My crush on Jordan deepens

Us dancing with the girls

The stadium that they literally had speakers playing Gladiator music playing. It was inspiring

How about a kiss of death?

Can I just tell you how much I love Jordan! The night that we arrived in Aman from Petra, a few of my friends and I walked around the streets near the hotel for a little while to get some fresh air. We felt completely safe and everything was so much more modern than Egypt and even Israel. On our third day in Jordan, our first visit was the mosque right next many of the government buildings in Aman. In order to go into the mosque, all of us girls had to put these cloak things on. We looked like dementors from Harry Potter. We listened to a short little rambling by our tour guide (I didn't like him much. Somebody taught him the phrase "kind of" and "something like this". I counted and he said "kind of " 26 times within 5 minutes. Anyone who has traveled knows how forgien tour guides are) and then we were able to take some photos. There was a womens part of the mosque som a bunch of us girls went in there to take some photos of us being Grim Reapers. Probably not the best thing to do in a mosque, but we couldn't resist. Then we went to a place called Jerash. Jerash are Roman ruins in Jordan. Jerash was a flourishing Roman city in the first century BC (thank you Nathan for that fact). We were given several hours to tour around with our guide and then take off on our own to take pictures. one of the best parts of being in Jerash was being there at the same time as a group of Muslim school girls. We went into one of the ampitheatres and they had a couple of men playing bagpipes and drums. The girls started dancing and a bunch of us girls were able to join in and dace with them. If we could only get the Palestinians and Arabs to have a dance party together, I am sure we could get a lot more done over here. It was so much fun to be in an anciet Roman city again. As my family can verify, I absolutely fell in love with Italy and Roman architecture/art after visiting Rome my senior year of high school. Seeing similar ruins in Jordan brought back a lot of feeling from my visit to Italy. After playing around Jerash, we were able to have a once in a lifetime experience. The church has a cultural center in Jordan, as well as a branch. We were able to go and meet with two of the first native members in Jordan. Both of these men had been Christian before becoming LDS. If they had been Muslim, then it would not have been possible for them to join the church. They were both able to get up and bear their testimonies to us. Even though they were some of the most simple tesimonies I have ever heard, they were also two of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard. It felt like the walls were about ready to burst the spirit and power was so strong. I couldn't help but get excited about thinking what it will be like once we are able to share the gospel with Muslims. They will be some of the most devote members the church will ever know. It was an exciting experience. Something else that was really exciting was the rain that fell after leaving Jerash. Once we got back to the hotel, I ate some desert for dinner (I am being so healthy over here!) and then some of us ran over to the pirated movie store to pick up some movies. Don't worry, it is totally legal in Jordan...reason 597 to love Jordan! I picked up a few and then we caught a taxi over to the mall.

Let's talk about the mall for a minute. Can we say Heaven On Earth! It was by far the biggest mall I have ever been in! It was five stories high and stretched I don't even know how far! There was a bowling alley, laser tag, the world's cutest clothes stores! I am so sad they told us that we would hardly spend any money in Jordan, because had I known how amazing it was, I could have blown two fortunes in this mall! The people of Jordan are so friendly, and loved us, even if we did look pretty trashy compared to them. I absolutely had a blast and loved everything about Jordan. I would definitely go back in a heart beat and if I got the chance to move there, I would jump at it.

PetraFABULOUS!

