Irbid Plaza Hotel

... to the taxis I started feeling really ill. It was hot outside and I figured it was just from sitting in the sun but I was very uncomfortable for the ride back to Amman and decided to skip lunch and lie down for a while. Later I joined the group for dinner at a Japanese restaurant, which was a mistake because I was still feeling bad. I must have had some food poising or stomach bug because I couldn't keep anything down all ...

... the home. The women gathered inside the bride's home. The groom and bride came together in front of a sheikh (a Muslim minister) and they said their vows and signed the legal paperwork. They are married according to law but it more like an engagement because the couple cannot have relations until they have the wedding party which will be next summer.

The next step will be an engagement party (which is expected to be 300 people!) next Friday.

... comes. Then we leave. It takes about an hour to get to Damascus. When we got there we found out that the taxi driver didn't know where the hotel was. So we called the hotel and they said it was not reachable by car, so we said goodbye to the taxi and got all of our luggage out and went on our way to the hotel. It took us a while to find it, but we did.

The hotel was beautiful. It was an old Damascan palace. The old houses in Damascas were usually ...

... to listen to them speaking of matters of marriage in Arabic. We were then given a pudding kind of thing with pistachios on top, pudding in the middle and bread at the bottom, it was delicious. It was then then time to leave. When we got out of the house I asked my dad what had happened. He said that my uncle Youssef was engaged, we all started laughing, and he started calling all of his friends to tell them what had happened.

Now it ...

... and the remains of a roman aqueduct on the side of the highway, towards the castle at Ajloun. Hungry, we pulled over in a town for a quick kebab, only to pass through a few minutes later the charming town of Salt, with lovely cafes along the main road. Pressed for time now, we lamented our impatience and continued on our way. We made it to Ajloun castle just minutes after closing time so, disappointed, we decided to just keep going to Jerash ...

... in luck! The drive was really pretty and the landscape changed to a green rolling hills and some trees as well, I had just been use to seeing desert and rocks since I have been in Jordan so it made a nice change. The bus only cost me 60pence so I was chuffed with that as well. I had to pay 8 dina to get into Jerash. Jerash is an old Roman city with lots of colomus and also a chariot racing track where they perform everyday an reimacment for which you can pay to see it ...

... did so. It's funny how most people in the U.S. are not aware of the Israel-Jordan relations. It might be a stretch to call them "relations", but it is something, and there is peace, so that's a step in the right direction. Although apparently, trying to cross the border at a non-official crossing is basically asking for a guaranteed string of bullets to the chest. I thought the border experience was pretty cool--the whole mystique of it. Once across the border ...

nach langem kampf an der grenze jetzt in jordanien angekommen. Hier ist alles super, beim trampen haelt immer schon das erste auto, die fahren sogar umwege fuer einen und bezahlen dann das hotel...fuehle mich wie in pakistan nur sind die leute hier reicher. naja, wir werden die naechsten tage mal den nordwesten von jordanien erkund3en...dann weiter nach sueden...spaeter mehr an dieser stelle.

... at ACS and is from Texas. What a hoot she is! She is married to a Jordanian and moved here about a year ago. Her husband, Waleed, had invited any of us to come to Irbid to meet their family and eat some good Arabic food. Before going to Bangkok, Friday was decided upon so we met at Starbucks at 12:30 to make the hour drive north. Jaena drove as we could all fit in the SUV and not have to worry about following her ...

... recently swelled dvd collection (dvds cost 1 dinar here approx 1.09 euro). We left Amman by bus and stopped in the old Roman town of Jarash and walked through the ruins before taking another bus to Irbid (35km from Syrian border). From Irbid we did a day trip to the North Western town of Umm Quais where you can see The Sea of Galilee in The Palestinian territories to the west and into southern Syria to the north.