Ode to My Water Bottle

Traveling in Jordan during this time of year requires one to carry water with them at all times in order to remain hydrated. One may want to be aware that such items may not enhance ones photographic moments. Here are several sad examples of a naive tourist who forgot to remove or set down her water bottle before posing for a picture in Petra, one of the most beautiful places on earth and one of the seven wonders of the world.

I think I was just so excited to come around the corner and see this that I forgot to set down my water bottle! (This place is also seen in the third Indiana Jones movie!)

This was on the hike down from the monastery so I'm probably just too tired here to remember that I had a water bottle in my hands.

I got so excited to see such tall and wonderful columns that I didn't notice my water bottle would block the lower left part of the column and ruin the picture!

I have no excuse for this one. I just can't seem to let go of that water bottle.

Ok on to the non water bottle pictures of Petra. Seriously this place was probably one of my favorite places that I have ever been. It is just amazing to walk around a sudden corner and see the famous treasury of the Nabateans...

And to think it was all created by an ancient civilization...I can't get over how cool it is! Not to mention the famous people you run into there...like Indiana Jones! (a guy in our class has been wearing this hat on all of our trips prepping for our Petra experience!)

Unfortunately he got to the Holy Grail before us. Here we are being sad that we aren't actually allowed to go into the Treasury in Petra to search for the grail.

But then I was happy because I got distracted by the humongous column in front of the treasury. I just couldn't resist hugging it.

The day got even better when I saw this sign near a shop. This place was just welcoming me to buy things on a whim!

That leads me to the part of the day where I spent the best $5 of my life. There was a monastery at the top of a huge mountain so we all rented donkeys so we didn't have to walk up the steep steps. The experience can't be described very well in words but just imagine me jumping on the donkey and then the donkey bolting up the mountainside as soon as the owner let go. I wasn't sure how to make it stop or slow down (it wasn't responding to anything I tried to do) so I just took comfort in the fact that the donkey probably wouldn't run itself off the cliffs (however later I thought that if I was a donkey who had to run up the mountain ten times a day carrying people running off a cliff might start to sound like a better option...) Not to mention my donkey like beating every other donkey to the top so we were literally knocking other people and donkeys out of the way to make it to the top first. I therefore appropriately named him Indy and couldn't stop laughing the entire time because I couldn't believe I was doing what I was doing. Here's a picture of the donkey taking off with me...

This is the monastery at the top...again so beautiful!

The other fun part of the day was shopping at the little stands. I bought necklaces from these adorable little children! I have loved meeting the kids in the Holy Land. They are always so friendly and welcoming. We even got to play soccer with some kids in Jerusalem one evening...it was the best!!Basically Petra has been one of my favorite places ever and our Jordan trip overall was awesome! We also had some cool experiences in Amman. One of the best was going to the mosque in Amman. The girls all needed to cover our heads in order to be respectful. It was neat to be able to visit a place that is so holy to the Muslim people.

We also got to visit a place called Bethany beyond Jordan on our way back to Jerusalem today. It is the place where tradition says that Christ was baptized by John the Baptist. The area was a lot hotter and more desert-y than I imagined. The people that came to listen to John the Baptist because they believed he was a prophet preparing the way for the Savior must have had strong testimonies in order to reside in such a desolate place. And how amazing to have been there when John the Baptist testified to them when he baptized Jesus that this was the Son of God, the Savior that he was preparing them for. I know I say this all the time but I just love seeing these places and having the scriptures come alive!

It is sad to think that this time of my life is quickly coming to an end. We only have 7 days left here and I am trying to savor every minute!