Petra. You ever heard of it? Think Indiana Jones, The last Crusade. Yeah. I totally went there. It was so dang cool! We woke up early in the morning (I really should stop writing that because we wake up early EVERY day) so that we could be the first ones in and have plenty of time to explore Petra. The walk in is pretty amazing and as soon as it opens up into the treasury you just want to take a million photos to prove you were really there. When we got to the treasury, there was hardly anybody else there, so we were able to take some good photos before moving further into the valley to see all of the other amazing things carved right into the face of the rocks around us. Because we were there so early in the morning and the sun wasn't high enough in the sky to peek into the canyon we were in, it was freezing! And by freezing, I mean, something like high 50's. I am becoming such a wuss to the cold. Idaho is going to be a blast! As we continued walking along, we saw massive tomb after tomb. The outsides were impressive, but inside it was just a large square room. The way the rocks formed and the scenery around us looked a lot like southern Utah. At the middle of our time there, we were set loose to explore where ever we wanted. Lots of people payed to ride a donkey up to a Monistary at the top of one of the cliffs. I decided to walk it and I was determined to beat the donkeys to the top. My friends Nathan and I hustled to the top and we beat everyone on the donkeys. It really wasn't that hard. I don't think the donkeys had eaten in a week and it was probably their fourth trip up the mountain. We got some great photos at the top, and then headed back down for lunch. Lunch was AMAZING! Fresh falafel, pasta, desserts up the wahzoo! After lunch a group of us ran up to what is called the cathedral. It looked pretty much like everything else in Petra. I did grab some dirt for Brittani from inside the cathedral. The sand was amazing. It is all different colors. I got Berto some purple sand. After the cathedral, I was planning on going up to the high place but the people I was with kept running the whole time, and let's face it, I did not want to run all the way up to the highest place in Petra. I joined up with my friend Sarah Jane instead and we checked out all of the jewelry being sold by the bedouins. Can you guess what caught my eye? Turquiose. It was dirt cheap. Apparently, the Queen had a program set up to help the Bedouins. In this program, she gets tons of silver and stones (like turquiose) imported and then she employs the women and men to make them into jewlery and then they sell them. I got a large strand of turquise for 10 dinar (about 13 dollars), a pair of earings for 4 dinar, and a beautiful pendent to put on a necklace. As if I don't own enough turquiose already...but I just love it! You can stick me in the Middle East, but I will still find a way to be South western. The time to head out of town came and a bunch of us girls started the walk back out. We had some extra time so we stepped off the beaten path and found some beautiful scenery. We loaded on the buses, drove to Aman where we would spend the next few days. The End.

Day one of Jordan

These seats are in all of the Catholic churches. Don't we look so wise in them though?!

The mosaic in Madaba

Another bus ride, and another fabulous day in the life of a JC student. We loaded up on the buses early EARLY in the morning and headed on over to Jordan. After another miticulous dance through the border, we made our first stop at Mount Nebo. I guess this is the mountain Moses was trasfigured from. To tell you the truth, it was pretty boring. We then stopped at a church in Madba where a mosaic was discovered showing a map depicting the locations of holy Christian locations in the Holy Land. Next stop- lunch! They had salsa at all of the resturants we went ot in Jordan. No chips, but pitas got the job done. We were supposed to be very careful with what we ate and drank in Jordan, but I was willing to get the runs for a bite of salsa! (good news...I wasn't the least bit sick) After lunch it was then time to take a 4 hour bus ride down to Petra. The ride was long, but I slept for most of it. We are all becoming really good at bus travel here. When we arrived in Petra, it was dinner time. Man, I thought my life revolved around food before I got here, I was wrong! I always eat whether I am hungry or not becasue you just don't know what the next meal is going to turn out to be like. Once we finished dinner, most of us left the hotel to check out the the shops near the hotel. We found one called the "Rural Woman Bazaar." Why rural? We checked it out, gave the shop owners a good scare to have well over 20 young Americans flooding the store. When I got to the end of the road, I saw a few of my girl friends giggling together and I just had to be in on what was so funny. They took me over to a shop where one of the most handsome men I have ever seen was working. My friend Sarah Jane had him tie every stinkin scarf in his store around her head while we all smiled and batted our eye lashes at him. After we ran out of ways to flirt with him we met up with some guys to take some pictures. We were all laughing and taking a million pictures by a humongous picture of the king (which we later found out is illegal-oops!) when Saad (the shop keeper) ran down the street to take pictures with us. He hopped in line with the boys and all of us girls started snapping pictures as fast as the shutter would go. With all the laughing and excitement Saad was loving the attention. The boys tryed to explain what "putting out the vibe" meant and accidentally used the word sexy. Wrong word! Saad started ripping off his jacket and going abercrombie on us! We all yelled "stop stop stop!" and died laughing. We quit the photo shoot and the boys started walking back towards us. Saad latched onto David and started stroking his face and telling him how handsome he was. I am SO sure all the good looking men are GAY! What a waste. I quickly jumped in and grabbed David's arm and said, "Hey! He's mine!" We laughed the whole way down the street to Movenpick where we grabbed some delicious icecream and laughed for another good 30 minutes. Our teachers are always warning us girls about how careful we need to be about not getting groped, so the fact that only only person to come even close to being groped was big burly David, by the best looking Jordanian man in Petra. After laughing so hard my head wanted to pop, I decided it was time for bed to get ready for Petra the next day.

