Floating in Jordan

I spent this past weekend in Jordan with my father and sister. Turns out Sahar was in the Middle East for a conference for her job so Baba and I took a flight to Amman, Jordan to meet up with her. I really had no idea what to expect. So I didnt really get my hopes up, or do any investigating. I just went with the flow and was really caught by surprise.


Baba lookin sharp at a nice Restaurant in Amman


The trip out of Kuwait was really bizarre. Even though the day started out clear and calm, by the time we hit the runway for take off there was a sand storm so fierce I couldn't see the airport from the runway. It was literally like white out, blizzard conditions but with sand. We took off anyway, and even though the plane had a rough start once we were in the air everything was pretty smooth. For about an hour though we could not see the ground because the sand storms were so thick. It looked like we were floating across a sea of chocolate milk. When we landed in Jordan and called kuwait to let folks know that we got there ok we heard that the airport was closed soon after our departure because of the storm.
The sun setting beyond the Dead Sea


So our first night in Amman we spent with Sahar. We invited her and her friend, Valerie, to come out to dinner with us. We caught up with Sahar talked about her job and the grants she is working on. Turns out she is pleased with where she is at but looking for something more. I hope she can find what she is looking for. She certainly seems happy to be in the Middle East again and seems to appreciate working for grants and on projects to help Palestinians.

Me enjoying a tasty mojito

That night after dinner Valerie invited Sahar and I out to go to a cafe with her and some of her friends. Sahar could not make it but I went and had a pretty good time. She took us to this Place that was in the downtown area of Amman. It had four floors and a balcony with an incredible view of a part of the city. It was as though stars were blanketing the city and hills below us and rose up to meet the night sky.
We found Sahar at her hotel.

So after I took in the view I realized that I was in a bar, listening to 80's pop music, surrounded by arabs all laughing, smoking, and drinking, and ENJOYING the music. This came as quite a culture shock for so many reasons. The first one being that i was coming from Kuwait where it is illegal to enjoy music in public. The second being that that I am coming from an area in the states where I dont think that many Arabs exist in a 50 mile radius. The third one being that I didnt see that many cops. I mean there were some military folks in the area but no more than there usually were sprinkled throughout the country.
I saved room for a desert that I could actually eat. Sorbet.

So my night finished up relatively early. Some friends of Valerie's dropped me off at the hotel. They were really nice and I was really glad that Valerie invited me out for a little while.
The trip down to the Dead Sea

The next day we went for a trip to the Dead Sea. It was only about a 30 minute drive from Amman to where we stopped...and all down hill. Amman seems like a city with alot of green. It reminded me of all the photos and videos I have seen of Palestine with green hils and lawns littered with white rocks and olive trees. It was very similar to that but the area the city was in was surrounded by desert. Leaving the city we drove through hills and valleys of brown sand and rocky rubble until we came across the Lake. The water and hills beyond it (Israel) were blue and smoky, hazy in appearence. Very similar to the Appalachian mountains were I used to live in Virgina. Surrounding the lake were hotels and resorts taking advantage of the scenery and tourists interested in the area. There was also lots of construction happening in the area so it looked like more hotels were opening up. The place seemed as though it was developing, not quite finished having all the natural elements of the area surrounding the Lake diminished by development.
I guess this is supposed to be what the building used to look like in Jordan

We eventually made our way to the water and for how hot it was there weren't that many people swimming. Actually it is really hard to swim in the dead sea. Beacause of how salty it is everything in the water is insanely bouyant. If you walk out far enough into the water you just, lose your balance and your legs tip up becoming instantly weightless. I could have pretty effortlessly floated about 10 km to Israel without breaking a sweat. I probably would have been shot but I could have done it. I went through the ritual of covering my body in the black tarry asphalt mud that is found in the Lake there and then swam around until it was washed off. I liked getting dirty and swimming around. I floated quite a ways out and discovered that the water when you are in it does not seem blue at all like it does from a distance. Instead the water is this beautiful deep green teal color. Absolutely unlike anything I have ever seen before. Pool overlooking the view. Amazing view, the photo does not do it justice.
Dead Sea
the brown side is Jordan, the blue side is Israel