Almost Half Way

I'm almost half way done with my SALT term. *insert cliche statements about how the time has flown* The following countdown is not very precise, but I thought it would be nice to show you all anyway!

Countdown:

12 days until the second semester of school starts
2 months (minus 1 day) until my birthday

3 months until Easter Vacation (and hopefully a visit from a friend!)

4 months until Retreat in Barcelona

5 months until the end of the school year

6 months until I'm back in the States

I guess I better start figuring out what I'm going to do after this year is over, huh?

Petra Adventures

In front of the Treasury in Petra

This weekend marks the start of AES' official winter holiday. The past two weeks have been filled with creating, administering, taking, and grading exams. But now, there is no more school until February. One of my college friends, Jackie, decided to help me start my holiday off with a bang by coming to visit me. She arrived on Thursday evening and our adventuring started early Friday morning. We caught the 6:30AM bus out of Amman on Friday morning. Three and a half hours later we arrived at our destination: Petra.

Exploring

Upon our arrival in the town, Jackie and I first made a pit stop to get a hotel room. We dropped off her bag, empty my backpack of non-necessities, made sure all important things (food, water, money, ID, etc) were in my bag, and then headed off to the ancient city. The first stretch of the walk, where there is the option of walking or taking a horse, is framed by some hills which have caves carved out of them and the first sign of amazing ancient hard-work and talent displayed in Petra- a multistory building with a beautiful facade. Jackie and I walked and explored the caves and buildings.

First view of the Treasury

We continued down to the second part of the walk, which is through a canyon known as the Siq. We trekked upon this path, oohing and ahhing, until we got to the end because at that moment we had to pause in wonder. Right at the end of the canyon, where it opens up, is the Treasury. The Treasury is enormous and breath taking- it's the building that you might have seen in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Jackie and I took pictures and decided to rest there for a quick lunch of tea, apples, and granola bars. Then we continued on, passing offers of camel and donkey rides. We explored a bit as we walked, and noticed a set of stairs going up the side of one of the hills. We spoke to a young Bedouin man, who suggested we take the stairs up to the High Place of the Sacrifice, then return down the other side of the hill. So we did.

Heading up to the High Place

Jackie and I started up the stairs- excited and full of energy, blissfully unaware of what we actually just decided to do. When they call it the "High Place" it isn't a joke. It is very high up. After we had stopped for our first rest on the stairs up, another young Bedouin man on a donkey passed us. He told us we were doing well, we were "almost half way there." Jackie and I looked at each other in horror. We concluded that it was too late to turn back, and continued on. The trek up featured regular rest breaks from then on, one of which included feeding a very social kitten.

At the top of the High Place

Finally, we made it to the top. The view was amazing. I was later told that from that point you can see across the Jordan/Israel/Palestine border. Some Bedouin young men had a tea shop set up at the very top and invited us for tea with them, but we decline and continued on our way, after enjoying the piccolo playing by one of them for a few minutes. We were given some simple directions and started our walk down the other side of the mountain. This path was much less clear than the original one we had used, and included some places where the stairs turned abruptly leaving us facing a steep drop off. It was a slow trek down that included some scooting, clinging to the wall, and a stop to eat some more. We made it down to a lower elevation where some more building were cut out of the stone, a tomb for Roman Soldiers and a Garden House, along with other smaller, plainer structures. We continued on. At this point there were several options of paths and we took the one that seemed to get up back as close to the entrance a possible. A passing Bedouin man on a donkey told us a path to take, and we followed it for a while- before realizing that it would take us farther away from the entrance- we were exhausted and mutually agreed that flopping on to our hotel room beds as soon as possible was necessary. So we changed directions and took a path that led us close to where we had originally mounted the stairs. 

How Bedouin women wear scarves

After a brief stop to use the toilet and another at a stand to buy some scarves, we made our way out of the ancient city. We walked back up the canyon, ignoring offers to take a cart along the way. But, by the time we made it to the next section of the walk, we were too exhausted to imagine walking anymore. We took some horses. Jackie is not a fan of animals in general, especially not ones larger then her, so she was a trooper to agree and follow through despite her displeasure. I on the other hand was ridiculously happy to be riding again, even if it was a short ride. The man leading me allowed me to take the reigns and steer for myself. Another young Bedouin man rode up beside me and took me for a trot- I was happy to allow him to take the lead rope while I re-acquainted myself with riding. After thanking and tipping the gentlemen for their help, we made our way back to our hotel where we didn't move from our beds for about 30 minutes. After that we went to dinner at a near by restaurant, where we were the only customers, and then went through some souvenir shops in order to keep ourselves awake. We were in bed by 9PM.

