I didn’t really know what to expect when we went to Jordan, but I ended up loving it. Petra and all of that was super awesome and I loved it, but I actually really liked the city of Amman as well. The first night we got to Amman we had dinner at our hotel, and I felt like I was at a wedding or something because it was so fancy. Then we explored up the street to this store that had a bunch of different treats, so we obviously had to get some.
BYU has an Arabic program in Amman, and one of my friends at school named Braden is in the program, so he came over to our hotel later that night. It was too late for us to go anywhere because we had to be in the hotel for curfew, but him and one of his friends came over and we just chatted for a few hours it was really fun. And it was so nice being able to be with someone from home too!
The next day we went and saw some different places in Jordan. We stopped at the Jabbok River, which is where Jacob heard Esau was coming for him, Esau spared his life, and an angel came and changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Some other biblical events happened there and it was really cool being able to be there. And the river was really pretty too.
Then we went to the Jerash ruins, which was really cool. We were able to see the old amphitheater where these two men came and played their bagpipes for us (which was kind of a clash of cultures because we were in ancient Roman ruins, hearing bagpipes, and they played Yankee Doodle haha). We also were able to see the Temple of Zeus, some other temples and columns. I thought it was really cool because you could see the old city overlooking the modern day Jerash city.
That night, we were able to hit up the town of Amman with some locals, which was awesome! One of my friends, Izzat, from BYU is from Jordan and his brother and family still live in Jordan so we were able to meet up with him and some of his friends. He drove us around town; we got to walk around some of the streets, and Rammah bought us all a traditional scarf, and him and his friends treated us all to the best falafel and food in Jordan! It was so fun being able to explore around with someone from the area, and it was fun going to all the best places and I really liked being able to just ask them about anything while we were there in the country. Thanks to them, I loved Jordan!
The next morning, we all went together to a mosque in town, which was really cool! It reminded me of the Blue Mosque in Turkey a little bit, with the beautiful building and all of the blue decoration. It also was really cool because while we were there a Muslim man came and prayed so we were able to watch him pray.
Before we came back to Jerusalem, we stopped at the River Jordan. It was super hot, but way cool. We got to see some live archaeological digging there and then down to the actual river. It was a cool experience, we had a little devotional about Christ’s baptism by our professors, and we sang some hymns. After that we were able to dip our feet in the river. It’s just so amazing to me how we are able to see all of these amazing significant places each day. It’s unreal. And then we are able to learn more about the life of Christ, prophets of old, and the stories in the Bible. I also love being here with a BYU group so we have the perspective and insight from the church, and we are able to sing hymns in these different places, which is my favorite part. For me, when we sing the different hymns at the various places we visit, I am able to feel the Spirit and it just testifies to me the realness of Christ and His love for me.
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