The Jordan River and the Red Rock of Petra

By the side of the Jordan River. Right before I took this picture a man baptized his 2-year-old infant. That would be the coolest to be baptized in the same river as Jesus!

My class and I traveled to Jordan for 4 days, and it was awesome! The first day, on our way to Petra, we stopped at the Jordan River and saw the traditional site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. The Judean Wilderness surrounding the river was sparsely vegetated, and a lot different than I had imagined. It kind of reminded me of Tucson because it was pretty deserty, but it had a little more greenery. We also went to Mount Nebo, which is where Moses saw the promised land from before he was translated.

On Mount Nebo

The first view of the Treasury in Petra from the canyons

Monastery in Petra

The next day was Petra! Our hotel was right near the entrance to Petra, so at 7:30 we started walking down the canyons to the actual ruins of Petra. As I was walking down the last canyon, I turned a corner and saw the treasury building in Petra. It was amazing; so ornately carved yet also so large. I honestly find Petra more amazing than the pyramids, which is saying a lot because I’ve wanted to see the pyramids ever since I was 8 years old and checked out every book in the library about it. There are tons of buildings in Petra, and in its heyday there were 30,000 people living there! I would highly recommend seeing this to anyone. It’s incredible.

On our third day, we went to Amman, Jordan’s capital city. We went to the old Roman city of Jerash, and it definitely reminded me of Rome. We saw lots of ruins and then went to a gladiator show! The costumes were pretty authentic, and they had gladiator “fights” complete with fake blood as well as a chariot race. It had a lot of history intertwined with the fighting, so I learned interesting things. Afterward we went to the branch in Amman and met the branch president and district president. I learned that the Church was given property in Abu Dhabi (which is in the U.A.E), but right now a refugee camp is on it, so before we can build a church there, we’ll have to relocate them. Later that night I went to the Mecca Mall and saw a movie! I haven’t been able to feel American like that for 2 months, and it was so nice.

At the Mosque

Roman ruins in Amman

Today we went to the King Abdullah Mosque and then the Citadel in Amman, which had more Roman ruins. It was a pretty low-key day, and we actually made it back to the Center in 4 hours, including border crossing time. Tomorrow we’re going to Eilat snorkeling, so I’ll keep you posted!