Escape to Jerash

Once upon a time (approximately last Friday),

I took off on an adventure (technically I drove... and technically I didn't personally drive as that is a big no-no with the Council for International Educational Exchange).

But anyway aft

er meeting my friend Kathleen at the North Bus Station (and drinking a delicious nescafe (a favorite Jordanian sugary instant coffee drink))

We negotiated with a cab driver to take us to

the village/ancient city of Jerash (By negotiated I mean we stood around while Arab men yelled different prices at us and at each other).

After a 45 minute drive (Jordan is a small country) through the beautiful (jamera) countryside we arrived in Jerash.

It was pretty FREAKING SWEET.

I LIKED IT A WHOLE LOT.

Later in the day we met up with some more of are friends who had opted to sleep in (namely Tommy, Lizzie, Charlotte, and Sam (see picture))

We ate Lebanese food at a highly regarded restaurant (Late King Hussein, King Abdullah II, and Nelson Mendela have all eaten there)

It was really good! Unfortunately a big bus load of German tourists showed up while we ate.

(I also caused a minor scene by photographing my food

. A Jordanian man thought that I had photographed his wife who was veiled from head to toe (which I had not (though it would have made a curious

orientalist picture as it looked difficult to eat kebab with one's whole face covered)).

Thankful, the asshole Germans's arrival seemed to make my photo of lettuce a minor issue in comparison to the raucous and he accepted that I might not be quite as big an ass as he believed me to be.

(I tell this story because a) I was embarrassed by the whol

e affair and b) I think the man's assumption that a flash in his peripheral vision was that of an exploitive tourist... when in reality it was an attempt to document a hilariously large salad (complete with whole uncut green pepper) tells us something interesting about the socio-political assumptions that are attached to

me as a camera carrying Western tourist)

But anyway, after our late, long, and immensely satisfying lunch we headed back into town and rode back to Amman. We were all quite satisfied with the day's

adventures. (Did I mentioned how cool Jerash is?)

PS (in case you are wondering, why I have opted to use so many parentheses it is because I find it difficult to put a wonderful day away from the busy city and general hubbub into a linear narrative (I also feel that if William Faulkner can write a six page sentence in Go Down, Moses, I can do whatever the heck I want (it is my blog)))

Love you all, Michael