Day 6...Tonight in Amman, Jordan

Tonight we are in Amman, Jordan, having crossed the Israel-Jordanian border via the Sheik Hussein Bridge this morning. The actual crossing of the Jordan (as in driving over the bridge) took only seconds, but the adventure of officially passing from one country to another took approximately two hours. It was made more bearable by the availability of Magnum bars in a container in the building of the Israel checkpoint. Someone asked, “Ice cream at 9:00 in the morning?” Our answer: “It is 5:00 somewhere!”

The Sheik Hussein Bridge was opened in 1998 and enabled us to pass from Israel into the Jordanian area known as Perea in Roman times. Once in Jordan, we passed several large flocks of brown goats, settlements of nomads and gypsies living in tent communities that look like the tents used to illustrate stories about Abraham in Bible storybooks. Many of the buildings in the small towns we passed appeared to be unfinished with exterior wiring that should not meet code in any country.

Our guide while in Jordan is named Tareq. He knows English and speaks it well, after you adjust to his thick Jordanian accent. We have our own tourist policeman on board, and he and the driver have the same name, one I was not able to understand, and most definitely can’t spell.

Our first sightseeing stop was at the ancient ruins of Jerash, which was one of the cities of the Decapolis. Unfortunately, we did not have the entire week it would have taken to see all of the area of Jerash. We did see the large oval plaza leading to the cardo maximus and several other sites. We went to the theater where we were treated (?) to a true multi-cultural experience…two Jordanian musicians, one playing the drums and another playing the Scottish bagpipe (go figure!), and the tune of their choice was “Yankee Doodle”. After the brief serenade in the theater, we went to the amphitheater for a “Roman Army and Chariot Experience“. There were men in the reenactment who demonstrated marching, fighting and even chariot racing like they had in Roman times. The many photos both during and after the show will serve us well in Bible teaching.

As we were leaving the Jerash area, we located a souvenir I had been wishing I had ever since we were in this area two years ago. Those of you who were on that trip may remember the lovely necklace made from camels’ teeth that one special lady received at that stop. Well…I have one of my own now! Eat your heart out, Dewey! Sharon and I ended up with the only two we saw for sale, and what a spectacular purchase for $4! You can’t have any dental work done for $4 today! Although I don’t know for sure, there are probably a limited number of necklaces made from genuine camel teeth in all of the U.S.! Fine jewelry is a wise investment, I hear. It just goes up in value and is an heirloom to pass down to the next generation.

Leaving Jerash we drove across the Jabbok River in the Biblical area of Gilead and continued on the modern highway to Amman, the capitol of Jordan, for the night. We arrived in Amman a little early, so several membrs of our group walked down the street to a local mall. Since land is so expensive, the mall is six stories tall, but has very few stores on each floor. There was a grocery store in the mall, and looking through their grocery selections was interesting. No money actually changed hands, but the looking was an interesting experience.

We have had another wonderful day. We saw so many interesting things and had so many special experiences. It is going to be difficult to top the necklace-purchase, but I am sure many more exciting events are still ahead of us. We are hoping you are having a wonderful day also!