I got a pony

The next morning, today, we were up and about at about 8:45, though we took it slow eating breakfast, packing, and getting ready for the day, so we entered the tourist site around 10:40. The demographics in the site were very different this morning. While yesterday there had been a high number of seemingly Jordanian families, today there were large tour groups of elderly British people. Jackie encouraged me to take a horse in since it made me happy, while she befriended some of the British tourists on her walk down. I some how managed to take the same horse, though I was accompanied by a different young man, though the owner who had lead me the day before greeted me. This time I trotted along on my own, and then impressed the man by controlling the horse on my own when it wanted to continue while I was planning on stopping.

Jackie with the mosaic in the Byzantine Church

Soon enough Jackie caught up and we were on our way down the Siq again. We stopped for more pictures in front the Treasury, then continued walking down the main path with the goal of going to the Monastery. We walked and took a side trip to some ruins excavated by Brown University, though we didn't go far because we were both terribly sore. We stopped for lunch at a place we thought was near the Monastery, then we continued. After asking for directions we were informed that the Monastery was still at least an hour uphill trek away. We looked at each other in horror. Our aching muscles screamed no. Our hearts reminded us that we might not get this chance for a while. I looked at the time and reasoned that we didn't have enough time if we wanted to catch our bus. We both sighed in relief. We checked out a near by Byzantine Church near by instead.

Hanging out on a hill

After that we acknowledged that we didn't have the energy to do anymore adventures, and sat on a hillside enjoying the view and chatting for a while. Several Bedouins who live in Petra stopped by to chat with us while we relaxed. Then we slowly made out way back out. This time we walked the whole way. After retrieving the rest of our belongings from the hotel, we boarded our bus back to Amman. Jackie flies out tomorrow evening. I will stay in Amman for an indefinite amount of time working on projects at the MCC Office.

I'm definitely going back to Petra again. Next time the Monastery is a must.

Jackie and me at the Treasury

A New Years Prayer

God, as I welcome in this new year, I think of all I have to be thankful for from this past one. I am thankful for my family and friends. I am thankful that I have a family that supports me in all I do, that loves me and trusts me. I am thankful for new memories with old friends, and the chance to make new ones. I am thankful for the opportunity to make friends with different life experiences from my own, and the chance to experience life together for a short while. I am thankful for the strength you gave me to get through the hard times, oh God. The strength to stay up all those hours writing my thesis, and to not let it drive me insane (well, any more than I already am). For the strength to keep going even when the future was uncertain and bleak. For the strength to say “see you later” to those I love. For strength when I've felt alone and lost in this new place and culture. And from the bottom of my heart I thank you God for the opportunity to see and experience all the new places that I have.

But, God, these opportunities make me also cry out to you. As we read of the angels proclaiming “peace on earth,” I cry out to you to make it true, oh God. I look around me, and at everything I've done and seen this past year, and I do not see this peace you have called for. I see young people shooting each other on the streets of Philadelphia and other cities across the US. I see children dying in school shootings. I see women and children being injured, killed, and mentally scared from abuse received in their homes. I see women being blamed for the fact that they were harassed, assaulted, and raped while the perpetrators suffer no consequences from their illegal and immoral actions. I see women and people of color struggling to make it in a world that is structurally biased against them. I see young Black and Latino men getting targeted by the police just for being young and of color. I see Middle Eastern and Arab men being consistently targeted by security officials, just for their race and heritage. I see children who are unable to go to school or play because of violence in their communities. I see children and adults being harmed by addiction and violence. I see women being forced into human trafficking and made to think that that is their rightful place. I see families having to flee their homes, their towns, and even their countries because of war and violence. I see children who will never know life without PTSD, and adults who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with it as well. I see people who don't feel safe in their own communities, because of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, or religion. I see people having to go through check point after check point with armed guards and intense questioning, just to get to the next town over or even to go pray at their place of worship. I see people being denied access to their ancestral homes that they still think of as their own. I see governments invading the space and the lives of others whom they promised to leave alone. I see countries spreading their power and influence for their own gain without any mind to the negative effects it brings. I see people dying needlessly, from war and lack of access to medical care or food or water in a world where violence is unnecessary and there is enough food and medicine that no one should be lacking. I see a world where people have lost the ability to imagine the end to violent conflicts and occupations.

God, I cry out for your peace. I cry out for a peace that does not simply end violence, but one that enacts justice and mercy, that erases all structural violence and allows for equity and equality for all, one that allows everyone to live life to the fullest. I cry out, oh God, for you to give us your eyes. For the ability for everyone to see those they deem the other as an equal human being deserving of love and respect. I know that this will not come easily. I beg of you to give your strength to everyone to work for peace and social justice, and not just charity. I pray for the strength for your people to move forward even when the future seems bleak and the world unchangeable. I pray that you remind us that you have already called for peace on earth, and that to work for anything else is an act against you and all of your creation. I pray that we humans stop condemning each other for our differences but love each other knowing that we are in no place to judge.

God, I pray that this new year will be a time of steps forwards towards true, positive, peace. I pray that you give me the strength to always put that first in my vision, and that you impress it on the hearts of others and give them the courage to take steps towards a radical vision of peace.

In your holy name, I pray. Amen.