One of those days…

Super out of order, but this was the day before I left for spring break.

There are some days in your life that you just know you’ll never forget for one reason or another. Thank god for me, the day before I left for spring break was one of the amazing ones that I won’t forget and not one of the bad ones. I kinda don’t need anymore bad right now. But anyway, that day I woke up (finally got a little bit of sleep..I have a sleeping problem), ate some oozi (a chicken and rice dish but probably one of the most delicious ever), packed my beach bag for the day, and hopped in his car to head to the Dead Sea.

I should probably take a moment to explain who he is, huh?

Regardless, so we began our drive to the Dead Sea as we always do, laughing, talking, and blasting some dance music (thank god we have the same taste). Just a little tid bit of information, on the weekend days in Jordan, Friday and Saturday, everyone from Amman heads to the Dead Sea so we said helloooooo to traffic. We finally reached the Dead Sea and drove into one of the resorts (The only good beaches are private beaches and well, he has connections but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post). So we excitedly head down to the infinity pool, it’s so amazing because basically you feel like you’re in the Dead Sea without even being in there! So the attendants set out our towels and we lie down and relax for a minute and just soak up the sun. After relaxing we do a bit of a hop and skip down to the “beach” (basically the rocks that are on the coast of the Dead Sea) and excitedly run into the water. Well, not exactly run…you see I may have a busted ankle at this time, stupid injuries. Anyway, so we float out into the Dead Sea, I still cannot get over how cool and amazing it is to just float, and play around with different funny positions like reading a newspaper, etc and then we decide to do a challenge. Let me tell you a little about our relationship, we’re both crazy and spontaneous. A great combination except when one of you decides to have a challenge of who can open their eyes while swimming underwater in the Dead Sea. Can you say painful??? Well, I actually have no idea who won because we both came up pretty damn fast with bloodshot and stinging eyes, yes we’re idiots Mom (I know you’re shaking your head at this lol).

We hopped out of the water and stumbled over to the mud place where we promptly had a mud fight while covering ourselves with Dead Sea mud (it’s really good for your skin!). As we waited for the mud to dry, we gave each other different tribal marks and made up silly warrior names for ourselves until we were dry and cracking. We quickly washed off in a very cold shower before heading up to catch some sun rays on the upper level with the pool. As we lay out, it just hit me how amazing it was that I was able to finally cuddle and express some affection (still nothing like America) because we were in an international hotel and somewhat away from the conservative reality that is Jordan. After lying out for a while we decided to take a walk to the edge of the pool to dip our feet in, me wrapped in my big cushy towel. Well, he is a water baby (loves being in the water) just like me, so it was only a matter of minutes before he was in the water swimming around. Me…well, the water was absolutely freezing! No, not freezing like in New England, but my body has acclimated to Middle Eastern weather where I expect it to be a certain temperature in the air and water and it was cold so there was no way I was getting in. As I should have guessed before, that wasn’t going to fly and in a fit of playfulness he pulled me into the water, towel and all, much to the amusement of the lifeguards and other guests. I can safely say that I was in that water only long enough to push him back under and whack him with my soaking towel before jumping back out and retreating to the lounge chairs!

After a long day at the beach and pool, he took me to an amazingly nice restaurant and then we went to one of our favorite views of Amman. There are some days that you just never forget, and there are also some people who make those days unforgettable. That was definitely one of those days, and he is definitely one of those people.

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting!

After Arabic class on Thursday, our group grabbed our packed backpacks and excitedly climbed into the bus that was bringing us to the Dead Sea (technically for our environmental class)! We spent the first part of our adventure visiting a farm to see how farms in Jordan worked and how the water supply was effected and whether it was efficiently used to water the products. We met the owner of the farm who was one of the sweetest men and he was bent on giving us all produce so we ended up leaving the farm with pounds of peppers, basil, peas, etc.

farm on the Dead Sea

We were also there to see the amazing sinkholes that are caused by the dissipation of water and are spreading throughout Jordan. In fact, we were able to see the remnants of an old industrial complex, including roads, that were destroyed by these sinkholes.

the incredible devastation caused by the sinkholes!

After roaming all around the farm, we hopped back on the bus and headed to where we would be staying for the night, a mud house! We were staying in the mud house to experience a very environmentally friendly and sustainable house that was built completely by mud and the outside bathroom and sink recycled their water to then feed the produce in the garden.

our sleeping arrangements in the mud house

For dinner, we headed to the house next door (family members of our host) and were surprised by an amazing meal of magluba (upside down rice and chicken) complete with a salad and cooked vegetables that were fresh from their garden! We hung out and played and talked with the family while just relaxing after our day. We also scampered up to the roof top and just looked out at the setting sun for a while.

amazing and freshly made dinner!

