Middle East Update

JORDAN

Jordan was such a pleasant place to travel. We always felt safe & we never felt like we were being cheated. On the first night of our trip, a couple of students bought us dessert from a street vendor, just to be nice. The trip was made more pleasant since we got to visit with my friend Hala and her family in Amman. Petra was amazing. I'll post more about it when we get pictures, but Brian and I spent three days exploring the amazing city carved in the desert canyon walls.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE

Israel and the Palestinian Territories... what a strange place to visit. On the one hand, it's amazing to visit the religious and historic sites. While not religious myself, I am intrigued and often fascinated by religious sites & pilgrimages. The sights in themselves are often uninspiring, but they are transformed with the presence of so many devout people performing religious rituals. My favorite experience was watching a Christian procession led by Franciscan monks along the Stations of the Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Watching the chantings, blessings, and devotion of the pilgrims is amazing. The Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, Bethlehem... it's crazy that so many of these sacred places are in such a small area.

However, Israel felt like it was always in a state of alert with security checks at shopping centers, transportation hubs and highway posts. In Jerusalem, there seemed to be young solders with assault rifles everywhere. There was palpable tension... anger, resentment, fear? All I know is that it felt uncomfortable. We visited the West Bank and were able to attend a pro-Palestine rally just days before the UN vote to add Palestine as a member state. It's hard not to sympathize with them after viewing the refugee camps and the emotional graffiti on the partition walls.

EGYPT

Egypt is wonderful and terrible at the same time. The sights are beautiful. We've been able to see the Pyramids, the Sphinx, we've climbed Mt. Sinai and we did an amazing shipwreck dive in the Red Sea. There's also a lot of excitement about the Arab Spring, and a hopeful confidence in the future. The hassle really gets on your nerves though. I can see why package tours appeal to so many people... travelling here is so annoying. It just feels like everyone is out to get you. I don't want to be rude, alienating someone that just wants to say "hi", but it always feels like people are lying to us, trying to cheat us, or pickpocket us. Even Brian loses his cool on an almost daily basis. The cruise along the Nile was somewhat boring, but it was a relief to be away from the touts for a few hours each day. We've just arrived in Luxor and this place has the reputation for being the worst. I can't imagine how many taxis, fellucas, camels, hotels, souvenirs,tea, spices, etc. people are going to try to foist on us.