I got into the cab this morning.
I said "Jameeah Al Uurdonia". University of Jordan.

My taxi drivers response: "Inshallah." God willing.
God willing, we would make it to the University. For some reason I found that very funny at 7 in the morning.


Wadi Rum was this past weekend. I firmly believe that my entire trip to Jordan was worth it JUST for two days in Wadi Rum.
It took 4 hours to drive down there (while that will take you across the state of Washington, 4 hours will take you to the edge of the country here). Awaiting us were a dozen or so older trucks with benches in the truck beds. Six people to a truck bed. This was our transportation through the desert. Our driver was a stuck somewhere between being a teenager and a man with a very boyish looking face, wearing one of the traditional white arab gowns, and a jean jacket. He was very polite and for once, this initial politeness didn't turn into creepy-awkward staring or comments. He was genuinely a "nice guy" (something I've found hard to find when it comes to strange men). We spent the next 4 hours 4x4ing through the desert and stopping at various rock formations to hike around and enjoy the view. Near the end of our little 4x4ing adventure, we parked ourself near a large rock formation where we watched the sun set. Beautiful.
Our very nice, polite driver surprised us all by straying from our truck caravan and speeding through the desert. He took a shortcut through a small little village and drove out onto the high way where he sped towards cars coming the opposite direction until we finally made it to our camp for the night. Things are so much different here. So much more fun. So easy to forget what "safety" really is. We thanked our driver for the adrenaline filled finale. He just smiled bashfully and said "afwan". Your welcome.
The camp was something else. It combined traditional bedouin living with 4 star hotel accomadations. On your right are goat hair tents and the makings of a bonfire while on your left are bathrooms complete with western toilets and showers. I'm not sure this is what I was expecting when they said we were camping in the desert.
The night was filled with agrila, tea, dates, food, and belly dancing (yes, I saw a MALE BELLYDANCER). I passed out around midnight thinking I would get a really good nights sleep. Boy, was I wrong. It probably took less than an hour before I awoke to the wind outside. Instead of wooden poles that most bedouin tents are made from, ours were made from metal. The wind kept making the screech so loudly that it woke most people up. I fell back to sleep only to awake once again to something touching my face. Part of our tent had collapsed and fallen on me. I pushed it to the side and tried to fall back asleep but the wind made it a little too cold for that. Finally around 4am I got up and went and sat on a rock with some other students to watch the sun rise. Once again, amazing.

I spent the morning reading on the rock and watching as the camels came in. We had most of the students in our program on the trip. That equals a LOT of camels.
The day consisted of a 3 hour camel ride through wadi rum with a few stops including some ancient rock paintings and a carving of Lawrence of Arabia from the early 20th century. I do not suggest riding a camel for 3 hours straight. While camels are interesting and fun creatures, they aren't the most comfortable. Needless to say, I was happy when we made it to the visitors center and left the camels behind. We watched a short little video that was pretty pointless and then had lunch. I soaked up as much of the desert sun as I could before getting onthe buses to return home.


Someone described this little adventure perfectly: Its like a rehab center in the middle of the desert. Rehab from all of the culture shock and stress from school. A place to just completely relax, away from the world. That is Wadi Rum.