We woke up at Oscar hotel and I showered and then we went downstairs. We were the FIRST ones there, which was a FIRST. We were actually very early, so we started to get worried. People eventually came down, but I was reminded of how the people who I am meeting feel when I am late... Still working on that. Anyway- the breakfast was free, and by the selection, you could tell. We "ate" and piled onto the bus. The supervisor from Yarmouk University called me "zouja" (wife), which confused me- how could I have forgotten about my wedding the night before???!?! (He continued to call me that for the rest of the trip...). Our hotel was in Petra, so we did not have to drive far to get to it. We got our COOL ID CARDS----
from Waed and Muhammad, and somehow that gave us really reduced rates (from 90 dinar--127 USD-- to 2 dinar--- 1USD--- miraculous). Petra was awesome, but HUGE. Apparently it takes 3 full days to see the whole entire in order to see everything, you have to go back for three times... We had all day, but we also wanted to get to Aqaba... Petra was really cool. It was crazy to walk through and think about people living there thousands of years ago, and we are there looking at their treasury building etc. in 2012. Here are some pix... 
This man told us some riddles, but I can not remember a single one. I can only remember the one that Sarah told him... "What has four legs then two, then three" (or something) Answer- A baby (crawling) that grows into a man (walking on 2 legs) then becomes an old man with a cane (three legs) lol
This is a me talking to a Bedouin who ran the souvenir shop. (Thanx Jack for the pic). He was nice. He talked about his siblings who married foreign women (one in Germany, one in France and THIS WOMAN -who wrote a book about being married to a Bedouin) He told me that nobody has married an American yet.............). He was very nice and articulate, but unfortunately I am not looking to marry a Bedouin. He DID have one of the best quotes on the trip thus far. He was discussing his family, and told me that he still lives at home- in a cave- with his family, but don't worry-- it is a "2012 Bedouin cave" with cable and wifi.... I believe him, tempting, but I still had to pass.
This is a cool rock structure that we saw on our way back, which was MISERABLE. You walk out the same way that you come in, but the way out is UPHILL. It became SO hot, and then influx of people must have tripled. Silly tourists- don't they know that the early bird catches the worm!!!?! They must have been SWEATING, because IIII was at eight a.m when we arrived (four hours earlier)... Also there was this asian tourist who was SINGING the entire way back. It was so weird and at first we did not know where it was coming from, but then we figured it out. She was just walking alone thru Petra, singing opera. Jack (a singer himself) watched the video footage that I took, and said that she was GOOD, which might be why people applauded her when she finished (as opposed to cheering that the song was over).
After going through Petra, we had to wait for Waed & Muhammad to come out, so we sat with this big army officer guy who was funny. Finally they arrived and it was off to Aqaba!!!!! Yippee
We got to Aqaba and checked in VERY quickly. Then we went to our BEAUTIFUL hotel room and changed bi soora (very quickly)... in need of as much beach time as possible. We sat at the beach alllll day it was so amazing. There were no waves in the water, but it was okay because it was very refreshing. Apparently the weather in Aqaba got to 115 degrees Fahrenheit , and you could tell. I put on a lot of sunscreen, but it was futile because I sweated (sweat?) SO MUCH.
True to form, we ordered lunch on the beach, and they delivered it right to my lounge chair. Here's a pic of my chicken burger, US Weekly from March, and SPF 55 sunscreen...
I also went in the pool, which is rare for me. VERY refreshing. I loved it and stayed in for much longer than I usually do. I swam around a lot, but did NOT get a drink from the swim-up bar.
After a GREAT day at (Petra and) the beach we went out to dinner. I got an asian seafood rice dish that was great, but heavy on the calamari. We also got iced teas, which were tasty, but did not have any cubes in them. I saved part of my meal for the next day. We also went shopping in the souq. I was NOT interested in shopping, so I just sat and helped bargain a little. I think I am over shopping and having to fight for prices post-Maroc, but I really should try to get SOME souvenirs here.... I got some roasted nuts because Muhammed said that they were the best. I haven't tried them yet because I want to save them for Maroc... I actually did have a sample, and they tasted pretty good... I will tell you when I eat more.
I thought I had weasled my way out of paying for a cab by talking to the driver in Arabic the enitre way, BUT once I told Waed that we didnt have to pay- she proceded to tell us that was typical and I was supposed to INSIST on paying... WOOPS!! Mahhhh bad.
After our nighttime adventure, we went back to our room. Sarah (our little diva in training) was NOT a diva, and let Nicole and me have the comfy beds while she took the cot- here's the pic to prove it.
The next day we woke up SUPER early and went to the beach (again, true to form). We had a light breakfast (not the buffet) where the chef brought us free pastries (my favorite type!!). We stretched our beach time till the last min, and were (obviously) late to board the bus-sryyy. The 6 hour trip went by quickly until the last hour or so. There was SO MUCH traffic when we were about 20 minutes away from Irbid. It took us at least an hour to move maybe 10 miles. It was TERRIBLE. I was cautious about complaining outloud because I feared the worst, but it turned out to be a college ("Philadelphia College") graduation! RUDE!!!!!
Also when we got home, Irbid had no power. lol- we thought it was a blessing in disguise because we were going to get out of doing our HW. As soon as we made the decision to get dinner and NOT do the hw, our lights came on (obivously). I am very grateful for the flashlight I brought because the power has gone out a couple of times so far.
Anyway, totally awesome vaycayyyy- it might seem like this entire trip is a great vacation, but I want to remind you that I am talking serious Arabic classes four hours a day.... The weekend breaks are more interesting to share & read about though, right???
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