Iraq al-Emir Castle, Ajloun, Jerash and misc.!

The election party was fun, and I am excited for a new administration to start in January. As I might have mentioned before, all of the Jordanians and non-Americans that I've met here were hoping for Obama to win. Their fears of McCain being president were (1) that his policies would be exactly like Bush's and (2) that he would die in office. They do seem to have really high expectations and hopes for Obama, which unfortunately I think they might be disappointed. The major issues, such as peace between Israel and Palestine, Iraq, political tensions with Iran, Syria and other countries in the Middle East along with all of the other major issues, are not something just any President of the United State's can fix.

I went to a castle outside of Amman with two classmates. One of them, Tim, does a thing called geocaching, which I think I might get into sometime. Basically, people plant capsuls with a log and perhaps other small things inside and post the coordinates for them online. Others go and find the hidden caches and sign the log and then post it online that you found it. If there are items inside the capsul you're supposed to replace what you take with something else. There are more complexities to it, and it sounds like a fun past time to get out and explore. The castle was small but a nice small discovery outside of Amman, which dates back to the 2nd century BC, which had belonged to an old governor of the area. Not too far were some old caves. Here are
some of the pictures:
























Last weeend I went on the Language Center trip to Ajloun and Jerash. Ajloun is a city to the north of Amman, amid hills and more plant life. We visited the Qala'at al-Rabadh, a castle built between 1184-85 AD by a nephew of Saladin. It rests on top of the hill in Ajloun and has a beautiful view of the countryside. Jerash is another ancient city, and has one of the largest and best preserved Roman ruins (outside of Italy supposedly). I had one and a half hours to explore, and I could have easily been there twice as long to explore. Accoring to a really helpful website (HERE) there are even ruins that date back to over 6500 years. I would definitely say Jerash is a must see for anyone coming to Jordan, and I recommend reserving at least 3 hours to walk around. Here are a few of the pictures I took:
































Next week I will be attending a Rotaract conference in Fayoum, Egypt. It will be on history and leadership in Egypt. Since flights are only a few times a week to/from Alexandria, I will be staying with a Rotaract friend in Alexandria for a couple days as well. I am very excited to experience life in Egypt, although I hear it is quite different in Cairo...which I hope to visit before coming home.