Day 56

Entrance to Petra

Elephant?

The Treasury

Treasury with Kara and Anna-Leah

With Katie and Lauren

The Monastery

Awkward tourist photo with Lauren

End of the World

End of the World with Jessica, Lauren, and Elyse

Tuesday. The 25^th of October.

This morning I was planning on getting up and showering but obviously decided sleep was of better value to me. Today was all about Petra. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then go watch Indiana Jones. It is also the best site in all of Jordan. It was a built/carved by the Nabateans and is known for all of the tombs carved into the rocks. It is sort of like a Grand Canyon experience walking to it, going through the canyon. The Nabatean’s were pretty smart if you ask me, not only did they create one of the seven wonders of the world, but they also had an extensive pipe system for their water. I was impressed. The treasury was just as cool as you would expect. We walked pretty much the entire site. There were a ton of people and kids trying to sell us junk the entire time, but it provided some entertainment. One girl was trying to trade me a necklace for something out of my backpack, she wanted lipstick but I for sure didn’t have any of that. At the end of the tour we had lunch and then free time. We decided to walk to the Monastery. Okay it definitely was not a walk, it was a struggle. It took us a minimum of forty minutes climb up the wretched stairs. We stopped so many times, that we were even called grandmas by one shopkeeper. But most of the little shack/shop keepers were giving us encouragement; like it’s only ten more minutes, you can do it! It was rough. But once we got to the top it was totally worth it. The Monestary was just as cool as the treasury and we were on the very top of the cliffs. We had climbed so far up that it provided really great view. After we wobbled down the mountain, we dragged ourselves back to the buses. But on the way there we stopped at a bathroom. It was not a great moment for me. I may have accidently walked into the men’s bathroom where my some males I know happened to be. Let’s just say it was pretty embarrassing.  So awkward. But I think I have almost fully recovered from that traumatic experience. We had a long bus ride after that back up to Amman. We checked into our hotel, Leslie was also reunited with her Fiancée, Jesse Foster Thomas, so that was exciting for us all. Danielle and I happened to get one of the best rooms. We had a little entryway with couches and a TV and then we had another room with our beds. Apparently it was much nicer than most of the other kids rooms. We then had dinner in the hotel, the food here has been surprisingly really good. I was expecting Turkey nastiness, but I have been happily satisfied. I went out and walked around the city with a few people after that. It really wasn’t exciting, we stuck to one street and most things were closed. We ran into just about every single person on our program while we were out. It was still sorta fun, I guess. Better than staying in the hotel or anything. There was apparently a little party in someone’s room for Caleb’s birthday, but I just went to bed. Fun stuff.