Mixing and the Romans
Wow. Okay. The weekend was really long. We left on Wednesday afternoon and got back yesterday morning. I have been so busy, spending my time doing nothing at all. Hopefully I'll have the chance to write about this weekend today or tomorrow.
On Thursday we went to Um Quais, which is right at the north-western border of Jordan. Its an old Roman city that has some spectacular views. The northern part of the country is really beautiful, and it is right on the edge of the Jordan Valley. You can see the Golan Heights, and Israel and Palestine from the hill. Its pretty incredible.
Then, also on Thursday, we went to Jerash. Jerash is the most well preserved Roman city in the Middle East. Its huge, and it is really neat to explore. So, after eating lunch at this spectacular Lebanese resturant, we spent the afternoon exploring the city. Even though there has been alot of restoration work and lots of money spent on the ruins, there are still major parts of it that are not that discernable or explorable. But, its pretty amazing to walk through the stone Roman streets and check out all the ruins of buildings, temples, etc.
After Jerash, we went to a castle in a city called Ajloun. It is the nicest castle I've been to. It was almost entirely restored, which made walking around it pretty awesome. You could amost imagine walking around it during the Byzantine or Roman times when you are inside. And, we were some of the only foreigners there. Mostly Jordanians visit it. It cost us 1JD (as foreigners), but I saw that it said in Arabic on the sign that Jordanians cost 0.25JD. That's the way all the tourist/visitor sites are like here - at least 4x more entrance fee for foreigners. More about that later...
Friday, my Mom and Brother and I went to Mecca Mall, the hugest and most American mall in Jordan. Aside from going to the awesome Arabic gift shop "Al-Afghani" I needed to buy cassettes to make mix tapes! Its going to happen. I'm working on getting the cassette recorder as I type this.
They had 60min and 90min cassettes, but they only had 4 60min tapes, and the 90min tapes were the exact same price (1.25JD/ea). So, I decided to beef up the mix with 30 more minutes. Its worth it for them, and it gives me a chance to refine the mix some. The new playlist is listed at the end of this post.
On Saturday we went to Madaba - this really cool, old Christian town just North of Amman. They are world famous for many spectacular mosaics (often found in old churches) and their hand-woven rugs. We saw the sights, explored the town some and did a little bit of shopping. I'm practically a master at haggling for prices now.
Sunday was Palm Sunday for the Christians here. They celebrate Easter next week. That's why we stayed until Monday - our ride, Dr. Anwar, took Sunday off to be with his family.
Then... last night we had a big dinner at a hall in al-thaniya, a nearby village area. It was sort of a way to gather most of the people that have helped us out while we are here and to say thanks all at once. It was nice. They had a huge buffet and all kinds of food. We invited everyone and their whole families, which is sort of a unique thing here. Mostly, when people "go out to dinner," only the men go. And, if their wives were to come (rare), they certainly wouldn't bring their kids. Its one of those rediculous cultural tradition thing that most people don't really like, but that is a pretty deep-seeded social institution. So, it was really nice. I think everyone enjoyed doing something a little bit different and had a good time.
We're getting ready to do some major traveling next week. I'll try to write more about it today or tomorrow (as I expand this post). Time is flying, even though I don't have that much that I need to do. I'm worried about managing my time right now. I don't know if I'll be able to get some interviews done. My big plan for a research paper could fall flat on its face - somewhat disconcerting.
Here's the new playlist:
Missed (Trans)missions
Side A
00 - From Monument To Masses - 00:00:36 (00:36)
01 - Minus The Bear - Monkey!!!Knife!!!Fight!!! (03:32)
02 - RX Bandits - Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers (04:39)
03 - Weezer - The Good Life (04:17)
04 - Bright Eyes - Oh, you are the roots that sleep beneath my feet and hold the earth in place (03:09)
05 - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Me and Mia (03:31)
06 - Pas/Cal - I Wanna Take You Out In Your Holiday Sweater (03:54)
07 - The Unicorns - Sea Ghost (03:42)
08 - Q And Not U - No Damage Nocturne (03:28)
09 - Hot Rod Circuit - At Nature's Mercy (03:30)
10 - The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (04:44)
11 - The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (lies) (05:10)
Out to Sea (drifting)
Side B
01 - Elliot Smith - Junk Band Trader (03:49)
02 - The Format - Tune Out (03:31)
03 - Elephant - Make Up (03:21)
04 - The Snake The Cross The Crown - Hot Anger, Soon Cold (04:21)
05 - Modest Mouse - 3rd Planet (04:00)
06 - The Anniversary - Hart Crane (02:48)
07 - Pretty Girls Make Graves - The Getaway/Untitled (05:21)
08 - Nick Drake - Pink Moon (02:06)
09 - Wilco - Ashes Of American Flags (04:44)
10 - Phish - Slave To The Traffic Light (Live: Nov. 26, 1994) (10:46)
On Thursday we went to Um Quais, which is right at the north-western border of Jordan. Its an old Roman city that has some spectacular views. The northern part of the country is really beautiful, and it is right on the edge of the Jordan Valley. You can see the Golan Heights, and Israel and Palestine from the hill. Its pretty incredible.
