Trip to Jordan

First of all, thanks to the couple of you who encouraged me to keep blogging. You're right, it is a decent way to keep thinking and communicating.

I just got back from an incredible weekend in Jordan. On Friday, I was able to cross off one of the top places on my list of where I'd like to go in my life, Petra. Petra is absolutely incredible, and certainly deserves its place as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. The city is gorgeous, the architecture unbelievable, and the lack of a written history of its construction, life, and demise give it that air of wonder and mystery that makes any place appealing. We (the two other chaperones and nine students) walked through most of the ancient city before riding insane donkeys back out. Yes, the donkeys were insane, and galloping on a donkey along the edge of a chasm is not exactly fun. But, then again, how many people can claim to have had that experience? Overall, Petra was postively incredible, and I look forward to returning someday to see the sites that the group wasn't up for hiking to.

The main reason for the trip, however, was to help Habitat for Humanity build a house for a local family. As it turned out, we were actually building an addition onto an existing house so that the family's son would have enough room for himself and his bride-to-be (she was going to marry him as soon as he had room for her). The work itself was exhausting, but certainly gratifying. Our project was to build the roof for the addition. Normally, in the states, this would mean a wooden frame, crossbeams, shingles, and insulation. Not here, that would be too easy. Arabs like having cement roofs, so we had to first build a wooden frame, set up metal supports every few feet to bear the weight of construction, then build a ramp up to the roof to help with carrying hundreds of cement blocks, then we had to build steel girders to reinforce the poured concrete and carry those to the roof...in other words, we worked our asses off and I am very sore (though to be fair, my ass is still fully here, a testament to how much I need to continue exercising). We didn't get to actually pour the concrete, but everything else was done, and it was nice to have made visible progress.

One great part of the construction process was working alongside the students and some Jordanian contruction workers. Working with the students gave me the opportunity to learn more about them, their motivations, their lives, etc. And getting to work with the Jordanians was a window into a less affluent Arab world. They were all good people and hard workers, and I was able to establish friendships through my own hard work. We also received lunch every day from the family, which was always delicious and eagerly anticipated.

Finally, we had the evenings free to explore Amman, and load up on souvenirs. I had a great time visiting the ancient Roman amphitheater and haggling with merchants. It truly was a memorable weekend, and not just because my entire body aches.

If you would like to see some photos of the trip (mostly Petra) check out this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/gregory.smith44/JordanTrip

Others there took many more pictures of the construction and the group, so as soon as I get those, I will add a link to them.