COMING SOON!

Coming to a blog near you...Mikael Webb's adventures in Jordan.
I ablsolutely fell in love with Jordan and can't wait to tell you all about it... but I have to watch all the pirated movies I bought first.

Blogging with Becca

Just when I think I know everyone and don't need anymore new friends, I make one. I have discovered my new entertainement in life...Becca. We only had one class this morning and then our Jordan orientation. Because it is a Friday, we aren't allowed out of the center until after 3, so Becca and I decided we were going to watch Emma and blog. I have been attempting to read Pride and Prejudice in the few spare moments I get. I have never read it, or any Jane Austin book for that matter, and even though I am that far in the book, it is changing the world around me. The notes in my journal come out sounding more like Elizabeth Bennett than me. I am already feeling more like a girl with the few pages I have read.

I realize I haven't put anything up in a few days so I will try and get cuaght up. First things first, do you likw how I have redone my page? I was getting sick of looking at the old layout and wanted something that flowed a little better with the pictures I was putting up. Okay, let's see what has happened since the Ramadan feast...

The end of Sukkot came and to celebrate the end, many of the Jews Participate in the Wacking of the Willows. They gather around the Western Wall and slap palm leaves or willow branches on the ground as a way to ask for rain. In order to see it, we had to be at the Western Wall at 6:30 in the morning. It was worth getting up early and making the 15 minute walk. I am suprised how well I have been getting up so early this whole time. It is probably because I love breakfast and the knowledge that I have a good breakfast waiting that gets me out of bed.

Yesterday we went on a field trip to Hezikiahs tunnel. I have been excited to do this. Brittani told me how much she loved it, so I have been been looking forward to going. It really was a blast. They are still doing excavation ont the City of David which is above Hezikiah's tunnel. We were able to look at the ruins. We wound our way down the hill and then went through Hezikiah's tunnel. As you walk through the water gets up to about my mid thigh, whick mean just baout every other girls hips. Yes, I am a tall freak here. It was such a blast to wafe through the water. Dad, that head lamp you got me in the BEST! After going through the tunnel, we went to the pool of Soloam. This is the pool where Jesus healed the blind man. It was really cool to see parts of the city that were really around suring Christ's tims, and to walk to the same streets he did. The streets from His time perios are much lower than street level today. The city just keeps building ontop of itself for years, so walking on streets Christ walks on means going below street level today. A couple friends and I went intot the old city to pick up some batteries and other things we needed. It was a very relaxed day, and I love being able to go into the city and feel at home.

The Kids that Shoot us

Ben Yahuda street-da Girls!

Just a few of the trouble makers

My bud Muhammed


I am not longer as afraid of my own neighborhood. I am not going to lie. I was for a while. Especially at the end of Ramadan. It seemed like every little boy got a pellet gun to celebrate then end of Ramadan. As we would walk up the hill back to the center, they loved to use us as target practice. Yesterday we got the opportunity to face these little gunmen face to face...service project style. The streets and lots around the Jerusalem Center are always littered with trash. This semester, we did a clean up project to pick up the trash and interact with the neighborhood. A bunch of young boys from a school just up the street came to help. These would be the same boys that throw rocks and shoot bb's at us. Luckily I was jsut so excited to be able to be with kids, I forgot that little detail. When the boys came to help, they made their presence known. I began following a little cluster of boys around, hoping they would pay attention to me and take a liking to me. I think it worked. Before I knew it, they were carrying around a stick with a baby doll's head shoved on top, teaching me Arabic words. I'm not going to lie, we didn't do much trash picking up, we be sure had fun. One boy in particular stuck by my side most of the time. He was a hard little worker and I don't think I ever saw a smile leave his face. Even when the rest of us got into a water bottle fight, he smiled and kept right on working. His name is Muhammed. He helped me learn most of the other boys names, and laughed at me as I attempted to say what should have been easy phrases in Arabic, but my tongue and lips just couldn't form the right sounds. After three hours of picking up trash and sweeping the sidewalks, we all ended up in a dirt lot, playing games. The littlest boys were climbing all over the tall students, making them throw them in the air and give them piggy back rides. We all eventually made our way to a grassy, spider covered slope on the Jerusalem Center grounds. Muhammed sat next to me and shared half of his orange with me. the others were all throwing olives that fell off the trees above at each other. Little boys are so much fun! It was so much fun to watch all of us students interact with the kids, and to see how similar children are no matter what part of the world they grow up in. Even if we were dirty and smelly from rumaging through the dirt to pick up trash, it was well worth it to get on good terms with the little trouble makers, and now some of my favorite friends, here in East Jerusalem.
Later that day, a big group of us decided to walk over to West Jerusalem to check out the night life, look at all the sukkot outside the resturaunts, and grab a shwarma to eat. It seems like everywhere we go we turn into a specticle. A couple of the guys started arm wrestling, and before we knew it, there was a circle of people around us, cheering and taking part in the contest. There was every walk of life hanging out on Ben Yahuda street. There were hippies playing guitars, Othodox Jews eating out, and BYU students arm wrestling. It felt so great to get out of the center for a night and add a little change to our routine.

