Dan met me in Amman (capital of Jordan) where we met up with one of my oldest and closest friends, Grace, who is currently teaching English in Jordan on her Fulbright fellowship. Grace had a palatial apartment that she shared with two other Fulbright-ers (Jen and Hannah) that is roughly 10 times the size of my Munich apartment. We started the trip with shisha (tobacco that we proceeded to smoke from a hookah every day for the next five days there—I think my lungs are still coughing up smoke); it’s a Middle Eastern cultural experience that we obviously had to partake in religiously. 
Our first full day there started with a delicious brunch followed by a dip in the Dead Sea – the lowest point on Earth! It’s insanely salty, which keeps the water buoyant and resulted in the inability to sink.
We followed our dip in the Dead Sea and mud treatment with teaching English to Sudanese & Somalian refugees in a Jesuit Center. Interestingly enough, Amman is a safe-haven for quite a few refugees as it has the resources and is fairly welcoming; Grace, along with other Fulbright teachers and volunteers, teaches English to children and adults who are in the process (sometimes decades long) to obtain a visa for a more developed nation. 
It’s incredible how important it is around the world to have a strong command of English – everyone there was so appreciative of the lessons. Our three hour lesson ended with a double dose of schwarma (grilled meats wrapped with tomatoes/tatziki in pita bread).
Day two began with Dan and me exploring the streets of Amman successfully without being scammed – never undervalue a good guy friend who can not only protect you from random men but can also mimic accents like no other and be confused for a local.
After our adventure filled 
with falafel and shisha smoking, Grace joined us for a four hour drive south to the city of Petra, an ancient city (established in 6th Century BC and was once the capital for the Nabataeans people) that was once a mecca of economic activity -- we experienced Petra by night [read a race to make it to this night show where Bedouins (nomadic Arabs of the desert regions of Arabia and North Africa) played a flute and some other old-time instrument]. The scenery along the ride was unbelievable – think rolling mountains vaguely similar to Southern California.
After much needed rest, we filled day three with Petra by day. Imagine scaling mountains (we really did climb hundreds of steps up and down giant mountains and ruins) and falling/tripping over and almost dying several times to get these great shots of us at different vantage points.
Of course, the trip didn’t end there; we continued our shisha tour of Jordan and headed off the next day back to Amman on the Dead Sea Highway. This time around, the “White Visitor” (female form of giant white dust/sand storms that blocked anything beyond fifty feet of eye view) wasn’t around and we got GREAT views of the Dead Sea and Israel right across the water.
We stopped off at a castle that was once used to protect the city of Karak during the 3rd Crusade and ended the afternoon with a panoramic sun-setting view of the Dead Sea atop giant cliffs, eating ice-cream and sipping hot chocolate of course. Alas, my trip came to an end with more amazing Middle Eastern meals and sweets – I think I ate enough for two people on this trip – and shisha smoking.
Can't wait for what the next adventure holds!