It was after this that we trooped back to our host’s house and had an amazing bonfire on the roof! We cooked marshmallows and made s’mores! We had intense discussions on how to properly make a s’more and got in a few arguments about which tasted better: a perfectly browned marshmallow or one that was amazingly caught on fire and tasted phenomenal (you can tell which I prefer!). As we made our s’mores with Nutella, we seemed to have forgotten chocolate, we sang campfire songs and played all sorts of campfire games! After we had all had our fill of s’mores, we were surprised when our host presented us with the kanafa that his family had made for us! I swear, I have never been more stuffed in my life after eating that piece of kanafa (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kanafa/)! We spent many hours up on that roof from making s’mores and singing campfire songs to talking about the amazing experiences that we had been having and the things that we missed from home. In the wee hours of the night we finally climbed down to our mud houses and fell asleep only to realize at 5 AM, when we really had to pee, that we had been locked in our mud houses…notttttt a fun time! My friend and I spent the next three hours suffering in silence until we were finally relinquished from our jail! Now that it’s over I find it hilarious!

We had a fantastic breakfast at the family’s house again before leaving the mud house and heading to Wadi Numeira. Wadi Numeira was absolutely breathtaking and looked like something out of a movie! The best comparison that I can draw is to the Grand Canyon and even then, the beauty is not even comparable. We hiked in Wadi Numeira for around 3 or 4 hours just exploring the entire valley and soaking in its beauty (and also its water because we hiked through a river).

There are just some times in your life that take your breath away. There are just some times in your life that you take a step back and look at exactly what you are doing and you cannot believe it. Traveling to the Dead Sea was one of those experiences for me. Since I have come to Jordan it has seemed like an absolute dream and I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that I’ve lived in Jordan for two months and have experienced all of these amazing things! And yesterday, just hiking through this beautiful valley and then swimming in the Dead Sea I just had to stop, take a moment, and realize how amazing it is and how lucky I am to be here!

breathtaking…

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved climbing to the point where my parents and some friends used to call me Curious George (a monkey from a book and cartoon who was always getting into trouble). Well, you know how you are supposed to grow out of things like that, yup, I never did and it has become a bit of a joke to the group here because me and one of my friends are always off climbing things. Yesterday was no different with me scrambling up steep sides of mountains and climbing to the top of every rock I could find, it was a blast!

After we hiked all the way back to the bus, we started our drive to the Dead Sea where we would be spending the rest of our day soaking up the sun at O Beach, a brand new absolutely beautiful resort (thanks to our college)! We got there and were greeted by a huge and amazingly tasty buffet from which we grabbed one of everything and then sat on the veranda overlooking the resort and the Dead Sea!

my dessert plate and YES I ate almost everything!

After we had stuffed our faces full of the delicious food, we went to change into our bathing suits and then hurried down to the edge of the Dead Sea! You always hear about how everyone and everything floats in the Dead Sea because all of the salt, but to actually experience it is something else! It began with us stepping into the water and climbing over some rocks to get to the deeper portion before being coaxed to just lie back and float. Let me tell you, when you have had as many concussions and injuries as me, having someone tell you to just lie back in shallow water is slightly scary…but it was worth it! With fits of giggles and screams and excited shouts (we sounded like little kids), we attempted to stand up in the water, swim in the water, and do all sorts of other fun things before lying back and soaking up the sun. It was so cool, like SO cool! But, let me tell you, getting that water in your mouth or your eyes is probably one of the worst feelings in the world! You know how tasting ocean water in general is just not very much fun? Well, try tasting that sort of water with a bazillion times greater salt content! Not to mention, getting that much salt in your eyes BURNS! All I can say is thank god I wore my sunglasses into the water because there were some veryyyy miserable group members with Dead Sea water in their eyes! One thing that you MUST do if you swim in the Dead Sea is get a mud mask/bath. Basically, they cover your entire body with mud from the Dead Sea and then you sit in the sun until it is dry before washing it off of your body. The effect is amazing! Your skin is incredibly soft and you feel like a new person! I was skeptical at first but after yesterday, I am sold! Sadly, my camera battery had died at this point so I have no pictures of my own of us swimming in the Dead Sea. After we washed all of the salt and mud off of our bodies we spent time in the infinity pool just relaxing and swimming around, before getting out and lounging in chairs for the rest of the day!

O Beach beauty!

It was an absolutely phenomenal trip and I can safely say that by the time we got back to Amman, I was ready to fall into my bed! It was one of the most breathtaking and best experiences of this trip so far and I feel so lucky to have been able to experience it! The beauty in Jordan is almost unrivaled and that coupled with the people and the hospitality that they extend to strangers, makes for one of the most unforgettable experiences of my lifetime!