Trip to JORDAN

So much has happened between our trips to Turkey and Jordan that I need to catch up on but I want to write about Jordan while it's still fresh in my memory! 

Jordan was a great adventure! But man, it was H-O-T!! Everything is brown. There are very view trees and no grass. Even places that were indoor could only be cooled down so much. But despite the heat, Jordan is beautiful and unique in it's own way. The feeling is very different from here in Israel, it is more peaceful. The tension is gone because it is a mainly Muslim country. Everyone is just more relaxed. Anyway, we were there for four days this past week and we had a blast!

The first place we went was Mt. Nebo. This is where the Lord had Moses come to visualize the Promised Land. Many people believe that this is where he died. However, we believe that he was translated and this may have been the place. 

The wonderful view

 Love these girls

Machaerus was a fortress that was rebuilt by Herod the Great. And also it is the place where John the Baptist was beheaded. It is actually a huge hill that is about a 15 minute hike. You can't see it well because I only have pictures on the top of the hill. But google it because it is actually really cool to see!

  

 This gives a good idea of the height of Machaerus, and also of what Jordan looks like.

Cheesy... But we have fun

Okay... one of the best parts, hands-down, was going to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World...

PETRA

Our first introduction to this glorious place was what is called, "Petra by night." You walk along for a little over a mile on a path lined in lanterns. The sky is filled with stars and all around is huge rocks and hills. You are basically walking through a desert canyon. Because it was dark it was hard to capture but when you were actually there, the stars lit up the rocks and it was truly a magical experience. I was in heaven. We soaked up every minute of it.  

It was actually much lighter than this, but this is all I could capture of the walk.

(This gives you an idea of what the canyons are like that we walked through that night)

As one of our professors liked to remind us, "This is the most romantic thing you will ever do... alone." And it was! But the best part was when you came around a corner... and saw the TREASURY... illuminated by the candles.  

I hope you can just get a glimpse of how incredible this place is, especially at night. 

They had musicians playing authentic music on unique instruments from much earlier time periods. It was such a fun experience. Definitely a highlight from the whole trip.

The next day we got to spend the majority of our time exploring Petra. This place is over 2,000 YEARS OLD! It is absolutely incredible that the structures we saw are still so well in tact! 

Our guide gave us a tour and then set us lose! The first thing we did? Ride a camel of course.

Words can't even describe how fun this was. I was SO happy!

We then started hiking. We hiked up to the "high place" where there was an ancient altar for sacrifices. It also had an wonderful view. It was just so fun to be outside, free to decide what we wanted to explore, and it was so great to be hiking again!

Such a cool view

Friends!

Sitting on the altar

The second hike we went on was to the "Monastery." It was a verrrryyy hot, but it was well worth the effort! 

The Monastery

If you look closely you can see a Bedouin kid on the very top of the Monastery. THEY ARE CRAZY! The young boys jump to different ledges and swing from different places. We were reacting and expressing concerns to each other when this teenage boy on a horse near us said in his strong accent, "Oh, that is nothing." They apparently normally do much more than what we saw. INSANE.

Also....

Tombs in the side of the mountain

Little children like this would sell anything from postcards to rocks all day long in the hot sun. It was the saddest thing.

On a happier note, we rode horses when we were leaving the treasury!

Jabbok River was one of my favorite spots. This is where Jacob wrestled with an angel. We went there first thing in the morning on one of the days and had a lesson from our New Testament teacher on "wrestling." Jacob wrestled with the angel and would not let him go until he blessed him. Brother Woods talked about how "wrestling" implies that revelation and blessings requires work. We have to pray and work hard to receive it but like Jacob, we are entitled to those revelations and blessings. We see other examples like Enos who also wrestled with the Lord in prayer to receive a forgiveness of his sins. Wrestling requires work.

He also talked about "divine discontent." I loved learning about this concept. We should always be improving and seeking for direction and correction from the Lord in order to become better. But the divine part of the phrase shows us that it is from God. If we feel discouraged or like we are not of worth, that is not from God, it is from the adversary. God wants us to be happy, to know that we are His children, and that our weaknesses are only given to us to help us become stronger.

Jerash is one of the best-preserved Roman sites in the world. There is a theatre, hippodrome, plaze, streets, archs, and the temple of Artemis. A great opportunity for a lot of fun pictures!

We also went to the Royal Automobile Museum. All of the cars were collected by Abdullah ibn al Hussain. It also showed a lot of the political and historical development of nation. 

Fun fact... I held Hercules' hand. NBD. You can see it. Right below. His hand is all that's left.

One of my favorite experiences was on two of the nights we went and sang on the streets of Amman with these guitarists. It was so fun! They were sooo good. They also had some of the kids on our trip take a turn to play and sing. Large crowds gathered every time. The audience was a mixture of tourists but mainly locals. It helped us connect with the people in a way that nothing else had. 

But something that had a really big impact on me was when one of the guys in the group turned to me and Liza during a song and said,"There is so much potential for the gospel here." That hit me so strongly. I was embarrassed at my own limited perspective. Before that I was very much aware of some creepy guys who were staring at me and other girls, teenage boys smoking, and I was basically just trying to be on the defensive. But that one comment completely changed my perspective. I looked around again at the people listening to the music and they looked totally different. I finally saw them as completely equal to me, children of God. I felt a little bit of the love that Heavenly Father has for them. I was able to get a glimpse of how having the gospel in their lives would completely change them, and how much happiness it would bring. This place needs the gospel. These individuals need the gospel. I think that given the chance, they would completely embrace it. One day!

The King Abdullah I Mosque was beautiful. It is such a sacred place for the Muslims and they had the girls all wear these black dresses and headscarves in order to enter. It is always so cool to see other places of worship that mean so much to other people. 

Jenny was my roommate for the trip. I absolutely love this girl!

