Here are my pictures from Jordan. As you’ve seen on my newsletter and Twitter, I traveled to the Holy Land. It’s been a zippy last few months with all the things going on.
The Call
Back last year, I had made plans to visit Turkey and there were so many COVID restrictions, my mother was dead against me traveling there. I then made travel plans to Sri Lanka, and we all know what happened there. 😒
By December, I was talking to my mother about how I could travel to the Holy Land. It was just a thought. My mother was quite happy with this idea. She had already been to Israel, so she was quite pleased with this choice. I wrote to the travel agency she went with and they kept giving me the go-around. Emails just went nowhere. In the end I wrote to Zion Tours and they said they weren’t going at the time. It was a busy spring with Easter, the repairs, my cousins wedding, my best friends’ birthday, there was just so much. Yet, I was optimistic about traveling.
After much back and forth, finally, Zion Tours had a date and a travel itinerary. The first stop Jordan. At Queen Alia International Airport, things were very fast. Our guide, Paul and the Jordanian travel guide Suleiman got our entire group out in less than an hour. The one person who lost their bag was given personal assistance and the bag was found. Everything in Jordan happens with your QR code. Pretty sophisticated. 🤩 Pamy was impressed but exhausted. I was zonked.
One of the first things Paul, our wonderful, Spirit filled travel guide from Goa said was, “you lot were called here. Lots of people want to travel to the Holy Land but they don’t have the money, lots of others have money but they don’t have the will or the health to travel to the Holy land. You have both because you have been called.” This was the second confirmation I received from the Holy Spirit about being called to visit Israel. When a friend mentioned it to me, I was skeptical. In my mind, I was off on a holiday. However, visiting the Holy Land is so much more. It truly is a call from the Lord to understand Him deeper.
Pictures from Jordan
Despite the fact that we were tired from our long flights, Paul suggested we head out and begin our tour right after lunch. His reasoning was once we hit our hotel beds, we wouldn’t be interested in any touring. And he was right. So we first went out to lunch. Jordanian food includes lots of salad, chickpeas, meatballs and flavored rice. Plenty of soup and fresh watermelon rounded off the meal. I think I have tasted the sweetest watermelon in Jordan.
Driving Through Jordan
You can tell as you drive through Amman that the country is sparsely populated and the vegetation is scarce. People pride themselves on being not Christian, not Muslim but Jordanian. They love their king and many people like to share stories of him.
Visiting Madaba
After lunch, we were off to see the Madaba Map. Madaba is mostly a Christian city and it houses St. George Orthodox Church where the entire map is embedded on the floor of the church. It’s quite amazing. The map is a representation for pilgrims of the entire Holy Land stretching from the Nile all the way to Israel.
There were few tourists but there was enough time to read the map, study it with our guide and then pray within the church. The map itself orients to the east with actual compass directions. What’s beautiful are the depictions. Fish in the Dead Sea swimming in both directions, the lion hunting the gazelle and various parts of the Holy Land. The mosaic itself dates back to the 6th century.
Hotel and Mass
Finally by 5 we were at our hotel, with mass scheduled for the evening. It was our first mass with Fr. Regan Fernandes, our priest for the tour.
Day 2
The next day I was pretty fresh after a good night’s rest. I think I slept 9 hours straight. However, we did have super early wakeup call service from reception and by 5 we had to be up. So my idea of lots of sleep on this holiday was totally out the window. And everyone knows how much I love sleep.
The weather was quite pleasant. Jordan was cold with the temperature in the 40s and 50s. So it was a good idea to carry some cardigans and warm layers.
After breakfast, the first place we went to see was Mount Nebo. This is the final place in the life of the prophet Moses, the Jordan Valley and the hills of Jerusalem – Moses viewed the Promised Land that he would never enter. The bus ride here was pretty smooth and you get to see the Jordanian countryside on the way there.
Mount Nebo
When we went up to see Mount Nebo, I kid you not, it was gusting. The winds so strong, that we were falling over, my cap flew away and my hair was a knotted mess. Right from the top of the mountain, it was hard to view the Promised Land or Jericho. It was hard to tell if there was anything green because there was so much sand in the air.
Paul took us inside for mass and that’s where we started. First we had mass at the Terra Sancta Memorial. Here there are so many other mosaics in the floor and the place is very quiet to reflect. Moses led 1 million Israelites up to this point. And because the Israelites were grumbling and because Moses struck the rock in anger, he was denied entry to Israel. The entire generation of grumblers were wiped out until a new generation traveled across to the Promised Land. Cruel reality? But a point of deep reflection for me.
There’s a lot of ongoing work here and those mosaic floors are really solid rock. It was here while in one of the bathrooms, I managed to drop my phone on the stone floor and splat. My screen phone screen splintered. I didn’t get upset. I was on a travel high and I was determined to take photos, splintered phone screen or not.
Outside it was really difficult to take pictures. The symbol of Moses’s stick with two serpents was also violently shaking in the wind. I could barely hold on for a picture. The other edifice here, the carving of the Bible from stone, was blessed and inaugurated by John Paul II.
Break Time
After the whirlwind morning, we stopped for lunch. Maklobeh is very common here. Rice with chicken and eggplant. There were so many types of halwa and bread pudding.
John the Baptist
We also visited the site where John the Baptist was beheaded. It’s fairly close to Herod’s palace. The palace itself has been destroyed by the government as it was a target for looters. However, it is very close to the Dead Sea and Paul explained to us how Herod was a very good engineer who built aqueducts to ferry up water from the Dead Sea for his skin condition. It struck me how we never remember Herod for his good work but for the one misdeed he allowed to happen. Food for thought really.
Watching mosaic work
After lunch, we stopped by a Christian mosiac shop, where they showed us how they make mosaic art work. They employ marginalized people and people who are often rejected for work. The basic mosaic patterns start from as little as $10. I’m not much of travel shopper and so I picked up a magnet for my mom. I really didn’t need anything else. For someone building a new home, this is a mosaic paradise.
Back to the Hotel
Of course, everyone did shop and so by 5 we were back at the hotel. I goofed about a fair bit on the drive back and enjoyed the countryside My roomate, Cyra, Lumen and Benicia kinda became good friends. Can you tell we just met a day ago? The next day we’d be up at 430am to cross into Israel.
Onto Israel
That will be another post. The trouble is I’m still organizing my pictures from Jordan, Israel and Egypt. I keep posting whatever I can on Twitter but there’s been little time and work beckons. Hopefully, my next post will be about Israel. Now THAT will be a very long post. 😊