Then, also on Thursday, we went to Jerash. Jerash is the most well preserved Roman city in the Middle East. Its huge, and it is really neat to explore. So, after eating lunch at this spectacular Lebanese resturant, we spent the afternoon exploring the city. Even though there has been alot of restoration work and lots of money spent on the ruins, there are still major parts of it that are not that discernable or explorable. But, its pretty amazing to walk through the stone Roman streets and check out all the ruins of buildings, temples, etc.
After Jerash, we went to a castle in a city called Ajloun. It is the nicest castle I've been to. It was almost entirely restored, which made walking around it pretty awesome. You could amost imagine walking around it during the Byzantine or Roman times when you are inside. And, we were some of the only foreigners there. Mostly Jordanians visit it. It cost us 1JD (as foreigners), but I saw that it said in Arabic on the sign that Jordanians cost 0.25JD. That's the way all the tourist/visitor sites are like here - at least 4x more entrance fee for foreigners. More about that later...
Friday, my Mom and Brother and I went to Mecca Mall, the hugest and most American mall in Jordan. Aside from going to the awesome Arabic gift shop "Al-Afghani" I needed to buy cassettes to make mix tapes! Its going to happen. I'm working on getting the cassette recorder as I type this.
They had 60min and 90min cassettes, but they only had 4 60min tapes, and the 90min tapes were the exact same price (1.25JD/ea). So, I decided to beef up the mix with 30 more minutes. Its worth it for them, and it gives me a chance to refine the mix some. The new playlist is listed at the end of this post.
On Saturday we went to Madaba - this really cool, old Christian town just North of Amman. They are world famous for many spectacular mosaics (often found in old churches) and their hand-woven rugs. We saw the sights, explored the town some and did a little bit of shopping. I'm practically a master at haggling for prices now.
Sunday was Palm Sunday for the Christians here. They celebrate Easter next week. That's why we stayed until Monday - our ride, Dr. Anwar, took Sunday off to be with his family.
Then... last night we had a big dinner at a hall in al-thaniya, a nearby village area. It was sort of a way to gather most of the people that have helped us out while we are here and to say thanks all at once. It was nice. They had a huge buffet and all kinds of food. We invited everyone and their whole families, which is sort of a unique thing here. Mostly, when people "go out to dinner," only the men go. And, if their wives were to come (rare), they certainly wouldn't bring their kids. Its one of those rediculous cultural tradition thing that most people don't really like, but that is a pretty deep-seeded social institution. So, it was really nice. I think everyone enjoyed doing something a little bit different and had a good time.
We're getting ready to do some major traveling next week. I'll try to write more about it today or tomorrow (as I expand this post). Time is flying, even though I don't have that much that I need to do. I'm worried about managing my time right now. I don't know if I'll be able to get some interviews done. My big plan for a research paper could fall flat on its face - somewhat disconcerting.
Here's the new playlist:
Missed (Trans)missions
Side A
00 - From Monument To Masses - 00:00:36 (00:36)
01 - Minus The Bear - Monkey!!!Knife!!!Fight!!! (03:32)
02 - RX Bandits - Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers (04:39)
03 - Weezer - The Good Life (04:17)
04 - Bright Eyes - Oh, you are the roots that sleep beneath my feet and hold the earth in place (03:09)
05 - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Me and Mia (03:31)
06 - Pas/Cal - I Wanna Take You Out In Your Holiday Sweater (03:54)
07 - The Unicorns - Sea Ghost (03:42)
08 - Q And Not U - No Damage Nocturne (03:28)
09 - Hot Rod Circuit - At Nature's Mercy (03:30)
10 - The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (04:44)
11 - The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (lies) (05:10)
Out to Sea (drifting)
Side B
01 - Elliot Smith - Junk Band Trader (03:49)
02 - The Format - Tune Out (03:31)
03 - Elephant - Make Up (03:21)
04 - The Snake The Cross The Crown - Hot Anger, Soon Cold (04:21)
05 - Modest Mouse - 3rd Planet (04:00)
06 - The Anniversary - Hart Crane (02:48)
07 - Pretty Girls Make Graves - The Getaway/Untitled (05:21)
08 - Nick Drake - Pink Moon (02:06)
09 - Wilco - Ashes Of American Flags (04:44)
10 - Phish - Slave To The Traffic Light (Live: Nov. 26, 1994) (10:46)
posted by Aaron Berdanier at 10:43 AM Permalink