Looking pretty legit right?

Trying to be artsy

This is the Mihrab that shows which way is Mecca, or in other words, which way to pray

The Jordan River was one of my top favorite places we have gone to on the study abroad so far. I loved knowing that the Savior had actually been there. And not only that, this was the place where Christ was baptized. 

One of our professors talked to us about how Jordan is the lowest point on the earth. Christ started here at the lowest point. His baptism was the first step as he showed us how to live a perfect life. He was baptized "to fulfill all righteousness" and to show us the path that we should take in order to return and live with him again. I love my Savior. I am so grateful for his perfect example, and his perfect and infinite love all of us.  

Going to the Jordan River was the perfect way to end this trip.

Turkish Delight

The title of this post pretty much sums up how I felt about Turkey. It was THE most beautiful place! I don't know why I haven't heard more about it or why people don't go here more often.  Two of the highlights both involved food. There was Turkish Delight and fresh bread everywhere. I was in heaven. 

Yes... I did buy this all for myself

"I can see why Edmond, in the Chronicles of Narnia, went back to the White Witch in exchange for Turkish delight."- my roommate.  It's pretty delicious.

Now for the real highlights. 

HAGIA SOPHIA 

This was one of the very first places we went in Turkey. It was the largest church for almost a thousand years.  It is one of the most incredible buildings I have ever seen!  It was made in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian.  It originally had Christian mosaics and paintings in it but when the Ottomans took over Constantinople they covered the paintings in plaster and turned it into a mosque (which is why it has minarets). Now it is a museum of some sort!  

I wish I had taken a picture of the outside as well but the inside is pretty incredible!

Liza. Love her.

You can see where they took back the plaster to see the paintings.

You are supposed to put your thumb in, turn your hand to the right, make a wish and hopefully you will feel the tear of an angel and your wish will be granted!

BLUE MOSQUE

This is a very famous mosque and there is good reason for that. It is GINORMOUS. It was built in the 17th century and it has a huge courtyard beyond just the actual mosque. Inside, blue Iznik tile is used to decorate it. It was built by the Sultan Ahmet I because he wanted something his people could remember him by, and he wanted it to be more impressive than the Hagia Sophia.  It's up on a hill overlooking the Bosphorus river so that a lot of people could see it very easily.  Also, the normal number of minarets for this size of a mosque would be four but that was not enough for the Sultan, so he had six!

Jess and Jess. Twins. In the courtyard.

You wear headscarves in order to go inside

Some of the girls!

The Blue Mosque at night!

This is an obelisk outside the Blue Mosque.  It's an Egyptian monument that was stolen from Egypt in order to show off the power of the Ottoman Empire.  It used to be twice the size it is now!

GALLIPOLI 

Gallipoli was where a battle occurred in World War I.  The battle was between the Allies (mainly the ANZAC, Australian and New Zealand soldiers, and the Turks.  It went on for months. About 250,000 died on each side. Although the Turks won the battle, they still allow this memorial to honor the Australians and New Zealanders who died there. 

The headstones were placed here by family members of the soldiers who died. All of them were very touching and brought to life what had happened there.

I loved this quote on the memorial. It's from the Turks saying that when men die on their soil it doesn't matter what country they are from, they have become their sons as well.

TROY

Everyone knows about Troy.  So I am going to just going to show some pictures.  

The famous Trojan horse.

One of my favorite parts? We found "Trojan" puppies!

ASSOS- one of my absolute favorite places.

The Bible references it in Acts 20:14.  Paul went there on a journey. Also, there is a temple made for Athena with huge columns.  But my absolute favorite part, of course, was the landscape. The view was like nothing I have ever seen. I will post pictures but there is no way to do it justice. They gave us solo time. I was able to go off and sit on this huge cliff and look out at this incredible view.  Never is my testimony strengthened more and never do I feel closer to my Heavenly Father than when I sit and look at the incredible places that the Lord has made.  You couldn't look at this place and not know that a Divine hand created it.  

Temple for Athena

Lots of pictures of this place, but I honestly love it

EPHESUS

Ephesus was an important economic area because of it's closeness to the sea. It was a city that went back and forth from being Greek and Roman.  

The Theater

Going to study at the library

The Muses

PERGAMUM 

The myth is is that Pergamum was founded by Telephus, the son of Hercules.  It dates back to the 8th century and most of the structures are from the Hellenistic time period.  

The Theater

Temple of Athena

And of course I loved the view... and had to take a picture

It seemed fitting to take a Muse picture at the place associated with Hercules

PRIENE AND MILETUS

Both of these were important cities on the south end of Turkey settle by the Greek.  I have to admit, I didn't get all that much out of this place but we took some cool pictures!

The royal council

Boat Ride on the Bosporus

This was one of my very favorite things that we did. The pictures can't do it justice, but it was amazing.  We went on a boat ride on the Bosporus up along the European side of Turkey and then back along the Asian side. Put me on a boat in the sunshine with beautiful scenery all around me and I am the happiest girl. 

 It was there independence week and there were Turkish flags on almost every building

The buildings all look like the emojis of buildings on the iPhone

Sardis

This was another beautiful place. It's mainly from the Roman and Byzantine periods. When John wrote the Book of Revelation, he wrote it to seven churches in Asia and Sardis was one of them. It was a call to them to repent of their hypocrisy and a warning to repent because the Lord was coming.  

Isn't it beautiful?!

 We found a shepherd and he let us hold a lamb!

Some other highlights

We walked along a castle wall!

We enjoyed wearing the headscarves

This is Turkey my friends, it is BEAUTIFUL!

More poses

We saw LOTS of mud brick

There were ginormous dogs EVERYWHERE

Basically, Turkey was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my life. I don't know why more people don't talk about it more but I want to go back!