I'm on a bus in the Jordanian desert. It's 88° outside, but our bus has AC so we're all comfortable. Our guide said that last time they did this trip they needed heat, so the seasons are changing. Another thing that's changing is the crowd sizes. Monteser, our guide, who goes by "Monty" to make it easier for us, said that April is the busiest tourist month for Jordan. Jordan has been open for many months already, so they've been doing tours for awhile. We laughed that some of the people on this tour with us approached it very differently than we did. While mom and I have been planning and researching and longing for this trip for decades, one couple on our tour went to their travel agent and said, "We've got these dates open, which places can we visit?" It was just a few months ago. The answer for them was Jordan, or Iceland. They live in London, and it was cold and bleak, so they picked Jordan. Another person on our trip made reservations on the Tuesday before travel. Many of the people on this tour have traveled with G-Adventures (the tourism travel arm of National Geographic) for many, many tours. This company has a way of taking us off the beaten path, dining in areas that are not frequented by tourists, and they are focused on bringing commerce to places that would really put the tourist income to good use. The Palestinian refugee camp that serves disabled children last week was one example. A women's center that helps women achieve financial independence in Jordan is another. A mosaic workshop that supplies work and financial independence to physically disabled people is a third. We've been really impressed with how G-Adventures structures our visits to sites, our expert lectures, and our trips to remote villages and neighborhoods.
I have no idea why it's centering the first paragraph. The rest looks okay. I can't fix it, I'm afraid. Sloppy formatting drives me crazy, so this is definitely hurting me more than it hurts you.
Our first day in Jordan was another active day. We started with a tour of Jerash, known as "Jordan's Pompeii." There's no volcano here, but there are acres and acres of Roman ruins in very good condition. The biggest difference between Jerash and Pompeii is that these ruins are surrounded by iron fencing, and on the other side of the fence is a busy street, shops, homes, and businesses. We had a guided walk through the ruins for an hour, then had free time to see and do whatever we wanted. Mom and I chose to find shade and enjoy some fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice.
Hadrian's Arch. Yes, *that* Hadrian, of Hadrian's Wall fame.
Two things to note about this shard of pottery. First, it was handed to me by our guide. He just bent down and picked it up off the path where we were walking. He pointed out that similar shards are everywhere. He said I could keep it because there's literally no shortage of these pieces. One of the members of our group is a retired archaeologist. Later in the day I mentioned that it would be smart of the Jordanian Tourist Council (if that's a thing) to go out there with some brand new but old-looking clay pots from Chinese factories and smash them on the paths to keep the tourists excited. She looked at my shard and said, "Oh boy! That's a nice one! It has a seam!" Then she took in some of its characteristics and said, "Definitely not a new pot from China. More like Roman era, probably 100-200AD." Jordanian litter is fancier than our litter. We have aluminum can pull tabs. They have 2,000 year old pottery.
The second thing to note in this photo is my thumb nail. I don't even notice it anymore, but now that I look at this photo it really jumps out at me, so I'll explain. This might be the most Colorado injury I've ever had. I got my thumb nail caught in a locking carabiner. As if that wasn't Colorado enough, the carabiner was attached to my hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
Mom standing in the oval.
After they performed with bagpipes and drums I asked for a photo and they were very happy to oblige!
Shepherds taking a break after getting their goats in a group.
Said goats.
From there we headed to a facility where women taught us to cook traditional Middle-Eastern dishes. We enjoyed almost the same meal that we had last week in the Israeli souk. Tabbouleh, Maqluba, and a wonderful salad. In a typical week of around 21 meals, my mother probably eats 18 salads. Before we came here our doctor friends told us that e-coli and other intestinal trouble-makers hang out on lettuce, so travelers need to avoid lettuce and street food. So we've been avoiding salads on this trip. Mom has been enjoying an occasional salad, but not as much as she'd like. She was in heaven with this salad.
Salad!!!!!!
Arugula, spinach, romaine, diced tomatoes, diced cucumber, cilantro (no stems), and mint.
Dressing: Driectly onto salad sprinkle salt, squeeze one lemon, drizzle apple cider vinegar, pour some olive oil over everything, add a few plops of pomegranate molasses, and toss.
Maqluba is a meat and rice dish where they cook the ingredients in a pot with the meat on the bottom, then flip it over onto a serving platter. Maqluba is Arabic for "upside down". This week's ingredients were a bit different than last week. We had eggplant, onions, peppers, white rice, and chicken. The seasonings were incredible. Everything was so tender and delicious.
The women at this center are teaching people how to cook traditional meals, and they sell bottles and envelopes of spices, herbs, oils, vinegars, and other things that they create. Once we finished cooking we could go into their shop and buy the packets of herbs used in the dish we just had. While we were eating our meal, a group from the Netherlands came through and cooked a meal that they would be enjoying once we left. Like the rest of the businesses relying on tourism, this group has withstood quite a struggle with COVID keeping everyone away. They were designated a UN Business Development Center enterprise in 2019, right before COVID shut everything down. I hope they thrive in the years ahead. Their mission, to empower girls and women through financial independence, is an admirable one.
This is Medusa
This is a mural on the wall of a building, painted by an artist who's famous in Jordan. I can't remember his name, but the mural is really impressive.
That's the end of Day 12! What an adventure this is!!