Big, Tough, and Wild

Sometimes you just need to be with the girls. Even though there are like...3... boys here, some of us were in serious need of having some girls time. So what do girls do when they get together? You probably guessed it....SHOP! We tracked down a real mall here in town and set out to buy clothes to add to the wardrobe that is on a weekly cycle here. With all of the holidays going on here, we have been trying to go for a while, but there has been a holiday everyday for almost 3 weeks straight, so actually getting there when we are allowed out and when the stores are open has been tricky. As soon as the six of us girls walked out the gates of the center I was already feeling a little more in touch with my girly side. We were cracking jokes about boobs and and making fun of eachother like girls do when boys aren't around. The girls I went out with are not girls I have hung out with a lot, but I absolutely love them! When I have gone out with just girls before, I have noticed they are usually pretty reserved and cautious because they are contantly telling us how different the culture is here and how how even if we aren't flooseys, western women are just seen as easy. Our little group of six knew how to have fun and have street smarts at the same time. When we got ot the western side of the city and found the mall, it was like seeing a vision from heaven. It was an outdoor shopping mall with European clothes stores lining each side. As we walked into each store, it was very apparent we did not fit in. Here we were in our frumpy, touristy clothes scanning the racks for anything that cost less than and arm and a leg. All the clothes were much too expensive for my bank account, but it was still so much fun to even just look at and drool over clothes. We walked the length of the mall and only bought a few little things here and there. My friend Becca had the best purchase of the day...a little boys t-shirt with a bear on the front that said "Big, Tough, and Wild." Shopping here in Israel is wonderful because they don't care if you touch the clothes or pick them up to try them on. Most places I have traveled, the store clerks freak when you even stretch your hand out to touch something. We were cramming into dressing rooms and giggling at the ridiculous things we were trying on. The sun began to set and that is our signal to hustle home. We quickly ran to Ben Yahuda street to grab a gelato and then started the treck home. There were tons of soldiers out becasue it was a Jewish holiday. As we walked past a parked jeep full of soldiers, I decided to make my secret desire to get a picture with the troops come true. I stopped the girls, turned around, and went back to ask if they would take a pictue with us. Of course they would! One of the soldiers hopped out of another parked truck and ran over to me to say he wanted a picture with me. We took a group picture and then the one soldier started asking where we were from and all of that. Then he asked me how he was supposed to see me again. I told him he wouldn't. He asked if he could have my number, but don't worry, I didn't even know it and I wouldn't have given it to him if I did. As a last resort, he asked if he could give me his number so I could call him sometime..........Sure! I ran back to my friends with the cute Israeli troop's number written on my map. I got his digits! I got his digits! I'll never call him, but it made for a good end to the girls trip out.

Once we got back to the center, we had to quickly change and run up to the forum for a special presentation from the Arabic teacher. He brought two Muslim Shieks to demonstrate the reading of the Koran and the call to prayer fro us. We then went into dinner for a Ramadan feast. The cafateria was decorated with flowers and tableclothes and each of us were seated by ushers to our assigned seats. The dinner tasted pretty much like every other dinner we have everyday, but it was fun to do something out of the ordinary. After dinner we shuffled into the gym to learn Palestinian folk dancing. Anything to do with dancing you know I am going to love it. I was dying of laughter watching the boys attempt to prance across the gym. It was a blast! Best of the day? Getting the guard's number. *note: he is not in the above picture.
p.s. Is is odd that I never noticed their guns until I just loaded the picture?