Gerasa

This week went by very quickly because of the Prophets birthday on Tuesday. The work week never really changes though, it’s very predictable. The work is consistent only that sometimes there is more, and other times there is none at all. I can’t believe that I have been here for almost 2 months now. It seems like time has gone by so quickly, and yet feels like an eternity since I actually left. I feel as though time is already beginning to run out, and that I have so much more to see and to experience here. I feel this way, though in reality, I have almost 2 and a half months left, which is probably more than enough time. This week I also went to Amman twice in the morning, once to get blood drawn and the other to get fingerprints, both are steps taken to get my residency in Jordan. I was expecting to go to the embassy, or a hospital to get my blood drawn. Instead, we were taken to a building down a side street with almost a hundred immigrants waiting in line. Our driver cut in line, flashed some papers and spoke to some people working there, and we preceded to go inside. My adventure to get my fingerprints taken a few days later was equally memorable. This time we were taken to a small stone building outside of the city. We walked in though glass doors into a single medium sized room with multiple men in army apparel standing around smoking cigarettes. We waited for several minutes, and then a man preceded to grab our fingers putting them into the ink, and rolling each and everyone of them onto a piece of paper to get the full print. 

The weekend finally arrived, though I along with the other Junior Fellows had little, if any money to spend since our stipend had almost depleted for the month. We spent out Thursday night in Madaba at the usual café. The next morning I went on a school trip to Jerash, a town an hour north famous for its extensive Roman ruins of Gerasa. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day as we walked through the endless ruins. You enter through a grand arch, and walk up to a large race track. At first, I thought that was it, some ruins, and a race track because I couldn’t see much else from my position. However, after a bit of walking the ancient city reveals itself. Two theaters, a long colonnade reaching the end of the city, multiple temples in ruins, and more. The best part, which is also not very good for the preservation of the ruins, is that very few sections are blocked off, meaning I was able walk up small steps in the back of the theater leading up to the top of the seats, and up small crumbling stairs in the temple to get another view. My favorite part of the day was when the prayer began. I was walking through what was once a Roman temple, when a couple of mosques in the city outside of the ruins began broadcasting the prayer, it was beautiful to hear the prayer through the wind as I explored an ancient city. 

Spring break has been on my mind lately, because I need to start planing where I want to travel, which is getting tough, since my many of the countries surrounding Jordan are quickly becoming unsafe to travel to. 

I’m thinking Istanbul.