sorry there aren't more pictures from rum, but my camera died halfway through the first day. i apparently did not find it necessary to charge my camera before a 2 day sightseeing trip. however it was absolutely amazing. i actually firmly believe that it is better not to take pictures, or at least only to take a few. this is of course excluding all you professional photographers out there who im sure just 'see the world better through a lens.' i, on the other hand, think that spending your time trying to get a good shot, and inevitably looking at the screen and bemoaning how little it looks like what you are looking at, takes away from actually taking in where you are. memories are always better when you see them as actual moving memories and not the picture you have on your wall. this is of course with the luxury of having others who took pictures that i could rely on if i decided that was a stupid way to look at it. i also realize that at some point i will get old and forget (not that any of you out there would know what i am talking about) but hey, im 22 i dont believe in getting old so im staying optimistic.
anyway wadi rum was absolutely gorgeous. it is totally unlike anything i have seen. i guess you could say it is kind of like the grand canyon because there are big high rocks, and kind of like arizona because there is desert. but its not. it is bigger than your mind can take in, and i just kept thinking that it looked like a set painting. im not entirely convinced it wasn't. we came in on friday afternoon, stayed overnight in a bait shar (big bedouin tent), and left the next afternoon. we spent pretty much the whole time in a truck bed driving through the desert to the next beautiful spot where we could climb and take pictures and generally marvel. at night we decided to sleep out under the stars instead of in the tent, and when the moon came out over the cliffs that we were sleeping next to it woke me up it was so bright. totally unreal. i was just sitting there looking around for someone else who was awake to see if they were as amazed by it as i was. they were. we ended the second day by hiking up this huge, huge, huge sand dune and then rolling down it. it was amazing, i felt like the little kid in 'where the wild things are.' that movie, however, does not include the fact that every single part of you will then be filled with sand. ears, underwear, nose, hair, everything. it was worth it.
now im back in the village. im not super into it at the moment. its always hard to come back from amman and the pleasure of anonymity and other americans, but it was even harder this time because i was gone longer and was hanging out with 15 of 'em. oh well, things'll work out.
someone out there eat some sushi in my honor. im craving it like crazy.
2 comments:
Sushi? No thanks. If God wanted me to eat raw fish, he would not have let cavemen invent fire. Well, me and Nancy will take you to Ichyban (a.k.a. "Itchy Bum" at my house. 11 years olds are like that) when you get back to Pittsburgh and you and Nancy can enjoy some sushi while I eat cooked food. Sounds like you are really having an adventure in Jordan. Keep us informed. Oh, to be 22 again!!! In two short years, you will be half my age.
I would have been awake with you to admire the moon. How incredible...glad you got to see it! I try to put down the camera and just take it all in instead...sometimes that's hard for me, but I am going to keep trying!
Post a Comment