Al-Fanar Palace Hotel Amman

... The water was warm as I waded in – and, as per guidance from Dad, who’s been here before – I sat down in the sea as if it were my living room recliner. Immediately, the water lifted me in a way I’d never experienced. I floated in the Dead Sea as if I were lying in an inner tube, my body halfway in and halfway out of the water (due to the high salt content of the water)! It was such a bizarre feeling – but also so neat!

Amman, Jordan annalisamurray

... them intruding your chubby behind. That was fun, huh?
Now I just got through customs. And YES I can bring my medicine, neatly packed in a transparent back, no more then 100ml fluids, and metal needles. Needles! Needles! Needless to say, I could do terrible things, like threaten the crew with allegedly infected blood, fire a pile of newspapers drenched in alcohol and make use of the consternation to make my way into the cabin and kiss a highrise with the ...

... said, “are you staying for the Real-Milan game?” I didn’t even know they were playing to be honest, but I played it off. “OF COURSE!” I replied. “Wouldn’t miss it!” We set up in a spot with a good view of the TV and continued chatting for the entire evening. At the end, he walked over before I could and paid for everything I’d ordered that night. Then, he told me I had to have a burger from his favorite ...

... good. Afterwards I was pretty sure that I successfully ordered a sandwich with chili sauce from a nearby food joint and it was tasty but there was definitely NO chili sauce. Shattah? I probably said something totally different like "i'll have that to go" or "i like that you all wearing matching shirts." Either way there was no shattah. Next time. Once at the park I had to deal with three uninvited guests. The first was some dude who was trying to talk to me all charmingly while I ...

... wird mir klar, dass ich auch vorh** schon auf dies** Strasse war...

Nun gut: Raus aus d** Stadt und gleich in d** Wüste! Sobald man Amman v**lässt sieht man sofort, welche Landschaft einen auf dem Rest d** Reise durch Jordanien begleiten wird...unbewachsene Hügel, B**ge. Manchmal wusste ich nicht, ob es nur riesige Sandhaufen od** richtige B**ge sind.

Erste Stadt auf dem Weg Richtung Petra ist Madaba. Die Stadt umfasst etwa 70.000 Einwohn** und wurde durch den Fund eines ...

... br>
I can't say enough good things about Gap Adventures and our guide in Egypt but we all felt that the Jordan portion of the tour was a disappointment. Jordan has a lot of really cool sights, it was more the way they were strung together. Our guide was of the tell-them-what-to-do school, instead of working with us to help us see and do what we want, which I think is much more Gap's style of ...

... mid morning coffee was no longer rouge behavior!
What are some traditions surrounding the Eid in Jordan?
It is really hard to judge what is traditional here because I am in a big city and our friends are Jordanian Muslims but sort of in the same way I am Catholic....they fast, have family if-tars, pray, etc, but maybe not 5 times a day and such... so not strict. Like how I follow Lent, often go to Sunday ...

... and let me just say this takes talent, luck, insanity, or a combination of them all. Traffic lights are not abundant and like the roundabout in Sterling Heights it gives off the general air that you could die at any moment. Since I am typing this from the intern office and not a hospital please note that I survived without a scratch. From the circle my work might be like a mile and a half...I'm not sure really.

So I walk and walk and walk and walk. This is ...

... I am not going to a hotel. I am going to an apartment." But he spoke over the phone with Ali, the current intern, and we figured it out.

So here I am (...rockin like a hurricane). Amman, Jordan. At like 4:00 in the morning. Chillin in a pretty large apartment listening to the call to prayer from the nearby mosque. I am currently kind of wiggin out with ...

... south america pics. Next thing you know, its time to go...

As is often the case, goodbyes are anticlimatic but hard. I really hope I see some of our tour mates again. We felt bummed being the 1st ones to leave, but then again most of those who had chose to stay an extra day had no idea what they were going to do as our hotel is far from everything.

So, I'll do one last entry to sum up everything and...thats it!