5 Things you should know about Jordan...
1. It's dry and hot. Most of it is a rocky desert. Houses are made of stone. There are hardly any trees.
2. Natural resources are few. In the Middle East, you either need water or oil. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE - all have oil. So their populations all get free government handouts, healthcare, etc. Cities like Dubai or Abu Dhabi surpass anything you can find in the US. But Jordan has neither water or oil. Thus, the people are poor and area is dry.
3. They are ruled by King Abdullah, a guy who's half British. According to our tour guide, he's pretty awesome and everybody loves him, but then again, our guide is required to say that to tourists. He's married to a lady whom the British call the third-most beautiful woman in the world. :P
4. It's famous for the city of Petra, an ancient wonder of the world - an entire city cut into the side of a cliff. We didn't go there because it was out of the way.
5. They've had many wars with Israel and probably will again. But according to our guide, "Israel and us are good friends now". Another required statement. :)
5 Things you probably don't know about Israel...
1. It's GREEN. Everywhere you look, there's fruits, vegetables, olive trees. It's actually quite nice. Sure, it's arid as you come near the Dead Sea area, but Northern Israel is positively beautiful.
2. The Old City, the area of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, is tiny. It's possible to walk across the whole width in a couple hours fairly easily. Considering the size of our American suburbs and small towns, Jerusalem wasn't very imposing physically.
3. It's got great food. Very few places in the world can compare to the quality of the produce in Israel. The vegetables and fruits are absolutely amazing. Plus I love love Middle Eastern food. :)
4. It's really tiny. While it may have taken a day for Jesus to travel from Nazareth to the other side of Galilee, it's just a couple of hours drive for modern tourists. Bethlehem is practically a suburb of Jerusalem in modern terms. It's literally a 30 minute drive...driving at 40 mph.
5. The Dead Sea isn't all its cracked up to be. I'll explain in a later post. :P
5 Hilarious Holy Sites I saw...
I'll count these down to number 1.
5. The place where Jesus ate fish with his disciples after the resurrection. Yup, it's a big limestone rock...just like any other limestone rock. Not sure how they found that one.
4. Joseph's carpenter shop. We know this because...because it's a cave in the ground.
3. The Tomb of King David. The crusaders were really awesome because wherever they went they messed stuff up. They ruined great archeological sites by building churches and believed anything people told them. So when they discovered "the Upper Room", they excavated right underneath to build cellars for the monastery that was going to be built there. They found a big sarcophagus with menorahs on the side. Obviously, this was King David's tomb. Today, archeologists are clear that this couldn't have been King David's tomb. It's not the right place or the right time period.
2. The tomb of the Virgin Mary. According to Orthodox, this is where the Virgin Mary was buried. But after three days, she rose again and went up to heaven. Catholics disagree. This is instead the spot that the Virgin Mary was assumed. The Assumption of Virgin Mary is when she just went up into heaven the way that Jesus did. Both churches agree that as she went up (either after resurrection or not), she left her girdle, symbol of virginity, behind. :P
1. Mary's Milk Grotto: So supposedly, this site in Bethlehem is where Mary nursed Baby Jesus. You go into this little cave with tons of pictures of Mary nursing Jesus and you can light a candle of course. The cave's rock is white, supposedly because as Jesus was nursing, Mary spilled some milk...and...yeah...it turned the entire cave white. But that's not the best part...nowadays...Catholics come from all over to buy packets of powdered milk-rock to ingest, in the hopes of regaining...uh...fertility.
No joke.
5 Best places I went to...
5. The Shepherd's Fields in Bethlehem: I don't know if these are real or not. All I know was that there was a huge archeological excavation of some caves that had been used by early Christians. The excavations are open to the public so naturally, I went with a friend to explore. We used our cellphones as flashlights, crawled through tunnels, found ancient carvings, and generally had a blast.
4. The Via Dolorosa: You can't help but grasp the deep cruelty and beauty of the crucifixion of Jesus as you trace his steps from Pilate's court to the cross and tomb. It's tough to describe it. You need to go to understand.
3. The Mount of Olives. This is the place where Jesus will come back. That's pretty mind-blowing.
2. The Way of Hosannas: The route Jesus took to arrive in Jerusalem for his final mission. You walk along that route, come up onto the side of the Mount of Olives, and suddenly, the entire city of Jerusalem is in front of you and you're directly overlooking the Temple Mount. There's a church there to commemorate the place where "Jesus wept." It's a deeply moving experience.
1. Simon Peter's House: Archeologists have done extensive studies and concluded that this excavation in Capernaum is indeed his house. This is the place where Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, where the paralytic was lowered through the roof, where Jesus stayed. When you go to this town, largely intact from the time of Jesus, the Bible becomes tangible. The bedtime stories become historical accounts. You aren't just an believer anymore, you're now a witness as well.
