordan River. Of course, the Jordan River no longer flows up to the baptism place now, but they have an old rock foundation over the supposed spot.

In Petra we hiked 7 miles a day to visit ruins found in caves. The people here, Bedouins, carved buildings out of the mountain. In fact, they filmed an Indiana Jones movie here. We walked the ruins at night as well where we used candles to light the path, and then had hot tea and listened to Bedouins play flutes and tell stories until late in the night.

In Aqaba, we went scuba diving. I saw a huge Stingray that was laying on the bottom of the ocean floor. It was about 3 to 4 ft in diamter and had a tail about 5 ft long. We stayed in tents at a hostel for $6 a night. Most of the food we ate on the trip consisted of lamb, rice, water, and pita bread.

We then crossed the border into Israel. However, we had to make sure that Israel didn't stamp our passports, or we wouldn't be allowed to travel to other Arab countries in the region. This is because some Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Iran don't acknowledge that Israel is a country. It took us 3 hours and $70 per person to get through all the checkpoints, chemical explosive machines, and long lines in order to arrive in Jerusalem. Israel makes all men go into the military for 3 years and all women must enter the military for 2 years. One of our friends, Trevor, kind of resembles the famous actor Matthew McConaughey and so he actually made all the female guards smile and let down their hair! So Trevor helped us save about 20 minutes. In Israel, we stayed on the roof of a hostel for $9 a night. We had a great view, but thank goodness it didn't rain. We took a tour of the West/Wailing Wall which is the famous wall that was located on the west side of the Holy Temple in the Bible. Jerusalem is a converging point for Muslims, Christians, and of course Jews. For the first time I saw thousands of Jews with their little hats, curly-cue side burns, and black suits. Many Jews will go to the Wailing Wall and pray there for hours. Inside the West Wall is a temple, now the Dome of the Rock, where the Holy Of Holies is located. Here, sacrifices burned to honor God in the Old Testament. Muslims claim that it is at this spot that the prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven. We also visited St. James church, where the head of James is said to have been buried. While in Jerusalem I got to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Tomb where Jesus was placed before he rose after the third day. Both were impressive. The Dead Sea scrolls consists of passages in the Old Testament found on scraps of animal skin. They were found about 40 years ago in jars at the back of caves near the Dead Sea-hince the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scroll in the best conditioned scroll is Isaiah. Jesus tomb is no longer in the country in a cave. In fact a huge church has been built on top of it and a 10ft by 1o ft room has been built over the tomb to where you can't even tell a cave existed. It was still neat though.

The last night of the trip we went to the beach on the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, Israel. I was suprised at how western the city was. Girls were in two piece bathing suits, the streets had tall trees, there were a lot of tourist, there were bell towers, and a lot of natural health food stores. I felt like I was in Europe. This ended our trip for the most part because the last day was spent traveling back to Amman.