Hello all. Sorry it's been a while, but I was gone all weekend in Aqaba and didn't bring my computer with me. The only thing interesting happening in my life right now was Aqaba, which let me tell you, was FANTASTIC. Brooke volunteered to find a place to stay, and after a week of searching we found a hostel called Bedouin Garden Village that averaged out to 20 dollars (14 JD) for two nights and breakfast for each person. Basically, it was a steal. And we were pleasantly surprised to find that when we got there, the place was really, really nice. It's down near Tala Bay, which is a few kilometers from Aqaba city proper, but it was nice because it was just across the street from the beach. The place consists of a few low buildings and some square areas with tents pitched for those who want a more "authentic" bedouin experience. The lower level area consists of an outdoor dining area and many patio-like platforms with low couches and rugs for reclining, chatting, chilling, etc. We ended up spending most of our Friday evening sitting in one of these areas, drinking tea and smoking arghileh like true Jordanians. (side note: we were walking on the beach and came to the public area, which was mostly traditional looking guys and their arghileh/hookah set up under a tent. They take this stuff everywhere.)
Allow me to back track somewhat: to get to Aqaba, we took a bus from Amman to Aqaba. The ride was around 4 hours, minus all the stops for the police to come on board and check our ID's - we think the random stops were because Aqaba is a duty-free zone - and the tickets only cost 7.5 JD, which is pretty decent. When we got to Aqaba we ate at a restaurant called Captain's where all the waiters had to wear sailor costumes. I felt pretty bad for them, they were some ridiculous outfits they were forced to wear. It was interesting to eat there because most of the people eating there were tourists who were staying at any of the hotels nearby, and none of them seemed to speak a word of Arabic. The more I'm here the more I realize how little I know, but also how much I know in comparison to the passing tourists. Life is so much easier when you can communicate even on a basic level with the people you're surrounded by. After dinner we went to our hostel, checked in, and then explored the beach. There wasn't a whole lot to see since it was so dark, but we could see the lights on the other side of Red Sea, presumably from somewhere in Israel. During the day, the view is totally different: behind you, in Jordan, you can see these huge mountains, totally brown and uninhabited, and across the sea you can see the buildings of the various coastal cities in Israel and Egypt. Beyond those buildings, more mountains rose up into the constant haze that exists throughout Jordan, and it felt like sitting in the center of a giant bowl. We couldn't see Saudi Arabia, but we were less than 6 miles from the border, which is pretty cool.
Our second day consisted of us sitting on the beach and not moving for hours. I mean, we got up to swim a couple of times, but the weather was just the right temperature for lying out in the sun. We were warned that the beach might be a bit sketchy since it was fairly public (i.e. old Arab men sitting around watching foreign women in their suits) but we were pleasantly surprised to find the beach mostly creeper-free. The water in the Red Sea is incredible, by the way: totally clear, and you can see reefs that begin just feet beyond the shore. We eventually went on a glass bottom boat tour, after the driver heckled us for hours to come do it. The upside was that he ended up knocking the price down from 10 JD to 4.5 for each person, which is a pretty sweet deal for an hour (it ended up being an hour and half) and snorkeling included. I just blame it on the fact that we went during the off season, which was an excellent decision. The tour was incredible. We could see at least 60 feet down into the water, and we'd pass over reefs that were mere inches from the bottom of our boat. We saw tons of fish, some eels, a sunk ship and a sunk army tank. We eventually got to go snorkel around some of the coral, and it was amazing. I can't even describe how awesome it was, but it was SO COOL. Brooke tells me that the Red Sea is one of the best spots for coral and snorkeling in the world, and if you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.
After the boat tour, we sat on the beach again until we got tired and went in to get ready for dinner. We ate dinner at the hostel, then moved to one of the tent/patio areas to sit back and relax. We got some arghileh and tea and sat around being as lazy as possible. Near the end of the evening we went out to the beach and took a walk. The tide was out, and we found a rock shelf that was fairly dry, and we sat and talked for around an hour until the wind became too much to handle and we went back and sat around and talked some more there. Basically, it was a lazy weekend of sitting around, sleeping, and eating. It was exactly what all of us needed - we've been going nonstop since we arrived in Amman, and we finally got our break. I want to go back every weekend now, it was so relaxing and incredible. When I get the chance to steal some pictures from my friends, I will upload them or email them or somehow send them on to all of you.
This week should pass fairly quickly. Next weekend I'm participating in the Dead2Red marathon and skipping my program's expedition to the Dead Sea. It's pretty cheap to do it on your own, and the marathon seems like a once in a lifetime experience, so I'm really pumped for that. I'm actually in pretty decent shape considering I go to the gym around 4 times a week since it means I get to shower. Other than that, not much else is going on. It's the king's birthday today, so we came home early to avoid traffic, and now we're just sitting in our room watching Love Actually and not doing homework. I'll update you all again as soon as I can :)
yellabye!
Beth
What an experience!
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