Day 3

Day 3-

I'm writing this while we're traveling 3-4 hours toward Mt. Nebo. We all thoroughly enjoyed our time in Petra! It's a 4 mile walk from the bus stop to the end of the trail. So we definitely got our work out there & back. Petra is so breathtaking. It's not just the Treasury itself, although the hand made architecture is mind blowing, but the trail is so awesome. The rock walls engulf the trail with sandstone writings, carvings, and color splashes on the walls. 

THE PEOPLE

 Are very aggressive in their approach. They insist for you to buy and will follow you around until you give in or they get mad at you. It's a bargainers heaven. You should never take their 1st offer. Robin had to learn the hard way and was a target at the beginning, but by the end of the day she walked away and won most ever battle with them :) I loved watching mom's face seeing everything for the 1st time. Words just fall short of the glory of it all. Another thing about the natives is that they are a very…uummm I'll be nice and say flirtatious. haha No proposals of marriage this time….I avoided it as much as possible. Dad was more keen on getting the horses and camels this time. ;-P Most all are welcoming and value your business.

The camel ride was a total trot/run this time and I'm feeling the affects it today. 

THE FOOD

We're talking Daniel fast friendly food!! With the exception of a little fish, chicken and meat. They are really big on cheeses; goat, cow, and uuummm COW! We had box lunches waiting for us when we reached Amman, Jordan Monday. They had a small loaf of bread, American yellow cheese, a 1/3 of a chicken, goat cheese, Greek yogurt, cucumber (amazing), tomato, Jordan's take on an Oreo Cookie. :) I couldn't eat much of any of it because it wasn't gluten free, but what I could eat was yummy! They generally serve cheese, yogurt, breads, pita, tomatoes and cucumbers with most ever meal. It's apparently very common foods that are locally grown in abundance. You'll pass a neighborhood or a little town area and see a tomato vine growing on the light poles. 

The meals are somewhat Mediterranean in nature. Very yummy though for all of you squinting your faces at the healthiness factor. ;) 

They had a SUPER amazing bread pudding last night that everyone was going on and on about, so I gave into temptation. I only took about 2-3 bites but that was enough. Yep, you guessed it. My throat rebelled and started closing. I took my benadryl though and was completely knocked out and hour later. Fun times! 

THE HOMES

Simplistic. Nothing extravagant by any means, but in Jordan they are the 4th poorest country in the world. Water is like gold. In the Americas we give water out freely and charge for coffee and tea. Here, it's totally opposite. Cigaret companies are making large off these countries. Virtually EVERYONE smokes. It's a large part of their culture and they realize it's a bad habit. As americans chew gum or mints…they smoke. The elevators are NOT for the faint of heart or the closterfobic. lol the max is 4 people and thats face to face. 

TODAY:

I'm super excited for the rest of our group toe arrive today. Erdie & Cameron coming in sometime this evening in Tiberas. But until then, we're visiting Mt. Nebo, Jordan river (the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.) and move onto Israel. 

I'm hoping for warmer weather. Snow isn't quite what I packed for ;)- 

I'm typing this while we're traveling….which is now under the sea level. 

VIDEO:

We've been having trouble uploading the videos directly to this site so what we're going to do tonight is download them on Youtube then post a link for you guys to go check out. 

Just pulling into the Jordan river. Until tonight my time…morning yours. :)