Petra!

First and foremost: Petra is full of camels. And I love camels :)


PETRA IS AWESOME! The pyramids of Giza are cool, and I’ll never forget the Karnak temple in Egypt, but Jordan wins. I could spend weeks exploring the land and talking with the Bedowins. I was really in my element there in the depths of Petra playing stick games with the locals. I LOVED IT! Here are my highlights worth sharing from March 3rd:


1. Chelsea Owens literally ran into a tree. We were having an involved conversation and I watched as her face and the tree trunk met. After asking if she was okay, even a nearby professor had a good laugh about it. No permanent damage is done to Chelsea ☺ Oh, and Chels and I were seat buddies through all of Jordan. If I ever tried to get a little shut eye, Chelsea would bop me on the head with her water bottle and ask to "chat." We had some GOOD laughs on that bus I tell you!

2. Coming through the cave to see the treasury for the first time. It literally took my breath away. I don’t think anything has ever physically taken my breath away before! It was simply PHENOMINAL!
3. 3. Jeff Stott riding a donkey. He is twice the size of that animal. The terrain was rough, I was just waiting for him to slide right off! And the little boy wearing an OSU shirt! Seriously, Ohio state is even famous in Jordan!

4. I talked a Bedowin woman down from paying $50 to $4 with the matching bracelet thrown in. That is some SERIOUS bargaining if you ask me. I brought WAY too little money to Jordan. $25 total. I brought like $300 to Egypt and spent $20 of it. So this time, I didn’t bring so much (in hopes of not spending much) and I really regretted it! Darn it!

5. Some choice quotes and good times with my roommate Val. She is seriously the best! The quotes won’t be funny out of context, but trust me, they were funny! Out first hotel was nice, the second one, not so much. The shower was seriously the size of 2 shoeboxes. Really. I don’t know how in the world some of our taller guys got in there. (This rock looks like a fish, yeah?)
6. Finishing my dinner at the hotel and then getting the dance party going in the dining room. SO much fun! The dancing wasn’t as good as in Egypt, but we still had some good trains and funny moves going on ☺

7. Hearing Bro. Skinner sing along to Michael Buble on the bus. You must understand, Skinner is the most monotone, serious man in the world. I pride myself in getting him to smile, so singing Buble on his own free will was a big deal!
I bought a $3 book of all these paintings on the left. Jacob just got his mission call to Iowa!
8. I LOVED befriending/flirting with the locals with Moon. Dang, Moon really has it goin’ on. She picks up Bedowins right and left! Anyway, there is this NZ woman actually who came to Petra as a tourist, fell in love with a Bedowin and decided to marry him and stay in Jordan. Now, all the young guys propose with realistic hope that we will agree and move into their cave with them. Fat chance. Moon teaches me to forfeit sightseeing and absorb the “vibe” of the places we go.